Unchosen obligations
“Posterity, you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.” - John Adams, 2nd President of the United States of America
American president John Adams is my favorite founding father. He was a tad arrogant at times, a bit portly (and made fun of for it), a bit prickly in attitude, but full of knowledge of many subjects (including history), full of wisdom, and a Believer. His quote, above, applies to Americans but it can be applied to all peoples over all times and the first word in that sentence – posterity – means all future generations of people.
I wonder what past generations of Macedonians would think of this present generation of Macedonians (I think the same thing about my country and past generations). How much did it cost previous generations of Macedonians to preserve the freedoms you have today? Or, perhaps the right question is, do you understand the high price paid by past generations to give you the freedoms you acquired in 1991 at independence? Have you made good use of the freedoms given to you by previous generations over the past three decades? Have you preserved those freedoms?
Looking back at past generations, it is vital to remember that you were born with unchosen obligations.
Let me expand on that somewhat odd statement.
To continue on this theme in the context of Macedonia, and past Macedonian generations, when you were born, you were born with certain obligations that you did not choose. These obligations were handed to you at birth and you have those obligations no matter where you live – in Macedonia, in the region, anywhere around the world.
And what are those obligations? To your family, to your friends, to your faith (even if you have no professed faith, you do believe in something), to your country, to your culture, to your traditions, to your history, to your…well, you get the point.
Again, this is true for everyone in my opinion. As an American citizen, I have an unchosen obligation to my family, friends, faith, country, etc. My Hungarian cousins have these obligations, and my Estonian cousins have these obligations, etc. There is nothing really new or unusual about this though I don’t see it stated as such very often as “unchosen obligations.” Usually, such things even are not mentioned.
For instance, the Macedonian Government really doesn’t dwell on such things such as obligations to each other, obligations to the past, responsibilities, etc. No, the current atmosphere in Macedonia (as is too often the case around the West today) is one of stressing “rights” and shunning both responsibilities and obligations. This is certainly the atmosphere to be found in the Government, but also in certain NGOs, the leadership of SDS and the leadership of the ethnic Albanian political parties. There is this constant talk of what citizens are “owed” instead of what citizens owe to each other and to the country. It is an atmosphere of entitlement and often, of grievance.
Entitlement and grievance, especially when expressed in public policy, in the NGO sector, in politics, is toxic, poisonous, and threatens the very foundation of any society. It saps the soul of the nation, not to mention the public purse. It breeds resentment, distrust, anger, and eventually, if it goes too far, a dissolution of society and then the state.
Macedonia is not there, at least yet, but we hear voices and see individuals talking about what is “owed” them as individuals – or as groups. Their focus is on their narrow, petty, self-interest and not that of society, or the nation, at large. You know these people.
Let me turn back to unchosen obligations and look at something positive, actually, a truth. In pursuing these unchosen obligations, there is a personal benefit for you which extends to your immediate family, your neighbors, your friends, your city, your society, your country. And it is this: you are pursuing something greater than yourself. I think most people, deep down, want meaning, a sense of purpose and self-worth. Most people know that there is more than this, more to life than simply pursuing money, fame, or power, something which those chasing entitlement and grievance are often after to the exclusion of everything else, thinking that those things matter and give them worth and meaning.
Embracing and then pursuing your unchosen obligations is actually freeing, meaningful, and worthy. How do you do this? In the context of being Macedonian it is, first and foremost, living a life which celebrates your past, especially the past generations of Macedonians who sacrificed so that you could live in a free and independent Macedonia today. It is honoring them and then working to conserve their sacrifices. It is recognizing the wrongs that have been and are being perpetrated by some Macedonians (and others) and working, now and over time, to rectify them. It is teaching your children and grandchildren about the past and why Macedonians sacrificed and for what ends they sacrificed.
And it is realizing that it will cost you something – just as it cost past generations – so that posterity, future generations, might actually know and realize that cost and then make good use of conserving, preserving your freedoms and your sovereignty. And your good name.