Life in Kyiv, Ukraine

John vs Barak: A choice from Ukraine

An editorial called “An Obama presidency” states  “Whoever wins, Ukraine will have a friend in the White House” in the last “Kyiv post”.  It is common view in Ukraine and I couldn’t agree more. Nevertheless, I want to find a broader prospective.

Tthe global world has only one superpower – United States of America. We have seen that in global economic crisis. We have also seen that through major decisions taken by a democratic world in last couple of decades. To tell the truth, any major initiative has little chance to become truly global without US support (remember about Kioto protocol). Obviously, the way America goes after the election is going to affect every country.  

All three rounds of presidential debates were exciting. So exciting, that I have imagined  my own debates with two prominent speakers.  I became Jim Lehrer and other TV guys. Here is a result of my imagination:

Lyubomyr:  Nice to meet you gentlemen. John. Barak.

 Tonight we have two major blocks to discuss: domestic policy and international affairs. After each block I will provide my comments on your ideas.

Please be aware that any direct critics of the opponent will be excluded from my report. The same rule applies to general political answers, we don’t want to hear that. Please be as specific as possible.  Use bullet points expressed in a clear way. You may jump from one point to another without going into the details. Transitions and general linking phrases are not neccessary.

 At the end of the discussion you will get a chance to express general ideas and talk about your motivation to become the President of the United Sattes. Those last words will be published without any comments.

John: OK

Barak: Ok

Lyubomyr: Let us start with domestic policies. Please list your key priorities in economy.

John:  I will cut taxes for everyone. We need to stop spending and I know how to do it. Our first priority is to get houses value back. Energy independence is important.

Barak: I will provide tax cuts middle class. 95% of working Americans will receive tax breaks. We need to focus on jobs, I will provide tax credit for company’s creating jobs in USA. We need to fix energy problem, fix health care, invest in education. Big problem is deregulation, market is not that efficient.

Lyubomyr: Let us give some more details about the most vital thing, about the tax policy

Johh: I have 52 billions in tax cuts for economy. Seniors will receive tax breaks. Our business tax is second highest in the world.

 I will help Joe, the plumber, by providing 50% tax breaks to small businesses.

Barak: I have 60 billion in tax cuts for middle class. 95% of American families will receive tax cuts.  In fact, If you make less than 250 000 a year you will not see a single dime of new taxes.

Nobody likes taxes.  Ultimately we need some taxes for  the investment. Rich people and corporations have to pay a little bit more.

Lyubomyr: Please be more specific about your attitude to spending.

Jonh: We need to cut spending. I know how to do it, I have fought agaist spending.

I would have, first of all, across-the-board spending freeze. Particularly, we will look into some military contracts.

Barak: We do need a scalpel instead of hatchet to spending programs. I make sure we focus on the programs that work.

Lyubomyr: How are you going to solve energy problem ?

John: We have to stop sending 700 billions a year to the countries that don’t like us very much. Imported oil is a national security issue. We can drill offshore and we can drill right now.

We need to build  45 nuclear plants in America. Nuclear  power is safe and clean. And it creates hundred thousand of jobs.

Barak: Energy – we have to deal with it today. If I become a President,  in 10 years we will free from energy dependence.

No longer borrowing 700 billions a year  from China and sending them to Saudi Arabia.

If we create new economy we got to invest in solar, wind. Nuclear energy is only part of that.

We have 3% of reserves and we use 25% of world’s oil. Everyone of us should start thinking about the way we may save energy in our homes. We need to use fuel efficient cars. We will create green jobs.

Lyubomyr: How about health care ?

John: We got to leave choice for American people in choosing insurance. I will provide 5000 refundable tax credit.

Barak: I make sure that we have a health care system that allows for everyone to have basic coverage. If you have health insurance, then you don't have to do anything. If you don't have health insurance, then we provide you the option of buying it from the federal pool.

Lyubomyr: Gentlemen, I would like to briefly comment on your proposals, before we proceed to the international affairs.

First of all, we understand that domestic policy was the most important block.  It is a key to the presidency..

 Speaking about taxes, equal attitude always seems more honest to me. I don’t understand why I should pay more if I had work harder. Neither Joe, the plumber, does by the way. In fact, if I am simply smarter than other guy, why does  a government make us equal ?

 Think about the situation where I make 270 000 a year before tax. Then, after taxation my net income becomes 250 000, the same as  another guy’s income, who makes 250 000 and pays no tax. What is my incentive to work harder ?  I believe that America is about reward for hard work. Iit should never not become follow Sweden, in trying to take away money from the best citizens. .

 And more thing – market might not be 100% efficient, but it is certainly much more efficient than any governmental control. So, Barak you have to be very careful and very specific while speaking of more government regulation in economy.

Secondly, I want to comment on spending attitudes. John, Let us be honest here – you cannot just say that all spending can be stopped. It just never happens. 

On the other  hand, spending does needs significant and fast reform. Barak, if you analyze the programs – you’d better make it a top priority.

Third, it is the energy problem. Barak, I am impressed with your attitude and I give you all my support in this issue.  The whole world thrives for a new  dramatic change in energy consumption. In my opinion, the way out of energy trap for Americans starts in energy saving by every household and continues in investing in alternative powers.

Guys, I will not comment on health care, because I don’t understand much about it.

Thus, it means we are done with major internal issues. Now, please state you most important priorities in foreign policy of United States of America:

Barak:

 I don’t understand how we ended up invading  country which had nothing to do  with 9/11

We need direct talk not only with our allies but with our enemies

We need to see things around the corner, anticipate things before they challenges happen

We need some additional troops in Afganistan

Doubling Piece Corps

Mobilize international community and lead

We must bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end

Restore trust to America in the world. This is our moment to renew the trust and faith of our people -- and all people -- in an America that battles immediate evils, promotes an ultimate good, and leads the world once more.

John:

 You don’t sit down to talk with our enemies without preoccupations

Iran is the threat to the whole middle East

Afganistan:  We need go out and secure and allow people live normal life.

We will bring our troops with honor and victory, not with defeat.

I looked in Putin’s eyes and I saw 3 letters “KGB”

We got to show moral support to Ukraine and advocate their way to NATO

Ukraine and Georgia are gateways of energy to Europe

USA is a greatest force of good in the world.

We have to temper our abilities.

 I know tough situations; I have been in them all the time.

Lyubomyr: John, thank you for mentioning Ukraine. I also know that you have visited Ukraine many times and view our country as a major partner to US.

 However, I deeply am upset with your attitude to foreign affairs. You sound exactly like George Bush. The true is that his international policy failed.  America became very aggressive  nation in the eyes of the world.

John, you miss the main thing: America need to restore trust as a leader of the free world. It is more effectively done by peaceful policies and programs like Piece Corp, not by being a tough guy.  I am glad, Barak understands this key point – restore trust to American leadership.

Guys, now  your final words about your motivation and reasons for you to become the President of United Sates of America.

John: Times are tough. When times are tough, we need a steady hand at the tiller and the great honor of my life was to always put my country first.

I have a clear record of serving to American people. I asked American people for one more chance to serve them.

Barak: I know that I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for the fact that this country gave me opportunity.

American people understand Bush’s policy did not work and America needs to go in the a new direction.

We need fundamental change. That's the reason I decided to run for president, and I'm hopeful that all of you are prepared to continue this extraordinary journey that we call America.

Lyubomyr: Thank you Jonh. Tnank you Barak. That concludes our tonight’s debate. I believe each of you deserves to become the President of the United States of America.

Jonh : Goodbye.

Barak: Goodbye.

 

In conclusion, I admit seeing huge civilization crisis at the start of the new century. The boundless consumerism, energy waste and constant living in dept are passing away.

The strongest challenges of global world require new leadership and new ideas. While John McCain looks like a nice honest guy for me, Barak  Obama demonstrates a clear potential to lead new America in reshaping the values. In fact, If the polls are right, Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States.  And I hope he succeeds in White House.

As for Ukrainian interest, clearly, Ukraine benefits from the effective United States policies, the same way, as the rest of the world does.

 

 

 

FREEDOM SERIES. PART 1: ABORTIONS

FREEDOM SERIES. PART 1: ABORTIONS

Killing a baby or a woman’s right to decide ? Isn’t this a provokative question ? Type “abortions debate” in Google and you will get 2,030,000 search results. Just read one page, which is from the Wikipedia. It tells you about two major groups in the abortion debate. The Pro-choice movement, which generally supports access to abortion and regards it as morally permissible, and the Pro-life movement, which generally opposes access to abortion and regards it as morally wrong. 

To stay prudent, I am listing three links to the Wikipedia pages below this essay. All major arguments of both groups are discussed there. However, I going to stress the arguments of pro-choice group. By asking two simple questions, I identified myself as its supporter.

When does life begin ?  It depends what is meant by “life”. In my opinion,  life begins at the moment of birth.

 Who should decide ? The woman. Not her parents, boyfriend, husband, not the government, not the church.

There is also one more very important question, which is often overlooked because of the tension in the debate.

 And that is, is there anything that can be agreed on to make these hard choices better ?  I will cover this question as well.

The philosophical and ethical arguments about abortion are extremely complex. Let me go straight to the main arguments of the pro-life group and show the contra logic of the pro-choice group, which I belong to.

The major pro-life argument states that abortion is like killing a human being.”No one is allowed to kill a human being under any law, so why is it permissible in this case?” they ask. The best answer I know was given by Mary Anne Warren, in her famous article arguing for the permissibility of abortion. Pro-life opposition to abortion is based on the following logic:

1. It is wrong to kill innocent      human beings.
2. The embryo is an innocent human      being.
3. Hence it is wrong to kill the      embryo.

Warren, however, thinks that 'human being' is used in different senses in (1) and (2). In (1), 'human being' is used in a moral sense to mean a 'person', a 'full-fledged member of the moral community'. In (2), 'human being' means 'biological human'. To help make a distinction between 'person' and 'biological human', She thinks there is a series of properties that characterize a person:

1. consciousness (of objects and events      external and/or internal to the being), and in particular the capacity to      feel pain
2. reasoning (the developed      capacity to solve new and relatively complex problems)
3. self-motivated activity      (activity which is relatively independent of either genetic or direct      external control)
4. the capacity to communicate, by whatever means,      messages of an indefinite variety of types, that is, not just with an      indefinite number of possible subjects, but on indefinitely many      possible topics
5. the presence of the      concept of self,      and self-awareness,      either individual or racial, or both

The embryo has at most one consciousness (and this only after it becomes susceptible to pain—the timing of which is disputed), and hence is not a person.

Even more than that Judith Jarvis Thomson in her well-known article A Defense of Abortion argues that abortion is in some circumstances permissible even if the embryo has a right to live. Her central argument involves a thought experiment. Imagine, Thomson says, that you wake up in bed next to a famous violinist. He is unconscious with a fatal kidney ailment; and because only you happen to have the right blood type to help, the Society of Music Lovers has kidnapped you and plugged your circulatory system into his so that your kidneys can filter poisons from his blood as well as your own. If he is disconnected from you now, he will die; but in nine months he will recover and can be safely disconnected.

 Thomson takes it that you may permissibly unplug yourself from the violinist even though this will kill him. The right to life, Thomson says, does not entail the right to use another person's body, and so in disconnecting the violinist you do not violate his right to life but merely deprive him of something—the use of your body—to which he has no right. Similarly, even if the embryo has a right to life, it does not have a right to use the pregnant woman's body; and so aborting the embryo is permissible in at least some circumstances.

 Next is a thought that abortion deprives the victim embryo of a valuable future. However, this argument seems really odd to me. With that kind of logic, every spermatozoon has a future and using contraception can be considered murder. But we don’t really think that condoms are weapons of mass murder, do we ?

Besides the ethical debate, there are strong social reasons to allow the free choice of abortions, which do not really have an answer from the opponent’s side.

Steven D. Levitt and John Donohue in their famous book “Freakonomics” linked legalization of abortion to the subsequent drop in crime. Abortion was legalized in the

US

in 1973 after the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Case. Than beginning in 1991, the

United States

experienced the sharpest drop in murder rates since the end of Prohibition in 1933. Crime began to fall roughly 18 years after abortion legalized and the decline was substantial.

Lots of research and pro-life activists argue that there is no relationship between the two events and cast doubt on every single figure from Levitt’s research. It is obvious that numbers and correlations can be viewed from a different prospective. But Levitt’s logi is hardly disputable: unwanted children have an increased risk of growing up to be criminals, and legalized abortion reduces the number of unwanted children. Consequently, legalized abortion will lower crime in the future.

The second social argument is very down-to-earth and quite simple. However, I believe it is the most powerful one. If you make something illegal, it will never disappear. It will still exist illegally.

 It is easy to model the situation when abortion is fordidden in one area of our global world.  For instance, imagine abortion would  be prohibited in

Ukraine

. In such a situation, rich women would go somewhere in

Europe

and have it there. Poor women, of course, couldn’t afford Swiss or Spanish clinics. They would be forced to do abortions at home under unsafe conditions, paying a risk premium to doctors, risking their own lives and future maternity.

I can’t understand what an anti-abortion activist would do in order to address a such risk. As a matter of fact, pro-life activists know it can not be fully answered.

Just to mention the medical arguments, I would like to quote an extract from a Time magazine article, “The Grassroots Abortion War” by Nancy Gibbs (

Thursday Feb 15 2007

issue):

Despite restricted access, abortion remains one of the most common surgical procedures in the U.S. for women and, according to the Guttmacher Institute, fewer than 0.3% of patients experience a complication serious enough to require hospitalization. First-trimester abortions in particular are considered extremely safe. After years of debate about breast cancer and abortion, the U.S. National Cancer Institute in February 2003 gathered the world's leading experts to review the data and assess the risk. They stated that their conclusion that "induced abortion is not associated with an increase in breast cancer risk"was "well established," the institute's highest rating for research findings.

The same Time magazine quotes a nurse who does abortions an every working day “Abortion is a reality. For me, I feel it can be a lifesaving choice for a woman. But decreasing abortion is a goal we all strive for."

The future solution to the abortion debate is right there, described in the same Time article. It called

Pregnancy

Support

Services

Center

. They are located all over US. They advertisement says: “PREGNANT AND SCARED? 1-800-395-HELP. WE'RE HERE 24/7”. Currently a lot controversy exists about the work of such centers. But nothing works perfectly from the very beginning. In this case, it just needs a lot of social agreement to be improved.  

In my view the best available option for the abortion problem is a network of such help centers. Their mission would be to help a woman face an unplanned pregnancy. The center must offer true and fair information about reproductive options. Given a choice, a women has an option to talk with representatives of both groups. And to be honest, I know that pro-life activists will do a great job to try to save a life, like they are doing it now in Asheville Pregnancy Support Services in

Asheville

,

North Carolina

, one of the thousands of crisis pregnancy centers in the

U.S.

 

The CEO of the center tells “When we do the ultrasound, we ask the girl how she's feeling," I ask what she would like to put on the picture for her baby book. One girl put ANGEL. Some put the name they've picked out for the baby." She points to the translucent image on the screen. "One put little miracle!!!!"

 I am absolutely sure that if a pregnant woman does see an angel in the picture no anti-abortion laws would be required. But if she does not see a miracle, it is her right to face reality”.

 

Links to Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_debate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_aspects_of_abortion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_aspects_of_the_abortion_debate

 

Freedom series. Introduction

One evening I was sitting in a pub discussing world politics with a friend. He asked me, “ If you were an American, what would you be: Republican or Democrat ?”. As usual, I thought about economics first.  My confident answer was “Republican. One needs to work to obtain money, low taxes, and little intervention of government into business”.

But the same evening while walking down my beloved Shevchenko boulevard, I admitted that my answer was not quite complete. It occurs to me that despite a real conservatism in political and business issues, my  social views are extremely liberal. In terms of them, I should answer “Democrat”.

Social topics are not so hot in Ukraine since economic issues prevail. But as quality of life increases the discussion will shift towards important issues like abortion, drugs, prostitution, gay&lesbian lifestyle, etc.
My general opinion is very simple. Let people make their choice. Hence I want to call my upcoming essays “The Freedom series”.

Acknowledgements
I gratefully acknowledge and express appreciation to
-    My one outstanding and really conservative friend, as our argument about abortions gave me the idea for this series and the inspiration to work on the first essay. 
-    my teacher of English who was patient enough to correct numerous mistakes in writing and interested enough to express his own attitude on the issues.
-     The Ukrainian government for the enormous number of official holidays in May.  That fact allowed me not only to study 4 days for my finance exams, but also dedicate the end of 4th day to writing.

Essays: Ethical dilemma

Two cases demanded to turn aside the law. Two different answers appeared for the ethical questions.
Am  I comfortable with the decisions taken? YES. Will I violate the law in one of the cases? YES. Were my decisions honest enough to follow my behavior standards? Good question.

The story: The story is about my attempt to buy shares in the investment fund. I went to the investment fund to sign a purchase agreement. They took the copy of my passport and we did sign the document. Afterwards, I became obliged to contribute the investment amount during 1 working day after the agreement.  So I went to the special bank (only one bank location  in Kyiv that accept cash payments from 11 till 13.  Everything is for the sake of investor, isn’t it ?). Unfortunately, the bank’s cashier was attentive enough to discover the fact that I was 25, at the same my passport  did not have a picture at the place “25 five years old”. Ups.

Law requirements: Under Ukrainian legislation the citizen must have in the passport the 16, 25, 45, years old pictures.  The picture has to inserted only by special state authority and the citizen must be present personally at the procedure. If the picture is not in the document at the age required, it is officially not a valid one.

Ethical dilemma number 1:  The cashier refused to accept the payment, because the passport was not valid. My option was to try another bank, where non-cash payment were possible. In such a case I would additionally  have lost the  bank commission, but could have sneaked in. And saved substantial amount of own time too. The cashiers are not that attentive in other banks, so there were some chances to succeed.

Solution to the ethical  dilemma number 1: Although I was angry as hell about time lost, I recognized that cashier had a clear grounds to refuse the payment. It was my fault to represent not a valid passport. I called the investment bank, explained the situation and promised to resolve the passport issue during a week. New agreement would haveh to be signed. Valuable time had been lost, but I decided not to cheat.

Ethical dilemma number 2: State authorities in Ukraine work very limited hours and only on working days.  My passport is issued in my hometown in Vinnytsia region. To be present personally in the procedure I must take at least one day off. Available option to evade the law is give my passport to Dad. He knows people in state authority and for small fee of chocolate bar or cognac bottle official they will insert picture without my presence.

Solution to the ethical dilemma number 2: A day off for stupid bureaucracy is too high price, so I opt to give Dad my passport. Certainly it is disrespectful to the law, chocolate bar is a bribe, but I feel very comfortable with such a decision. Partly, because I know that young  professionals like me would certainly consider it as normal option. It is not even a question to give small bride to avoid unimportant bureaucratic rules in Ukraine.

Summary: In the United States the law is simple to follow and everybody is equal under law. One of the things I love about America is that you may become rich there and still stay honest. In comparison it is almost impossible in Ukraine. Here disrespect to some laws arises from two factors: firstly – they are stupid formalities that exist for the brides feed, secondly – nobody follows them the laws 100%.

One American friend ones asked me question : “Obviously you will not steal foods in a grocery story or cheat your employer with a few dollars. But If you knew that you may steal 10 mln dollars and get away with it, would you do it?”.  I answered “I don’t how. I have never been close to 10 mln dollars”. I believe dirty money will not bring happiness in life. Still,  it is interesting if there is a price, isn’t it ? And if it exists, then what is the level of it ?

Hence, I am just wondering where is line between stupid law that is normal to disregard and strict law that must be respected by the all citizens of Ukraine.

The CITY and CARS

Mykhaylo Grushevskyi is learning about car models.  He has not seen too many in Kyiv of 1917, but nowadays he sees thousands cars passing him. Moreover, he sometimes receives a whole day to study  the model in front of him. I wonder if he is afraid to lose his spot. Possibly, if one day his monument will be reallocated to suburbs in order to have more parking slots in central Kyiv. Does it sound weird? That is the type of thinking we are heading towards.

Number of cars is becoming critical to Kyiv. It disturbs it inhabitants.

Endless traffic jams. Two gigantic traffic jams with more than 10 000 drivers happened in Kyiv on September 10th and Sep 18th. Kyiv’s General development plan have been designed to accommodate the numbers of cars, which is twice less than current one. If looks like a problem, doesn’t it ? If we mention that August 2007 car sales were 52% higher compare to August 2006, it might become traffic apocalypses soon.

The second problem is pollution. Ecologists say that air pollution level increases 3-5 times around central highways in rush hours. True. It not pleasant to breathe when I walk home, down bulvar Shevchenko  from metro “Universytet” every day. I wonder how the foreign tourist feels after coming to one of the most green capitals in Europe.  I doubt he enjoys nice little walk at Khreschatyk at 6-7 p.m working day.

A lot of times I here a thought that we need better roads and more modern par kings. It puzzles me. Those improvements seem not quite related to the problems mentioned. Betters roads and more parking slots encourage more people to use car transport even more. It contributes to car sales growth and increase number of cars. But it doesn’t solve the first problem. And it worsens the second one.

In my personal opinion, the there are two major areas where we all may improve.

Undoubtedly, next time we elect the Mayor we need to be more careful. Probably, we should ask a candidate whether he visited London and saw a reliable and comfortable system of public transportation there. And whether he is going to run social advertisements like in London “Your second car is bus”. Secondly, we would also feel interested in his opinion about bicycle rental system recently introduced in Paris. Is he going to encourage bicycle and motorollers movement, at least, in central Kyiv. Finally, the candidate should state whether he considers the experience of Athens successful. In Athens people can drive cars only with even number on even day, and vice versa. Good European innovations, involving public transport development and reasonable limitations, should be considered.

Furthermore, we came to last and most important improvement opportunity. I speak about self-made middle class here. In order to decrease traffic jams we may start from obeying traffic rules. But while moving towards civilized behavior it is not enough. The whole attitude to public transportation has to be changed.  We should think about occasionally limiting own consumption for the sake of all of us. Voluntarily using  metro instead of driving a car is a good start.

And last, very sensitive thing. I don’t mind Nissan Micra and Daewoo Matiz on the streets. But let have an additional tax on power of engine introduced. Horrible and huge Jeeps must go away from the City roads.

P.S I want to own car too. There is nothing bad in that. But I want ecologically friendly model. And I hope not to use for everyday business, rather I will use for weekend trips.

P.S.S I would like to thank for ideas to
Катерина Коберник «Всем стоять»
Андрей Сливка «Нажми на тормоза»
Articles in "Korrespondent" 22 Sep, 2006

And I praise Moby for his album “Play”, which is intellectual power for my mind.

Regarding the languages issue

Ukrainian vs Russian. Or Ukrainian and Russian ?

TV news about survey in Kyiv Schools. The questionnaire has 7 questions, they are all around the main one “Would you like more Russian language lessons for your child ?’. I watch Ganna Stepanenko answers to TV journalists “My child doesn’t need it. I even cancelled her dancing lesson because the trainer was Russian speaking”.
Such a statement raises my deep concerns. No doubts, that despite the empty referendum ideas,the  Ukrainian language will remain the only official one. But let us  discuss a place for Russian language in Ukraine.

First of all, I would like to mention my Russian speaking friends, who have the same degree of love to homeland as my other Ukrainian–speaking friends. They don’t speak Russian, because there are members of Putin’s fan club or because they support closer ties with Russia. For whatever reasons they prefer to speak this language it doesn’t harm our communication. Of course, they must know native language. But why would I care about their primary communication language if we are able to understand each other?  As long as they respect native language, I am totally fine with their choice.

Besides that, sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves. Certain Russian speaking products are just better than Ukrainian counterparts. For instance, I like Korrespondent much more than Novynar. Well, I subscribed for Novynar as well, but only to support this commercial project of KP Media. Expert and Kommersant are in Russian, there are no Ukrainian counterparts at all. Welcome to the free market. Customer decides everything. It is fair.

I appreciate that my secondary school gave me enough knowledge of Russian to enjoy reading in this language. Now, take modern Kyiv schools. Many children have all school lessons in Ukrainian, but speak Russian back home. Because of only one Russian language lesson per week those children have poor writing and reading skills in this language. May parents demand more optional classes of Russian language and literature? As taxpayers to the city they are fully eligible to act so.

One thing always puzzles me. I see great opportunities for smart politicians, who may say “Russian is part of our modern society and we may tolerate its usage. It will never become a second official language, but we are ready to recognize it special status”. This may be a way to gain more support and build a more tolerant society.  Surprising, but the politicians never do.

In my opinion, people may decide what language is comfortable for them. Here, in Kyiv, the world unique situation, when two languages peacefully co-exist and people are able to communicate freely in both of them. Dear Ganna, you may find another dancing school with Ukrainian speaking teachers. But what is bad if your child is able to understand some Russian?   

Essay: Luck has nothing to do with success

Disclosure: The essay is written solely for educational purposes. It might not fully fully represent author's view on the issue or contain ideas used specifically for presentation purpose. If you want discuss the problem in depth, please do not hesitate to contact me

"When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success."

The established society concept tells us to work hard in order to succeed.. The idea is being constantly promoted by parents and school teachers, who stress the importance of hard work. However, they rarely mention luck in their lectures. Well, the question is whether this promoted hard-working concept is correct.
Personally I truly believe that hard work is important. I admit it is better to work hard than to do nothing. But why don’t we recognize the importance of the luck factor at the success path?

Instead of rejecting luck we maybe need to face a severe truth. Not all hard-working people are successful. In fact, about a half of them come to  certain level of success and only a few reach the peaks. Additionally, if we analyse the behavioral patterns of the whole hard-working, we may find only a few differences. Were Bill Gates and Steve Jobs the hardest-working people among numerous directors of numerous software producing companies? Well, we may argue whether they are  the smartest ones, but we certainly have to admit some good luck factor in their careers. For instance,  Ipod brought Steve Jobs back on the top, eventhough such a huge success was not planned at the beginning of this product’s life.

Secondly, if  we are to say “luck is not important”, than how will we explain stock markets? People can make a fortune by investing into the right company. They do not have to make researches about the company for decades and watch every its step. All they really need to possess is starting capital, good financial advisor and some a little luck. Moreover, if blessed with tremendous luck, the advisor’s help might not be required. 

If we take sports, we often see many great victories of outstanding teams. They are just stronger than others, because they are  the most hard-working and have the best talent. However, we also see the matches of equal teams, where one episode defines the winner. Sometimes wins come from pure luck. We need to understand that this happens not only in sport games, but it exists in the much greater area called a “game of life”.

Essay: Parents are the best teachers

Disclosure: The essay is written solely for educational purposes. It might not fully fully represent author's view on the issue or contain ideas used specifically for presentation purpose. If you want discuss the problem in depth, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Parents are the best teachers

It is traditionally believed that best teachers for children are their parents. The common belief is very strong in many societies and it has been with the mankind for a long time. At the same time, modern children cast some doubts on this general rule. The rapid changes in world development certainly affected our common relationships and made us re-imagine traditional concepts.

In my opinion, the thought “parents are the best teachers” comes from the history. For the centuries young people have lived with their parents till their mid-20s and parents have been the main source of information. The communication of youth was very limited. For instance, take noble family from  17th century, which probably have lived in own castle. Children, in such  families, had an opportunity to learn things from some hired tutors, brothers and sisters, but most of all their knowledge they had to take from their parents. Basically, society patterns of older times defined parents as the best source of knowledge. No other options existed.

Nowadays, it is 21st century out of the window. Children have Internet, TV, radio, schools and numerous other sources of information. They obtain knowledge from the environment and peers, as children do not spend 24 hours a day at home. That gives much broader outlook and different perspective on many issues.
Furthermore, while parents could be very conservative, children often are more open to new knowledge and new ideas. As an illustration, think about computers and mobile phones. In most cases, children learn to use them faster than their parents. They try new types and last models of electronic devices. They are capable of independent decision making and open to the new technology. This enforces innovations in the lives of families and relationships between parents and children. Otherwise, we would have the same society rules for ages.

Hence, we understand that parents represent only one source of knowledge is the modern world. Sometimes it could be the best, sometimes it could not.  In the 21st century’s university of life there are a lot of other educational courses offered and students feel free to choose any of them. Let them choose what they consider to be the best.

Essay - Winner of National Essay competition 2007

Your choice for the future: Ukraine or abroad?

I bet, Richard, my American friend, was surprised, while visiting my  two-room apartment in an old, soviet-era  building  a week ago. I used to live in his hometown, 20 minutes away from sandy shores of the Atlantic ocean.  Me and two Americans had rented a huge townhouse with three bedrooms, and what was astonishing for an Ukrainian, an individual bathroom for each of us. Compared to my current apartment in the center of Kyiv, the number of people is the same, the number of rooms is one less, my two friends have a connecting room. It is very hot without an air-conditioner and our cold water tap is usually broken.  I think it broke for the second time during the last three months and plumber works only my working hours.

What is amazing about the comparatives is that, in fact, there was   almost an equal monthly rent for that house in USA and my current apartment. However, do I plan to move out of an old soviet apartment and come back to roomy place at Atlantic seashore?   Of course not, I would rather build a similar townhouse in Ukraine, and further, let me explain my answer to you.

To my deepest belief, if we take a  young and active person like me, there are  hundreds of small reasons to stay in Ukraine, which  could be summarized in the three simple concepts.   I will call them:
- an opportunity ocean
- a social network
-an emerging democracy

Under the “opportunity ocean” I mean the self-development possibilities that exist for young graduates in Ukraine. First of all let us analyze a career path.

It has been two years already with a professional services provider and those years were a period of  fast professional growth for me. I have learned the best practices of corporate governance while working in the big project of US GAAP Audit and Sarbanes-Oxley requirements implementation. From June 1st I will receive a promotion, salary increase, and, what is more important:  I will switch to the consulting department. That means I will   participate in financial and strategy advisory services in future. Now the question is,   ”if I had worked in the New-York or London office of our company would I have the same amount of promotions, a  salary increase and professional growth?”.  I doubt it, as an incredible growth, that makes climbing the career ladder easier, happens only here, in Kyiv office.

There is one more thing to add about a career. The rumors that the a professional career in Ukraine is solely about connections and bribes might be true regarding to the state authorities, but it has a little to do with a private business. The flourishing private sector of the Ukrainian economy   is looking for young talented people. When I graduated in 2003, the Kyiv Post Employment Fair was one of the few events, where students were able to learn about good employers and submit their resumes. In 2007 there will be 4 fairs organized  and number of participating companies will be ten times greater. The most important thing, however, is the change of  attitude, companies are competing for the young talents now, it flows both ways. For instance, my company does not concentrate solely on Kyiv Post Fair anymore, it goes to the universities and makes presentations. Moreover, this year was the first, when presentations were made in the regional universities outside  Kyiv.

Certainly, the opportunities are not only about a career and money.  The National essay competition is the opportunity to express my ideas. The sponsored by Djuice children’s football tournament and newly built football playgrounds are the opportunity for my nephew, who adores the game. The AIDS Alliance in Ukraine became an opportunity for my friend, as she wanted to work in social sphere and help people. The ocean of opportunities is full in Ukraine as it has never been before, it is a pleasure to swim in it.
Beside the opportunities, we should  appreciate what we already have. The really important part of our  personal life is social network, which I believe includes our relatives, friends, colleagues and other people we happened to know.  I can imagine doing moving abroad with loved person, but it is impossible to transfer a whole social network.  Especially it is about parents. When they get older, you want to see them more often than once a year, which is much easier to do if the whole family lives in one country.

Speaking about my social network, I really appreciate my college buddies with whom we play football every Saturday morning,  friendly volleyball with colleagues on Sundays, and fellow Toastmasters who listened to my first speech six month ago and who will listen to my project number six next Wednesday. Obviously, one can assume that if an adaptation is successful, new social contacts can be easily established upon the transfer. It might be  true as there are sport sections and Toastmasters clubs abroad as well. But how many of sport players abroad will show interest in the political agreement between Ukrainian President and Prime-Minister and will be able to discuss the new elections outcome. While living abroad, how friends will I include in an e-mail invitation to watch the football match France – Ukraine on 2nd of June ?  If live in France, I may find many interested, but I doubt they will share my interest in this game.

  It is clear that people of one country have  similar outlook, common history, traditions and beliefs.  While is not impossible task to maintain small national communities and keep traditions in a foreign country, it is natural that homeland social network will always be richer and wider. 

My first two concepts were more individual oppose to the third, which I named “emerging democracy”. I think it could be described by three statements:
- it is incredibly interesting to live it time of major historical changes
- starting 2004 the national identity of Ukrainians increased significantly
- citizens started to take active part in political and economic life of the country

23 of May, 2007 Kyivpost’s top article says “Survey: Ukrainians more interested in politics than Europeans, but less involved”. Due to results of the European Social Survey (ESS), a public opinion poll conducted in 24 European countries, Ukrainians are more interested in politics than most Europeans. No wonder. It’s fun to watch TV everyday. The political TV shows are among the top viewed, with Presidential debates of 2004 ranked number one on TV ever. The critics say it is bad, because  the stability is required for economy. True, but to stay competitive any economy requires  innovations. The political changes which are happening now in Ukraine are innovations for our society. It is movement towards the real democracy, I am sure Ukrainians feel very interested about it.

Beside the big political changes in Ukraine there is a high level of national identify, which, in my opinion, starts its rise  from 2004. I have spent two summers of my life in USA, participating in an exchange program.  The program has enabled students to work and travel in USA up to 5 months during their summer holidays. I saw the major turnaround in students’ answer to the question “Where are your from ?”. In 2002 most of the young people would say without enthusiasm  “From Ukraine” and add that Ukarine is the post-Soviet state. Only a few patriots would tell  more about the home country. In 2004 it has dramatically changed. Young people felt proud by  saying “I am from Ukraine”.
No surprise.  Ruslana won an Eurovision song contest, Vitaliy Klichko became worlds’ heavyweight champion and Andriy Shevhehko received most prestigious  individual football reward “Golden ball”. It all happened before end of June 2004. I came back to Ukraine in September 2004 and became active participant of powerful mass protest, known in the  world as “Orange revolution”. That was the event that changed mentality of my co-citizens, they learned to fight for freedom and human rights. They felt they loved their country and wanted to change it for better. Finally, they started to believe it is possible. Here is one more important reason not to go abroad, and stay home :  When you believe in the statement “Proud to be Ukrainian”.

The transformation of this interest into civil activity has only started three years ago, but it is irreversible process.  All over the country small groups of citizens self-organize and fight against construction in Kyiv’s green zones, uncontrollable dumps and pollution in Uzhgorod region and municipal tariff hikes in Donetsk. The civil society emerged in Ukraine as people understood they can make an influence. Ukrainian people are at the  stage when they have learned how to protect our rights from violation.  Soon they will learn how to demand from elected officials to fulfill their promises. The conclusion for that:   if I believe I can change  Ukraine for the better, I will not leave it in search for a new place.

If we speak about short period of time I really enjoyed my two summer trips to United States. My personality benefited a lot from living in the foreign culture  and I think it expanded my outlook.  I plan to enter top MBA school in United Sates in 3-5 years and to  spend there two years of my life.  Such a move, except the career improvement, will add a lot to my personality as well. But my next big step after the MBA is a return to Ukraine and an attempt to create something outstanding in business. No need to explain myself a long-term life strategy of living in Ukraine. I simply believe it is right one.

It is obvious that I see my future  in this country and that Ukrainian youth is optimistic about country’s development. I did describe the concepts of opportunity ocean, social network and emerging democracy to explain my answer to essay dilemma. To clarify it  let me quote Oscar Wilde, who once said “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist and that is all”. The essence of my idea is that, in whole world of one hundred and ninety eight countries, Ukraine feels a cool place to live.   

You may read about National Essay competition here.