About rallies, media and authorities

The rally on October 13, 2011 on (new) Pushkinskaya Square, organized by the RAS Workers' Union together with a number of youth and other associations, turned out to be noticeably more expressive than the previous rally on October 21, 2010, which the RAS PR had to be held in a deserted corner on the Shevchenko embankment . In addition to the territorial improvement, which became possible, probably, in connection with the upcoming elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, there was also a significant quantitative and qualitative difference in the composition of the protesters.

Thanks to the expanded composition of the organizers, many young people came to the rally. This circumstance was reflected, in particular, in the headline of a note that appeared on the same day in The Washington Post [1]. The Internet responded to the rally with many photographs and texts. A number of newspapers and broadcast media also provided information about this action, in the assessment of which, however, there was no monolithic unity.

An analysis of the range of opinions on this issue, including representatives of the leadership of the Russian Academy of Sciences, deserves a separate detailed discussion, which, by the way, can serve as the initial basis for the formation of working structures of the Association that has been created for many years, once again mentioned in the issue of TrV-Nauka dated September 27 2011 [2].

We will have to return to such questions later, but for now we will limit ourselves to stating the fact that the “main calibers” of TV - Channels 1 and 2 - did not report anything on the evening of October 13 about the rally. It is unlikely that this happened due to simple carelessness. A different situation seems more likely, indicating the specific attention of the authorities to academic and other science, which manifested itself, in particular, in the story of Petrik.

In my speech at the rally, I recalled that the deplorable state of our science reflects the state of our entire society and state. Over the past decades, science has found itself under the burden of many interrelated problems that interfere with its normal development and normal work. Among them, the most “prominent” place is occupied by the insufficiency and inadequacy of funding for science, which led us to this rally. The notorious Federal Law-94, which has already been mentioned here, was apparently intended to save budget funds. But this “saving” in relation to science is fraught with the same consequences as the saving on foresters, as a result of which entire villages began to die from forest fires, and last year the Russian capital was literally suffocated by harmful smog.

In response to demands to increase funding for science (the size of the postgraduate scholarship is simply a disgrace!) from different floors of the power pyramid, words are often heard that there is no money and there is nowhere to get it. This is deceit! There is money—the flow of corruption in the country is probably comparable to a considerable part of the budget and far exceeds all expenditures on science. These funds must be returned to the people through decisive actions by the authorities, and not through the lamentations of its representatives about the fact that bribe-takers and corrupt officials have completely lost their conscience.

In order for our science and our entire country not to turn into scorched ashes, meaningful, organized and decisive actions are needed. The scientific community must contribute to solving this vitally important common problem.

To the issue of “lack of money”, briefly touched upon in my speech, it is worth adding that it is necessary to introduce confiscation by court decision of stolen property and a progressive income tax. And if the authorities refer to the fact that they cannot collect such a tax, then in this regard they sign of their complete impotence.

In the information materials about the meeting, questions about the actual attitude of the supreme authorities to Russian science were practically not touched upon, since the meeting itself was formally limited to a narrower topic, which was reflected in its resolution, which was not so expressive compared to the resolution of October 21, 2010 ., when representatives of the RAS workers demanded to send Minister A.A. Fursenko to resign and called on the leadership of the Russian Academy of Sciences to more actively defend the interests of RAS workers. The Minister of the Ministry of Education and Science, of course, did not resign, and the leadership of the Russian Academy of Sciences over the past year also did not demonstrate the necessary activity even in solving a number of pressing intra-academic problems (see, for example, TrV-Nauka dated May 24, 2011 - “They honored the memory, approved and ...What's next? [3]).

The resolutions of the last two rallies in their final parts promise to continue and expand protest actions if the demands made are not met. In the process of realizing this promise, it is probably worth thinking about holding a corresponding event in the courtyard in front of the old building of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Leninsky Prospekt, 16), a very convenient place that is not yet sufficiently used for this purpose.

ps During the organization and holding of our multi-hundred rally, a multimillion-strong growing wave of protest demonstrations against the actions of the global financial elite was already rolling across the world. An example worthy of comprehension and imitation! But for now, many of our citizens with lukewarm interest simply watch on TV how Berezovsky is suing Abramovich over some kind of property... But that’s another topic.

Alexander Samokhin,
Member of the Council of the Trade Union of Workers of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Chairman of the trade union committee of the Institute of General Physics RAS

Photo on the page of Natalia Demina, Evgeny Pivovarov ( http://pivo-msu.livejournal.com/39204.html ) and Kirill Lebedev ( Gazeta.ru )

1. Young Russian scientists rally against bureaucracy, by Will Englund, Published: October 13, The Washington Post.

2. A. Samokhin. About Associations, PR RAS, etc. - TrV-Nauka, No. 88B, 09.27.2011, http://trv-science.ru/2011/09/27/ob-associaciyax-pr-ran-i-pr .

3. http://trv-science.ru/2011/05/24/pochtili-pamyat-odobrili-i-chto-dalshe .