Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

The conscience of young people is strong
enough, although the elders look upon us
with scepticism. Young people know what
they want and what they don't want. Today,
we, the young people, like no other generation
before us, can stand in front of the elders,
look them straight in the eyes and say,
"Thank you for what you are leaving to us,
but we won't take it wholesale. We will take
only what we will find useful in the future.
We will take only what will make us more
noble as humans, citizens of the world. What
will remind us who we are and where we
come from.
But in no case will we take that which
urges us to hate those who are different from
us. For us, the past is not an assortment of
wars, clashes and destruction. For us, the
past is an assortment of friendship, games
and sharing. We do not accept the elders'
position on the past. We do not need the burden
of the past to remind us of our isolation
from others, especially from our neighbours.
Each one of us will still maintain his or her
differences and identity. But no one will
develop his or her differences in an effort to
repulse others, to separate themselves from
others, or to alienate others. We will remain
one next to the other, one with the other and
one among the other. Not because of some
irrational outburst of love, but because we all
share the same destiny. That is what bonds
us. If, God forbid, we are hit by an earthquake
or flood, we will all suffer equally. If
we need to swallow reduced uranium, we
will all be swallowing it. If the harvest is fertile
we will all enjoy the fruits. The philosophy
of neighbourly relations is a wisdom of
life that the other nations in Europe did not
have the opportunity or privilege of experiencing.
And whenever they speak about us
they wonder, "How can that be?" They find
it weird because they try to see us through
their own experience, an experience that was
not nearly as tolerant as ours. Our recipe for
tomorrow is quite simple. We will be what
we have been so far, we will respect each
other, we will greet each other, we will trade
freely, we will borrow sugar, class notes,
CDs, basketballs. However, we will take
away the right from "the worst of
Macedonia" to speak and decide on our
behalf.
(The author is philologist)
A bitter dream and
a strange morning
Competition represents a basic principle of the market
economy, which we all strive to achieve. This market
economy, transferred into education, does not recognize
Albanians and Macedonians. It recognizes only
successful and unsuccessful individuals. Therefore, we
really need to finally "work, work, day and night, to
see a bit of light," because, "the world represents a
field for cultural competition among different
nations," doesn't it?
Rilind Kabashi
Should you happen to listen to a conversation among
adults, it will be difficult not to think that when a war
occurs, young people are the ones who lose the most. If you
happen to listen to any warrior, regardless of which side he
fights for, the essence of what he would say would be that
he is fighting for a better future, for a better tomorrow for
the today's youth. Finally, should you meet up with young
people, they would undoubtedly be encouraged and by all
means they would stand on the side of their own folks, but
at the end they will say that it would've been better it there
hadn't been a war.
Naturally, a student, regardless of his or her ethnic or
religious background, cannot avoid being under the influence
of the recent crisis/war. In times like these, when the
entire state is suffering from a certain psychosis, students
find themselves before the modified dilemma of Hamlet:
"To be or not to be?"
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Youth and crisis, October 2001