Dear friends!

New Year and Christmas are on the threshold! Nice, spiritual and chocolate time! We have become one year smarter, more experienced and beautiful. Each person – in his own spheres. Each person – in her own way.

     We have become richer. By smiles of parents and friends. By interesting meetings and captivating books. Blogs, concerts and trips. By unusual ideas and tasty recipes. By honestly earned wages, pensions, profit and interest.

            We have become nobler. We have been fighting for freedom. We have been defending heroes who are in prison for their views and ideas. We have been helping the weak to become strong. We have been teaching those who are thirsty for knowledge to understand life. We have been thanking for honesty and bravery. We have been condemning treachery and lies, meanness and toadying.

            We have become more reasonable. We believe less in what liars and propagandists, utopians and false prophets claim. We believe more in what we see with our own eyes, in real price tags in shops rather then shameless TV. We have learnt to understand that runaway GDP growth and the growth of our personal income are not the same phenomena. We have seen that “social policy Belarusian way” is when pensioners and school children’s benefits are liquidated but monopolists and swindlers keep theirs.

            Not everybody has become richer, nobler and more reasonable. There were people who tossed about their rich houses without friends and family ambiance. There were people who drowned their conscience in alcohol and drugs. There were many of those who tried to become rich lying on the sofa, who protected their personal rights and Belarus in their kitchens. Safe and cost-free way they seem to believe. We still meet those who in the heat of the debate use the final argument “I have heard it on TV” or “I have read it in a newspaper”.

There are still people who gloat over demonstrators and political prisoners. They softly argue, “Well, they are themselves to blame”. There are people who are still optimistic about the fate of our home made economic “miracle”. We are in the difficult process of getting rid of bad habits like “it-is-none-of-my-business”, “maybe-this-is-the-way-it-should-be” or “there-is-no-war–what-else-to-wish-for”. We are feeling changes through prices and pockets, the stomach and the behind. The transformation of the Belarusian “sovok” (homo sovieticus) from the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic into a citizen of the independent Republic of Belarus is slow but it is going on.

            The New Year is on our threshold. New hopes and dreams. A fresh look at the old. Traditional taste with new shades. May the year of 2008 become the year of truth, the year without fear and obloquy.

            Tell a traitor that he is a traitor, to a liar – that he lies, to a thief – that she is a thief, to a lazybones that he is a fast liver. Even if you are saying it looking in the mirror. Truth is often bitter and unpleasant. However, it is the most reliable way to the harmony with the outside world. With yourself.

            The truth begins from a remark to a teenager to stop being rude to adults, to stop littering and spitting out in the hall. It starts with a fair evaluation of the performance of a doctor, teacher, salesman or a builder. With fair self-evaluation. It starts with an urge directed at a state employee and a politician to stop lying, plundering and to start respecting other person’s point of view. May the year of 2008 become the year of TRUTH!

            May the year of 2008 become the year without fear. Without fear to acknowledge and to tell the truth, to stop a cad, a thief and immoral dirt. Without fear to leave behind slavery and sovok-like attitude to life. Without fear to admit “I have been wrong”. Without fear to challenge laziness and vanity. Without fear to say “I am with you” to a brave heart and a knight, to a fighter for his and our freedom. Without fear to look ridiculous for your achievement, reason and industriousness. May the year of 2008 become the year WITHOUT FEAR! Without fear and obloquy.

            Crumble some bread to sparrows. Smile to a stranger. Assist a passer-by in crossing the street. Help your neighbor to carry her heavy bags. Take your son to a football game. Please your wife with freshly squeezed juice in the morning. Enjoy the beauty of every day. There will not be another one like it in your life. Create events! Support your compatriots. Say or write good words to patriots! Be proud to feel the elbow of your brothers-in-arms in the fight for freedom. Become the man of 2008! With TRUTH, WITHOUT FEAR and OBLOQUY. In harmony of reason, heart and soul. It is a liberal way to celebrate New Year - and live it through on the high wave until the very last drop.

Happy New Year!

Yours in liberty,

Jaroslav Romanchuk