What is švejk?
1.
To Švejk:
A coping mechanism used to survive an oppressive, chaotic, system of government which crushes the under classes to which the Švejker belongs.
Švejking usually begins with efforts to obtain certification or accommodation from the rulers in power that the Švejker has some type of disability or infirmity. The incapacity should be such as to render the recipient incompetent and not responsible for his actions.
The Švejker proceeds to carry out his job duties to absurd ends, and throw monkeywrenches into the system periodically. Yet, the Švejker remains continually untouchable because of his "incompetence".
“There are definite advantages to Švejking through chaos.”
On the long running TV Series M.A.S.H., The Character Clinger was the ultimate Švejker.
See also: Jaroslav Hašek's book, The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War.
(The novel was banned from the Czechoslovak army in 1925, the Polish translation was confiscated in 1928, the Bulgarian translation was suppressed in 1935, and the German translation burned on Nazi bonfires in 1933.)
Gustáv Husák, the General Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party in a speech during the 1970's period of "normalization" in that country, exhorted the population to "STOP ŠVEJKING!!!"
