Unperson of the Year
Many publications elevate someone to Person of the Year and do their best to find a positive figure. In these transformational times, when our very civilization is under threat, it might be more useful to pick an Unperson of the Year. Not in the Orwellian sense of someone who has officially ceased to exist for political reasons, but rather someone who should be made to disappear from public life for the sake of our own continued existence. Our choice is Miroslav Kalousek. His most visible failures are in the area of the state budget, where cuts are being made everywhere except where the most money is being stolen. But the even greater negative aspect of his public existence is the influence he holds over politicians such as Karel Schwarzenberg and Zdeněk Tůma, and political patron Zdeněk Bakala. Their stated good intentions ring absolutely hollow when the realization of them depends upon Miroslav Kalousek.
Glossary of difficult words
unperson - (coined by George Orwell) a person who, usually for political reasons, is deemed not to have existed and whose name is removed from all public records; a person of no political or social importance;to elevate - to raise to a more important or impressive level;
to ring hollow - to seem not true or wrong, dishonest; not to sound true or sincere;
realization - the act of bringing into reality; the act of making real.