Sep 11
AleksHistory, Identity, National Minorities, Society
National Poet of Latvia, Rainis
RIGA – Latvian poet, translator, social democratic journalist and politician Rainis, died on September 12, 1929. Hours before his death, Rainis penned an article in Russian called “Латвийцы”, or Latvians. It was published in the Russian-language newspaper Сегодня/Segodnya on September 29, 1929, in an edition devoted to the 10th anniversary of the newspaper. The article is often quoted by the Russian political groups, who misinterpret it and take it out of context.
A little needs to be said about the title. English is somewhat vague using the term Latvians. It could refer to either an ethnic group of Latvians, or it could refer to the citizens of Latvia. And the two do not often mean the same thing. There is an archaic English word: “Letts,” which refers to ethnic Latvians. Consequently, Lettish is a derivative adjective. It is used in this text to mean the same thing, even though the word is hardly in use any more. The following in my translation of the article from the original Russian into English:
When I am asked a question about literature as a means of convergence between the Russian and Latvian peoples, I first and foremost am reminded of the conditions for the existence of the minorities in Latvia. The conditions undoubtedly are favorable. Cultural autonomy forged a gratifying soil for mutual understanding.
But there are few fruits yet. What especially attracts my attention is that this aspiration to converge is first exhibited by the Jews. Significantly less frequent attempts are made by the Russian minority, and even less by the German minority. The reasons as I see are that Russians and Germans considering themselves peoples with ancient great culture are unwilling to make first steps towards the convergence.
The text of the article
But, by the way, that convergence is extremely necessary and it ought to take place best of all through the mutual exchange of literary works.
When it comes to the Russian literature, we, the Letts, have always been interested in it, have learned from great Russian writers. It’s true that Russians showed little interest in the Latvian literature, they rarely noticed it. I must note, however, this one comforting exception. Your newspaper more than other minority publications always promoted the need for cultural convergence. I didn’t have an opportunity to follow Segodnya regularly because I spent a lot of time traveling, but in the previous years, and by those issues that I did read in the last few months I was convinced that this is one of those few newspapers, which often presents their readers with examples of translated works of the best Lettish authors, follows the work of our theaters, and shows interest in the new Lettish literature and works of the Lettish artists.
All of that, of course, impacts the drive toward the convergence of the two people. The fact that Segodnya broadly informs readers about the successes of the Lettish artists and actors abroad as well as the cultural initiatives of the Letts, I am ready to credit as an accomplishment of the minority leaders, who attempt to establish cultural connection with Latvians. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the Germans. But even more than Russians, the convergence with Letts occupies, as it is seen, the Jews and the Poles, often underscoring their interest in the Lettish culture.
Convergence of the people has to start, of course, in schools. Up until now, the convergence of the young generation has not taken place systemically. Detachment is detrimental not only to Letts, but also to the minorities themselves. This occurrence is unhealthy and inappropriate. The Germans, for example, uselessly disassociate themselves from the Letts, often forgetting that they are not going the same way as the foreign Germans. The ideology of the Latvian Germans and proper Germans is significantly different. The Russian youth rarely adopts the need for the cultural convergence. As I have already mentioned, predominantly Jewish youth, who well-mastered the Latvian language, makes a pleasant exception.
I would like to point out to Switzerland as an example of a country where peacefully co-exist three peoples. Each Swiss – be it a German, a French or an Italian – has only one motherland. It is Switzerland. And everywhere they call themselves Swiss. Latvia is too far from the ideal brotherhood of the peoples.
We, in the Lettish language, don’t even have a special word, signifying a Latvian [resident of Latvia], corresponding to the Russian word “россиянин” [resident of Russia] in Russian. I supported the need for introduction of a word which could denote all peoples residing in Latvia. I offered the word “latvijetis”, in Russian латвиец. But my proposition didn’t find supporters. Latvia’s Russian, a German or a Jew finding himself outside of Latvia will definitely say that he is a Russian from Latvia; a German from Latvia; a Jew from Latvia. A foreigner doesn’t understand this. Being in Palestine, I was often asked what the state language of Latvia was, what the languages of minorities were. I answered that our minorities didn’t assimilate to majority and they all speak their own language. But my interviewers weren’t satisfied.
“Why is it that all Latvian citizens don’t think of themselves as Latvians, but think of themselves as Russians, Germans and Jews?”
I ran into three Jewish students in Brussels. Many times I have told them who I was and I asked them in German which nationality they were.
The answer followed: “Wir sind lettlender.” It turned out that they speak Lettish well and present themselves as Latvians (латвиец)/
This was a very comforting phenomenon, and it characterizes the mood of the new Latvian youth-minority, a new generation of Latvians.
At one time I was asked by two young beginner writers, both Jewish. They were asking me for help in publishing their works, written in Lettish.
As you can see the young generation of Latvians is predisposed to the process of convergence. At first, it has been done by the Jews, now it’s time for others, a few timid (when it comes to that kind of convergence) peoples, but even here, the new beginnings are being shown and it makes me happy and excited.
Sep 01
AleksSociety
RIGA – Suited boys and dolled up dolls with bows on their young heads flooded the central Rīga this morning tens of thousands of students begin their academic year. The attention is on education, which has been in deep trouble even since Latvia became a free independent country 20 years ago.
Young graduates don’t seem to line up to master the art of teaching. And who could blame them? Who’d want to teach students for 255 lats a month ($500) at the time when the government is gearing for another round of slashing wages and public sector optimization? Meanwhile, the old guard is being laid off, creating a shortage of teachers. Rīga alone lacks 145 teachers.
Meanwhile, students are likely to start their school year roaming the streets with an open alcohol container.
Two years ago, I mentioned the booze that pours into the stomachs of young students on this day. Statistically, 20 per cent of 13- and 14-year-olds use alcohol at least once a week. By the time they reach 17-18, almost half of students use alcohol. Some have even started drinking last night. In an effort to combat youth consuming plenty of alcohol, the parliament adopted and then repealed a ban on alcohol sales on September 1. So much for effective government…
Aug 09
AleksSociety
Monday morning. At Narvesen.
Clerk: There are no morning newspaper today.
Me: Why not?
Clerk: Because I was late for work this morning. (Pause) Sorry.
Aug 03
AleksParliament, Politics, Society
“There is a minimal level of education and knowledge, outside of which any election becomes its own caricature. You don’t just need rudimentary literacy, which allows a man .. to spell his name. Here, one needs understanding of the election process and platforms provided, smart evaluation of the candidates, understanding of the government and economy of the country and its needs, of an idea of the political, international, and military dangers; and of course the communion with the credible sources of information.”
– Ivan Ilyin, a Russian religious and political philosopher.
RIGA – The recent developments in the media market in Latvia force one to conclude that the Fox News-style of journalism has arrived. With elections being only two months away, it sends a frightening signal to quality in-depth journalism.
First, the recent changes in the management of the bastion of independent journalism, Diena, is an example of someone’s cynical play. Ever since it came to existence in 1990, Diena had been an elite newspaper that pushed the politicians to answer tough questions and served proudly Latvia’s citizenry. It was, in its own way, a true voice of the people. After the last year’s change in ownership and the most recent change in editorial staff, the new editorial team announced they’d be looking for new journalists among the 19- to 22-year-olds with no experience in craft. Last weekend, the assistant editor Dzintars Zaļūksnis held training exercises with the young people. As someone who had worked in the Riga city council’s public relations department as late as June, he’d know what to teach young journalists. As a test exercise, he has sent out the young people to go look for news on the street. From a prestigious newspaper, the new class would turn it into a training college paper. The former influencer in policy making is either starting from scratch or digging itself a grave.
The farcical comedy show on LNT
Second, the Latvia’s second most watched TV channel is staging a series of “public debates” on important issues. “Latvia We are Listening” could be a good thing. Don’t jump to your conclusions until you consider the new owner’s political connections to the old new kids on the block: Par Labu Latviju (For Good Latvia, or PLL).
As Harry Callan said last week:
On last night’s show, of the panel of ten people giving their opinions about agriculture, most had either direct or indirect links to PLL. The lopsided nature of the debate would almost have been understandable had the participants actually declared their interests at the start of the show — but they did not. As a result what we got was a party political broadcast masquerading as a debate.
Participants included LNT director Andrejs Ēķis. Ēķis is a prominent supporter of PLL. His name is often linked with that of PLL co-leader Andris Šķēle in connection with the so-called “Digitālgeita” investigation which involves allegations of huge fraud using offshore companies in the way Latvia switched to digital TV. Both Ēķis and Šķēle deny any wrongdoing. The investigation continues. Ēķis had his assets frozen in March.
Ripped off a page from the O’Reilly Factor, the program took place in the “No Politics Zone.” Yesterday’s show included a deeply thought-provoking question: “Are forests our national treasure?” (pictured) Clearly the show – and that was the show – intended to reach into the hearts of the viewers, reaching into their feeling as victims of the big bad world out there. Under the pretenses of being fair and balanced, the television show showed stories of people who lost their jobs in the forest industry and who ended up fighting with banks and large corporations. It also points out that the government chose to rescue Parex, instead of helping those people. As the grim voice accused the government of apathy, it showed the current minister of economics, Artis Kampars from the New Era party, rather than the true face of the Parex takeover, Atis Slakteris, then-finance minister, from the People’s Party, which is now part of the PLL.
The show clearly targets the lowest intellectual common denominator, a person who spent the last five years in the basement of his mother’s house, reading the conspiracy theory literature.
Which brings me to my guilty pleasure on the media market: Neatkarīga Rīta Avīze (Independent Morning Newspaper). Under its straightforward name, the newspaper serves as a window to the soul of Aivars Lembergs, the mayor of Ventspils. It is not clear exactly who or what owns the newspaper, but it often is used as a platform for the mayor of Ventspils to deliver fatwas on the leaders of the government or the international lenders.
In a recent interview, Lembergs said that Latvia state-owned energy and railroad companies along with the forestry company will be sold off to an “international oligarchy” immediately after the elections. It offered a glimpse into his own mind.
The well-designed newspaper provides also provides a glimpse into the world of conspiracy theories and serves as a fascinating overview of what methods certain individuals use to get to the power. It often bashes the Sorosistas, incorruptible journalists along with the members of the local chapter of the Transparency International.
With the education system in ruins, the public appears to be getting dumber and dumber. The coverage is getting angrier, forcing one to suspect that the upcoming elections will be but a farce. The population unable or unwilling to think, to deduce, to reason is much easier to manipulate. It is much easier to persuade them of imagined enemies, imagined problems. It is much easier to exert control. Taking over railroads, telegraph and post office was the task number one of the Bolsheviks coup in 1917. What comes next?
Jul 31
AleksPolitics, Revolutions, Society
Published in the Global Voices Online:
With the ownership of the largest daily newspaper, Diena [LV], in question, many journalists in Latvia fear business interests and political influence would rule the news coverage ahead of the October parliamentary elections.
“Who is behind Diena,” read last week’s front page headline of the newsweekly Ir. “One year after a change in ownership there appeared a shadow of the oligarchs and a question: Does Latvia still have a free press?”
“The situation is very, very sad, because elections are coming,” a former Diena journalist Gunta Sloga told Swedish radio (SWE). “Many people will not be able to get objective information before the vote, and especially problematic it becomes for those who live in the countryside and do not have an access to the Internet.”
Sloga and a few others had quit the newspaper in 2009 over lack of transparency in the sale from the Swedish company Bonnier. The new owners installed a new manager, who lasted there almost a year. Meanwhile, the owners said the newspaper would maintain its professional integrity. Tralmaks unexpectedly quit in July, bringing the issue of integrity back into the light. The owners appointed Sergejs Ancupovs, the former press secretary for the former prime minister, Valdis Birkavs, as well as a leader of a think-tank connected to certain political parties, to run the newspaper.
On July 20, journalist Kārlis Streips wrote [LV] on his Politika.lv blog:
I’m in deep mourning for Diena. When the first professional journalists departed, I wrote that Diena would still be my newspaper. Now, I don’t have a newspaper in Latvia any more. For professional reasons, I’ll continue to subscribe, but it’ll be all.
In a video [LV] posted on the Diena newspaper’s web site, Ancupovs declined to answer questions about who approached him for this job.
“You know, we won’t be doing that kind of investigation,” he said, after explaining that the Diena newspaper will continue to maintain its objectivity and will not be a subject to political influence.
“Let’s assume that I have fallen from Mars,” he said, calling two journalists who interviewed him, “girls.”
Ancupovs said in a radio interview that the newspaper has always had a political influence. And it will continue to do so.
Jānis Buholcs writes [LV] that the recent change in Diena leadership means it is no longer necessary to hide under the pretense of being above the political influence. Buholcs responds to Ancupovs:
Media controlled by politicians is not the same as media that have their own political sympathies, which those openly espouse. The system of Putin and Berlusconi is not the same as an op-ed in a newspaper.
Pods.lv wonders [LV] if the newspaper’s purchase was “the most expensive election campaign”:
If we are to believe information that Diena and Dienas Bizness were paid for 7 million lats (US$13 million), then that’s a very expensive toy.
Let’s assume that the goal is to influence the election results with the help from these two media outlets and after that liquidate them both. I think it would be too expensive for an election campaign.
On the other hand, considering the amounts of money the plotters could get in many different public bids and purchase requests, then 7 million is nothing but small change.
Feb 08
AleksNational Minorities
RIGA – In the aftermath of the heavy snowfall that blanketed Latvia last week, the city’s Ušakovs-Šlesers tandem had struggled to cope with tons of white fluffy stuff that fell out of the sky. Cleaning streets whose total length could bridge Riga with Prague is no easy task. But Mr. Bulldozer that task tried to complete the best he could. In the sleeping areas of the city with the population of 900,000, the snow remains not cleared and people had a reason to complain. In the town center, however, complaining about the snow took on a political and inter-ethnic conflict – much like a lot of things do in Latvia ahead of the October elections.
The former flagship newspaper Diena reacted to a complaint from a resident that a monument to the Russian general Barclay de Tolly stood snow-free, while a nearby monument to Oskars Kalpaks was covered in snow – in the words of the woman who complained – “up to his mustache.” While for some, it may that the evil city council, chaired by an ethnic Russian, purposefully ignored the Commander of the 1st Latvian battalion. While no one would deny that it’s a responsibility of the city to clean up monuments, first and foremost should probably come people who are still alive than those who left monuments behind.
Never mind a few non-historic factors about the two monuments. One stands closer to a pedestrian pathway. Another one is a somewhat poorly designed because it stands on a kind of square whose small portion near the main road serves as a sidewalk. One is a vertical statue. Another one is a form of a ship, collecting much snow.
We’re too eager to resort to our old self-preservation habits. We’re too quick to think that Russians are evil that they purposefully neglect Latvians’ monuments. We’re too comfortable thinking that someone somewhere is trying to get us. We rely on history for that irrational fear. We’re so comfortable, in fact, that when someone is not trying to get us, we feel at odds with ourselves, we feel out of our national comfort zone unable to move.
May 13
AleksSociety
RIGA – In the heat of the 2007 municipal reform aimed at redrawing lines of local governments, Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis (left) received a gift – the globe of Latvia. Across the two continents, the word “Latvia” spreads from China to Great Britain.
In a way, it represents the Latvian worldview. One could not find a better illustration of a mentality of the imperial wannabes. For centuries, Latvians have been ruled over – by Germans, Russians, Swedes (and not necessarily in that order). Twenty years after it regained independence, the young nation is still struggling to create citizen-friendly elite that is capable of governing wisely. But often it is based on weak national self-esteem which paradoxically transforms into the visions of grandeur.
The pride stands in the way of, for example, considering an option of devaluation as a way to recover from the crisis. The pride stands in the way, as anecdotal evidence suggests, to ask for help in handling matters of importance, like construction of the national library, or preparing the economic recovery. Someone had suggested that Latvia could hire a consultant from outside to teach Latvians to govern themselves. Egos and pride stand in the way of prosperity in this country.
It is surprising that folks in a mostly-unknown country of 2.3 million people – let’s face it, a speck on the world arena – has large egos that could fill the whole of Canada.
Latvians like to tell a story about the New World conquest, the Courland Colonization. Only if Brits would talk about their world domination with an apology, Latvians would talk about it with pride. Perhaps, it’s an attempt to compensate for national complexes and the seeming lack of lengthy history of self-rule. Our neighbors to the south are celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of the crime record that mentions them by name. Latvian history – as in the history of Latvia – starts much later.
Apr 29
AleksSociety, The Dombrovskis government
RIGA – This morning I got a call from a friend who works as a teacher. She sounded upset over the news reports that the government plans to slash up to 8,000 teacher jobs in the fall. That’s one-sixth of all the teachers in the country. I tried to calm her down, but at the same time pointed out that it appears the government has no other choice.
“They want riots?” my friend asked. A legitimate question following the teacher protest.
The friend works several jobs, trying to support herself, her daughter and the unemployed son-in-law. The son-in-law used to work in construction. The little jobs he gets now don’t pay well or on time. She tries to make ends meet by offering private lessons, but that means working six days a week with little relief or rest.
Now the government has announced it will cut jobs, following an audit. Diena this morning said that there’s one teacher for every seven students in Latvia. It’s definitely too many in a country where the population has been shrinking. At the same time, little is known about what criteria the government will be using to slash teacher’s jobs. What’s a good teacher – is the question of the day.
Mar 10
AleksCorruption, Society
The TV 3 channel on Sunday reported that Bertold Flick, the head of the Latvia’s own airline airBaltic made more than 300,000 lats last year. That’s about $600,000. The two people on the board made more than Ls 10,000 lats a month. It made people upset largely because, well, people get upset over large salaries here in general. But in this case, the company has finished a year with losses and this is an unheard of salary for the head of an airline on the Baltic market. The journalists made a point that since airBaltic is now a state-owned company, its books are supposed to be open to the public. Better yet, Flick is supposed to file a declaration of income with the tax service.
And the kicker came today. The state revenue service has launched an investigation into who leaked the information. I suppose for the state agency the most troublesome part is not that a head of a state company doesn’t want to disclose how much money he made, but that someone made that information public.
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