They got up horizontally

Ivan Davydov - about how mobilization in Russia produced two civilian societies at once

After the start of mobilization, the active part of the Russians shared two groups: the former help men to leave for war, the second - to avoid wars. The poet, publicist, columnist of “cold” Ivan Davydov believes that each of these groups is a new civil society, and the future of Russia depends on the one who is stronger.

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“... We are interested in developing civil society in Russia itself, so that it scolded power, criticizes, helps the authorities to determine their own mistakes, adjust their policy in the interests of people. In this, we are certainly interested and we will support civil society and non -governmental organizations. ”

Do not believe where the quote comes from. I would not believe it myself. Because the quote is from the same “ Munich speech ” by Putin, with which, as many now think, it all began.

Several people who made history in the 1990s, without saying a word, told me how important experience for them became participation in the then (and even late Soviet) public organizations of different planes. What a rich and rich life it was in Moscow and in the regions. Not only political: they recalled environmental, media, art, literary projects. And then, they said, along with the "zero" all began to blow out. The capital pulled life from the province, and the state realized that any civil activity was a threat. And it began to crush, crush, crush. First - timidly, then - losing shyness.

Gleb Olegovich Pavlovsky even convinced me once that one of the fateful errors of the intellectual class was just in the indifferent surrender of positions on this invisible front when the state still retained constraint. Because the possibility of real politics is precisely in the increase in the lower, horizontal connections, the absence of which turns citizens into settlements who can only survive in the state, but not to influence it. Pavlovsky is more visible - of course, he is wise and knows a lot about mistakes.

Gradually, the landscape took shape: everyone who continued to act, trying to maintain independence from the state, were declared enemies. In the lists of foreign agents were even “wrong” philanthropists. Those who had enough will and courage to withstand the pressure naturally politicized and radicalized, which the pressure only increased. In return, nothing grew, because the state gravitates to total control. He does not need independent supporters, it’s easier to work with those who are ready not to act, but to simulate activities for a moderate bribe. To portray “patriotic education”, “care for the disadvantaged”, something else is the same beautiful and elevated. It doesn’t matter, in general, what is important, which is not real.

On February 24, 2022, for our recent history, of course, the line, but long before the 24th civil society was fashionable to bury. On the one hand, this is the crooking of hired quasi -exposure, causing cheerful disgust. On the other hand, the groans of those whom the state has not yet finished off, but has already crippled very much. Nothing but. Neither community nor society.

However, it always seemed to me that we were in a hurry to bury ourselves. The coals are smoldering, and only a person is needed, ready to inflate them, not afraid to burn themselves. After all, Navalny managed to exist solely thanks to the support of those who really need his work for years. After all, they once repelled “his boyfriend” by Ivan Golunov not only those who conducted backstage conversations with the bosses, but also those who dared to go out onto the streets, get into the pickets, go through a march on the Moscow police picked to fault. We learned to collect fines for those who took a chance. All this was with us, just recently, and there were no influential organizations behind this (simply because there were no longer influential opposition organizations in Russia).

In order to somehow describe this ability to build horizontal mutual assistance networks for the situation, I even came up with a phrase-“Internet of people”. They objected to me that this concerns a narrow layer of violent political activists, but this is not true. Therefore, it turned out that the most ordinary people were drawn into business, who were preoccupied with policies moderately and certainly not going to build a political career.

Memories are warm, but sad, now everything is not so: new repressive laws destroy any legal opportunity to act, a wild fine or a period of time can be chopped not only for a careless word, but even for the avatar - the wrong color and the wrong social network. Well, okay, the deadline for the avatar, perhaps, is still impossible, but the fine is quite. The more amazing what is happening around.

On February 24, many shocked many, but massive (moderately massively massive, honestly) protests immediately came to naught: there is no one to organize them more, but the price for participation is too high. Here the state easily won. But with the "partial mobilization" it came out differently.

Again, the most ordinary people, not at all professional activists (it is easier - who did not leave, they sought options for activities from the very beginning, helped Ukrainian refugees, for example) began to completely spontaneously build the same horizontal support networks. They notified each other in house chats in messengers. How not to recall Dovlatov? Remember, in the “Reserve”: “The descending journalist Gena Smirnov” always sat by the window, drank Shatrez and warned the hero about the appearance of a police outfit: “The whores are coming!”. Here, about the same, only without chartresis.

They made up the graphs - to whom to take food for the refuseniks, locked in their apartments. There is no faith for couriers: what if they also have a summons with them, except for pizza? They hid the unfortunate male colleagues in the dachas, so that one person at the same cottage did not spend the night for more than one night. Anthropologist Alexander Arkhipova told an amazing story: “In the city of U. there is an office x with a reservation and office Y without. The men from the office Y were exchanged with women from office X. In fact, everyone remained working, where they worked, but the reservation appeared. "

This is on the one hand. On the other hand, enthusiasts collecting money for socks, body armor and drones for the army. You may be unpleasant for you, but this is the lower horizontal activity, and these are elements of the present rather than decorative civil society.

We had not a single civil society, and now two at once.

It is curious, by the way, that the representatives of this “second” civil society also begin to feel like an opposition to the regime: it is curious, after all, how it happened that not only drones, but also socks with body armor, and one and a half million sets of forms may disappear in the army. Or not, not curious, because it is clear how. Everyone knew where they live and how the state actually arranged. While on this side they are afraid to pronounce the right words, they are looking for guilty in the military commissars or in the staff. He stumbled upon one Z-writer on the expression “forced patriots”: they say, regarding the state of illusions, but now is not the time for the showdown. There is even an attempt to a kind of “humanitarian” excuse for military charity: “Forced patriots should think how to save lives to our guys and girls who protect us and about our descendants.”

And they can’t get anywhere from the right words and final questions - simply because this movement is not at all decorative. And, by the way, that is why also potentially dangerous to the authorities. “ Inside ” about supposedly preparing criminal cases against “military commissars” - just about it. Today it has not arrived - it will fly tomorrow.

Political scientists love to repeat that a change of regime is possible only when splitting in elites, and then plunge into endless disputes: do we have such a split possible? And are there any elites? If our elites are Kadyrov with Prigozhin, maybe it’s good that they do not split?

Without plunging nowhere, I will say: without a living and active society, without horizontal networks of mutual assistance, no human life is definitely impossible. All (rare) successes of humanity in Russia occurred only when the state weakened its work to destroy society.

About the fact that now our era is rather gloomy is not worth reminding. But all the more important is that even now there are potential for building horizontal connections. And if we have the future at all, then it will be determined not to those who win the hypothetical conflict of the elites, but to those which of the models of civil society will win - the one inside of which honest activists see their duty to help the state in any of his, even obviously black things, or the one, within which a person tries to save another person from an all -a -fat state.

In other words, the future depends on whether we recall that a person is a person, not state property.

The author’s opinion may not coincide with the opinion of the editorial office.