What we are witnessing these days confirms that we are all trapped together by Al Capone's gang and their state. The trial in the "Respirators" affair and the fact that B&H is at the very top of the world in terms of the number of deaths from coronavirus, the already appalling state of affairs, are leading to hot spot. And it is becoming more and more obvious that because of those who, due to greed and the assumption of their own comrades in the lives of the world's poor, are responsible for that themselves, more than it could have been imagined.

What are our chances

How it will all end, I don’t know. But as far as the rule of law and its institutions are concerned, I am not optimistic. On the contrary, it could be like all the years so far - a storm in a teacup. Because the state that has loaded itself on our backs is not in a service of its citizens, but an instrument of Al Capone's "fighters" for the national cause.

Which is whythe state itself, together with the Al Capone's gang who clung onto its "breast", does everything to maintain the social status quo - and the principle of "dogs barking, and caravans at the same pace are still pushing the same story." In addition, more recent Sarajevo experiences testify to this - in connection with the elimination of Ivana Marić, in relation to Bogić Bogičević as a candidate for mayor of the capital, and in what is happening in relation to respirators, the trial and revelation of everything in the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo - not to mention this at all.

What are our chances of getting rid of such an environment of a collective camp? As far as the state and the institutions of the system are concerned, to be honest, everything is getting slimmer. Because it is worth repeating, neither the state nor its institutions are in the service of their citizens, but the defensive walls of those who, using phrases to protect the national interests, destroy what little off it is left, but also the will of the bravest to grow old in the land of their ancestors.

Admittedly, the chances are slimmer that the engine of change could be civic, political philosophies that act in the name of the elementary right to life - regardless of the ideological positions from which they emerge. Because their real power is nowhere near what could be considered the initial trigger for any serious social change.

Is it known, then, that these political philosophies often themselves accept the position of the logistics of the combat echelons of the defense of the social status quo, while the hope for their possibilities is further eroded.

So what's left? Is there any hope at all that change can happen in this country? Is a civilizational reset possible that would restore BiH to the splendor it has not lacked throughout history? Or is the definitive burning of illusion the only thing left for us to do? I never accepted defeatism or giving up.

But I believe less and less that change is possible through the institutions of the system. Elections, as internet bots and raiders of nationalist oligarchy tell us these days. Because it will rob them as they have been robbing them for a quarter of a century. And they will block any changes that prevent theft.

A few hundred souls

Then where is the solution? As for me, only in the civil riot, which removed many more powerful people from the thrones, and without which, for example, Nicolae and Elena, the Ceaușescu couple, would never "fly away" to the dustbin of history.

Are the people, both Bosnian and Herzegovinian, ready for a civil uprising? What is happening in Banja Luka these days is promising. Events in Sarajevo, unfortunately, no. Because only a few hundred people join the opposition to the regime on the streets of the capital - less, it seems, than in front of the Banski dvor of the owners of cafes and fitness centers.

Add to that the fact that the situation in the "the capital town" is almost regular, and the story of the civil uprising as an all-Bosnian response to "state-building" criminal gangs is not very encouraging. But you never know. Maybe it happens after all. In, say, the near future. Maybe.

 (The author of the text is a B&H academic)