It is only recently that i have heard the phrase economic patriotism being tossed around the Serbian media. Interesting is who is doing the aforementioned tossing. The answer is: employers union of Serbia. And, basically, what this unity of well-off individuals, super powerful tycoons, corporate dirt bags and your everyday slave drivers are saying is ask not what your company can do for you, but what you can do for her.
After the worst economic crisis in modern history, Serbia, among other countries, is, allegedly, starting to feel the slow restoration of its economic system. The employers have fired or forcibly retired enough of their workers to once again start threading the familiar paths of unlimited growth. However, once again we are faced with an obstacle. The one that threatens to, once again, destroy the fragile economic system such as Serbia’s. This new enemy is called H1N1, or better known for its more sinister name, Swine Flu. Now, in the eyes of the employers union of Serbia this swine flu is just another obstacle on the road to projected profit. And it is physically attacking and incapacitating the resource they so adamantly protect and enshrine. Their workers. And they didn’t sit idly by and watch as their workers are being swept away from their workplaces. No, they decided to appeal to the very core of our solidarity. Our Patriotism. But, they are talking about a very specialized kind of patriotism. The one committed to the welfare of your company, thus, indirectly, to the welfare of your country.
Of course this appeal has been made in the truest Serbian tradition. statements such as "...those that get sick should stay home and get better, but there will be a number of people that are taking sick leave out of fear. Then we will see who is the true economic patriot and who is not" are infused with the sense of inescapable ancestral scorn for those that betray the god and country. The failure to answer the call of duty has a price that we will all pay. The price of 10.5 million Euros per month.
So, fellow countrymen, This is what we can do for our country. And corporation.
