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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Fascists on the March

9 February, 1999 - 00:00

By Vitaly PORTNYKOV, The Day
A column of fascists led by Barkashov march down Moscow streets with no
reaction by law enforcement bodies. Members of the Russian National Unity
raise their hands in a Nazi salute, while a police station chief apologizes
with downcast eyes for the actions of his subordinates. Limonov's people
force their way into the congress hall of the Russian Democratic Choice
in order to chant their national Bolshevik slogan of "Stalin! Beria! GULAG."
Of course, all this might seem well worn burlesque at first sight, but
we are in fact overwhelmed by a belief that we live in a civilized society
where extremism will always remain on the fringe.

You may very well think so if you are a French or American citizen.
Still, extremism is treated with caution over there, while any manifestations
of neo-Nazism, anti-Semitism, and racism get an all-out rebuff from a civilized
and affluent society. They also understand over there that the main guarantee
against this kind of danger is not only democracy but also a well-developed
economy. What about us?

The Russians also thought before August 17, 1998, that they lived in
a society with a mobile and growing economy. They were mistaken. Who can
guarantee that a society existing in the world of an illusory economy will
see tomorrow that it also existed in an illusory democracy? It is obvious
that the post-Soviet theater shows no outlines of economic success which
are the main wall able to protect society from Barkashovites and Limonovites.
And this is not only a problem for Russia or Belarus but also for Ukraine.
It is easier to find supporters among the disenchanted, the more so when
the tired authorities close their eyes on everything. What looks today
like burlesque may appear a well-organized force whose ideas are accepted
by the active part of society (whatever active part remains) tomorrow,
on a new crest of the economic crisis, without encountering resistance
on the part of those who are simply struggling for their own, not the state's,
survival. What kind of ideas? We know it only too well. Russia for Russians!
Ukraine for Ukrainians! Get the Blacks out of the market! Let's bring order!
Let them go to their Israel! Need one go on?

Neither well-written laws nor law enforcement bodies will protect us
from all this. Allergy to dirt only emerges in a clean society, a society
where people do not rummage in garbage cans as a lost hope. Should we build
such a country, let them march on the fringes. Should we fail to do so,
they will be marching downtown.

 

 

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