Calgary, September 2022
“The only person in charge of your happiness is you.” That’s what they say, and it is true for most of the people. We can always find something nice in life. Sunny day, smile of somebody we love, good book, all that is part of happiness. Worrying about wars, politics or climate change can wait. That’s how most people feel, but everybody.
Josef was a talented young man. He studied literature at the university, wrote articles for the local newspapers and had an ambition to become a writer. After graduation he worked as a journalist, found himself a girlfriend, got married, had a child and all was good and well. The newspaper Josef was working for was headed by the editor whose writing was often on the border of acceptability by the political establishment. That made the newspaper popular with public, but not with the hardliners of the government.
“Your writing does not reflect our policy, Mr. Martin Hansen. We will not tolerate any attempts to undermine our society.” The warnings to the chief editor were coming from the high levels of the government, but he didn’t seem to pay much attention to it. Martin was popular with his staff, and Josef was one of his greatest admirers. He wanted to be like him.
The uneasy truce between the chief editor and the political establishment ended abruptly when Martin published his book. It was nothing offensive, just a nice, humorous story about a fictitious country whose government was just as inept as those who were sending him the warnings. The first edition of his book was sold out in few days, but then it was put on the blacklist, and Martin got the following letter:
“Due to your failure to head our warnings, you are dismissed from the position of the paper’s chief editor. Your replacement will be coming shortly.” This turn of events caused an uproar in the newsroom. The staff was threatening a strike, mass resignation, letter campaign to the president, etc. The leader of that uproar was Josef.
“We will not let it happen,” he roared in front of his colleges. “We will demand that Martin is reinstalled as a chief editor. The public opinion is behind us.”
The newsroom staff listen to him while thinking about their careers, about their families, and about their paychecks. When Josef finished, Martin called him to his office.
“Josef, you are young, at the beginning of you career. Don’t destroy it by worrying about me. I will be OK, and the newspaper will survive without me. Just keep doing a good job, don’t waste your talent fighting wars you cannot win.”
Martin was right, the newspaper survived without him. The new chief editor maintained a low profile, he knew that if he picks up a fight with his staff, he will lose. Employees can always make life miserable for a boss they dislike. The paper was still progressive, just not as progressive as before. Most of the staff accepted the new situation, but Josef didn’t. He couldn’t get over the injustice done to Martin.
“Josef, stay out of politics. It will bring only grief to all of us,” his wife Anita warned him. But Josef couldn’t help it. He wrote an article which definitively crossed the boundary of the acceptable and the result was predictable. He got the same letter of dismissal as Martin did.
“What are we going to do now?” asked Anita.
“I will have to find a new job.”
“And where? You are now a marked man; no newspaper will hire you.”
That was true. No newspaper offered him a job and Josef ended up as a helper at the construction site. The foreman looked at him and saw a man totally unsuitable for physical work. “Why are you here?” he asked. Josef told him about his work as a reporter and about the article which got him fired.
“Was it worth it?” asked the foreman.
Josef was wandering about it too. Martin was right when he warned him about fighting wars he couldn’t win. But it was too late now.
Josef kept working for a long time at the construction company. He also maintained contact with his former colleges and wanted to know what happened to Martin. Somebody gave him Martin’s address and Josef decided to come for a visit. He expected to see some poor dwelling, but he was for a surprise. Martin lived in a nice little house in a small village near the capital, and a car was parked at the entrance.
“Hello Josef, nice to see you. Come in.” greeted him Martin.
“Hello Martin, you seem to be doing well.”
“Yes, I told you I will be OK. When they put my book on a blacklist, it was the best advertising they could have done for me. Everybody wanted to read it. The book was printed abroad, got translated to various languages and I am getting royalties. They cannot confiscate them because royalties are covered by the laws of intellectual property. Also, I write under different names. I am quite busy now.”
“So, my fight to correct the injustice done to you was pointless?’
“Yes. I told you not to fight wars you cannot win.”
But Josef’s war wasn’t altogether pointless. Time passed and the political situation changed. The hardliners were removed, Martin was reinstalled as the chief editor, and the first thing he did was to rehire Josef. There was a big party to celebrate, Josef was received as a hero, but was bit uneasy about his reception. The change from the construction worker to a hero was too sudden. Josef was looking at the people in the newsroom and had mixed feelings. Martin was now a recognised writer, others were established journalists, and he was a beginner again. Was his heroism worth it? Josef wasn’t sure.