When you think about independence, do not ask yourself, please, questions about what kind of salary you get, whether you like the power and whether the fight against corruption is effective.

On the eve of Independence Day, many of my compatriots routinely discuss issues that are not related to independence. To hold a military parade or not to hold, whether they like the next president or not, they live well or not so, leave or stay.

To independence all these issues have nothing to do with. When it comes to proclaiming independence, we should ask ourselves a very simple question: is it independence from whom?.

In the Ukrainian case the answer to this question is clear. Ukrainian independence is independence from Russia. Yes, in different historical periods, Ukrainian lands were part of various states.

But in 1917 the founders of the Ukrainian People's Republic, and in 1991 deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR proclaimed independence from Russia. The metropolis could be called differently - the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union - but its essence did not change from this.

And her efforts were also unchanged: the transformation of Ukrainians into "Little Russians", part of the Russian people until 1917 and the transformation of Ukrainians into "Soviet people", Russian-speaking and devoted to Moscow - after.

When you think about independence, do not ask yourself, please, questions about what kind of salary you get, whether you like the power and whether the fight against corruption is effective. These questions are asked by people in all countries of the world - both developed and not very. But not all countries of the world retain the colonial mentality of a huge part of the population.

In no way in all countries of the world people are demonstratively separating themselves from the state. Far from all the countries of the world, the Motherland is perceived exclusively as a trough or an instrument for distributing social benefits. I do not claim that this happens only in Ukraine.

I affirm that this is the case in all countries that have not overcome their colonial past. And it is especially difficult for those people who did not even realize that they lived in the colony. What lived - under the occupation.

When you think about independence, ask yourself, in what language do you speak and in what language will your children and grandchildren talk. Better think what books you read, what movies you watch, what historical dates are important for you, what church you go to. Simply put - tell yourself honestly, yourself - what kind of God you pray to. And if you continue to pray to a stranger - then, maybe from here all your problems and all ours?.

When independence was proclaimed, the majority of the inhabitants of the former Ukrainian SSR took the decision of the parliament and their own vote in the referendum as a children's toy.

Well, we lived in the Soviet Union, and now we will live in the CIS. But we will remain our goods and products, it means that we will live better. When it became clear that without real efforts and changes, it is impossible to live better, once again we remembered about the "older brother" and voted for Leonid Kuchma, who promised to restore "historical ties".

Many still perceive this time of eating up what remains of the Soviet Union as a true Ukrainian "golden age". In these years, the colonial mentality of former Soviet citizens gave way to postcolonial "cunning", "multi-vector", attempts to promote Moscow, Berlin, and Washington for money, if only to do nothing by themselves.

It was believed that the date of the final gap between Kiev and Moscow was Maydan in 2004 - but a few years later the majority of voters voted for Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Regions. We had to wait for the next final break - Maidan 2013-2014.

But I would like to ask the reader - and if Putin had not gone mad, would not have gotten used to the Crimea, would not have arranged a war in the Donbas - unless today we would not be facing the prospect of a new triumph of pro-Russian forces? And unless we are in front of such a prospect tomorrow - if only Moscow decides that it's time to leave our lands and again to conclude us into "brotherly embrace".

After all, in fact, we become Ukraine only because we are defending ourselves. And we must become Ukraine because this is the secret desire of every Ukrainian citizen. It's not the same thing - from hopelessness and at will. And the results of the processes will also be different - simply because the process of turning into Ukraine is to spite Russia to be reversible.

We have time to carry out structural reforms, to fight corruption, to European integration. Many countries with economies like ours have been solving these problems for decades - and Ukraine will not be an exception.

If populist moods in the society prevail, it is possible and "Latin American" circulation in a circle. It does not scare me. Not every country is successful at once. If a prosperous Ukraine is built not by children but by the grandsons of modern Ukrainians - this will already be a serious achievement after centuries of slavery and statelessness.

But what we really do not have time for is the squeezing out of ourselves a slave. The Moscow slave. Maidan 2013-2014 and Russia's aggression gave Ukraine a historic chance. The chance to become oneself. To understand how deeply the roots in her land were colonized. How dangerous is the slavish mentality for the future of the country.

You can carry out reforms, fight corruption, achieve personal success. But if you do not build a real state - all this will be meaningless. Ukraine is not just a territory whose boundaries are indicated on the map.

It is a country with its history, its language, its traditions, its own future. We have to build just such a country. Because only such a country can count on success.

The main reason for all Ukrainian troubles is indifference to Ukraine. And we win only when we remember about it.

Original.