{"id":137883,"date":"2025-10-31T20:50:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goranmihajlovski.com\/?p=137883"},"modified":"2025-11-01T20:50:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T19:50:45","slug":"the-day-after-the-blackmail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goranmihajlovski.com\/en\/i-want-to-say\/the-day-after-the-blackmail\/","title":{"rendered":"THE DAY AFTER THE BLACKMAIL"},"content":{"rendered":"

1<\/span> Let these elections just be over already. Not only am I sick and tired of this campaign, but I\u2019m actually embarrassed that we\u2019re even talking about the rubbish all over Skopje. It turned out that the process of collecting rubbish from bins is some sort of impossible mission, some sort of science fiction. How do they manage to collect rubbish in other countries where the mayors aren\u2019t from the same party as the prime minister? \u00a0Back here, as everyone can see, we\u2019ve spent weeks debating and analysing whether the rubbish can be collected in 72 hours. Are we electing mayors with a vision for development, or choosing the next head of the bin-collectors?<\/p>\n

Sooner or later, they\u2019ll collect the rubbish from the streets around the bins. But who\u2019s going to clear the rubbish out of the parties?<\/p>\n

Yet the parties aren\u2019t really to blame. We, the citizens, are to blame. By looking at the rubbish they\u2019ve used to blackmail us, we\u2019ve lost the ability to recognise vision.<\/p>\n

And I couldn\u2019t care less about the parties. I care about us. Because that rubbish will still be here when the next elections come around. Those are the same officials we keep electing over and over again, although with each election cycle things get worse and worse, as our standards keep sinking.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t it our defeat that we\u2019ve allowed the parties to convince us that collecting rubbish is the only thing we should expect from them?<\/p>\n

2<\/span> Sooner than later, those much-talked-about 72 hours will pass, and we\u2019ll forget all about the rubbish blackmail. I don\u2019t know if people in other municipalities are facing the same issue, but here in Skopje, foggy days are ahead, and we\u2019ll start complaining about the pollution again. That topic, of course, didn\u2019t even make it into these local elections. Then one day it will rain, we\u2019ll all get in our cars and get stuck in traffic for hours. Another issue no one bothered to mention in these elections. Until, eventually, a sunny day dawns and we forget about pollution and traffic, just as we\u2019ll forget about the rubbish?<\/p>\n

But I wonder, what kind of sunny day dawned on us that we\u2019ve already forgotten Kochani? The relatives of the dead children are the only ones left to remember the tragedy.<\/p>\n

In these elections, we didn\u2019t demand a change in the policies that led to the murder of 63 young people. We didn\u2019t demand changes in urban planning, in the policy on illegal construction, in the issuing of building and conversion permits, in safety systems, we didn\u2019t demand the depoliticisation of inspection services, of the police, of our local and central authorities\u2026<\/p>\n

When we look for ways to save ourselves from the rubbish we\u2019re buried in, we\u2019re not even kidding ourselves that we can demand a high quality of life from these politicians. But they could at least provide decent conditions for a safe life. Since we don\u2019t demand that from them, there\u2019s no reason for them to actually provide clean pavements, fresh air, landfills that don\u2019t pollute, modern schools, peaceful neighbourhoods, controlled noise levels, restaurants whose chimneys don\u2019t face their neighbours\u2019 bedrooms, safe construction site, unobstructed access to fire engines, unobstructed access for ambulances, nightclubs where our children will come home safe and sound\u2026<\/p>\n

Politicians don\u2019t have a reflex to serve the needs of citizens, but rather to stay in power with minimal effort and maximum personal gain. And since we, as citizens, don\u2019t even ask them to provide the basic conditions for staying alive, why would we expect them to deliver anything we never demanded from them as the very people who keep voting them in?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let these elections just be over already. Not only am I sick and tired of this campaign, but I\u2019m actually embarrassed that we\u2019re even talking about the rubbish all over Skopje. It turned out that the process of collecting rubbish from bins is some sort of impossible mission, some sort of science fiction. How do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136151,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1528],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-i-want-to-say"],"yoast_head":"\nTHE DAY AFTER THE BLACKMAIL - Goran Mihajlovski<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"THE DAY AFTER THE BLACKMAIL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Let these elections just be over already. Not only am I sick and tired of this campaign, but I\u2019m actually embarrassed that we\u2019re even talking about the rubbish all over Skopje. 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