If you Wanna Change the Country, Change Yourself

           Recently I have come across an article in an English-language magazine What's On Kyiv  written by Neil Campbell, a British, who is a publisher and a chief editor of this weekly publication, and I certainly can’t play it cool. His article itself is a reply to the story in this magazine regarding the decline of Ukraine’s population. The author gives us an explanation for the state of things we have in Ukraine, including the corruption, the money-grabbing, a complete disregard for others, having grudges against each other, and the desire to leave the country.

It can be said that Campbell’s opinion is grounded – he keeps in touch with many young Ukrainians, who being asked about life in Ukraine keep answering without fail : “We want to leave…”. Isn’t it a reminiscent of your own thoughts, or, at the very least, the thoughts of your associates? Than, he continued by saying that, ironically, the Ukrainians who are complaining and are eager to leave, are the same Ukrainians who are guilty for the above mentioned negative traits – the root of the problems stems exactly from us, Ukrainians!  Personally, I share the author’s opinion that in most cases we do not do anything – we close our eyes on some problems, live with them instead of doing something about them all. He also stresses that as a substitute for a shrug of the shoulders (for instance, when we are witnesses of someone’s bad behaviour) and a sigh of “this is Ukraine”, as if excuses everything, we have to learn not to be reconciled to such behavior, on the contrary, we have to show that we are resistant to it! I am inclined to think that we have to realise our own involvement with our country and the society we live in. What is more, I absolutely agree with the Campbell that the best remedy for our problems is to do our best to change ourselves and the people around us, not with anger, but with kindness.

There are millions of details to think of, but it worth being mentioned one more time – Ukrainians, don’t be indifferent – every effort is priceless, together we can make the difference and make our motherland a better place. 

        If you're interested in Neil Campbell's article, you're more than welcome to visit this site:
http://www.whatson-kiev.com/?go=News&in=view&id=15050