The Production Of Insanity

Two scandals which rocked the cultural scene in March, reflect the depth of the spiritual crisis we are going through.

At first glance it would seem that there is no particular connection between the publication of the "The Protocol of the Zion Wise Men'' and the refusal of our theaters to accept and read Czech Republic President and famous playwright Vaclav Havel's message written on the occasion of World Theater Day. These events, however, are a reflection of the cultural climate created and fenced in by stereotypes of thought and behavior. In the last few years official politics have, through institutions under its control, the state media above all, managed to enforce stereotypes which have become part of public opinion. These stereotypes include the following: Croats are genocidal, Muslims are suicidal, independent journalists and opposition leaders cooperate with foreign intelligence agencies, certain nations hate Serbs, the New Order, and the international conspiracy against Serbs. These stereotypes now have the authority of the Ten Commandments. Anyone who thinks, writes or acts outside their framework becomes a traitor, enemy of the people or a member of the "fifth column.''

The most present and most often manipulated stereotype is the one about a world conspiracy, i.e., power centers which direct our fate. Such a point of view, leads to antisemitism, sooner or later, since one of the accepted stereotypes claims that international Jewry holds the keys of world politics and world capital in its hands. Antisemitism is the badge of primitive nationalism, and springs up in countries where there are no Jews, or in very little numbers, it is transformed into a metaphor on the attitude towards minorities, towards "Others,'' in short, social outsiders. These phenomena crop up at times when xenophobia is on the rise and the people are living at fever-pitch, obsessed with a greatness mania and a persecution mania.

It is interesting to note reactions which followed the appearance of the "Protocol of the Zion Wise Men,'' an anti-Jewish pamphlet. Somehow all the various statements made by different parties and institutions leave the impression of having been written by the same author. All condemn the above mentioned forgery, and at the same time underscore the "anti-Serbian activities of Jewish intellectuals,'' their acquiescence with the "criminal sanctions,'' "approval and support for the international community's pressures against Serbia,'' "participation in anti-Serb hysteria and campaigns at a time when the Serbian people are fighting for their elementary rights on their centuries old hearths.''

The refusal to read Havel's letter springs from this same spiritual mould. The thousand times repeated lie that a great number of well known world figures demanded the bombing of Belgrade, has been distilled through propaganda alchemical processes and turned into a generally accepted truth. The procedure is familiar and has been applied successfully many times. It is a well-tried method of destroying all moral reflexes, because how else can we answer a world which hates us and wishes to destroy us, than by retaliating with hatred and stubbornness. In this way, one becomes indifferent to evil, violence ("They are no better than we are!''), so that a true national awareness is lost, feelings for a community's real values, and basic national interests. Lies and hypocrisy replace truth and a critical attitude towards one's own bad behavior. We are moved and excited by something that doesn't exist, the invented bombing of Belgrade, while we manage to close our eyes and ears to scenes of real destruction and real atrocities.

By accepting stereotypes and life within them, we contribute to a greater production of stupidity and insanity, in the vacuum created by a standstill of all other production. Havel is our mirror; it is not his fault that all this is happening to us. Indifferent witnesses easily become accomplices. Will our shame outlive us? Filip David (The author is playwright, and lives and works in Belgrade)