Why Do Croats Treat Their Politicians Like Rock Stars?

As wonderful as Croatia is - and it truly is - of the 9 countries I have lived in so far, none has been as politicised as Croatia. Politics is at work wherever you look, from the appointment of a kindergarten teacher to the names of streets.
And the politics here is very divisive. Not only that, but it is a divisiveness that starts from a very early age. It only really hit me how young when I picked up my daughter from kindergarten at the age of four, and she was telling me on the way home how one friend was HDZ and the other SDP.
We never discuss politics at home, and yet my child could name and recognise around a dozen Croatian politicians (and some stories associated with them) at the age of seven. And the amount of coverage given to politicians in the media makes them more akin to rock stars, compared to the interest and attention politicians get back in the UK for example.
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Video produced by Igor Vuk of Wolf Media.
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[@tonyrogic5411]

Paul, this is very deep thing in Cro. Probably links to the war years & socialist jugo years. In Dalmacija & Slavonija HDZ is big but in & around Zagreb you’ll find the socialist left ( areas that didn’t see much of the war ) As far the young knowing politicians, probably a good thing. I’m from Australia and I wish the young knew politics more. If they did they’d never support the left. I’m glad you bought it up, it’s a good thing to notice🇭🇷

[@HladniSjeverniVjetar]

But HDZ is a communist party.....

[@oskng]

Nije niti malo dobro sto mala djeca znaju takve stvari (bolje da se igraju vani) problem je sto ce dijeca isto glasati kao njihovi roditelji (zbog toga sto im je neka stranka dala, a ne zbog njihove budućnosti i zbog buducnosti njihove djece) mi u hrvatskoj imamo ogroman problem, zato sto nam "dijaspora" kroji politiku i to oni koji generacijama ne zive u hrvatskoj, ali kao fol znaju bolje iz: njemacke, austrije, australije, kanade itd... Sto treba nama u hrvatskoj, stalno imam prepirku sa svojom rodbinom iz stranih drzava koje nisu u hrvatskoj cca 40 ili 50 godina, ali misle da zbog prava glasanja imaju pravo, odlucivati o mom zivotu

[@ksuntesic]

Polticians are not popular as a rock stars, but as a mobsters stars...

[@NickBatinaComposer]

GangStars

[@HrvojeBan]

Well, I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that media outlets are mostly controlled by the political parties so naturally they will write positive things about the politicians that are funding them. The more worrying thing is that people actually do read those article, comment on them and discuss them among themselves.

[@PaulBradbury]

The latter part of your comment is the point of the video

[@zdenkopecirep2812]

if politicians walk alone without body guard , then, they can realise how much people realy like them.

[@jelenaivkovic3231]

That is so sad, they should enjoy their beautiful country more and think of politics less, especially children

[@hobbyjay6803]

Is this video belongs to "why u shouldn't in Croatia" series? Da heck, politicians are public enemies number1 in Croatia, especialy by opposition lot which in other hand are number1 stand up comedians in Cro... funny to watch thou

[@MarioPetrinovich]

I hear answers like, it is good to be interested in politics. The reason is, because Croats are interested in politics for the wrong reasons. In the West, doing politics probably means hard work for public benefit. Trying to make a better system that suits everybody. In the West politicians try to understand the logic of how things can work better. Croats don't see politics that way, in Croatia politics has nothing to do with logic, with making system better for everybody, with hard work, just the opposite, politics means how to achieve for you to work less, and have more money for yourself, by taking away from others. So, in Croatia you have followers who are trying to get a piece of cake for themselves, not who are trying to argue the virtues of system they are proposing. The "arguments" used in our politics are usually pure *lies*. The "trick" is to be able to lie better that the others, and thus achieve your own goals, which does damage to common people (this is why you have to so skillfully lie to them). So, just like rock stars, who will give good music to their followers, politicians in Croatia will give good opportunities to their followers. So, they are celebrated like Santa Claus, the man who gives gifts. They are not perceived like philosophers who will achieve that the system works better for everybody, by introducing some clever ideas., like Margaret Thatcher, who managed to achieve something by having some clever approach, or Winston Churchill, or even Boris Johnson, not, the only idea here is how to give his followers opportunities which other don't have. Here, Tito is very popular. Croats don't understand how he did it, and they don't care, they all are convinced that Tito laid golden eggs, so they adore him. Because Tito *gave* them something. Here it is not the question how to work with your hands, and that way you *earn* something. No, if you have to earn something, this isn't good, they all follow somebody who promises to *give* them something. And then they follow him as long as they believe that the promise will be materialized one day. After few decades of waiting, when they realize that these were all empty promises, then they are searching for somebody else who will give them the same promises, and so on, and so on. And that's, practically, entire "Meaning of life of a Croat". So, politicians in Croatia are here to *give* something to their followers.

[@MarioPetrinovich]

Oh yes, there is a saying which describes the essence of how Croats see politics: "Tito je krao, al' je i drugima dao.", "Tito did steal, but he also gave to the others.". So, a politician can be devil, he can be thief, as long as he *gives* to others, too. And now they are waiting for somebody who will *give* them, too. They are not interested in earning money by the way of working, they don't see sense in this concept.

[@MarioPetrinovich]

Oh yes, this is also the reason why so many people follow HDZ, and adore Tudjman. Because Tudjman and HDZ *gave* us Croatian state. It wasn't me, a volunteer from 1991., who fought for my own country, it is Tudjman who *gave* us that. So, a lot of people will vote for HDZ until the day they die. It doesn't matter that HDZ is the main responsible for corruption, for mass stealing, the first thing HDZ did is to actually rob the country, no, it doesn't matter at all how country functions, nobody cares about it, but a lot of people are convinced that HDZ *gave* us the country. So, in essence, half of the country votes for HDZ because HDZ *gave* us the country, and the other half votes for SDP because Tito *gave* us easy living without too much work. And that's all. Isn't it so simple?

[@damonmelendez856]

Very interesting, I would correct you on only one point: in the West, the corruption is much more hidden and underground.

[@MrDurin]

I don't think that having a big part of population interested in politics is a bad thing. In countries where most of the people are apathetical or uninterested in politics, individuals and groups that are aspiring to lead the parties are those to whom politics is everything, and those people are usually at the extremes of left or right. You say that in UK working class people are uninterested in politics, but that opened a path to Farage and Johnson to use the justified discontent of the working class with immigration and the change of their country on the right and to Corbyn on the left. Russian ruler Putin also uses hard power to keep everyone except his cronies out of politics. Regular reporting on lives and views of politicians humanizes them, and in Croatia there are no violent clashes between supporters of the right and left. The problem is when most of the people are interested in day-to-day sensations instead of political programs and practice, when the newspapers and portals are full of politicians, influencers, celebrities and tourist stories, and there is no space for political theory and practice, books, culture and experts on politics except when they are seldom reported on by journalists who are politically like-minded.

[@TheDennys21]

We don't treat them like rockstars at all, our entire government is literally worse than mafia and in a normal country they would all be in prison but sadly Croatia is far from a normal country.

[@MultiRispo]

It's the same in Great Britain. You know who the prime minister is, you know the ministers, and from which party they come. You also know which issues are being discussed and who stands for what. Society would be unhealthy if it were not so.

[@someidiotwithnoname]

Remnants of socialism. Party loyalty is more important than democratic thought and political parties have a strict hierarchy in which challenging those on top usually means being expelled from the party one way or another. This is also one of the reasons Croatian politics is bereft of content, it's either empty promises, childish bickering or populism, because openly criticising one side, even constructively, is automatically perceived as support for the other.

[@pathofexile7529]

They are not.

[@smetljesm2276]

Oh Paul please don't take the joy away our only fundamental entertainment we have 😂😂😂 It's the one constant that never changes. Portals will become only foregin copy paste without politika taking up 70%😂😂

[@PaulBradbury]

that 70% is a crazy number

[@smetljesm2276]

@@PaulBradbury 😅😅

[@zagrepcanin82]

Why can lord in UK go to his job via public transportation and ours have police escort and bullet proof cars!???? I want to increase public awareness about one huge problem politicians made....as of today GDP of Croatia is about 120B euros....1995 it was about 50B. If we take inflation rate into consideration that amount of money is the same. But.... How much money does black market earn? And how much money is stolen(by politicians banks and other means) every year? about 50B euros. DO the math...50B x 30y= 1.5 trillion euros!!!!! or 1500 billion euros!!!!! So....next time at elections....stay at home. do not vote for change and for better future of the country,nation,children....every year less and less children go to school. it wont be long and less and less will go to kindergardens

[@Josip9888]

When I was a child in my school, 90 kids went in first grade with me. A few days ago, my niece started school. It's 4 boys and her in the first grade. I thought it's worth pointing out regardless of video topic.

[@MarioPetrinovich]

@@j.p.9295 Why?

[@MarioPetrinovich]

@@j.p.9295 Well, you said "It has to change.". It doesn't change all by itself, it is me who should give a piece of my small pension to invest in an effort to change something that doesn't work. Americans say "Put your money where your mouth is.", don't put my money where your mouth is, change it with your own money, if you want it to change.

[@MarioPetrinovich]

@@j.p.9295 Yes. Unlike you, I am living in Croatia, and I will have to finance your "project" out of my empty pockets. No way, bro, finance it yourself.

[@MarioPetrinovich]

@@j.p.9295 No, you want to steal my pension. Who feeds you? Your parents? You, naive kids, don't know what you are talking about. Because of people like you those areas are empty, wasting money on projects that don't work, like there is no tomorrow.

[@MarioPetrinovich]

@@j.p.9295 Ah, I see, you think that there doesn't have to be a project made to materialize your idea, a project that somebody has to put his money in. You think that this is like, daddy buy me a car, a bicycle, and a scooter, by me a teddy bear and a rabbit, a stroller Jugovinil. kzbin.info/www/bejne/amiToo1qlNB2r9ksi=XNeQFQucViw0sU42

[@richardmorgan3647]

Long live Serbia

[@MarioPetrinovich]

What is "Serbia"?

[@abpast5319]

Everyone who says its not like this lies. It is they are as rock stars.