It is always better to laugh, than it is to cry...
I'm not sure there is anything that could define the age of the Internet in the modern day more accurately than one particular phenomenon - memes. One wise soul once described memes as being like art created by people who don't possess the talent to be able to actually paint. I, as a person who paints like a blind snake, am inclined to agree. It doesn't diminish the power of the meme, nor does it take away my love for them. Welcome to our new series, which we kicked off not long ago.
Agrokor, need I say more? It is a subject that has dominated the Croatian media since early this year, it's also a subject that has dominated TCN, particularly over more recent months as things progressed from bad to worse on an international level for the former boss of Croatia's largest privately owned company, Ivica Todorić.
Mr. Todorić, your typical ''ordinary guy'' from Klostar Ivanić, otherwise known as Gazda (the boss), went from being a well known but otherwise fairly unassuming individual at the head of the powerful and influential Agrokor Group, a character who wasn't a stranger to the glossy pages of Forbes magazine, to being at the top of Europol's most wanted list and writing accusatory blogs from unknown locations throughout Europe. Eventually, Agrokor's former top dog settled in London. Bizarre in itself? Yes. Unexpected? Not really.
Now, I'd like to preface this with the fact that I truly am the first person to take things of this nature extremely seriously. We got quite involved here at TCN, particularly in politics, and if you'd like to read some more serious words about the absolutely dire situation which has faced not only the ailing Agrokor Group, but the entire Croatian economic system, please click here, here, and here. If you'd like to crack a festive smile at the state of Cloud Cuckoo Land, also sometimes known as the Croatian political and economic system, then please read on.
Allow me to first elaborate by asking you to click here to get a bit of background knowledge on just who Ivica Todorić is, what he did, and why he has become such an enigma of late.
Now, on to the memes!
And now, for my next trick, I'll turn a loss of 15 billion kuna into a gain of 1.2 billion kuna!
If there is one thing Ivica could easily turn his very talented hand to, it's magic. Like a true magician, Ivica managed to conceal everything that was going on in Agrokor for an incredibly long time, and he also managed to make a pretty penny out of it too, all while living the type of life us mere mortals can only imagine. In his new life in London, the European home of creativity and success, Ivica might just get the green light to continue on as he has been and stun us all with whatever his next move (or blog post) is.
Things that are easily lost
We've all been there, we had our house keys in our hand one minute and then all of a sudden it's as if Ivica himself has performed a magic trick and they've vanished into another dimension, probably the very same dimension in which our politicians live. Phones also tend to get sucked into that dimension, as does money. When you finally come across your keys, you might find Ivica Todorić in the same drawer under the pile of elastic bands you're saving for no apparent reason. Just beware when opening it.
Me: Turn yourself in and prove your innocence in front of the court
Real me: Escape from the country and live luxuriously under a fake name
We've all had such internal dilemmas and it would be very wrong of us to judge poor Ivica on the cross we all have to carry... The shoulder-sitting angel and the devil are always at odds with each other and they rarely agree on anything, particularly when you're the most wanted man in Europe.
Ever wanted to just leave it all behind? Buy a plane ticket and head off into the unknown (or London, honestly it's the same thing these days, believe me). For those of us who aren't swimming in cash, whether that cash belongs to us or not, just jumping on a plane and flying off to begin a new life in the land of fog, debt and expensive food nobody has ever heard of, also known as the British capital, seems a bit of a pipe dream.
Who would win? Institutions which are doing their job or one blogger?
Charles Dickens' statement ''the law is an ass'' could genuinely not be more true when it comes to Croatia. If an entire state institution dedicated to fighting corruption and organised crime couldn't stop Ivica and his blogs, how can anyone else? Especially now he's a self-proclaimed ''citizen in England''.
This speaks for itself, but would you try it? I know my answer...
Ah, good old British justice! 'Aint nothing like it in the world... Unless you've got a spare £100,000 worth of change in your jacket pocket, that is. When Ivica turned himself into the British authorities in London, who were obliged to detain him owing to the conditions prescribed in the European Arrest Warrant that was issued for his capture, he paid a generous £100,000 in bail and was fitted with a device to make sure he doesn't wander too far. Seems a bit unfair when in good Ole Blighty you get ''nicked'' for forgetting to pay your TV license, but not when you've almost ruined an entire national economy. Different horses for different courses, as they say.
Who doesn't love it when boys write something to them? If you hadn't already noticed, we translate Todorić's blogs into English here at TCN, and we're otherwise the only news and media site to do so. In order to stay on top of things, I had to subscribe to the blog itself. Whenever I see his name pop up in my inbox, I can't help but crack a smile, especially when the content of the blog posts is so outlandish you don't even know where to begin.
How will the police arrest Todorić if he's in London?
Pretty simple...
And there you have the enigma known as Ivica Todorić as seen through the deeply talented eyes of Croatia's top memelords, otherwise known as Pretjerivač.
It may be easy to get upset and irritated over the daily farces that occur in life in Croatia, the more time you spend living your day to day life here and actually pay close attention to the system, the easier it becomes to learn to maintain a healthy distance and maybe even laugh. While the Agrokor crisis is the furthest thing in the world from amusing, there is no harm in self-preservation in the face of adversity, or, in Ivica's case, in the face of the threat of extradition.
If you're a fan of keeping up with Croatia's latest economic and political sh*t shows through the means of memes, click here to follow Pretjerivač.
