Text/Gentle nagging
The comedian who played the president really became the president – this magical scene was staged in Ukraine three years ago, and the world was shocked.
Zelenskiy
Can you be president by acting as president? It is like Japan electing Lin Chiling as prime minister and Canada choosing Wu Yifan as prime minister.
How can a comedian with no political experience become the president of a great power? Is it enough to be president in Ukraine just because you are young, handsome, and funny?
Humans rarely have answers to madness. So there is no other way but to accept the facts.
Three years later, as Russian troops entered Ukraine, Zelenskiy, a former comedian who was the president, had to fight and appear on camera, exposing himself to the eyes of the world.
On the night of Feb. 25, Zelenskiy and four cabinet members appeared on the streets of Kiev, claiming to have become Russia's number one target for killing, saying in a video:
We are all here, defending our country, and the glory belongs to the defenders.
In a phone call with EU leaders, he said it "could be the last time he'll be seen alive."
Zelenskiy appeared in Kiev
Today's Zelenskiy is depressed, depressed, and sad, and he is judged by the spirited, handsome and humorous three years ago.
These qualities, which were superior to the comedian, eventually reduced him to a tragic president.
And the Ukrainians, who personally put him on the presidential throne, had to accept the political tragedy directed by the comedian.
01
If Zelenskiy hadn't been president, he could still be a good actor from an elite family who became a hit for his political satire comedy.
It may even be possible to use this classic role to reap another wave of fame dividends in Ukraine, where the political situation has completely deteriorated.
But if it weren't for Zelenskiy as president, Ukraine wouldn't have caused today's wreckage.
Zelenskiy's household name tv series is called "Servant of the People", which tells the story of a poor middle school teacher Vasha who scolds the Ukrainian government at his colleagues, which is just an ordinary complaint, and is secretly recorded by students and passed on the Internet.
Vasha became an internet celebrity overnight, and his students launched a crowdfunding campaign online, using the money to register him for presidential election.
And then, you know, he was elected.
Stills from Servant of the People
As soon as this pungent and exciting political satire comedy aired, it caused a sensation throughout Ukraine.
The first season reached a rating of 10.4%, and the second season was even more amazing, with more than 70% of TV viewers regarding it as their "favorite TV series", with a high rating and a "national drama" in various senses.
Zelenskiy, who plays the protagonist Vasha, naturally becomes a phenomenon-level comedian.
Fast forward to the third season of the show, in March 2019, and ukrainians suddenly stopped focusing on the show because there was bigger news that caught their eye — "Vasia" was really going to be president.
From the beginning of his presidential campaign, Zelenskiy's series of performances have had a dubious performance meaning.
Voting in Ukraine's general election kicked off on March 31, 2019, and Zelenskiy founded his own campaigning party, Servant of the People, at the end of 2018, with the eponymous name of the series.
Beginning in January 2019, Zelenskiy announced his candidacy and updated a large number of election videos on his personal social platform, at which time the public could not even tell whether this was a real election video or just a clip of the new season of "Servant of the People".
On March 27, two days before the election vote, the third season of "Servant of the People" began airing.
Poster for the third season of Servant of the People
When the opponents follow the rules of silence, the "Vashya" on television replaces Zelenskiy's "speech", extending the performance effect to reality and occupying the minds of the people holding the ballots.
It can be said that Zelenskiy's political capital for the presidency is all drawn from Vasha's fictional but truly beloved national character.
No political experience? Like Vasha;
Suspected of collusion of interests behind it? Like Vasha;
Questioned and attacked by all parties? Same as Vasha!
A series of bindings have led Ukrainians to equate Zelenskiy with "Vasha", almost believing that Zelenskiy will bring a new atmosphere to Ukraine like "Vasha".
With vasha, Zelenskiy saved a lot of campaign costs, cleverly avoided his own disadvantages, and naturally "inherited" the people's fanatical goodwill for "Vasha".
Zelenskiy, who always emphasized "I will be the real Vasha", was finally elected half a month later with 73.2% of the vote, of which the east received nearly 90% of the vote.
Deservedly, the people's expectations are the same.
Playing yourself as a president is a plot that "Servant of the People" does not dare to play like this, in other words, the screenwriter does not dare to make it up.
For such a magical ending, the remaining sane bystanders are greatly puzzled - most people can smell Zelenskiy's extremely concentrated performance in front of the camera across the screen, while the Ukrainians who are in it are willing to throw their votes and expectations into the "Vasha" in their hearts.
Zelenskiy was elected to the scene
Perhaps the plot is too enticing, or perhaps the bleak reality is too cruel — one voter who supported Zelenskiy said:
I was ninety percent sure that Zelenskiy was a disaster, but I voted for him anyway. Because I know that keeping the current president on stage is one hundred percent a disaster.
People without choices are plunged into despair and madness, playing a game of extreme choice between two and one.
Zelenskiy, who was chosen, catered to the fanaticism that helped him ascend to the throne, became the only option for sitting on the presidency.
02
In "Servant of the People," politicians called Vasha's election "cheap populism."
Zelenskiy and his supportive voters don't think so, even if Zelenskiy has made a kneeling move when he debated openly with his opponents.
At the same time, he said: I will not kneel to Putin, I will only kneel to the people of Ukraine.
Zelenskiy knelt before the people during the campaign
This astonishing move allowed him to defeat his opponent Poroshenko. Fanatical people will not realize that this is nice but not auspicious. It implies not only firm choices, but also complex cause and effect.
It is hammered down, and even a word.
Two days later, Zelenskiy won the election, and the exciting political reality show officially advanced from "drama" to the next scene: the drama misled the country.
Of course, it would be unfair to blame Zelenskiy entirely for Ukraine's plight.
Zelenskiy came to power against the backdrop of a weakening political atmosphere and national economy in Ukraine.
In the former Soviet Era, Ukraine was a heavy industrial base with nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers and fighter jets, and its industry, agriculture, economy and education were at the world's advanced level.
But after declaring independence, Ukraine, which inherited a large amount of the Soviet Union's industrial heritage, not only did not soar, but also deteriorated.
Politicians have come to power in turn, "shock therapy" to bring down the economy, "abandon nuclear bombs" to weaken strength, "color revolutions" to tear apart society...
After 30 years of tossing, Ukraine, commonly known as "Ermao" (second only to Russia), has a sluggish economy and a poor livelihood: aircraft carriers are sold as scrap iron, national actors serve dishes in Beijing, a large number of women sell their hues, and the country is reduced to a "European womb" and a "European brothel".
Vasha, played by Zelenskiy in "Servant of the People", was originally a low-paid middle school teacher who even had to take out installment loans to buy a microwave oven.
In addition to the economic downturn, political turmoil, and social divisions, Ukraine has faced inevitable international pressure from the beginning of its founding:
Located in the east of Europe, bordering Russia, it is the intersection of the geopolitics of the European Union and Russia, and it is the fate that it cannot escape from becoming the battlefield of the strategic game between Russia and Europe and the United States.
Therefore, Ukrainian diplomacy has always faced the same proposition: how to maintain a moderate balance between Western countries and Russia.
Although no president has been able to truly lead Ukraine on a new path of reform, there have been no irreparable mistakes in maintaining the balance of international relations and domestic political stability.
Especially in the context of the proliferation of ultra-nationalism in Ukraine and the further intensification of social rifts, the pursuit of "stability" has become the first choice of rationality.
However, the long-term economic difficulties have made the Ukrainian people more and more dissatisfied with the status quo, and the rising nationalism and populism have led to the defeat of experienced politicians.
The love of Zelenskiy and the dislike of established politicians are two sides of the same coin, political oligarchy, elite corruption, economic gloom, and rivers and rivers... Ukrainians who grew up under the rule of successive groups of old politicians, accustomed to empty promises, lies and corruption, longed for change and freshness.
03
After Zelenskiy was elected, a joke circulated on the outside web:
Compared with amateur clowns, people are finally starting to vote for professional comedians.
Ukrainians who are full of hope for a brave new world have no time to think about what a disaster it would be for professional comedians to play their roles in politics.
He promised to reform the economy and improve people's livelihoods, but after he came to power, Ukraine's per capita GDP was even worse than before he came to power;
He promised to strengthen the fight against corruption and punish oligarchs, and as a result, the Ukrainians found that there was nothing new under the sun, and the important partner of his film and television company was Kolomoisky, one of the largest oligarchs in Ukraine.
Finally, he promised to end the war in Eastern Ukraine.
This promise, most highly anticipated by voters, eventually turned into today's war, almost pushing Ukraine to the crematorium.
In response to nationalist sentiments, he pulled the United States closer and called on the other side to increase sanctions against Russia and help Ukraine quell the war in Eastern Ukraine.
And just because of Biden's support, Zelenskiy insisted on joining the military organization against Russia, despite the fact that Ukraine was the last stop of NATO's eastward expansion, and promised to use force to recover Crimea and end Russia's aggression against the East region.
If the seeds of war had been buried deep beneath Ukraine's fertile black soil, Zelenskiy was the one who fertilized and irrigated it to thrive.
Obviously, economically, Zelenskiy can turn Ukraine's rich natural resources into the wealth of the people by opening up trade and reducing tariffs.
Politically, there is no helplessness to join NATO, but he has no political experience and lacks economic talent, but under the kidnapping of voter sentiments, the temptation of Western capital, and the flickering of European and American politicians, he has pushed Ukraine step by step to its current situation.
He drew the match and reached straight for the bomb lead, finally igniting the conflict between the two countries.
After the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Zelenskiy's performance made the world even more ashamed.
He seems to have not been able to get rid of the instinct of acting at this moment, quickly switching to the role of a victim, forgetting that he is hard to blame.
Before the escalation of the Conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian billionaires "ran away collectively" out of concern about the situation, 96 of the top 100 rich people in the Forbes Ukraine Rich List had fled, the remaining 4 could not leave the country because of suspected corruption and other crimes, and 37 members of the Ukrainian parliament had also left the country.
Zelenskiy can only angrily shout in this regard: ask the political and business people who "run away" to return to China within 24 hours, otherwise they will "face serious consequences."
At a time when Ukraine was in a state of wartime, isolated and faltering, he publicly condemned the complete abandonment of Ukraine by Western countries, regardless of influence, which is puzzling.
Putin pressed the "Chechen button" — the army known as the "meat grinder" that is best at street fighting has decided to mobilize 10,000 soldiers to fight in Ukraine.
If there is no ceasefire in Russia and Ukraine, the tragic situation of life on the streets of Kiev will be unimaginable.
Therefore, even if Zelenskiy took a huge risk and rejected the United States' proposal to assist him in his withdrawal from Kiev, it would be difficult to gain sympathy and recognition from the outside world.
However, the latest news said that The Russian State Duma President Volodin said that Zelenskiy had left Kiev on the 25th local time, and all his appeals from the Ukrainian capital were filmed in advance.
Ironically, even when the country was ruled to the point of subjugation, Zelenskiy dramatically fulfilled the political declaration of the original campaign debate:
There will be no kneeling to Putin, only to the Ukrainian people.