By the way, how many would rather go abroad again after these presidential elections? And how many will remain to fight for democracy, the rule of law and the independence of the media?
Brain drain has recently become a topic not only to find out why Slovaks do not want to live in their native country, but also to question the conscience of those who have left or are about to leave, whether they would rather stay instead of fleeing and fight. Do they not owe it to Slovakia or is such a life not more meaningful.
I am the author of a series of interviews with Slovaks who decided to go abroad for various reasons. After talking to many, I know that there are as many reasons to leave as there are people who leave. Some went for adventure, others for love or work, others for better education. Although they are probably all sad now to see the direction their native country is heading, not all of them were motivated by its political direction to pack their bags.
I myself live abroad and even I did not escape from Fico, Blah, Infovojna, TV Slovan or Pellegrini’s victory thanks to the below-the-belt campaign. I ran away from the person I was in Slovakia.
I don’t want to generalize, this is a personal, somewhat painful confession. But maybe others will find themselves in it and maybe those others will understand them a little.
I’m from a small town
“Without progressive rural development, Slovakia will not become a prosperous country,” reads the first sentence in the essay that opens the book by social anthropologist Juraj Buzalka entitled Post-settlers. In it, he argues that four-fifths of Slovakia is rural, although most people have already changed their role to the factory. Rather, it refers to the way of thinking and the value readiness of people who grow up in this environment.
Like most Slovak men and women, I grew up in such an environment. Where there is no discussion, but shouting. Where people meet in a pub and not in a cafe, and where more than critical thinking, common sense and political involvement are valued,
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