Summer Meditations by Vaclav Havel
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“Systems thinking shows us that there is no separate other; that you and the someone else are part of a single system. The cure lies in your relationship with your enemy.” |
Havel, noted playwright, imprisoned dissident, and now president of
Czechoslovakia, has written a concise, personal political testament
that offers useful insights into his philosophy of leadership.
Originally written in the summer of 1991, this translation includes
some revisions and remarks as of February 1992. While Havel downplays
his role in the transforming events of 1989 ("I became an instrument of
the time. . . . History forged ahead and through me, guiding my
activities " ), he sets forth a clear political agenda for
Czechoslovakia and stresses the need to cultivate a "higher
responsibility " of public service. He proposes reforms in the
electoral process and a new federal constitution to help alleviate
tensions between the Czechs and Slovaks. Havel is a reluctant yet
determined ruler, and this modest manifesto admirably reflects his
desire to fuse practical politics with morality and good taste.
