You don’t like excruciating tests and conditions for the acceptance into an “alpha fraternity” that lasts for weeks? It’s OK – you can apply to a “gamma fraternity”, but do bare in mind that even that fraternity has its price, maybe a bigger one than the “alpha”.
By entering a group you are giving away a part of your personal integrity; you will give them all the dishware you bought by flipping burgers at Burger King; you will have to forget about the fried turkey your mother made you because (surprise, surprise) the fraternity has an important meeting scheduled for that weekend.
And even if you give them five plates, a pot and a frying pan, the image of a juicy turkey drumstick slipping out of your hand will not leave you indifferent. You decide on giving up the fraternity. There is an alternative and it looks something like this – you sit alone in the last row in class, no one invites you to parties, the potential fraternity brothers are not setting you up with the girls from “sigma beta sororities”, you have no one to borrow notes from…
By the second semester most of the guys who decide to stay out of a fraternity realize that “flying solo” is boring. This unspoken rule doesn’t apply to the super cool, financially situated guys with Hollywood looks, a sense of humor and a solid dose of wisdom. But, those kinds of guys are rare.
Let’s not live in a fantasy land – Serbia is not rich, nor is it that much attractive to strangers in order to allow herself the luxury of flying solo. That is why it cannot identify herself with the rare lucky ones from American Colleges.
One should never forget the enormous amount of energy spent on the complex process towards the membership in a potential “fraternity” – the European Union. Do we have the right to turn our backs after 11 years of excruciating tests, promises and small but significant victory celebrations?
Unlike the American student who has the autonomy to decide for himself, the Serbian government doesn’t have that luxury. The chairs in Nemanjina Street are not hereditary – they are the ownership of the citizens of Serbia. Therefore the citizens are the ones making the decision which way will Serbia be going in the future. And in order for that decision to truly represent their mood, it is necessary to simplify for them the abstractness of the EU.
In other words, put an end to a demagogic story that EU is some kind of a utopia where everyone will prosper. Let’s not kid ourselves. Our neighboring Bulgarians and Romanians didn’t miraculously prosper, and they have been members of the European family for five years.
On the other hand, it needs to be explained why the Union is so attractive, and in such measure that not one of the member states has asked to step out of it, while a number of countries are still knocking on its door.
I am afraid that we can have the same fate as the American student who decided to isolate himself from the fraternity just to realize after a certain time that that choice wasn’t one of his best. And when he finally decides to try to join the fraternity he previously looked at, he realizes that what he left behind him is just wasted time.
He will still have to go through the same “entrance” tests, and maybe even some new one which the “alpha fraternity” accepted in the meantime, while he was reluctant on what to do next.