Rebuke

Dear editors !

Our country is so huge and diverse that its top leadership has to not only take responsibility for everything in general, but also do literally everything themselves, including raising amphorae from the sea and teaching stupid cranes to be smart. Despite the size and uniqueness of our Motherland, the burden of responsibility and business that fell on the shoulders of the leader of the nation would be noticeably lighter if it were not for the lazy, drinking and irresponsible population, as well as the stupid and corrupt lower-level bureaucracy.

Against the backdrop of all our inert masses, ministers and party leaders look like eagles. Having risen in mind above the Lavra bell tower, they look down at us from there, and they see us as rats and mice, as the hero of one movie said. In general, these are special people, their superiority over us, intellectual and moral, is so great that we should be silent and listen, and not start judging them, as many idle talkers do.

Their thoughts and actions are beyond our jurisdiction, no! But there is a Man who can and must judge them, a Man whose merits are as much superior to those of any minister, leader, deputy and judge, as their merits are superior to ours. This, of course, is the leader of the nation, beloved and adored by all of us.
Where our despicable mind should see only successes and achievements, its sharp mind has the right to notice shortcomings and half-witted ideas. Last week, Vladimir Vladimirovich turned his gaze to the cabinet of ministers and immediately discovered that the ministers were not working as well as they should. Without delaying matters, he immediately announced penalties for the negligent ministers.

Among those guilty was our dear minister Dmitry Viktorovich Livanov, who received a reprimand for not working enough to increase the salaries of professors and teachers. It certainly moves me to tears that our president thinks day and night about how the people live, about how teachers and scientists live, how to make our lives easier. However, it would be wrong for anyone, or ours, to be indignant at the minister’s inactivity.
Indeed, Livanov does not have enough money for salaries, scientific funds, and targeted programs from his own pocket; he must agree on expenses with the Ministry of Finance, and the latter cannot satisfy all needs, because the budget is not flexible. There were, of course, presidential decrees that laid the foundations and provided guidelines that must be followed. However, even here everything is not as simple as it seems.

After all, the situation now is not the same as in general, but complex and crisis. And those measures that were calculated, verified and ensured in the first half of the year no longer seem so in the second: there is no confidence that the budget will receive enough revenue to cover the planned expenses. Therefore, statesmen are faced with the most difficult tasks, and they suffer, in general, not through their own fault, but because all sorts of foreign financial tycoons have created pyramids, the collapse of which turned into a global financial and economic crisis.

Understanding all this, I feel serious remorse. Because of whom do serious, respected people suffer? Because of us, workers in education and science, who, frankly speaking, do not deserve such care. Well, what are we doing that is so valuable for the Motherland to justify this concern? Are we teaching unknown things to some idiots who will then teach the same to other idiots? Poring over test tubes?

No, I understand that there are categories of workers whose important and responsible work is completely underpaid, so there is an absolutely pressing and urgent need to increase their wages, despite the crisis. Therefore, I strongly welcome the decision to sharply increase the salaries of employees of the presidential administration from September 1. These are people of enormous national importance who do great things. And it is very correct that the money for this was taken from the president’s reserve fund, usually used to finance educational programs: we, colleagues, did not deserve such treatment.

Therefore, I have a proposal: contact the authorities with another petition and ask to freeze our salaries, the budgets of academies and universities, foundations and research centers for three years. Let the crisis pass, let the country survive - then we too can be taken care of.

Yours Ivan Ekonomov