The lack of rights of power and the powerlessness of law. Vladimir Pastukhov* - about what happened to the world based on rules

In the traditional section “Sunday Sermon” there is a reflection by political scientist Vladimir Pastukhov* on why the power of law in the modern world has weakened so much that it is everywhere replaced by the law of force. And why the motto of the European revolutions of the Enlightenment, “Liberty, equality, fraternity,” should be read from right to left.

About my attitude to the MAGA philosophy and its derivatives in Trump's policies. Without generally accepting the logic of the right of force, I must admit that the logic of the lack of right of force is even more alien to me. Namely, this logic, after the collapse of the USSR, the collapse of the bipolar world and the degradation of the Potsdam system, became dominant in the world, both in the foreign and domestic policies of the so-called Western world.

Chekhov wrote that between the statements “God exists” and “There is no God” there is a huge gray field that not everyone is able to cross. Thus, between the concept of the law of force and the concept of the force of law, a gigantic neutral zone was discovered, on which grow not only philosophical flowers of extraordinary beauty, but also a huge number of ideological weeds.

“Lack of rights of force” and “powerlessness of right” turned out to be the fastest growing mental weeds in the changing political climate. The point is not that they reproduce faster than rabbits, but that they are truly poisonous. Touching them paralyzes social and political will. The flowing water of life turns into a stagnant swamp, in which the most unviable concepts and the social and political movements that practice them, which in fast running water would not have a single chance to cling to reality, have an advantage.

Part I. Will and strength

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