By XHABIR DERALLA
Protagonists are without comparison different in the scale and damage they cause, but one thing connects them. Read to the end.
Vladimir Putin, Russia
He denies the existence of Ukraine, the Ukrainian national identity, history and language. He claims that Ukraine is led by Nazis, even though President Volodymyr Zelensky himself is of Jewish background, while the neo-Nazis in the country are less numbered and have no political influence, unlike the situation in other countries, such as Russia, for example. Putin claims he is conducting a “special operation” for liberating Ukraine. Just one of the notorious lies (disinformation) of his propaganda is the persistent claim that the US have laboratories for biological weapons in Ukraine.
At the same time, his army is carrying out unseen terror, with looting and destroying civilian targets. In six months, the world has witnessed thousands of war crimes, displacement, torture and massacre of civilians and rape of women and children.
Apart from the military, he is also leading one of the biggest machineries for disinformation in history. He will remain remembered as one of the most bloodthirsty leaders in human history.
Donald Trump, USA
Several investigations are being led against Trump. Inciting and organizing a coup (January 6, 2021), obstruction of justice, destruction or concealment of records “with the intention to obstruct or influence” federal government activity, violations of the Espionage Act, tax evasion. And much more.
It is known that he doesn’t hide his admiration for Putin. He came to power in 2016 under extremely suspicious circumstances, but blocked the investigation of security agencies regarding foreign influence in the election process.
He called the 2020 elections, organized during the rule of his administration, an election fraud, without any evidence, and tried to prevent the transition of power through violence. All the controversies related to his actions as a politician who has become known for spreading disinformation and hate speech, haven’t prevented him from calling his political rival, President Biden, “an enemy of the state”. He has called the FBI and the Justice Department “malicious monsters”.
Opposition and “neutrals”, North Macedonia
They claim that they support the Euro-Atlantic integration, yet with all their actions and political activities they only show that they are anti-Western and pro-Russian structures. The intensity of all the disinformation they use is proportional to the intensity of the nationalism they promote and practices whenever they can. The speed with which they go from latent to ultra-nationalism surpasses the speed of sound many times.
In times of war, economic and energy crisis, drought, lack of food and climate change, they blame the government for raising the price of electricity. A recent example, “innocent” compared to a number of others: They accuse the government of having spent “people’s” money for the wine fair (Open Balkans). 400 wine producers from 22 countries in the world participated in the fair (47 from North Macedonia). A great opportunity to promote Macedonian production, tourism, culture…
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Many instances and examples of how the loudest are precisely those whose credibility has been shaken or completely lost, can be listed in all three stories.
The meaning of the term credibility
According to the Official digital dictionary of the Macedonia language, credibility is a “quality of the one who has, who deserves trust”.
The Etymology Dictionary in English defines credible as something “believable, worthy of belief, capable of being believed, involving no impossibility; of known or obvious veracity or competence”. This meaning is found in literature in the late 14th century and comes from the Latin word credibilis “worthy to be believed,” from credere “to believe” (credo).
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These notes were written early in the morning on September 5, 2022, before the very start of the workweek and the start of the school year. An excellent occasion to also call it a start for all those who want to get to know the world as it is, and not as those without credibility would like to present it. Why wait until next Monday or the next school year? We can start now.
Translation from Macedonian: N. Cvetkovska
