I don’t read much news normally. I am the opposite of Jamal, character on a rather spectacularly popular TV show My Wife’s Girlfriends, who is glued to the TV, listening to the news of each and every day. I do read a little bit from time to time, to hear the latest gossip, to keep up with bizarre developments, latest one being depriving the defendant of a right to speedy trial, but overall I just do it to keep from looking like an idiot when people talk to me about politics.
And boy, do people talk about politics! By people I of course mean Georgian nationals. The Americans talk about politics on rare occasions and the ones that get into heated debates get paid for doing so on TV. For Georgian national the idea of expressing their opinion with a vote rather than a fist in the opponents face is a fairly new one. It’s crazy to expect a nation that has had a democratic government for less than a decade to believe they can solve their issues with a ballot. It is also crazy — from my point of view — to have so many people on opposing parties sides tell their stories with such conviction. They are all so good at acting out their roles, that unless you personally were there and have witnessed the incident, you just can’t be sure who is telling the truth. Apparently this is why Georgians have ‘experts’ so that we are able to tell which side is trustworthy. Expert is a curious word. Expert of what exactly? The word ‘expert’ has become so commonplace that at this point I think if you can call yourself a Georgian, you can also with clear-set conviction call yourself an expert. These people don’t provide credentials of their expertise, and why should they have to when the Minister of Justice doesn’t have one. They don’t say what they are experts of, just ‘expert’ on Georgia and that’s all that needs to be said. They say what they think is right and no one says anything about it because no one wants to argue with an expert. Well, I’ve had it. If anyone can be an expert then I get to be one too. I’ll be an expert on Russian relations. I am qualified by my experience of growing up in Russia, my experience of having to run out of Gagra while Russians invaded the first time (if anyone says that those armored vehicles were brought by Abkhazians and not Russians to Georgia I will punch them in the nose because I lived through that nightmare, and I know who did what, with whom it is catching up now, and who still has karma coming his way.) So I guess I am an expert via my experience. This expert will say one thing - you cannot argue with a bully and you cannot appease a bully. Bullies understand only one thing and that is strength. No matter how many times Georgia bows to Russia’s whims, or tries to reason with it, it won’t help. Russia is a bully and has always been. The only people who can change are Georgians, who can wake up from the dream and start thinking about the integrity of their country and not simply of their business survival. Business is important, say I an expert on business as well, since I have one failed one under my belt, (I hope you get my sarcasm, dear reader). Without business we cannot survive. But choose the business wisely, don’t let drugs go thought your borders, don’t let human trafficking take root and fight corruption. It is a daily battle, but an honest life is worth fighting for, and this is something bullies will never understand. Thank you for listening to me, an expert on everything Georgian.