Translated material
What are Putin's right
In the opposition
What are Putin's right
April 11, 2013 Anton Oresh
I don’t know where Putin got a billion dollars of foreign injections into NPOs, but no matter how much it really is, his fear is really great. And Putin really chose the remedy correctly. He believes that from abroad, evil is coming to us. Evil in his understanding is that in one way or another, he can undermine his power. He believes that undermining goes through these organizations. Figures are already details. The main thing is the conviction that the design looks that way. And Putin draws a simple conclusion: it is enough to block the foreign assistance channel, as these NKOs will cease to be normally funded normally, and therefore, they will cease to function normally. And in this case, they will cease to pose a threat to his power. And there are no other threats to her.
Putin is wrong? Putin is right. I now do not mean undermining our foundations for foreign money. What goals are pursued by foreign grantors, providing such help, let them explain themselves. Someone is driven by the desire for universal enlightenment, openness of borders, establishing ties of all with everyone and the construction of democracy. Someone, I fully admit, considerations are not so romantic and more applied. But the fact is that there is practically no other way to exist for serious NPOs in Russia.
There would be no problems if the same structures were generously financed by our wealthy citizens, or if citizens, ordinary from pure hearts, sacrificed their money for the needs of human rights, public and the like organizations. But ordinary citizens do not donate money in the mass manner. And rich people too. The rich, I suspect, are just afraid. Khodorkovsky, won. And ordinary citizens do not feel such a need for themselves. And I have a strong suspicion that they do not feel not only the needs to sacrifice, but they do not feel needs for these organizations themselves. What they are, that there are no them - no difference.
And if you are an indifferent person, it turns out that you need to go “to play the embassies” and convince abroad that you are going to do a business useful for your country, but necessary for the general, so to speak, good too.
Here is a paradoxical situation. You can do an arbitrarily important thing for Russia, but in Russia you will never find money for it. First of all, because here for this important matter everyone does not give a damn. And besides, doing it is unsafe. After all, the authorities do not give a damn! They are annoyed by any protest, any business that is done without their knowledge, not according to their plan and at least indirectly not aimed at strengthening power. And the only one who is ready to help is a good foreign uncle, who, in theory, should just be to the lantern that is happening.
Civil society is not just some organizations. This is the need for such organizations. The need is massive. Mass participation in their work or at least their material support. In this sense, there is no civil society in Russia. And in this sense, Putin is really right, believing that it is enough to scare away foreign financiers and all the social activities of NPOs in our country will simply bend.