– Gjon Bruçi –
In an exclusive interview with the newspaper DITA on June 22, 2024, a journalist poses a simple but shocking question to Professor Fatos Tarifa:
“Professor Tarifa, do you think Albania will be made?”
We say shocking because this question implies that Albania is not yet made, or that it was made but has crumbled and needs to be remade. Professor Tarifa, angered by the question, responds:
“What do you mean by these words?! Albania is being made!”
And he continues with arguments supporting his “optimistic view.”
“It is true,” says the sociology professor, “that we have waited a long time to see the desired changes in this country, we have wasted much time without doing what needed to be done, but today we have a different Albania, a changed country, and it is changing every day…”
To reinforce this “change,” the professor lists the changes made in city centres, from the north to the south of the country, referring to the “Urban Renaissance,” which was realized only by the socialists.
“Do you only see the changes made in city centres?” the journalist’s next question was.
“Of course not,” replies the professor. And he continues with arguments about the changes, listing the good and sometimes even modern infrastructure (roads, paved streets, tunnels, bridges, a contemporary electricity supply system…). And something that cannot be left unsaid, the professor continues, comparing the number of flights today with those of the ’90s…
“As I understand it,” the journalist intervenes, “you see the glass as half full…”
“Why should I see the glass as half empty?” Professor Tarifa responds…
The core of this banter about the two halves of the glass, one full and the other empty, is the philosophy of Professor Tarifa’s “optimistic” interview and many of his fellow intellectuals, who have seen and continue to see the country’s change and development in the “half full glass” they have had at their disposal, both before and after the ’90s, and never in the “other half empty” of workers, peasants, ordinary citizens and pensioners, who today rival the number of other residents in Albania.
At the end of the debate with the journalist about the two halves of the glass, “full and empty,” Tarifa somewhat acknowledges the situation and says that Albania still has many problems, and as a result, remains a relatively poor country, with a high level of corruption and organized crime. And to emphasize his stance on this situation, he reminds the journalist that he has always been a “critical voice” against Prime Minister Rama and his government.
“I think they should have done more and better, especially for pensioners and those who earn a minimum wage, before doubling their salaries a year ago!”
However, it must be said that Tarifa’s “critical voice” and that of some other intellectuals would have been much harsher if the “half full glass” they always had and want to have at their disposal did not exist.
The dilemma of “half glasses” is beautifully highlighted in the journalist’s last question about the issue of active participation of our emigrants in local and central elections. To this question, the Professor responds:
“The logistical possibilities to fulfil this right exist. But the issue is that this contingent of voters is mostly unknown, as are their sympathies and political behaviour. This unknown reality is concerning for electoral calculations, both for the ruling party and the opposition parties. The solution to this issue depends on their will. And it seems that they do not have this will…”
Here ends Professor Tarifa’s “optimistic” interview, who has no intention of elaborating further, as he risks losing the “half full glass” he has had at his disposal, both in the Socialist system and in this bourgeois “democracy.”
Unfortunately, a part of our intelligentsia, knowingly or unknowingly, has opposed the interests of citizens and aligned with the system and the politicians who manage it. Professor Tarifa, I think, is among the latter, the system’s apologists. He surely loves and respects ordinary citizens, but by living far from their daily lives, he fails to understand their troubles. And by not knowing the citizens’ troubles, he inevitably fails to recognize the great problem that Albania faces today.
Unlike Konica, who lived nearly a century ago, I, as an amateur of definitions, can confidently say that Albania was designed by the Renaissance figures, built by the communists, and is now being dismantled by the bastards of the Albanian race. Unfortunately, our professor Fatos Tarifa does not see this last part, the “dismantling.” He does not see it because since his birth until today, his foot has not stepped outside the asphalt and the boulevard tiles even for a moment. Most of his education has been completed in the developed Western states, as evidenced by his extensive use of foreign words in every spoken, written or published lecture. Professor Tarifa and his colleagues fail to see that beyond the asphalt of the “Urban Renaissance,” the life of cities and especially villages is daily heading towards extinction.
Professor Tarifa, if he cannot go to the Albanian villages, to the high mountains, to the hills, and even to the fields of Myzeqe because his shoes might get torn and muddy, should follow the almost nightly segment of journalist Marin Mema, “The Other Albania,” to understand why the young and the workforce are abandoning the country to such an extent that today there is a risk that there are more Albanians in emigration than in their native lands. But even if he is reluctant to watch the show “THE OTHER ALBANIA,” he should know that except for the tourism sector, which due to nature, hospitality and low prices, has marked significant achievements in recent years, the rest of the country’s development infrastructure is in misery and degradation. Industry, agriculture, livestock and the exploitation of above-ground and underground resources, which are the main directions of our country’s development, are either non-existent or turned back to the early Middle Ages. The same can be said for other fields of development, starting with the degraded education, corrupt healthcare, degenerated culture, and even worse, with national defence, which depends entirely on NATO’s “umbrella”; not to mention the degradation of the family, which is the foundation of a country’s society.
Above all, although three and a half decades have passed since the implementation of the “bourgeois democracy” system, Albania still does not have a rule of law where organized crime and rampant corruption are punished. All these have caused the vital part of the population to abandon the country and become refugees and labourers in others’ lands.
You, Professor Tarifa, in your interview, say that Albanians left and are leaving for a better life. But you also say that many of them today want to return, seeing the progress made and wanting to contribute to their country. This is a conjecture, as hidden and open tests show the opposite. Most Albanians, especially the young, are increasingly seeking to leave their country. A shocking example: in 2014, our country had over 42,000 high school graduates, while today in 2024, it has only 28,000 — a decline of 14,000. This clearly shows that the country is being abandoned because this abandonment cannot be stopped by the “Urban Renaissance,” but only by a TRUE RENAISSANCE in all areas of life and the harmonious development of the country’s resources.
Therefore, I believe I am correct when I write at the beginning of this article: “Albania, is it being made or unmade?” When we say “Albania,” I do not merely refer to the mountains, fields and beauties given to us by nature, but to Albania organized in a true state, with the political and economic Freedom and independence it enjoyed before the ’90s, where the directions of the country’s development were planned and realized not for the interests of oligarchs and foreign capitalists but for the interests of the Albanian people themselves!
This should and must be the position of our intellectuals, while flattery for oligarchs and mercenary politician-rulers of any type and colour is a betrayal of the country’s and people’s interests.
(Translated from the Albanian original)
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