A Russian's Lament

By Yuri Zarakhovich

It is not the first time nor, alas, probably the last for this to happen in Russia. The land is going from under our feet; our world is crumbling; and we react only by hoarding salt, sugar and matches. The people berate yet another failed leader and look for a strongman to deliver them. But while we are quick to denounce the leaders, we forget that they cannot be any different from us. Every nation has the leaders it deserves, but I have the uneasy feeling that we have the leaders we want--even if we do not dare admit it. And that is why we are where we are today.

If our leaders are liars, it is because we the people take lying for granted. If our leaders are thieves, it is because we do not mind the thieving--except, of course, when we ourselves get robbed. If our leaders are oppressive, it is because too many people in this country are wailing for the khozyain, the autocratic boss. Of course, once we Russians have ourselves a khozyain, we will become alienated from him anyway because the mistrust of authority runs that deep. But have him we will, quite soon, since freedom and democracy are dirty words in Russia today. Most Russians have never realized that freedom requires responsibility, that it demands visceral, spiritual discipline. Freedom can be based only on firm ethical and legal norms, and these norms have to be hammered out and strengthened for centuries by those who fought for freedom. But we received our freedom as a gift from our masters' hands. Ten years ago, Russia swore by freedom--and measured its worth by the availability of sausage. We had borrowed the concept of freedom from those who had succeeded at it, but we never realized that we had misinterpreted this ideal.

This is Russia's historical mistake, and it goes back to Peter the Great. He admired Western factories and ships, but he never saw the spiritual and cultural forces behind them. This mistake has shaped Russia's destiny down to this time. Both sausage and freedom were imported into Russia rather than attained indigenously. That is why we have neither sausage nor freedom now. A citizenry that failed to cope with freedom is not yet a civil society. As the Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov put it, A talking creature is not necessarily a human being.

I wonder how much more suffering we have to inflict on ourselves before we start thinking in terms of fundamentals such as ethics and law, such as building functioning and controllable institutions, such as selecting honest and accountable leaders--rather than in terms of yet another khozyain. Wrote Alexander Pushkin: "It is only when the sacred freedom is firmly coupled with strong law that the people's suffering doesn't lie over royal heads." I wonder if we will ever really read and understand our beloved national poet? Or will we only keep reciting him mindlessly while standing in long lines waiting for sausage? But to achieve that understanding, we must first change our moral fiber. I wonder if this can ever happen.