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You always hear about them, some gossip here, some mails there, but who are these people that are sitting in an office somewhere in Brussels? Network Director threatening to downgrade your antenna? Financial Director refusing reimbursement? Is the Comité Directeur truly made out of people from flesh and blood? Yes, they are and now you will get the unique opportunity to get to know them better. I have conducted a series of interviews with every CD member. Every week you will be able to read them talking about dreams, fears, idealism, love and money. Get to know their true faces!
In this issue: Agata Patecka, the President of AEGEE-Europe talks about idealism and dictatorship!
Michael: You are the president of AEGEE-Europe, why are you doing this?
Agata: Some people had a huge trust in me and they decided to elect me at Agora Magusa, but my inner motivation was simply, how I would call it, the huge idealism I have.
M: What is idealism about?
A: It is something really connected with the idea why I am in AEGEE. I remember when I was in high school, it was the first time I’ve heard about AEGEE from a friend of mine. She was very active in AEGEE-Poznan and when she told me what AEGEE is doing and what it is the idea behind it, how young people can really contribute to the integration of Europe. We can make this small but significant change in the world around us. It is something that really caught my attention. It is the place where I want to be and it is what I want to do.
M: How would you like to change the world and has your perception of change evolved from the one you’ve had in high school?
A: When you are a teenager, in this time of your life you are usually an extreme idealist. Now I am maybe a bit more realistic, but right now from the president’s perspective I can see that we can change something. Being in AEGEE gives us the possibilities to contribute to, let’s say, Youth Policies. It is a real impact to your lives. When it comes to providing some visa facilitation for people living in countries that are still not so connected to the European Union, we can help them.
M: But let’s go away a little from AEGEE, what is your idealism per se about?
A: Imagine that that what I call the ideal world is something mostly about people’s attitude. One of the first things you are thinking about as a human being is the society around you. The community, the people who are around you. No matter what kind of action you are thinking about it has an impact on the people around you. It is about being an egoist or not. For example: how do we use the resources we have? For now we are living in a world with an exaggerated consumptionism. People are buying stuff, stuff, stuff… which they are not using. But still we are simply using the resources that Mother Earth is giving to us, but it is not so easy to give them back! We are producing a lot of waste and the natural balance is not working well.
M: You have mentioned egoism and consumptionism, do you think it is possible not to be egoistic?
A: Right now we are egoistic in a sense that we are thinking only about our own generation, not about the people that will live here after us. It is good if you enjoy the present, carpe diem, but for sure we need also something like a long-term plan! What will we give to the future generations?
M: You are mentioning the whole generation, is it still egoism if we are thinking about a whole generation and not only about ourselves?
A: The point is that you are an egoist if you are not thinking about what will happen next. If you are trying to use the resources that are available for you in 100%.
M: How do you think you can change people’s attitudes?
A: That is of course one of the hardest and most challenging tasks: to change people’s attitudes, because you can simply not do it. You can only raise awareness and somehow make them more sensitive to the problem. The only person whose attitude you can change is your own. You may try to provide some kind of impulses, but it is only the person himself or herself that can change the attitude.
M: How can we make a person to change him/herself? Isn’t brainwashing?
A: Well, not brainwashing, but simply raising awareness, informing them. To make people know what is happening.
M: People may become aware of the problem, but they might still disagree with the need to change. Can we go further in order to influence them more, so that they really change their attitudes? Or are you only going to inform them and leave the final decision to them as well?
A: It is like Matrix! You are getting two pills and the choice is yours! But at least you can do something through informing people, although you may not reach 100% of them. Some of them will probably ignore you, some of them might smile at your face, some will probably start thinking “hmm maybe there is something into what he is saying?” and a few of them will virtually change something in their lives.
M: What about the rest?
A: Idealism vs. realism. You are aiming high, trying to reach the peak of 100%, but then you are just coming back to the reality and you are reaching just some part of the audience. But comparing to level zero, there is still a big improvement! It is some kind of snowball effect, because these people, who have changed their attitude will think: “hey, maybe now it is my turn to change other people too…”
M: If you ask young people, teenagers, most of them are showing some kind of idealism. Do you think that the past generations were more idealistic than the present one is?
A: I would say that it depends very much on the times these generations are living in. Each generation has its own challenges. If you talk about people living 40-50 years ago, most of them were striving for living in a democratic society. Also in my country there was the Solidarity movement and people would even risk their own lives for this idealism. So it depends on the country, on the generation… there are always many types of challenges. But now the aim of many people’s lives is to get a fancy gadget and after just few months they are thinking that it is not fancy enough… so they need another one that would be even more fancy. So it is only buying, and buying, and buying… but what about other things in life? What about other aims? I think that many people are not thinking about it!
M: So would you agree that people were fighting for freedom and democracy, but after they’ve got it, they’ve lost all their idealism and decided to live only for consumption? Is this what democracy gave them?
A: Democracy gives you the possibility to decide, to have a choice. It is one of the most dangerous moments, when you give people the possibility to decide. It is powerful and it is dangerous. It is the trickiest part of democracy.
M: Do you like the idea of taking the risk and giving people the power to decide or would you prefer to stay on a safe path?
A: After all, I am in favour of giving people a choice. Of course, because this is what democracy is about. You can have a certain aim that you want to achieve and you give people the choice and they decide to go for another option. This is what democracy is about, people make their decision. The final result is up to them and they have to bear the consequences. If you are an idealist, you may want to follow your way of thinking and there you might face a little conflict: your idealism vs. freedom of choice in democracy. You could ask so many questions: what works better for reaching your aim: following democracy or dictatorship?
M: What works the best for you?
A: In my ideal world, people are able to make an informed choice.
Written by a guest blogger Michael Makowiecki