On the Devaluation of Words and the Limits of Our Resilience | Conversation with Aistis Zabarauskas | Blind Spot #9

SUMMARY

Aistis Zabarauskas speaks about the erosion of political language — a time when words used to trigger action has shifted into an era where “we talk, and nothing happens.” He highlights one of the government’s biggest blind spots: its action plan, a document that maintains the machinery but offers no direction, ambition, or vision. In a tense geopolitical climate, he says, such inertia is dangerous.

Politics, he argues, has turned into marketing. Values have been replaced by reaction to polling data; power becomes a product, not a means to shape the future. Citizens increasingly behave as consumers seeking comfort rather than responsibility — a trend visible across the West.

Zabarauskas notes that modern politics operates less on values and more on raw power: whoever is stronger sets the truth. This shift mirrors global dynamics, where authoritarian forces rise and democracies respond slowly and inconsistently.

He points to Finland and Israel as examples of societies with strong collective resilience — pragmatic, mobilised, and confident. Lithuania, by contrast, often clings to the belief that “I’m just a small person.”

His conclusion: behaviour changes through example, not instruction. Just as children learn from what adults do, citizens follow what leaders model. When politicians preach values they do not practice, they deepen society’s crisis of trust.