It is a Soviet tradition to name years.
"Decisive year of the five-year plan", "Final year of the five-year plan" - such posters hung on production facilities, in clubs, "Lenin rooms" of dormitories during the USSR.
Lukashenko remained a Soviet man in his worldview.
He never managed to go beyond the limits of his past life experience: he repeatedly emphasized that for him the model of the state system is the Soviet Union, and he continued to express his regret for its collapse.
It is no coincidence that the Belarusian political regime is the most pro-Soviet in the territory of the former USSR.
In Belarus, the Soviet propaganda machine has been recreated almost in its original form - from the analogue of the Komsomol (BRSM) to the plaques honoring the pioneers of labor.
From there, since then, the idea has remained that the people cannot be left without slogans and appeals from the government, which should mobilize society.
Subjects must know what to strive for.
If you don't announce that this year the people should make efforts for peace and creation, then the Belarusians will take it and go in the opposite direction - to war and destruction.
There is no practical benefit from this, however, as in the times of the late USSR, the propaganda machine works for self-service.
Relevant decrees, such as the one signed by Lukashenko on January 1, are being adopted, plans are being developed, political information will be held, etc.
Work is boiling.
This energy is for peaceful purposes.
As for the content of the decree, Belarusians are gradually getting used to the fact that the words and concepts they hear from official sources have the opposite meaning.
The British writer George Orwell gave a classic example of the language of a totalitarian society ("war is peace", "freedom is slavery", etc.).
As the Lukashenka regime transforms into a totalitarian one, the process of transitioning to Orwell's language is accelerating.
So, the year 2021, which was declared the "Year of National Unity", in reality became the year of the deepest social split in the history of independent Belarus.
So 2023 was declared the "Year of Peace" at the very moment when Belarus supports Russia's war against Ukraine in every possible way.
And the internal conflict is taking the form of a cold civil war, although the decree mentions "consent in Belarusian society".
And it is somewhat difficult to talk about creation in the conditions of modern Belarus.
In order to survive in modern Belarus, a citizen should learn double thinking, the ability to hide his true thoughts, to say one thing and think another.
An anecdote from Soviet times comes to mind.
A person comes to the doctor and complains: "I have a problem.
What I hear, I do not see, and what I see, I do not hear."
To which the doctor replies: "This disease is incurable, it is called socialism."
How to call the current Belarusian disease?
The opinions expressed in the blogs represent the views of the authors themselves and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position.
Valer Karbalevich
He was born in 1955.
Graduated from the history faculty of BSU, candidate of historical sciences, associate professor.
Radio Svaboda political commentator.
karbalevich@gmail.com
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