. Many people today say that its awakening took place on Bolotnaya Square after the elections on 4 December, but I believe that what is happening now is a natural consequence of what Mikhail Gorbachev originated 25 years ago.
- What’s your attitude to what is happening?
- Neutral. In every society, there must be a pluralism of opinions: some eagerly scold power, some vigorously support it, and you cannot make everyone think the same. I consider it normal. - Do you think that such people as Nemtsov, Ryzhkov, Kudrin or Prokhorov are able to become real leaders of protest moods of the society?
- Society, like nature, lives and develops according to its own laws: society changes and advances those who are most in line with its changes, and it is very difficult to predict who will become the leader. When the monument to Dzerzhinsky was demolished at the Lubyanskaya Square in 1991, everyone was sure that some well-known party leaders or governors would lead the people. And no one then thought that Gaidar, Shokhin, Aven, Chubais, Burbulis would appear. Very few people knew these names. But suddenly it happened that everyone talked about them. Now the situation may repeat. The most important thing is that it develops in an evolutionary way, through reforms and modernization. If a society in a certain country will only criticize and find fault with everything and everyone, nothing good awaits us. Such society is degrading, and the state will fall apart. If everyone thinks positively and in a constructive way, then this society will push bright capable individuals to the surface. And you mentioned some old names, but after all, they were already in power or were near it. Someone earned well on mortgage auctions. That is, they are all cogs of the same system. But society is like the Brownian movement and I do not exclude that one of them or one of the current government’s close circle will come forward.
- In view of recent protests and rallies, can we talk about a split in Russian society?
- No, I strongly disagree with this position. I am a representative of Kalmykia, one might say, of the national outskirts, and I can judge as a provincial man. I do not see the split of society into "red" and "white". Of course, some foreign forces, as it was in the late XIX - early XX centuries, want to divide our society into two opposing camps, but it is not ready for this. Unless some kind of incitement of these sentiments from the outside happens, society will evolve evolutionarily, and I do not expect any approaching revolution. I see that what is happening in Russia now is part of the processes that are taking place in other countries. Russia is a cell of a large organism called the “world system”. And now the whole world system is sick. We are all in a state of crisis. The financial crisis, about which there are so many conversations today, is only the tip of the iceberg of the problems that everyone has encountered. Now there is also a political crisis. The moral and ideological crisis is the cause of it, because humanity has lost its basic values. Previously, the main guide was God. But this landmark is lost. As a result, a deep-seated human crisis leads to financial, political, military crises, etc. I am in favour of an open society, there is no need to re-fence the “iron curtain” from the rest of the world. It is necessary to continue the dialogue with the same European states and the USA. The state should be open and transparent in foreign and domestic policy, as Gorbachev said. Publicity, openness, focusing on modernization will not only save Russia, but will accelerate the movement of our country to a civilized society.
14.02.2012
