How to Help Russia on Its Way To Democracy?

Russia has never experienced democracy. Why should the country experience it now?

From time immemorial, the Russian intellectual elites have been split between the “Eurasians” and the “Westerners”. Both sides have argued with one another about what is best for Russia and its inhabitants, and these disputes have been continuing in varying metamorphoses and with varying representations until today. The Westerners see the advantages of democracy in its support of creativity and utilization of the creative potential of talented, educated and hardworking citizens. Another advantage of democracy is the prevention of the temptation to abuse power. The Eurasians oppose this, stating that “these brittle flowers of democracy do not flourish in our climatic conditions. Either they fade or they grow wild.”. By such statements, They allude to the unfortunate heritage of long-lasting occupation by south-eastern raiders that set back the development of the country and caused it to lag behind Europe by almost two hundred years. This is why they promote the model of autocracy based on the Orthodox ideology of the third Rome, the heir to the Byzantine empire who is predestined to save the rest of the decadent world. They see this world as degenerate and devoid of morals which have been replaced by money, consumerism and seeking profit at any cost. As any cursory glance at the Euro-American civilization backs this point of view with enough evidence, this notion resonates strongly in the common society.

Our country can become a part of Central Europe if Russia follows the path of the Westerners, or it might become an eastern periphery of Europe, if Russia follows the Eurasian path. I believe that the majority of our fellow citizens would prefer the first option. President Masaryk chose it as well when he carried through his Russian Aid Action. It was to raise a new intellectual elite from Russian students who had unsuccessfully fought in the Russian Civil War against the superiority of the red internationalists and who ended up in internment camps outside Russia. After the downfall of the bloody Bolshevik experiment on the living people, they were to replace the millions of murdered people and through their European experience to steer Russia towards European values. However, this promising effort failed due to the underestimation of the brutality of the Bolsheviks who despised morals and ethics as anachronisms of the bourgeois society. Through ruthless terror, by sealing all information sources and replacing them with untruthful propaganda and through the selective removal of strong personalities capable of independent thought, the Bolsheviks managed to replace the Homo Sapiens with the Homo Sovieticus.

After the invention of the nuclear and hydrogen bombs, pushing political interests by military means became too dangerous, which is why the battles of the third world war were fought in the economic domain. As centrally planned economy lacks in efficiency, the Soviet Union lost the war and the empire started to crumble. The borders opened up and the Internet brought a flood of information even to Russia. Today’s Russian youth understand that the Russian society must want to cure itself and they apply themselves courageously to that end. However, they lack the knowledge and experience that would allow them to chart a negotiable rout into the European family. They look to the countries of the former Eastern Bloc who have with varying success accomplished the process of transformation back to democracy and they would like to draw on both positive and negative experience these countries have gained on their toilsome journey.

The Russian population has been used to living in lie for the past 99 years and therefore, they only trust their own personal experience. The rise of the world oil prices played into Putin’s hand so the people could experience an increase in their living standard during his mandate. This is why they trusted him. However, oil prices have dropped and the reserves are running dry. Unless oil prices rise radically, there is a catharsis to be expected.

If we do want to have a friend in the future Russia instead of a foe, we should do everything that is in our power. However, we must start with ourselves to cure the problems of our own society already infected by the Soviet model, albeit less severely and with less serious consequences. If we manage to put back into circulation the omitted values of decency and honesty, we can become a proof that a return to the values of which the European civilization was begot is possible. Then, we may even repeat Masaryk’s Russian Aid Action – this time successfully and, in the Internet era, with little resources needed.