Scent of Money

For years now, the question of money has been in the shadow of other, supposedly bigger and more important, national, state, religious, ideological and moral questions. It seemed as if Serbs were only interested in the location of their borders, who their enemies were, who was for the left and who for the right, who was for the king and who for the republic, for war or peace, and whether it was better to look to the West, to Russia or to China.

In arguing over these lofty issues, the question of the price usually never came up, and all for several, slightly contradictory reasons. First, because the discussion would have immediately become concrete, arguments would have gained weight, and writers would have had to withdraw and keep quiet because their fiery metaphors would have become inappropriate. Then, because it was assumed that everyone wanted everything at any price. And finally, because in any case, it was generally known that no one among the bigger players on the Serbian scene had any intentions of footing any bill or of settling any account, making any talk about pricing that much more meaningless.

Only once, at the beginning of Milosevic’s campaign for bringing back dignity to the people, when his credibility was the highest and when the opposition stood behind the regime, an attempt was made to test people’s readiness to let go of their money. That was in the time of "The Loan for Serbia", when the Serbian people generally demonstrated a lack of faith in the government which it otherwise adored. Whoever loaned even a dinar at that time, knows today that he was a fool.

At that moment it became clear that Serbians, even when subjected to the most intense flattery and promises, are unwilling to dip into their wallets. They could vote, attend meetings, and even go to war, but dip into their wallets they would not. Among the war volunteers there were certainly many more of those who were willing to sacrifice their lives, hoping to gain by it, than there were those who were willing to sacrifice their property. Those who had something were unwilling to go to war, and those who wanted to protect the flag were drawn by the thought of looting and spoils. International sanctions created new conditions for looting, which this time became even more blatant than during war. That is to say, smuggling is considerably less risky, especially when conducted under state protection. I believe that many of these modern day millionaires really grew to love Serbia, which allowed them to better their life so quickly and with such ease. Some of them certainly give thanks to God, to the church and to St. Sava, even though in this case, Slobodan Milosevic is to be credited most for executing the will of God.

No one talked about money, least of all those whose every though concerned money. They could mention it only to show how little regard they have for it, and how much they detest that filth with which the West wishes to corrupt the virtuous, Orthodox, Slavic world. An unusual degree of understanding was reached on this question between the regime and a fairly broad section of the opposition, between the left and the right, between communists and nationalists. Their ideological disputes became very heated at times when there was looming danger of someone naively asking "where’s the money"?

If they are cornered into saying something about it, then they do so either with insolence, deceit or with endless shame, and in the best of cases, but never clearly, with simplicity and logic. In this way Vuk Draskovic will say that he is a wealthy man owing to translations of his books. And they are, supposedly (give me a break), each and every one, world bestsellers. He and his party swear that their exclusive interests are principles and platforms, especially when they are exclusively negotiating over money and positions.

The communists in JUL, which attracts directors and wealthy lawyers, answer their critics with the question "didn’t you yourselves ask for privatization?" Thus it seems that they are resisting privatization with all their might, amassing wealth, and waiting for the right moment to admit defeat, to admit that capitalism has finally arrived in Serbia, after which these same losers will be transformed into winners. This process is to be expected and is to some extent inevitable. Money and power always go together and jointly avoid the dangers of ideological conflicts. All across Eastern Europe, new capitalists are, by and large, former communists, the other way around being equally beneficial: the biggest Hong Kong magnets have recently begun joining the Communist Party of China, becoming overnight adamant party secretaries.

However, in Serbia this process is very slow and complex because here this phenomenon does not concern only the maintainance of status and rank, but includes looting of beastly proportions and social dissolution without par in any other country which recently liberated itself from communism. What passes under the name of transition, has turned out far more difficult in Serbia because, beside communism, we also must liberate ourselves from national extremism. Along side communists, the most deserving nationalists are also battling and vying for their place and their piece of the cake.

Certain alleviating circumstances arise from the fact that these two groups have been arguing for some time, where those that are the most greedy generally fall into both. But, precisely due to the prolonged agony, the outer limits of their insolence have virtually vanished through dissolution of time-honored institutions and the refusal to erect new ones. The resistance to capitalism is producing the wildest, crudest, ugliest form of capitalism.

Hence, money could not become a topic of discussion until it finally became the only topic of discussion. Here, where so many things were holy and priceless, it suddenly appears as if everyone is scurrying to hawk what they have for mere pennies. Evidently, extremes in holiness result later in extremes of profanity. Both the communists and the nationalist had their sacred relics, or at least that’s what they claimed. Both the latter and the former are now so disillusioned that they have lost all enthusiasm and interest, except of course where money is concerned.

Supposedly, they tried to realize their ideals, but because they did not succeed, because this world is so rotten and unjust, they believe that they no longer have to have respect for anything. Devaluation is all-encompassing, and there is little doubt that it would have been smaller and more bearable had the preceding era of holy relics not lasted quite so long. Serbia managed to go through one period of hyperinflation because of the war. If this begins anew, new stable monetary and all other kinds of values will probably not be established until the terrain is completely cleared, and that means for as long as the present head of state keeps his position.

Milosevic is presently trying to consolidate a new line of defense against change, while at the same time trying to adapt and survive. He could not refuse to give his support to the new Premier of Republika Srpska, Premier Dodik, even though he must be taking very hard the latter’s announced intention of arresting war criminals, and even harder the fact that the first significant international aid is about to arrive there. All that money will give off its scent far and wide, which will be smelled even on this side of the River Drina. And what if the criminal fortress at Pale soon crumbles to pieces and there’s nobody left to protect and defend Karadzic? What if Serbs themselves scurry to arrest him and personally pass sentence over him? What if the Hague Tribunal is forced to intervene and to take him under its protection?

Perhaps Milosevic is divining that Serbs, once they decide to cooperate with the West, could carry that cooperation quite far. Right up to his doorstep. That is why he is supporting the new Government in Republika Srpska in the hope that he might be able to control it to some extent, while in Montenegro he is still holding to the old line of defense and is trying to bankrupt Djukanovic at all cost. He believes that it’s never too late to offer and refuse truces there. But the news arriving from there is not good. On the territory which he pretends to rule over, he is no longer capable of obstructing the influx of money over which he has no control. That money would also not enter Republika Srpska were it not certain that Milosevic’s people will have no control over it.

Milosevic knows what all this means. No one is more aware of what kind of people are clustered around him and what their loyalty is based on. I don’t know what else he can do, but I would not be surprised if this year we see one more, perhaps the last phase of his fight to survive. He could make an effort to adapt and to become the first head of a capitalist Serbia (which, in that case, would include Montenegro). But I think that such a step is physically repellant to him, and that he is irresistibly drawn toward some other, desperate moves (which, in that case, would exclude Montenegro).