RESTITUTIONS ARE RASCALDOM
( it refers to the Czechoslovakia and post-socialist countries )


Property transfers and reforms
In the course of the history of human society, during which political and social conditions and systems changed, there were very often changes in the property and legal arrangements of movable and immovable property. In quiet times, this was commonly done (and still happens) in the form of sale and purchase , or. heritage. In times of war or during dynastic and power changes , there were also violent property changes , often according to "stronger law" ...
In addition to these unjust and violent property changes, there were from time to time also the opposite types of non-market property changes - property reforms. Prudent property reformers (and later governments) usually proceeded with property reforms when property imbalances reached a level that already threatened the functioning and development of society. Possibly. when the political situation made it possible to enforce at least a partial redress of dishonestly and unjustly acquired property.
In our recent history, this situation occurred after World War I, when in the newly established Czechoslovak Republic, led by the very enlightened President TG Masaryk, an effort was made to remove the remnants of feudal injustice and reduce property imbalances. In 1920, therefore, an extensive land reform began , which allowed the peasants and landless people to acquire the land on which they mostly worked diligently; this has led to significantly greater efficiencyagriculture than the former "latifundial" system with parasitic owners .
After World War II and the liberation of the republic, the fundamental reconstruction of the whole society began in 1945-1948, the beginning of which was the nationalization of larger enterprises and the completion of land reform (2nd land reform of 1947, land nationalization in 1948). The process of implementing social ownership and management of the means of production was then completed during the 1950s and 1960s by the complete nationalization of industry and the establishment of larger agricultural units - agricultural cooperatives and state estates. Despite all the mistakes and touches that accompanied this process, it was a real restitution material goods to their creators and rightful owners - the people of this country.
After the political coup in 1989, there was a persistent ideological effort to negate everything that was in the past, and many people felt an enticing opportunity to suddenly and laborlessly get rich - in the then manipulated and corrupt parliament was pushed shameful " restitution " Act No. 87 / 1991, in effect enforcing anti-restitution .


Editor's question: What is your opinion on restitution?
According to the Restitution Act, I would also be entitled to an apartment building with three stores, which are now a gold mine for the homeowners. However , I will not marry this apartment building , as I claim that restitution is atrocity . I would find it humiliating to make a profit from the work of others.
Editors: Why do you think restitution is atrocity?

First of all, no one asked the nation if they wanted them, no party had them in their election program. Parliament calls them "redressing the wrongs of the past". But was it "wrong" to lose a factory or an apartment building? When your distant relatives owned a property, perhaps foreclosed or in debt so that they almost no longer owned a door handle - you would get it clean today. Often even more exaggerated, and if it has fallen into disrepair or has disappeared, the state will reimburse you for the compensation, for which 50 billion crowns were planned (from the pockets of us all). It would be interesting to find out what property is acquired by "restitutions" (and corruption) of those deputies who have so vigorously enforced them absolutely , regardless of the opinions and interests of the majority of the nation.
( from an interview with the writer Zdena Frýbová on September 25, 1991)


Pope John Paul II on private property

God created this Earth for the benefit of all people . Private property is legitimate only if it is in accordance with this basic purpose of God. This applies in particular to large amounts of private property: individuals have a right to such property only in the sense that they manage it for the benefit of all, and thus of themselves. They did not deserve this property in any way - it is the result of God's grace and the work of many of their neighbors . If this principle is not respected, great differences in property lead to injustice and hatred - to sin .
(from the homily of John Paul II on October 14, 1991 during a pastoral visit to Brazil)


Restitution is injustice

"Restitution" is nonsense mainly for two reasons :

Argument 2. indisputably and indisputably applies to the "restitution" of aristocratic property , which in the past was literally drained from the sweat and blood of tens of thousands of ordinary people; their "restitution" would be a mockery of all law and justice . Similarly large estates, factories, forests, etc.

Category 2 also includes most of the former property of the Catholic Church . This property was acquired by the Church on the basis of its direct connection with the then feudal dictatorship (for which it created ideological patronage), and on the other hand by purposeful false interpretation of religious texts by some priests, according to which the Catholic Church is able to ask God for forgiveness of sins ) for cash or other remuneration. It so happened that manipulated people bequeathed their property (dishonestly and honestly acquired) to the Church.
However, in the interest of objectivity, it should be noted that even in the Catholic Church there were thousands of honest, selfless and humble priests who took their spiritual vocation honestly as a service to their neighbors and thus to God, as they are literally portrayed, for example, in the novels of K.V.Rais or J.Š.Baar. The charitable activity of the church must also be evaluated positively. But isn't it much better to create such a social climate and system that charitable activities are needed as little as possible than to try to weakly "patch up" the mistakes of an immoral and antisocial society through persistent charitable activities? And a church that flatters lords and accumulates wealth can hardly reach people positively — it has little to do with the true Church of Christ.


Freedom and democracy?
- or deception and the path to slavery?

Restitution is only a link in a chain of negative phenomena leading to an increasing decline in morale and deteriorating interpersonal relationships. This frustrates the hopes of creating a decent and just society, with which we went into the November changes of 1989. Instead, the unbridled rule of money and the ideology of "differentiation of society" - its stratification into rich and poor - are openly promoted . The current social system and the trend of its development can be characterized by two points :

Not everyone finds the courage to admit that he has been deceived . Nevertheless, more and more people (including many dissidents and critics of the previous regime) are realizing that the social system that seeks to impose on us today is bad and morally unacceptable - in stark contrast to their philosophical views and values . Many members of the older and middle generation even gratefully acknowledge that they could spend at least part of their lives in a system whose goal (despite all the mistakes and distortions) was for people to get along fairly , not rob each other, respect each other equally, and solidarity. It is probably a historical tragedy that instead of maintaining this goal and eliminating the scandals, the development is on the path of rejecting the humanistic goal , preserving most of the scandals and their multiplication - the introduction of a number of new scams. Villains and impostors "got the green light" and some of them are still preaching morality to the nation in the senate, parliament and mass media.
Some positive features, such as greater freedom and democracy, wider travel opportunities, a wider range of goods, etc., are unusable for a large proportion of people. The real level of society is not determined by the number of banks, casinos, or the range of opportunities for a narrow class of characterless people to enrich themselves at the expense of others, but by how ordinary citizens , decent and erudite people feel and realize it , creating real value through skilled work . material and spiritual. And they are deeply depressed now. Many are out of work , or have to " shut up and keep up " under inflated, untouched flocks who make them bosses, managers, and owners - employers. Nobody cares if you're right; if you are not "loyal" even in nonsense and scams, or otherwise you "don't like" the boss, you just "fly" - freely and democratically, he has a sacred right to it, no one has anything to say to him ...
It is not a good system where erudite experts are "swept" by soulless managers and business owners, who often do not reach even to their ankles from a professional point of view, only far outnumber them by arrogance, impudence and elitist arrogance - and the resulting social "success". and wealth. By publicly looting national property, fraud and speculation, selling twice-sold goods, declining commercial culture, abusing and falsifying recent and ancient history, or embarrassingly undermining (even "rectoscopy") a bloated Western neighbor, the nation does not work towards prosperity.
But let us believe that this state will not last too long - that the "compass" of ethics and humanism encoded in our minds will prevail , we will overcome soulless consumerism,and we will remember the cultural legacy of past years and decades, dating back to the national revival. Let us be on the one hand irreconcilable to injustices and selfishness , but on the other hand we are maximally tolerant and accommodating to those cultural and spiritual currents that contribute to more noble relations between people and the surrounding living and inanimate nature. It is perhaps one of the last chances (one great chance has been wasted over the last few years) for the long-term survival not only of the nation, but perhaps globally for the survival of all mankind .

Let us recall in this context a wise folk proverb verified by many generations: " Where money speaks, the truth is silent ." And also the life-honored statement of the writer Honoré de Balzac : " Behind every great private property is a crime hidden ." Experience further teaches that wealth often comes with selfishness, arrogance, greed, cruelty, and dishonesty; if someone manages to seize (or directly say - steal) a larger property, he often begins to think that he is a "superman", better than others ...
Ostrava 1992

RNDr. Vojtech Ullmann, physicist

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