Dozens of statues in every direction in the center of Skopje
He asked me how I liked the statues in the center of Skopje. When I hesitated he said, "I hate them. It's ridiculous." He began winding up toward a speech. "We have no trains, the buses are old. The bridges are crumbling. But we have statues everywhere. Who needs them? I don't!"
He went on about the corruption and stupidity that has dogged his country since the fall of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. "Under Tito we had the best two decades in that past century. Maybe ever. Tito falls. Capitalism is not so good for us. Under Tito, the government worked. Now....." he shrugged.
Then he straightened up, his blue eyes flashed, he smiled and said, "But you guys elected Trump. At least we did not vote for someone who bragged about being corrupt. He showed you who he is, and you elected him."
I could only agree. In "On Tyranny" Timothy Snyder recommends making friends in countries that have suffered under authoritarian rule. They know what's coming. Ferdi's words echoed the Russian emigre writer Masha Gessen who said we should believe the tyrant when he says what he will do.
We talked about Bernie Sanders. As with other people I have spoken to in Europe, they all think Sanders is Trump's ticket to life rule. "If Trump runs against Sanders, democracy ends. Maybe it already has."
As I left I passed a lot of statues and some very old buses.
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