Speech of the Desperate Generation, Essay Example

Introduction

I cannot feel sorry for Eduard Shevardnadze and I despise his actions as a politician.

The death of the last Minister of Foreign Affairs of the former Soviet Union and second president of the Republic of Georgia for decades, Eduard Shevardnadze, had a big resonance in the social networks. It is said that one should say good words about the dead person or say absolutely nothing. The majority of my Facebook friends say good words about him, and some of them refuse to comment. Georgian and foreign politicians usually make positive statements, but it might be required for diplomatic relations. Most commentators state that Eduard Shevardnadze had an important role in delivering the reforms of perestroika and opening up towards the West. In my opinion, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs was not a reformer. He put on a “liberal” mask to carry on following the orders of mainstream communist politicians.

Whenever I think about what made Shevardnadze a “big politician” during his presidency for me, for my generation, for my parents and their parents, I cannot recall anything good. I do not speak about the international relations, but his actions that impacted people in Georgia. Many historians will debate that he was a positive figure, contributing towards the breaking up of the Eastern Bloc and the liberalization of the former Soviet states.

I cannot feel sorry for this man and despise his actions as a politician!

I wonder if he was sorry for the people who were dying of starvation during the period of his presidency. Controversially, many of those people are now mourning for him. How can I feel sorry for him when he was responsible for many people living in poverty in my country?  I remember the smell of soot of the paraffin stove we had in our home. Not central heating. The smell affected me very badly. My family only got a cheap and bad stove. The rich got a better, red one. While communism was designed for making the difference between rich and poor disappear, the reality was that there were too many poor people and only a few rich, who had a status within the Communist Party.

I also remember the terrible power schedule. You got electricity for two hours in the morning, and a few hours in the evening.  I remember how many times I had a pain in my eyes of studying for lessons or reading the books using a torch or candle. I remember my mother’s struggle to complete housework requiring electricity within her schedule.

How I remember living without water (unfortunately this problem is still not completely solved). The arrival of electricity often coincided with arrival of water, which redoubled my mother’s efforts and made her work even faster. We could not afford to buy a washing machine; I do not even mention a dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, etc.

I remember the happy faces of gangsters walking down the street in my neighborhood. I heard many times in these last days that (in Shevardnadze’s time) we were able to make money, brother! But these gangsters robbed the honest people and collected money for themselves and for their bosses. While entire Georgia was unemployed, and retired people had pension in the amount of 8 GEL (Georgian Lari equivalent of 5 USD) at best.

All these problems were originated from the actions of the government, which was led by the President. The President, who was responsible to do everything under his power, for his people, to resolve these problems, but he did not. He didn’t care about his people and I grew up like other kids of that generation; in poverty, and without hope for a better future.

Now, thieves, gangsters, former cabinet members can gather and recall how happily they lived in “Shevardnadze’s time,” They can claim that they had unlimited electricity, heating, water, money, food,  but it will be a lie. There were no positive changes for Georgian people in Shevardnadze’s time. There was no hope for a better life. He was not a reformer; he sold out his nation for a political career.

I cannot feel sorry for Eduard Shevardnadze and I despise his actions as a politician.