Overeaters – None

Gordana Popsimonova

The “wildest night” is behind us. If you are asking me, all the other days and nights, in my hopeless eternal transitional homeland, are crazy in every sense of the word. I can only admit that this night was the loudest, if you have to hang up a superlative. In the peculiarities of the first New Year’s Day, I include the report from the Clinic of Toxicology – 27 cases of alcohol intoxication have been reported, overeaters – none. I repeatedly re-read the news fascinated by the statement that THERE ARE NO OVEREATERS! This alone is a political or social symbolism for the past 2017. In contrast to overridden or over-worried ones, for instance, which no one counts or records. And I know there were many of them.

No matter how much I am pleased with the fact that compared to other New Year celebrations, no one drank too much, I thought about the second part of the report – what about overeating. Well, my dear people! Perhaps the inarticulate eaters did not go to the hospital, but I’m sure there were overeaters. Perhaps you can count them on one hand, but I’m sure that the caviar came to the larynx and that they swayed from the expensive champagne. There are also those who are not overly hungry, but only well-fed. At least for those few days, as a foreplay for the post-holiday bread and butter. Thinly spread. Until next time, when we photograph our festive tables for Facebook. To let everyone see our luxury.

However, the main question is – how many were hungry and remained hungry? How many did not have a reason to celebrate and with what to celebrate it?

According to credible reports from foreign agencies (as a reminder, we still do not have a population census), the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia have the lowest wages in the region, the highest level of unemployment and the lowest index of satisfaction of living. According to those same sources, 600 thousand people all around us, or one third of the population, are living on the verge of poverty. To make the image even more tragic, about 60 percent of our children grow up and develop in greater poverty, which we often qualify as – misery. And I’m not talking about not having their own rooms or their own beds, I’m not talking about not having toys under their Christmas trees, I’m not talking about not having chocolates and candy, but about not having basic living conditions such as electricity, water, food, education.

What can expect from those children when they grow up and when their accumulated anger and rage starts showing. Most of them will end up on the streets and they will take matters in their own hands in order to survive, and there will also be ones that will try to get to a position to realize their childhood dreams – to eat until they are full.

In lack of long-term development strategy, in continuous bipartisanship when every new ruling party changes the packaging of the exact same cruel reality, we have ruined our young ones. In the past 27 years, we have made damage for the upcoming 27 years. Will we finally realize that children are our only priority and that we should think about them and work for them, above all? For them, not the voters.

Therefore, I kindly ask the ruling coalition, and even more kindly ask the opposition, to look at least ten years ahead and carefully consider whether these day-to-day political conceals and petty set-ups will get us there, or we will decide that we agree over particular directions that will lead us to prosperity. And that, whoever comes to power will not change their mind on what has been agreed.

Let’s be realistic and look truth straight into its eyes – there may not be overeaters, but there are hungry ones. Both socially and spiritually. And many of them. And to us, the last train headed to a normal life passes before our eyes.