When you are hungry, you are not yourself, ethno-nationalism kills human dignity

By Ernad Metaj

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The protests of miners, followed by the blockade of streets by healthcare workers from Konjic who have not received their salaries for months, best illustrate the concern of government representatives for the citizens of BiH. Employers in FBiH, dissatisfied with the enormous electricity price increase of over 100 percent, might also take to the streets, which will further burden citizens' wallets as a chain reaction of price increases for all products will follow. Citizens of RS will not fare any better, as the entity's government is now pushing Elektroprivreda onto the international stock exchange, which will also increase electricity prices in this entity.

For years, the government has kept citizens on high alert by producing nationalism and fear, through which they still manage to cover up poor governance. Most citizens still agree to a game where legitimate representation, separatism, unitarism, and even war are placed above their standard of living, which is sinking deeper day by day. Digging through dumpsters, public kitchens for adults, and even for babies are the reality and the future that our legitimate representatives have been building for us for years.

For Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks, the muscles of nationalism are still more important than the departure of young people who cannot see their own future in it. The matrix in the Balkans is the same. This is evidenced by the proud gaze of Croatian citizens at the sky where smoke from billion-euro French planes will remain. This is a response to Serbia's armament, where the government increasingly uses its power against its own citizens because they dared to rebel against slavery depicted in the case of "imprisoned" Vietnamese workers for Chinese investors. This reminds me that the RS government, prone to copying Vučić's regime, has already shown its readiness to discipline the disobedient, using not only the stick but also liquidation.

In BiH, the government goes a step further, presenting a new war as a realistic future. For this purpose, it is necessary to divide the Armed Forces of BiH, which are the most successful multi-ethnic project in BiH. The story about 80 percent of Serbian soldiers being ready to put national interest above personal existence is nothing more than another attempt to preserve the matrix where the leader's happiness and survival are more important than one's own stomach rumbling. 

BiH remains one of the poorest countries in Europe, a result of the work of ethno-nationalist governments that have not been interested in the economy, education, healthcare, and social policy for 25 years. The only things important to them are legitimate representation and vital national interest, behind which lies no desire to restore pride to healthcare workers, educators, miners, workers, and farmers. BiH would survive without legitimate representation, but not with a collapsed healthcare and education system. The former is drowning in debt, while the latter has shown through international testing that it does not produce adequate knowledge. In other words, a sick and unaware nation is the strategic interest of ethno-nationalists. Educated people are drivers of change, and the government does not want them. The current rulers did not even want the former "authoritarian" state, which one of the most productive directors, Lordan Zafranović, says was the greatest civilizational achievement of the Balkan peoples, which will never be repeated. Instead of free education and healthcare, and enough jobs for everyone, this government offers us only pens and trenches. It's simple, "when you are hungry, you are not yourself."