So what we have here is the first edition of a new newspaper called "Estonian Life". What is your first impression? What do you think of it?
Your answers will depend a lot on who you are. Are you an optimist? An idealist? A pessimist? A realist? A skeptic? A cynic?
Most reasonable people will give "Estonian Life" time to grow and develop. For them, the first impression of the paper is not very important - what matters to them is whether or not the paper can live up to their expectations in the long run.
How great are your expectations? Do you expect "Estonian Life" to provide you with what you were accustomed to reading in "Our Life" and "Free Estonian"? Would you also like the new newspaper to provide you with new ideas, to break new ground, to help you solve real problems? Do you believe that the collective experiences of Estonians during the 20th century can make a significant contribution towards making the world a more just society in the 21st century?
How old are you? If you are old enough to remember the time when young Estonians were encouraged to be idealists and optimists, there is a fair chance that you have not lost your faith in the importance of newspapers that provide new directions for those who are determined to make it increasingly difficult for the unjust, and the corrupt, and the hypocritical, and the violent to terrorize and to rule and to oppress the world.
If, on the other hand, you are an Estonian who has grown up in the years that followed World War Two, it is likely that you are less idealistic and less optimistic than the generations that preceded you because you have grown up in an Orwellian world. Your newspaper in Estonia was called "The Voice of the People" ("Rahva Hääl") but you always knew that it was, in fact, "The Voice of the (Communist) Party". And while there are more parties in the free world, it is common knowledge that most newspapers slant their coverage in ways that allow them to voice the views of the political parties that their employers support. "Don't trust anyone over thirty," said John Lennon back in the sixties and while this was obviously an oversimplification, investigative journalists since then have demonstrated that because their predecessors routinely covered up the "dark sides" of politicians and various other public figures, all reporting should be viewed with healthy skepticism, all claims should be checked out and verified and whenever we are asked to put the interests of others ahead of our own, it is important to ask: "Who benefits?"
But while "healthy skepticism" is clearly a good thing, the health of skepticism can easily deteriorate into cynicism and it is at this point that Estonians can make an important contribution to prevailing world views.
Those who know what happened in Estonia during the years when Estonia first became a free and independent Republic know how much the hard-headed, hard-working, realistic, idealistic, optimistic and altruistic Estonians were able to accomplish - despite the fact that there were people in Estonia, who were selfish and unjust and who, like their counterparts all over the world, were busy trying to undermine the democratic process in order to fill their pockets.
They failed in Estonia, because they failed in their attempts to persuade Estonians that Just Societies are Utopian dreams, that there will always be injustice and corruption and that all attempts to make the world a better place are naive, unrealistic and doomed to fail.
This is unhealthy skepticism. This is cynicism. This is a world view that keeps the Unjust in power and it is a world view that is very hard to dismantle in a disillusioned world where, as journalists and historians have repeatedly demonstrated, everyone has flaws and finding politicians who are honest, incorruptible, competent, and electable is virtually impossible.
Virtually impossible but not really impossible. In the twenties and thirties, despite - and perhaps in spite - of all the odds against them, Estonians in all walks of life accomplished in twenty short years what most societies have not managed to achieve in centuries. By carefully examining how this was done, Estonians can do it again. So can the rest of the world.
AIN SÖÖDOR
First impressions (1)
Archived Articles | 09 Jan 2002 | EWR
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Lgp. E.e.
Olen n.n. lumelind lõuna Floridas
ja ootasin huviga uue lehe ilmumist.
Esimesed numbrid on igati lootust täitvad, aga tõesti üllatavalt meeldiv
hästi organiseeritud ja palju tõsist
uudist pakkuv on E.E. interneti kodu
lehekülg.
Jatkuvat edu, Ingrid Saar
Olen n.n. lumelind lõuna Floridas
ja ootasin huviga uue lehe ilmumist.
Esimesed numbrid on igati lootust täitvad, aga tõesti üllatavalt meeldiv
hästi organiseeritud ja palju tõsist
uudist pakkuv on E.E. interneti kodu
lehekülg.
Jatkuvat edu, Ingrid Saar
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