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The Communist form of rule came to an end in our country a decade
ago: the Central Committee, regional and district committees of
the Communist Party and Communist government have gone.
The conspiracy of top-ranking Soviet officials, called a putsch,
was soon transformed into a farce and lost all meaning over two-three
days without any special effort. After almost 80 years, Russia
liberated itself once and for all from Communist rule. This is
the historical significance of those August days in 1991.
Tens of millions of people supported the changes sincerely and
with great hope. Three citizens of Russia paid with their lives
…
A great deal has changed since then. However, we never managed
to establish a firm footing for democracy. Instead, the feelings
of liberty and equal rights, personal dignity and equal opportunities
experienced by the people at the end of the 1980s rapidly vanished
from our lives. In terms of style and often content, state policy
is very reminiscent of the ideas and appeals of the GKChP (Ed.
Abbreviation of the name of the committee used by the organisers
of the putsch in August 1991) . It would require the highest degree
of self-deceit to believe that Russia had already become a democracy.
I think that nobody sincerely believes that to be true any more.
The disappearance of formal Communist rule in August 1991 should
be considered as only one of a number of attributes required for
the emergence of democracy in Russia. Unfortunately, the remaining
attributes did not materialise.
Democracy is neither a system or doctrine. Democracy does not
imply winning a victory. Neither does it imply the attainment
of some kind of result at a particular moment in time.
Democracy should be seen as the attainment of an objective over
and over again. Democracy is a way of thinking. Democracy is a
way of life that is only appreciated once you live that lifestyle,
starting with personal relationships, all the way to interstate
relations. Today, once again, this time in the 21st century, as
was the case during 80 years of Soviet rule, our new politicians
revile the democrats that do nothing but talk.
However, as there was no dialogue, as there was no attempt to
achieve mutual understanding and respect, as this element of democracy
was missing, the deeds of the people in power to rein in democratic
politicians, those “liberal posers," culminated in the bloody
war in the Northern Caucasus - a war with no end and no meaning,
along with periodic severe economic crises that have led to general
pauperisation and destruction of budding Russian entrepreneurship.
And these are the deeds on which they pride themselves.
Power and money command respect. People are unable to hold back
before success. So many people in the 1920s and 1930s idolised
Mussolini and Hitler. Didn’t they make the trains run on time?
Didn’t they eliminate unemployment? Didn’t they achieve market
stability?
Didn’t European intellectuals applaud the world's most democratic
so-called Stalinist Constitution?
But how did that all end?
In our country today the strongest still believe that might
is right. The fat moneybags still think that they are the smartest.
There is no such democracy. We have made virtually no progress
since August 1991.There is nothing to be happy about. But there
is plenty of food for thought.
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