Majdan's Lesson

Lessons from history needed to be taken - or, at least, to aspire to it. Especially valuable in this plan is recent history: as soon as the conditions of a problem had no time to change considerably, then practical conclusions have not lost their relevance.

Two years passes after the Ukrainian "orange revolution". Quite a history, though not so ancient. And what lessons have been taken from it in Russia - first of all opponents of a mode?

There are, certainly, some successes in this field - but absolutely insufficient. However, our intrasystem opposition never showed special desire to learn anything. Non-system people in this plan are not so hopeless.

So, what happened two years ago?

Dedicated to Stiven King

Stiven King has a magnificent story "Moving Finger". Its plot briefly looks like this: the main character, typical American inhabitant finds out that the finger sticks out of a bowl in his bath – it looks quite human. The finger is alive, it moves - and grows. The finger doesn’t attack anybody and does nothing ominous at all. However, its appearance is enough that the world of the main character has failed. He used to be firmly convinced (the petty bourgeois always and in all is firmly convinced - even if there are no reasons for it) that fingers never GREW out of baths. The only fact doesn’t agree with his system universe, it breaks all his system to the hell. At the end the character destroys the finger – and finds oneself in the lunatic asylum.  

For our bureaucracy Majdan became such "finger" (or, to be more precisely, almost became). In fact the long and the short of the official accumulates in itself all petty-bourgeois qualities bringing them to the point of irrationality. The world of the official is firm as a glass - and very fragile.

In modern Russia selection into the caste of officials is happening according to such attributes. Platittude is preferable, as it is rather safe and in addition it is executive (the ideal official strictly makes things that are entrusted to him, adding nothing from himself). It is possible, of course, to find in the state apparatus people having imagination and capable to think – but surely they don’t make  difference there.

I Will Paint the World…

What happened in Kiev? To support "conditionally proRussian" candidate Janukovich were used exactly those patented means which in Russia led to victory two times each candidate - Yeltsin and Putin. Everything was taken hold of, everything was coordinated. Janukovich basically should win.

However, he lost - and everything failed in the minds of the Russian official. All words and symbols suddenly acquired new, unfamiliar sense, white became black, snowdrifts - barchans.

The hysteria which followed the Ukrainian events in mass-media was quite logical: semi-official thinkers tried to explain Majdan in habitual to them terms, to paste on all standard stickers - and to make clear that was not clear (and therefore already frightening).

It is necessary to recognize that in due course they managed to do it more or less. However, Kremlin inhabitants (Kremwhores according to Delyagin - comment of the editor) still for a long time had their hair curling at the sight of  something orange.

Achilles’ Heel

In other words, the authority showed its main weak spot. People who are in power in Russia are capable to operate effectively more or less only in habitual to them conditions, when everything’s simply, clearly and explainably. If "finger" appears from a bowl - they absolutely lose their heads, the same way with your King’s hero.

Let’s recollect a historical exchange of retorts: "It’s a revolt! – No, sir, it is revolution!". Suppression of revolts was for the French kings a habitual thing to do. But revolution … How to fight it, if you even don’t know what all this is? Louis XVI lost his head – firstly in переносном смысле, then in the direct one.  

What to Do?

So, what should we do – we who are interested in falling of Putin’s mode? Exact recurrence of Majdan in Russia?

First of all, it is impossible - Russia all the same is not the Ukraine and we have different conditions. Secondly, it’s also useless: the Russian authority having all its weaknesses is able to learn. Now "orange revolution" already quite keeps within the system of concepts of our bureaucracy and methods of "orange counterrevolution" have been already worked out by it.

It’s better to recollect Suvorov's words: "To surprise means - to win". I will add from myself that most effectively this maneuver works with people who are not able and do not like to be surprised - such, for example, as our bureaucrats are.

Meetings-processions-demonstrations? I see, reader, you are smiling. Really, it’s difficult to find anything more habitual and banal. Posters-leaflets? It is not simply banal - boring, tiresome. It’s not even interesting to struggle it.

Eggs and potato darting? It could surprise only firstly but now it also became habitual and informidable.

Capture of receptions? It’s enternaining - but it looks like the authority is not frightened and lost.

So what to do? I do not know.

But really it’s possible to surprise a man using different ways. Especially if this man is - сросшийся with an armchair чинодрал. We shall search for these ways.