Conflicts in Russia

[kowalskil]

Contemporary Russian Situation (10/17/2014)

as described by BSN, an unnamed Russian author

Translated by Ludwik Kowalski, Ph.D.

http://csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/life/intro.html


1) My translation of BSN's article is available online at:

http://pages.csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/bsn.html

2) Why did I translate this article? Because I know that the present political situation in Russia is far from clear, and that many people will be interested in how it is described by an intelligent Russian patriot. Feel free to share the link with those who might be interested.

3) Point 4 below is only for those who want to know how I became involved.

Best regards, Ludwik

P.S. Comments will be appreciated.

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4)On October 12, 2014 I subscribed to a Russian website: < http://mirbudushego.ru/forum >. My first post contaied the link to my autobiography (as above).

The forum administrator BSN, responding to me, wrote: "Stalinist repressions, which you describe, belong to the distant past. Don't you think that emphasis on repression, and comparing Stalinism with Nazism, were, and still are, used by American imperialists to demonize the Soviet Union, and then Russia? At the same time they cynically implement criminal policies. They try to dominate the world and to impose the new totalitarian World Order. Why should one particular policy of Stalin, or other errors of Soviet leaders, discredit the idea of building a just society? Why should it justify support of capitalism, controlled by the worldwide lust-and-power-hungry oligarchy?"

To which I responded:
"Yes, America, too, is far from an ideal. Yes, politicians of all countries use deplorable events to promote their interests. Stalinism was based on Marx's theory, according to which the dictatorship of the proletariat is the only way to build a just society. My parents believed in this ideology. But it was not justified by the Soviet reality. That reality should be studied, to avoid repeating similar catastrophes.

BSN replied:
"The main reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union was the betrayal by the elite, which, at the behest of the United States, and under the demagogic arguments about freedom and democracy, decided to discontinue building a just society, and to live comfortably in the unjust society, at the expense of common people. Marx's mistake was obvious; he believed that a change in the economic system would automatically change the consciousness of people. Reality is different; an economic system cannot be changed without first changing the consciousness of people. The primary desire of most people (in the socialist countries, like that of people living in the West), is material comfort, fun and entertainment. Therefore, to build a just society, it is necessary to rely on changing attitudes of people, not just a change of the socio-economic model, or transfer of the steering wheel from one social class, to another. What you think about it? Do you agree that today we should fight for a just society on the basis of an ideology similar to Marxism but modified, to account of mistakes made in the USSR?"

My immediate reply was short; I wrote: "Yes I agree. But I am not a sociologist. Who is developing such a theory in the Russian Federation today?"

BSN's reply was also short; he wrote:

" see, for example, ====> http://mirbudushego.ru/koncepciya/index.htm "

What is this link for? It allows one to read 23 articles (all in Russian), on BSN's open forum. The first 22 articles address psychology, sociology and history topics; the last one is a very interesting, (and probably unique?) description of the contemporary Russian situation. Unfortunately, BSN did not reply to my suggestion to discuss the last article privately, via email. After waiting several days I translated his article into English, and posted the translation on our university forum. The link is:

http://pages.csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/bsn.html

Why did I do this? Because I know that present political situation in Russia is not clear, and that
many people will be interested in how it is described by BSN.

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From the article

The first three points of the patriotic program

1) Russia should become a country where all decisions are taken in the interest of the healthy part of society, of people who adhere to moral principles, common sense, whose aspirations are directed to their own development and the development of the country. Improper, immoral, anti-social behavior, selfishness and blatant pursuit of their own interests to the detriment of the public interest should be strongly and finally suppressed.

2) The oligarchy, the corrupt gang in the government, and organized crime should be uncompromisingly and decisively crushed. Power should reside in the hands of honest and competent people, acting for the good and the rebirth of Russia.

3) Measures should be taken to strengthen healthy lifestyles of the population, to destroy bad habits and social vices. All who need help (in order to lead meaningful and dignified lives) should receive it. People consistently exhibiting antisocial, criminal tendencies must be isolated and forcibly re-educated.

First two points is like a fairytale. Does this ever happened on our planet and lasted for some time? Honest people honestly leading country? Poeple either get corrupted or get shot in their head by corrupted people. But well, as I am an idealist I commend the try.

In the point three somehow I do not like the word 'forcibly re-educated'.

Also, who decides what is healthy and good? Who will control that?

This reminds me of our history class on the high school when learning on socialism. Our teacher told us something like: but the state will control it, so not all are equal.