Translated material
Timid objections
Oh, how many wonderful discoveries we have
They are preparing the spirit of enlightenment,
And experience, the son of difficult mistakes,
And genius, friend of paradoxes,
A.S. Pushkin
Lilia Shevtsova, who is very, very respected by me, does not often express her position on Ekho Moskvy. I want to say right away that her analyzes and forecasts are, as a rule, non-trivial, sometimes unexpected and always interesting.
Here is the last post on her blog : “Protest as a way to preserve autocracy,” attracted the attention of many, however, in my opinion, it takes into account only the second half of Pushkin’s formula - “...And genius is a friend of paradoxes.”
Therefore, I will allow myself to continue the brilliant analysis of Lilia Fedorovna, using the first part of Onegin’s line: “.. And experience, the son of difficult mistakes...”.
So, this very experience, which is the “son of mistakes,” tells me that in the modern information world, the Internet has become one of the key factors not only in the formation of public opinion, but also in the broad spirit of enlightenment. For this reason, the authoritarian politician has no opportunity to stop his rapidly declining popularity.
In his best book, “A Long Time,” Yegor Gaidar writes: “It is certainly much more difficult to build a functioning democracy in Russia, and not a dummy of it. However, there is no need for illusions. This problem will still have to be solved. We do not live in the 19th, or even the 20th century. The modern, informational nature of society, rapid socio-economic changes, leave no chance for the sustainable preservation of undemocratic regimes.”
The decision, fatal for the Kremlin, to swap the “bodies” in the first and second chairs in the system of the hierarchy of state power, cynically presented to the public, caused a feeling of not only apathy and hopelessness, but also anger.
The younger generation, having received a clear signal from the two-umvirs that the vertical mobility elevators were closed for an indefinite period of time, woke up. In short: it became clear that talent, education, energy mean nothing in the formula for your success in life. That is why, after September 24, we witnessed both a collapse in the popularity of the authorities and a surge in protest activity in the Internet community.
The creative, creative, urban class declared a large-scale war online against total, state lies on federal television channels.
Not a single action, not a single propaganda trick from the usual wretched set (combiners, journalists, hockey players) not only helped in the election campaign, but immediately became the object of mockery and ridicule. The hit of the Rabfak group alone collected more than 2 million views on the Internet in three weeks.
Now those who publicly, on social networks, declared themselves supporters of United Russia, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, immediately fell into the category of marginalized people and “suckers.” The sad story of the famous TV presenter Tina Kandelaki, by the way, a member of the expanded Government, is a vivid example of this. Before our eyes, outcasts and loyalists magically quickly changed places. We saw this first on the Internet, and then with our own eyes on Bolotnaya Square.
Of course, the Kremlin tried to find a way out, assuming that the sanctioned loss of the constitutional majority of United Russia would let off steam from the political system. However, again the Internet community presented its irrefutable arguments for the massive theft of votes and did not accept what was proposed by the authorities of the world. Now we see the beginning of the Kremlin’s retreat in the form of promised concessions and reform of the political system. At the same time, if it were not for the start of the election campaign of the President of the Russian Federation, then the speeches of angry citizens could well have stopped at the level of moral protest, and here I agree with the respected Liliya Fedorovna.
But the struggle for the first government post in the Presidential Republic is no joke.
For the first time in the history of his political life, Vladimir Putin is starting a presidential campaign with a rating of about 40% and I don’t see any opportunities to increase his popularity and attract new supporters. All these workers, miners, metallurgists, etc., whom we see on state television channels, are immediately and mercilessly exposed and dissected by the “scalpel” of the Internet. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the main contender for the top post inadvertently nominated himself from United Russia. In this sense, his self-nomination now from a group of citizens and the collection of 2 million signatures could have been reformatted and given a completely different impetus to the start of the campaign, but this opportunity was missed. I think that the Popular Front will not help here either. This cartridge case, wastefully fired in the Duma elections, is already hopelessly clinking, rolling under the feet of the “Voroshilovsky shooter”.
The illegitimate State Duma, coupled with President Medvedev, announced for the post of Prime Minister, will drag Vladimir Putin to the bottom of defeat like a stone. For this reason, the protest of “banderblogs” will only grow and will inevitably transfer it from a moral plane to a political one.
And finally, the last thing. I have already written that next year the authorities will have to make extremely unpopular decisions. For example, an increase in the pension fund budget deficit will force an increase in the retirement age. Tariffs for housing and communal services frozen for the elections will have to be released, and this will inevitably increase prices. The situation in the global economy is very alarming and leaves no room for confident optimism.
An illegitimate government will not be able to make such difficult decisions.
Obviously, in addition to the main task - the victory of Vladimir Putin, we will have to solve a much more difficult task, giving it legitimacy. The Kremlin has no political skill left for this. However, the street will begin to acquire it after the New Year holidays.