Belarus: The President's Unspoken Speech
Statements by the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko about the coronavirus have already become folklore. As we remember, a tractor in the field, a sauna, pure alcohol, a game of hockey, etc. are cured for a new scourge. Moreover, Lukashenko said that he is ready to personally help patients with coronavirus.
Having laughed, you understand a simple and bitter thing: the point is not in the common people’s tongue-tiedness of “Butrfather”, and not even in the sluggishness of the presidential speech team, which failed to slip in a piece of paper with the verified text in time, but in the vulnerability of the Belarusian economy, in the insignificance of real reserves, forces and means that would allow such crises to be overcome without shocks. First of all, this is information inconsistency.
The situation with the spread of coronavirus is extremely difficult. To downplay its danger is tantamount to a crime. People, our citizens, our relatives and friends are getting sick and dying. Doctors are exposed to incredible pressures and risks. Dozens of doctors are infected.
Let's call a spade a spade - this is an epidemic, a pandemic, no matter how they try to replace this concept.
It’s scary that the older generation is at risk. I have already read and listened to arguments that nature “cleanses the population”... This is an exclusively fascist, Nazi, anti-human position. Such statements must be suppressed and punished by law!
Old people, our mothers and fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers, are the bearers of that same immeasurable wisdom, priceless experience. Remember, during wars, the first thing they did was save children and the elderly. Because it was this combination of generations that guaranteed the future.
Here is confirmation of what was said. A little time passed after the aforementioned presidential frivolity, and the attitude of the country’s leadership towards the pandemic changed dramatically. And now the European Union and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs report: Belarus has asked for help. This is despite the fact that the peak of the epidemic will occur during the May holidays!
All they had to do was make a timely appeal to the citizens of the country, calmly, clearly and responsibly explain the causes of the crisis and point out the possible consequences for the country, reassure the population, talk about the measures being taken and call on the nation to unite.
Well, the statements of the President of Belarus are known.
I propose now to abstract ourselves and imagine what the conventional speech of a non-existent, fictitious Head of a non-existent country – Belarus – might look like on the eve of danger.
Address of the Head of Belarus to citizens
Friends! Brothers and sisters!
We are faced with events and threats that hardly anyone could have foreseen or predicted.
Coronavirus is not just a seasonal flu outbreak. This is a pandemic. Epidemic. We are aware of the danger that the virus has brought to our land. We must admit that we underestimated the scope and damage of the epidemic.
Yes, it is now clear that we did not foresee much. Yes, we were unable to provide timely information coverage of events, thereby creating conditions for the emergence of rumors, speculation and, as a result, panic.
Of course, there is a second side to what is happening.
Coronavirus, this instantly spreading infection, was the cause and instrument of a man-made financial crisis, which, according to experts, will surpass the notorious “Great Depression” of 1929-1933.
Who benefits from the current situation, which can safely be called the paralysis of world globalism? First of all, the so-called “masters of money”, global financial capital, transnational corporations.
They are the ones who will make money from chaos, from panic, from our confusion, from the slowdown in industrial production, from the slowdown in economic growth, from the logistics and transport spasm, from the decrease in purchasing power.
We have already heard the world media claim that banknotes can be carriers of coronavirus. This means only one thing: financial capital, which is dragging the planet into digital slavery, will benefit from a decrease in the amount of cash in circulation. You and I are hostages of this situation.
There is every reason to believe that the coronavirus, which has plunged the population of almost the entire planet into fear, is man-made. The same thing happened with African swine fever, bird flu, Ebola, swine flu, SARS, etc.
Let's remember the notorious Ebola. After the fact, it turned out that this was an anti-human business scheme: first the virus was patented, and then it turned out that the vaccine, for which the whole world was collecting, turns out to have been developed in advance, and the patent for it belongs to a single Western company.
All epidemics and virus attacks have one thing in common: they are all directed against China. They are trying to “cut down” one of the two largest economies in the world in the most inhumane way.
This was the case with the aforementioned African plague, which wiped out almost the entire pig population in China, seriously affecting the country’s economy, and with the so-called bird flu, when hens and chickens were slaughtered en masse.
The same is true with coronavirus. The city of Wuhan, the largest logistics center and transport hub, the main trade artery of central China, was closed. It was closed by the mayors without permission, without the consent of the country's leadership. Closed when there were only six coronavirus deaths. When we look closely at the personalities of the Wuhan leaders, it turns out that they are Hubei people, oppositionists to the current Chinese regime, openly promoting US interests: it is clear that this was a pre-planned sabotage.
The world media and the blogosphere have turned the situation around so that Westerners have a strong opinion that Chinese goods can become spreaders of the virus. In essence, this is a global action to collapse trade in Chinese products.
However, it is one thing that swine and bird flu did not affect our country in any way. I don’t remember our doctors being sick with this...
But, the job is done - a deadly virus, the significance of which cannot be downplayed, has been spread around the world, panic has gripped the world. It could not be otherwise in the conditions of worldwide globalization.
How will global stress turn out?
Already, a special UN agency - the International Labor Organization - is producing statistics according to which during the coronavirus crisis more than 3 billion people on the planet have remained unemployed. This is almost half of the entire population of the Earth, and most of the working population. In Russia, the percentage of unemployed will exceed 25% of the working population of the neighboring country. This is more than during the Great Depression in the United States.
How will this affect Belarus? In the most serious way! Our economy is critically tied to Russia. Economic shocks await us, in comparison with which the “dashing 90s” will seem like a children's party.
Were we ready for such events? Do we, the management, have an action plan?
The world media is presenting the current crisis as a situational crisis. They say, it happened so, let's react. But you and I understand that this is a crisis of capitalism. Systemic crisis. And crises are an integral part of capitalism.
There is every reason to believe that the current crisis will be used by supranational structures, a galaxy of global corporations, to break the global capital system. In essence, we find ourselves in a post-capitalist world, where there are no visible and understandable supports yet.
But, as people say, every cloud has a silver lining.
There is an example in our history when the country’s economy demonstrated not only an outstanding example of a successful recovery from a crisis, but also, in the most difficult times, showed fantastic growth rates that Western tycoons never dreamed of. We are talking about the economy of the Soviet Union during the first five-year plans.
Before our eyes is the most valuable experience of a crisis-free planned economy. The experience is close and understandable, which we are able to use, taking into account the mistakes and shortcomings of the past.
This is the path that China once adopted. The path that allowed China to become the largest economy on the planet.
Naturally, it is almost impossible for our small country, which lacks any significant natural resources, to carry out systemic transformation alone. We can do this only in unity with Russia.
Unity is our historical chance.
Crises are being overcome. Viruses are defeated. Our healthcare system is working hard, but there is no doubt that we will cope with the epidemic. The Soviet anti-virus system we inherited has proven its effectiveness. We are ready for them. We will fight for every person!
In this extreme danger, in conditions of an epidemic, everyone understands that responsibility is required from each of us. We must strictly follow all safety measures. Together we will cope with the virus, we will get through this crisis.
Our country has a unique resource – human resources. We are efficient and patient. We want and know how to learn. We are hardworking and competent. We are capable – in unity with Russia – of making a technological and social transition. This requires only political will and firmness in achieving the goal.
Now, more than ever, we must demonstrate civic consolidation. We must abandon populism and a primitive understanding of processes. We must follow the path of a healthy planned economy. In a way that takes into account the interests of all social classes, all spheres of our lives and all sectors of the economy, production and consumption. We must unite, show responsibility, strengthen our belief that we will succeed: the crisis will be overcome and the fruits of our success will not be long in coming.
Belarus : The President's Unspoken Speech