National Happiness

OP-ED

Historically speaking, Georgia’s struggle for national independence and freedom, which has taken centuries, if not millennia, has never ended. The job is not yet done, so to speak, but we must admit that every drop of blood spilled in that endless struggle and every bead of sweat condensed on our weathered body to that end was worth it, because the twosome of freedom and independence make up Georgia’s main national idea in concert. It is like childbirth – long awaited for, painful, and on the verge of life and death. It is also well conceived that making this ambitious and poignant statement is much easier than inculcating it in real life. The signs of our national freedom and independence occasionally appear like a mirage, to disappear before we start enjoying it for real.

What is national freedom and independence in general and what does it look like today? In regular terms, it is the stable geopolitical status of a nation within which every political, economic and cultural decision is made independently from the rest of the world, but is put to life in active and mutually beneficial cooperation with other nations. As simple as that! Does Georgia hold that status now? Unlikely, as we completely and absolutely depend on what the rest of the world wants from us. This might be the status of scores of nations but somebody else’s status is not a big helper for us except that we can calm ourselves that we are not alone after all.

The liberated European visa might sound like a whiff of freedom and independence but to what possible extent? What does it give us practically, in the long run? We once enjoyed that kind of freedom even within the closed autocratic state called the USSR – we were free enough to travel one-sixth of the world, needing our passports only when booking accommodation. This new visa freedom is a far cry from genuine national freedom and independence: it is merely an elementary contemporary travel comfort and not a very legal chance of changing residence.

Real national freedom and independence would probably be sitting with Russia, as recognized equals, at the negotiating table and getting back our occupied lands as a result of the effort; it would also be seeking our territories, previously lost to some of our neighboring countries, and getting them back as a consequence of the reinstatement of historical geopolitical justice; it might be the precise demarcation of our borders so that even a tiny bug could not fly over without our permission; it could well be the will and the power not to send our boys and girls to somebody else’s wars because we need them alive for our own demographic and economic reasons and purposes; this could be presenting Georgia to the world as politically neutral, keeping at bay all those international biggies and bullies; it might also be having unrestricted opportunity for free exchange of qualitative Georgian goods and services with other nations without being intimidated by insurmountable rules and regulations and blood draining monopolies; and finally, this should be living without an imposed direct dictate of the most powerful determiners of our lifestyle and status.

Oh, what a pain in the neck! But this was just the fruits of short-lived hypothetical meditation; in reality, the phenomenon of national freedom and independence is rapidly and drastically changing its image and content. And if this is so, why should we not rename our main national idea for a change, which we have always known to be ‘National Freedom and Independence’? Let us make it a little simpler now, say, ‘National Happiness’ and serve it in good faith. Wouldn’t this be wonderful?

Nugzar B. Ruhadze