Svetislav Basara - The Cyclist Conspiracy

Number 25 brought the introductory article (p. 2) where, under the cover of the interpretation of events in Poland, the ideology of breaking the mirror is reaffirmed. Here it is once again unambiguously claimed that all problems can be solved only by destroying the social system, by the pogrom of the Boys and the affirmation of the Person. These are the characteristic quotes: “The question is inevitable: is there an army in the world that is able to offer long term defense of the wall with THE MIRROR THAT MUST BE SHATTERED ? Can the committees put an end to hope? Hope must shatter the MIRROR. The tension is actually in the mirror! ”—Zoran Petrović-Piroćanac.

Number 26/27 disperses all doubt about what is meant by the mirror. In the introductory article (p. 2) it is expressly claimed that the socio-political system of socialist self-management is a mirror (which should be broken, of course): “The socio-political community (federation, republics, etc.) have taken over the duty of supplying the citizens, but in principle it is clear that they cannot do that well because they only have the illusion of decision-making, an illusion of responsibility. They (i.e. the socio-political communities) ARE A MIRROR (!!!). How does it look when an official of the mirror wants to solve real human problems? We can see that best these days in the goal of justifying the ideological concept of stabilization, beginning with the artificial solving of problems”… etc. in the tendentious style.

Keeping all the tendencies of the editorial board of Vidici in mind, with their theory of destroying the socio-political system, the editorial board of Student practically concretizes the problems in its texts.

This social criticism in Student , especially explained through texts on housing, electrical systems, airplane crashes in Ayachi, media, etc., in fact, is a concretization of individual ideas that are proposed by the editorial board of Vidici theoretically, in a scholarly way and through their projects. Especially questionable, though quite clear, the texts on the problems of housing and their theoretical analysis is given in the Dictionary of Technology under the entry “housing.”

In its criticism of the Association of Socialist Youth and the Communist Party, Student applies the same principle of constant critique, regardless of all the objective problems in society. It is quite important to point out the fact that Student , in one phase of its activity, criticized the Basic Organizations and other forms of organizing at the University level (the University Committee of the Association of Socialist Youth, the University Committee of the Communist Party) (UC ASY and UC CP). This critical forum was especially harsh in the electoral period in the organization of the ASY at the University. On the pages of Student a special discussion was held of the activities and role of the CP in society, of the efficiency of its activities in the existing international relations and in our socio-economic situation. Here, mention should be also be made of the texts about Poland that appeared in parallel with texts that speak of individual “crises” in our socio-political system. It should be emphasized that this is not accidental, but that in Vidici no. 8, in the texts about the crisis of institutions, the revelation of the mirror, the texts on Poland also appear. Student developed the concrete approach only later, when the crisis in Poland had become critical. At the same time, Student sharpens its criticism of the “phenomena and state” in our society.

Some of the problems, actually, which could justifiably criticized (and should be criticized), were criticized on the wrong basis, without a true Marxist analysis. In fact, they are analyzed from the ideological position of the editorial board of Vidici .

This criticism of the Party culminated in the Letter to the CP of the Association of Communists of Yugoslavia. The basic goal of the letter is not the reaffirmation of the Cominform, but rather an attempt to discredit the Presidency and the leaders of our society, which is complete accord with the ideological orientation of Vidici .

THE ESCALATION OF AGGRESSIVE ACTIVITIES

The escalation of the aggressive activities of the group of like-minded congregating around the editorial boards of Vidici and Student led to a frontal and radical attack on the socio-political system, unabashedly and openly calling for the destruction (“dissolution”) of socialist society and the workers’ self-management. Since they did whatever they wanted, uninhibited , they began to think that the Technologists (“slaves of the system”) could do nothing to them, the Persons, that their will always triumphed and that the breaking of the mirror (the socio-political system) was just days away. Speaking out from edition to edition, their appetites grew, their texts became more and more aggressive and open, their allusions ever clearer, so that finally in Student no. 21 they came out with a text whose contents were a message that was so openly and aggressively hostile that its very publication was an exceptional confirmation of this ideology — thanks to their will and cleverness, Persons are omnipotent in the world of the Boys (the Technologists). The superiority and mastership of the Person over the “ hierarchical apes ” (officials) was obviously confirmed here: “the hierarchical apes” provided the means, provided a place in the pages of newspapers, provided everything the Persons demanded, and when the Persons published their Manifesto, those “hierarchical apes” stared stupidly at the texts, not comprehending a single word, shaking their heads in confusion and not knowing what to do with all of that. Is there a greater irony than the fact that they invested huge financial resources in the popularization and affirmation of this ideology , and thus confirmed the thesis of the Persons that the “hierarchical apes” will ever remain stupid and senseless “hierarchical apes.”

The “Boys Project” was intended to show how a concrete idol is created, using a practical example. The project was designed as the affirmation of a hitherto unknown musical group through various media: by writing the name of the group on walls, publishing photographs, printing their records at Vidici .

The group “Idoli” (“Idols”) was to serve as the band around which the younger generation gathered, along with other bands that appeared in Belgrade and further.

However, becoming aware of their popularity and significance in the world of music and to their audience, “Idoli” separated and pulled away from the editorial board of Vidici , heading off on their own. So it was that the editorial board of Vidici lost the chance to manipulate the “Idoli” in the sense of the practical testing of the completion of their “projections.” The text on the second page of number 21, “Why Are We Left in the Dark,” had the header “on the occasion of the dissolution of a system” and the tendentious sub-header “Why did the system fall apart?” The article is seemingly about the anniversary of the collapse of the electrical system, but it is more than obvious that it is an allusion to the possible (and desirable) collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the left column we will offer the original text, and an interpretation and explication in the right, which is not even necessary in some places.