The Constitution and the Three Cs

Why every man of honor should go and vote against constitutional amendments

"If God is in the Constitution, then everything is allowed." Literally so: the very way in which the amendments are pushed into the Basic Law establishes and sanctifies autocratic power in Russia. After all, its main feature is not the inheritance of the title of head of state (although why not now introduce this too?), but the fact that this head is not bound by anything: neither by other branches of power, nor by his own oaths (and Putin has repeatedly said until 2020, that the Constitution should not be changed), neither by laws, nor by the Constitution itself, which, in theory, seals the social contract (consent in society on the most important issues).

Enough has been said about why it could not be done the way it was done. But it is not the amendments themselves that are more important, but how this special operation was prepared, which made it possible: this was brought about by a gradual but steady rejection of legal procedures, the reduction of the principles of law (identical to justice) to the level of an empty piece of paper, the complete collapse of legal science and in the whole public consciousness.

In the report “Consciousness and Civilization”, made in 1984, Merab Mamardashvili described the current process of adopting amendments with all their discussions as follows: toilet, but it seems to him that this is the truth and even justice.

Any real thinking, - explains the philosopher, - is possible under the conditions of two "K" - bearing in mind the main postulates of Descartes and Kant. Descartes’ “I think…” means the “courageous” (this is an important word) self-consciousness of a thinking subject, and according to Kant, this subject cannot think otherwise than within the framework of objectively existing (although it is impossible to feel them) ethical and “natural-legal” structures. Only in the presence of such a subject does it make sense to talk about law, the state and civil society.

However, Mamardashvili continues, there are situations when these two "K" are reduced, and then the third "K" materializes: this is Kafka.

Outwardly, the same words are used (for example, "Constitution", "legislator", "experts"), some supposedly meaningful actions are performed, but there is no real content behind it: this is a failure in which "only formless non-existences take place , and their indistinct creaks.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin himself just fulfills the conditions of the first two "C"s - he thinks completely independently (which does not necessarily mean: right) and adheres to well-defined (albeit not shared by everyone) ethical principles. You can and should argue with him - but there is no one! And this is the main result of his own policy for 20 years.

The failure was formed where the experts had to say: “Impossible, in law this is the same as in arithmetic it would be 2 x 2 = 5 or what is called rape in the Criminal Code.”

There are such experts, and despite the risks, they have spoken out, but they are pushed to the sidelines, including by the paranoid “foreign agents law”, and the singalongs who are allowed to advise are: “What do you want?” (however, the same thing happens in other areas of knowledge).

My father worked all his life at the same institute, which is now headed by Academician Taliya Khabrieva, co-chair of the "working group to prepare proposals for amending the Constitution." I used to think of law as the most important component of civilization. And from this point of view, the current amendments are not a technical failure, but a collapse of culture. Russia will pay dearly for this, but for now I'm just ashamed to look at this "jurisprudence" that is waving.

I remember this feeling of burning shame at the Komsomol meetings, which I was afraid not to go to (fortunately, I was not old enough to be a member of the Party). I don't want to feel that shame of complicity in a lie again.

Mamardashvili raised the concept of honor to the level of a philosophical category: without it there can be no human being. All people of honor should raise their asses, go and vote on April 22 against what is trying to create power with us, with society.