By: Medina Malagic
‘’Man cannot live without a permanent trust in something indestructible within himself, though both the indestructible element and also the trust may remain permanently concealed from him’’. –Franz Kafka
This indestructible element found within every human being is the quest for self-realization, for an individual identity that is free from the overwhelming and overbearing external constraints imposed on individuals since the inception of the now dominant capitalist system of governance several centuries ago. The actual problem arises when this quest for self-identity is confronted with the world around the individual and attempts to forge a link with the world, society and with other people. The type of yearning for freedom and the attempts to assert an individual expression of the self that is inherent in all human beings has been subordinated, exploited and repressed for centuries.
In my interview with Saidin Salkic, an artist from B&H who now lives in Australia, this ‘indestructible element’ is demonstrated in his belief in the strength of humankind, that regardless of all the colossal problems we face today, people can never be actually turned into robots, to be immutably conditioned to serve the needs of an elite minority.
The writer, painter and filmmaker espouses an idea which embodies his vision of the world, how we can productively relate to it and one another without losing our free and individual identities as the solution to all the ills of the world today. It is the electronic form of government.
Saidin expresses the deep frustrations of the majority of people in this world, but he goes a step further and offers a solution he calls the ‘neodemocratic electronic government’, which he says is feasible to implement to replace the old systems of governance that have continue to keep people chained and feeling powerless.
‘’I think this is the next evolution of governing, which would be the dehumanization of government, actually resulting in humanization, where every person gives his/her vote and it is calculated and not taken up by somebody who puts the vote in the corner of their consciousness and does what they want with it. This could ignite the evolution of the human being. People will see that their vote counts and will take themselves more seriously, realize that they have the power. This will ignite the revolution’’, said Saidin.
With every revolution throughout history, the struggle of people against dominant and destructive institutions has only led to the establishment of a new status quo, which is the ultimate mechanism of disempowerment, that strips people of their power and takes them further away from realizing their true potentialities. It is Saidin’s firm belief in the power of the human spirit to evolve self-consciousness and come to an understanding of the world around them, which serves to empower people and induce them to realize that a new cycle of change can begin, one that doesn’t merely exchange those in power that ends up upholding our current debilitating social, political and economic paradigms.
‘’What people can do is develop the awareness that real change is really possible. They can enrich that awareness of what is possible, because this is about real revolution and change. When they develop that awareness and the possibility for change and what that change can be, they will understand it fully and would then be ready when the time comes to make a move, and it will be obvious to them when that time comes’’.
According to Saidin, a concept of electronic governance with no institutional hierarchy is ‘’humanization’’, in the sense that its very foundation vests power and freedom to people. This is something that is not a core element in today’s democracies, where people are merely provided with the illusion that they are free through practices such as voting, where our thoughts, actions and needs are determined by societal norms and impositions, become internalized and what is expected of us, and not what we actually want out of our lives, becomes our driving force in life. ‘’Nobody needs to govern anyone anymore’’, says Saidin, and adds that this form of governance has left us with a ‘’social misery’’ where our freedom is ‘’banalized’’.
In contrast to the voting that takes place today and its losing significance as a force for elected representative to do their jobs, Saidin asserted that electronic voting would actually give people the power of the vote, where their thoughts and wishes would be freely expressed. ‘’People would have a say as to what is good for them and not just for the elite. It is about changing the essence of the problem’’.
He says that this is why this idea has the chance for a real revolution, because substantial changes would result from it. ‘’We would exercise this concept and try to test it within certain spaces, such as schools and universities, and then we would expand our space and continue to test this idea. There is a lot of work to be done, but the light is there. All we have to do is work for it. It is not very hard. Rather, it is a very straightforward idea. That is why it is so beautiful. I am telling people about this idea and they are all for it because they are able to envisage it. So we hope to get as much help as we can because we need it, since this is something for all of us’’.
Saidin firmly believes that neo-democratic electronic government is an alternative solution that ‘by its nature, would exclude the possibility of the repetition of Hitler, Stalin or any other more distant or recent historical madman’. It is about reinventing government through the harnessing of our technological advancements whose aim is to put power back into the hands of people, to create the conditions that would lead to a social, political, economic and cultural system that is conducive to the full development of genuine individuality and freedom.
