Beograd Prajd 2024, foto: Peščanik
Beolgrade Pride 2024, foto: Peščanik

The first mistake was to say that we would listen to the experts. As if the experts ever brought anything good to this government. Unless, of course, we understand the term “experts” in the broadest sense of the word. Because a person can be an expert in fraud, for example. Or a criminal by profession, specializing in corruption.

However, the master of all trades seems to have forgotten those professions for a moment, and he also made a mistake by not calling the experts from the disreputable universities to have a say first. Instead, he got the opinion of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and of the Faculty of Biology. And he didn’t like it. Especially when the people also started to express their opinions. Then he hastened among the ignorant to explain everything himself before the true information reached them. He did the same thing with the Belgrade Waterfront, the Slavija fountain, the mini-hydroelectric power plants on mountain streams, with Telekom, and more or less everything he imagined.

But, this time, he also brought experts to the discussion to support his claim. First of all the director of Rio Tinto because he is the most experienced in mining. It is his job, unlike fake environmentalists for whom it is merely a hobby. And he is paid by foreign investors to do it transparently, and not through back channels, like the NGO sector. So, you can say that he’s killed seven birds with one stone.

At the same time, like a good teacher, he announced the topic of examination and even hinted at the exam questions. Okay, that already sounded a bit corny, like the famous line “let’s bet a hundred marks that you’ll pass”, but the statement that he is “worried they’re not ready to invest enough money” sounded like an open request for bribes.

And now we are wondering what will happen with the digging. Will it be as Germany and America demand (lithium mining) or as Germany and America are paying for (toppling the president of Serbia)? It’s clear that there won’t be any money for us because the mining rent is low, it will take years until the mine starts to make a profit and pay rent, and lithium batteries may soon become a thing of the past like tape recorders, pagers, and drinking water.

And we are also wondering what will happen to the movement with the ominous name “We will dig” – anonymous, but already notorious. Anonymous because they hide who they are, notorious because we’ve already seen such groups during the nineties and we know how this ends. Will they expand their operations and move from imaginary lithium mining to digging not only metaphorical, but literal graves for supposed environmental terrorists, or will they move on to terrorizing infidels of all kinds?

And more importantly, if they and the government continue walking under the stars hand in hand, is it up to us to listen to another expert, Dylan Thomas, and at least not go gentle into that good night?

Translated by Marijana Simić

Peščanik.net, 11.09.2024.


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Nadežda Milenković

Nadežda Milenković, kreativna direktorka, školovala se da radi sa delinkventima, a završila kao „samohrana majka srpskog advertajzinga“. Smislila neke od najboljih slogana: „Ili jesi ili nisi“ (Lav pivo) , „Izgleda šašavo, ali mene leđa više ne bole“ (Kosmodisk), „Ako vam je dobro, onda ništa“ (Peščanik)... Radila u reklamnim agencijama: Mark-plan, Sači, Mekken, Komunis. Sve manje radi komercijalne kampanje i okreće se goodvertisingu. Na Fakultetu za medije i komunikacije vodila master kurs: Idejologija. Autorka bestseler knjige „Kako da najlakše upropastite rođeno dete“, dugogodišnje rubrike „Pun kufer marketinga“ u nedeljniku Vreme i kolumne ponedeljkom na portalu Peščanik. Poslednja knjiga: „Ponedeljak može da počne“, 2020.

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Author: Nadežda Milenković

Nadežda Milenković, kreativna direktorka, školovala se da radi sa delinkventima, a završila kao „samohrana majka srpskog advertajzinga“. Smislila neke od najboljih slogana: „Ili jesi ili nisi“ (Lav pivo) , „Izgleda šašavo, ali mene leđa više ne bole“ (Kosmodisk), „Ako vam je dobro, onda ništa“ (Peščanik)... Radila u reklamnim agencijama: Mark-plan, Sači, Mekken, Komunis. Sve manje radi komercijalne kampanje i okreće se goodvertisingu. Na Fakultetu za medije i komunikacije vodila master kurs: Idejologija. Autorka bestseler knjige „Kako da najlakše upropastite rođeno dete“, dugogodišnje rubrike „Pun kufer marketinga“ u nedeljniku Vreme i kolumne ponedeljkom na portalu Peščanik. Poslednja knjiga: „Ponedeljak može da počne“, 2020.