“A Country of Unhappy People”: an expert explains what’s wrong with our political thinking
Ideologue Oles Doniy explained that the elite imposed on Ukrainians the idea of fighting for the state or for the language as an end in itself, whereas these should only be a means to achieve the happiness of every citizen, Politeka reports.
He spoke about this on the “7 Steps” channel.
“Happiness is an individual category. It can be momentary and extremely diverse. No one has the right to impose their understanding of happiness on anyone else. We can feel happiness when we kiss a loved one, when we meet our child from the maternity hospital, when we succeed in sports or at work, when we communicate with friends. These are fleeting things connected with biology, yet the feeling of satisfaction is real. So why do I say that, as a state, we are unfortunately a country of unhappy people?” Doniy notes.
Ukrainian political thought, the program’s guest states, unlike that of successful nations, has not aimed at the happiness of every Ukrainian man and woman. Instead, he explains, our ideologues and publicists taught that throughout life one must fight either for the state or for the language, as if this were the purpose of Ukrainians’ existence—although in reality, these should be tools.
“In Ukraine, the right to happiness exists only for the political class. Since 1991, the Ukrainian state has been created for the happiness of those in power. That is why it is not customary for us to talk about happiness. God forbid a Ukrainian should think they have the right to happiness—then they would consider all matters of state importance from the perspective of individual rights and personal happiness, and they are not supposed to do that. All the benefits of the state should belong only to those in power,” Doniy explains.
That is why, the expert notes, it is not customary here to speak about happiness—because then a Ukrainian might wake up in the morning thinking they should have equal rights with members of parliament or the president. Thus, he concludes, in Ukraine the right to happiness is effectively reserved only for the political class.
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