Limits of Simulation

The Investigative Committee of Russia has confirmed data on the activities of United Russia deputy Alexei Knyshov, which are incompatible with his parliamentary status. This means that Deputy Knyshov will be subjected to the unmandating procedure, recently tested on Deputy Gennady Gudkov .

If United Russia does hand over Knyshov , several questions will immediately arise. For example, why is it MP Knyshov? Probably because no one, except readers of the blog of deputy Dmitry Gudkov , knows who deputy Knyshov is. At the same time, a blow to one’s own would allow the party of the parliamentary majority and its non-party leaders to assume a semblance of a noble pose. They say, there is no need to accuse us of persecuting those who are unpleasant to us personally; we are ready to persecute all dishonest people in our country, regardless of their party affiliation. Deputy Knyshov in this case is simply Deputy X, appointed to serve as an example of party inflexibility in the fight against corruption. And besides, Dmitry Gudkov has already done almost all the work for the Investigative Committee on his blog, and it would simply be stupid not to take advantage of this.

For what? Because the country's leadership, accustomed to manually regulating any current situation, is trying to maintain the system in some balance. What it is, this balance, is known, apparently, only to the leadership itself. You can understand this completely intuitive method of control only by trying to put yourself in their place.

It turns out that Gudkov’s mandating looked like a completely acceptable step in the logic of “so that it’s disgraceful.” But then the weights on this scale somehow accumulated - especially after the arrest of Udaltsov , who revived protest sentiments literally in spite of the “Protestants” themselves, who were so carried away by the toy elections of the Coordination Council , suddenly spoiled by the cadavers of Sergei Mavrodi. It took a move in the other direction so that the voices of critics, reminiscent of the dangers of Stalinism, would not merge into a completely unified chorus. At the same time, such that those who think that it is Stalinism that is lacking in the country can also please: here it is in the flesh - the intensification of the class struggle as socialism is built, United Russia member Knyshov is recognized as a swindler. The Trotskyist-Bukharinist conspiracy in the ranks of the party will soon be exposed.

Of course, this is all an imitation. So far, only those relatively few who are already in prison are able to feel how close this imitation can be to reality, when they squeeze their wrists with the steel of handcuffs and ruin their lives in just a few hours. Our problem is that this kind of imitation at one unremarkable moment begins to dictate its own rules of the game to the simulator. And then the fig in your pocket immediately disappears somewhere, and pockmarks suddenly appear on the ironically and condescendingly smiling sleek faces.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that the keepers of balance understand (they cannot help but understand): the current order of things cannot function indefinitely. Or rather, it practically no longer functions, but is crumbling. And now they have two alternatives: a final collapse in an already discernible future - or a real Stalinist turn. No imitations.

It's seductive, this option. Especially when they know from sociological surveys that such an option is guaranteed an ovation. But in order to implement it, you have to be Stalin. Fortunately, Stalin is not among them. Nevertheless, they test, test the strength of this ephemeral film that separates the permissible from the unacceptable. Carefully, like a whale that has swam under an ice field, testing the strength of the ice in order to stick its blowhole out into the air.

They probably believe that they themselves set the limits of what is permissible, and therefore can be changed. At the same time, there is not a single state or public institution in Russia that can prove the opposite. The only guarantee is their willingness to adhere to their own rules of the game. Or, if you prefer, their unwillingness and inability to change them even due to obvious necessity.

The reason for this unpreparedness is not only a lack of personal power: personalities change, the strong become weak, the weak become strong, half-educated seminarians become dictators, so that is not the point. But the fact is that under the tinsel of all these imitation procedures there is a serious process of distribution of material wealth. Either you distribute material wealth to the roar of chants about raising the country from its knees, or you include Stalin - these are fundamentally different types of leadership.

For now, relative vegetarianism is guaranteed: to replace Knyshov in the Duma, if he is unmandated, the Don Ataman Vodolatsky is on the list - in full accordance with the Orthodox costumed spirit of the moment. At the same time, the story with Knyshov, if it reaches its logical conclusion, means one very real thing - a United Russia membership card in your pocket is no longer an indulgence. A crack ran along the multi-colored imitation facade, behind which the levers and flywheels of the system operate.