Quoting it Up

What's left of Orange Ukraine?

Any social agent who gives up the old model of behaviour and accepts the new one, i.e. plays by the rules rather than with the rules, risks being the main loser if nobody follows suit. The situation resembles the final episode of Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs". Three gangsters keep their guns against each other's heads and cannot put their weapons down, since the first to do so will perish.

Ukraine's identity problems and societal divisions not only facilitate this spoiling activity, making the country vulnerable vis−à−vis external influences and manipulations. They complicate democratic transition in multiple ways. First, they lower social trust and undermine social cohesion; second, they secure the survival of bad politicians who otherwise would have been defeated at the nearest election, but instead are rescued by the electorate as "our bad guys"; and third, by the same token, they encourage the "siege mentality" and limit the scope and agenda of political and ideological discussions. Indeed, they "inject identity politics into everything, making compromise difficult." [11] They support quasi−war conditions that make sober decisions and reasonable behaviour more difficult.