"Freedom March" in Volgograd

The Freedom March took place in Volgograd. The critical view of a Marxist.

For the Volgograd Left Front, the day of December 15, 2012 can well be called the day of summing up the results. The action, which included a two-kilometer procession and a rally, was attended by several dozen people - activists of the Left Front and ROT-Front, Yabloko, RPR-Parnas, defrauded depositors of the Savings Bank of the USSR and simply civil activists who do not consider themselves to any particular party. But, despite the abundance of names, the flags and banners of the protesters had only two colors - red and white.

This is a small detail, but significant. The protest fades away, and at the same time it is cleared of all sorts of “superfluous” elements. As civil activist Maria Turovets quite rightly noted at the rally, “today the most active, the most capable of action came to the rally; now we are cleared of superficial populism and careerism.” But not only from them; we are also cleared of illusions. Red banners and white banners - there is no third option, you have to choose between them, and choose now. It should be noted that the red part of the column looked decent and was able to display only one less banner than all the liberal parties combined. Based on the experience of Volgograd and other cities, the Volgograd branch of the LF believes that it can already be said: the protest wave of 11-12 gave everything it could give to the left forces. The question facing the left was: can we act as worthy opponents to bourgeois politicians in the media sphere, the sphere of the “creative class”, bloggers - and even the official media? In the sphere of bourgeois politics? The answer should be in the affirmative - we succeeded. This is once again evidenced by the repeated appearances of Sergei Udaltsov on television programs on federal channels. But becoming an opponent in the media, bourgeois sphere does not mean getting stuck in it, but means overcoming it, “removing” it and moving on. “To go “alone” may seem scary to someone. But history teaches that the entire political struggle, the entire process of development of a political movement (if it not only calls itself, but is actually fundamental) is a process of one break behind to others, one decisive disengagement after the previous one. A major Volgograd bourgeois, representative of RPR-Parnas, Valery Kotelnikov, who spoke at the rally, said that “unification sounds like a red thread in all speeches today; it is necessary to unite regardless of political views, because this is done with the purpose and intention of solving problems." The Volgograd branch of the Left Front cannot agree with Mr. Kotelnikov. On the contrary, we believe that if the walls of this flask, this alembic in which we We have been stewing for twenty years, and if there is no decisive disengagement with the bourgeoisie, then the very first rays of reaction will dry up and evaporate our insignificant puddle of protest. Either-or, why does the opposition bourgeoisie need unification? The answer is simple - it is perfectly aware of its entirety. helplessness and complete inability to take any action, this is obvious from the experience of 11-12 years, the experience of its constant, one after another, failures. Therefore, this unification is vital for her. But for the left forces, for the communists, such a unification, according to Volgograd. branch of the LF, is mortally dangerous: we, the left, have shown over the past year not only our capacity, but also, moreover, our independence, which remains only to be “secured” - the bourgeois are only dragging us into the swamp. I would like to believe that this issue will be resolved, that this stage in the victorious growth of our movement will be overcome and turned to benefit. Of course, it is not enough for us to simply break with the liberal bourgeoisie. It needs to be opposed to something, just as at the Volgograd march, hardly for the first time in twenty years, the column of liberals was opposed by an organized column of non-systemic leftists.

But what can be opposed to the bourgeoisie? What question replaces the current one? It inevitably faces the following question, which has been noticeable to attentive people for a long time: singles or masses? Will we, the left, be able to find a way out to the broadest masses of working people (and then we will never be in danger of going “alone”) or will we just hand out leaflets to ourselves at tiny rallies? The Volgograd branch of the Left Front, together with comrades from ROT-Front and other non-systemic leftists, are confident that in the near future everything will become clear and a convincing answer will be given to the new pressing question.