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28 LITERATÛRZINÂTNE, FOLKLORISTIKA, MÂKSLA
talitarian while pretending to be something else entirely, Havel terms it
post–totalitarian:
The post–totalitarian system touches people at every step, but does so
with its ideological gloves on. This is why life in the system is so thoroughly
permeated with hypocrisy and lies: government by bureaucracy
is called popular government; the working class is enslaved in the name
of the working class; the complete degradation of the individual is pretended
as his ultimate liberation; depriving people of information is
called making it available; the use of power to manipulate is called the
public control of power, and the arbitrary abuse of power is called observing
the legal code; the repression of culture is called its development;
the expansion of imperial influence is presented as support for the oppressed;
the lack of free expression becomes the highest form of freedom;
farcical elections become the highest form of democracy; banning
independent thought becomes the most scientific of world views; military
occupation becomes fraternal assistance. Because the regime is captive
to its own lies, it must falsify everything. It falsifies its past. It falsifies
the present, and it falsifies the future. It falsifies statistics. It pretends
not to possess an omnipotent and unprincipled police apparatus. It pretends
to respect human rights. It pretends to persecute no one. It pretends
to fear nothing. It pretends to pretend nothing. 4
The main difference in the psychology of the newcomers and the basic indigenous
population of Latvia was the fact that the former believed into this ideology and the
latter did not. The question that emerges is this: if they believed in this ideology, was
it because it was convenient to believe in it, or was it the result of naiveté and lack of
education? This is a very delicate question. One can answer it frankly only deep down
in one’s own heart. If the belief in this ideology was genuine, it grew out of insufficient
knowledge, or lack of education. It proves that Russia was colonising neighboring
territories that had generally reached a higher level of development than Russia
itself. If, on the other hand, the answer is that it was a matter of convenience to believe
in this ideology, then the talk about theory of “liberation” and “rendering fraternal
help” collapses automatically. This brings about the feeling of uneasiness that
occasionally springs up between two groups: one of whom has been telling lies, and
the other one who was forced to pretend to believe them.
This is why the postcolonial syndrome in Latvia has its own specific features:
1. After Latvia regained its independence the new–comers did not leave the country,
like in “classical” colonial states such as India, Algeria etc. Instead they remained,
trying to live on keeping appearances, pretending that nothing has happened,
that they are still living in the same country as before (i.e. USSR). This
feeling is supported by the informative space they live in. And that is why they
often keep presenting the loss of their privileges as the oppression of minorities,
or a violation of human rights.
2. The native population in its turn is also caught up in deception. They treat the
new–comers as if they do not exist at all and ignore them, regarding their prob-