Pride is All Very Well, but a Sausage is a Sausage: Ogden on Tolerance

OPED

Whenever Georgia makes the international news and people ask me why I live in Georgia, I know that my expression changes and I begin to look like Michael Bay enduring an interview about his latest awful film; cringing, yet defiant. I assure them that Georgia is a fine place to live, really, despite what they may have heard...and what they have heard will universally have been something negative.

The fabled stories of Georgian hospitality and friendliness matter little and less when the only thing that people associate with Georgia is an attack on a vegan cafe; likewise, the tales of the Georgian warrior spirit will raise eyebrows when so many Georgians turned up to violently assault the anti-homophobia rally a few years ago.

(One thing that Georgian men don’t seem to understand is that being Georgian doesn’t necessarily make them tough. I’m prepared to believe it about Georgian boxers, rugby players and soldiers, but not about hordes of young men who are only brave when they are many and their targets are few and unlikely to put up much of a fight; as much as I support the rights of vegans and gay people, they’re not groups one associates with fighting prowess: try attacking a group of Royal Marines or the Cuban boxing team, why don’t you?)

I’m not disturbed by violence in itself; as I mentioned in these pages a few weeks ago, England is far worse for street fights than Georgia (or anywhere else, for that matter). A brawl and a stabbing are par for the course for the UK these days, and it’s accepted as being normal; however, acts of violence like the attack on the vegan cafe or on the anti-homophobia rally are frightening because they are far from mindless.

I personally have little understanding of vegans. Beef, eggs and bacon are far too good to be neglected, and after all, we only live once, so the vegan lifestyle is something I believe I am biologically incapable of attempting. The truth is, I don’t particular care what they do providing it doesn’t affect me. I might become irate if a gay man was bothering me the way Turkish men bother my wife on Facebook, or if people were keeping meat away from me, but what people do in their personal lives should be up to them, and if they want to have a rally celebrating whatever it is they do, well...good luck and have fun, chaps, but I’m off for a steak and a pint with the wife.

Tolerance doesn’t mean endorsement or active support, it just means putting up with things. Georgians claim they are tolerant, but as with their understanding of concepts like victory, their definition of the term is somewhat different to ours. Providing things aren’t on public display and done in private, they are prepared to grudgingly put up with them; however, if something too out of the mainstream is too visible, a problem arises.

Fairly obvious conclusions, you’ll agree, but the government needs to crack down on all this quickly. Georgia’s visa liberalization prospects are already on the rocks due to EU migration fears, but incidents like this are not going to help. The stereotypical perception of Eastern Europeans in the West is far from positive, and it’s surprising how often stereotypes find their way into influencing higher authority.

The fallout from the attack on the vegan cafe is just as concerning as the act itself. Residents of the neighbourhood rallied behind the aggressors - they being ‘normal’ Georgians – but worse yet, so seemingly did the police. I recall mentioning in an earlier article my high opinion of the police in this country, but my perception has been damaged by this and another recent incident in which two friends of mine – an Englishman and an American – were confronted by a knife-wielding Georgian. The police were called, but on arrival they didn’t seem to care too much about the fate of two foreigners, with one telling my American friend ‘This is Georgia’. I’m not sure if he was just trying to do a Gerard Butler impression from ‘300’ or if he was sincere, nor am I sure which of those is the most worrying.

As ever, the horizon of my word limit has loomed. I shall finish my thoughts next week and deal with whatever else comes to light over this incident. In the meantime, friends, stay tolerant. And I never, ever imagined I’d say that.

Headline quote by Terry Pratchett.

Tim Ogden