Magazine «Star», number 6, 2009. Russia, St.

Petersburg

Sergey Gavrov, Alexander Melikhov

Imperial dream as option patriotism

After the collapse of the Soviet empire nearly seams on national patriotic
feelings of national minorities became suspicious, not only to Russian nationalists
and Russian liberals. Modern liberalism in general, believes the threat of individual
freedom of any recognition of collective claims, and in Russian patriotism, he saw
a particular danger - the danger of its transformation into a national extremism.
Although in reality the national extremism is also a normal reaction to a threat to
national, as the high temperature is a normal reaction to an organism introduced
infection.
That is patriotism - the main factor that preserves the unity of the country,
the economic interests of many regions and social groups are more likely to decay.
At the dissolution ultimately work and aspirations of ethnic «patriotism». And
confront these aspirations can only say so, a new type of patriotism. Rather, well-
forgotten old.
We refer to imperial patriotism.
Historically, the ethno-cultural differences in Russian regions is substantial.
And preserve them in a single-ethnic state is largely provided by the inertia of
historical tradition, shared cultural meanings, including those of people with
dreams, illusions, illusions and memories.
When in the course of historical time, with the change of generations is
weakening the memory of the general mifologizirovannom the past, the common
trials and victories, and to replace the dreams of a brilliant future jointly created a
revived mythology, in which each ethnic group wants to play an independent role
or topping - in such epochs «collapse of the old and new conflict of dreams» States
are on break.
The risk of rupture increases especially when the former starts to be
unacceptable levels of public violence, always increases with increase in national
movements and declining in their attenuation.
With a known percentage of conditionality technology central government
control over inokulturnymi, inoetnicheskimi areas can be reduced to the classic
lines of «buy, kill, and to convince»; same proportion in the use of certain areas
defined by specific historical conditions and capabilities of central authority.
In modern societies, especially after the Second World War, for social, ethnic
monitoring mainly in flexible social technology, in which belief, or rather,
suggestion is the most important tool of control over the public consciousness.
These techniques manipulate human consciousness led to perceive the world want
to do and how to goodwill, «at their own request».
The most effective components of this manipulation have become popular
culture, public relations and advertising. It is they who set the norms and values of
the social mainstream, the successful and unsuccessful, desirable and undesirable
behaviors. In other words, they «programs» consciousness and human behavior.
This imperceptible socialization background, not primarily applies to
consciousness, but predsoznaniyu not understood and not refleksiruetsya man. And
because the most solid and the natural power of the one in which a supervisor - the
super-ego - controls the minds and behavior within the human being. This
interiorizirovannogo external control can be avoided only in part, uskolzaya in the
area of mental disorders, or being conscious of Nonconformist position that the
force only a few mentally unstable, or, conversely, sverhrezistentnym,
sverhavtonomnym individuals. (Recall that, by itself, intellectual, psychological
independence is not dignity, idiots and criminals, she has a no less than the
geniuses and saints.)
 How now acceptable with the help of social technologies can monitor the
diversity of ethno-cultural flows are increasingly acquiring Ethnopolitical
orientation? First of all, through design and implementation in the public
consciousness of mass myths, dreams, illusions, dreams.
There is no need, however, think that society yield to any suggestion - the
illusion should increase rather than reduce the psychological comfort of people. So
at each stage of historical development of «work» a myth, that which most fully
corresponds to public expectations, formed as an information policy, and the real
conditions of life, which is an essential part of art as institutionalized (books,
films), and natural, diffuse forms (news, gossip, dream). At the stage of economic
growth in the core content of mass culture - as a rule, the myth of individual
salvation and success in a society of consumption.
Power consumption dreams especially increased if the period of growth
coincides with a period of frustration in some massive collective dream given the
meaning of life «fathers». In these cases, «child» with cruelty and cynicism with
the base is obmanuvshey their story.
Some time they may even live in the certainty that. his tales are not required,
that the material and social success is able to eliminate the unavoidable existential
problems of human existence (the most important of which is the problem of
loneliness, helplessness before the ruthless man and omnipotent Cronos, sooner or
later privative all that man dearly, including his own life).
At the stage of intoxication the consumption of people whose desire to be
modeled PR and advertising (the world of glamor), maintain public peace and
stability of the state. At the same stage of satiety, and in particular the economic
downturn, where mass culture imposed by the standards of consumption are not
available, frustrated individuals turn to the search of dreams, able to weaken the
existential horror of nullity, to increase dramatically in conditions of social failure:
a sense of nullity in society awakens to the sense of gloom temporarily nullity in
the Universe. And bezreligioznom society, ethnic community, including the elite,
go to compensatory mechanisms of ethno-political nationalism, as the ethnicity -
the only thing that connects the individual with something far more powerful and
durable than himself. In fact, for the vast majority of emotional connection with
the ethnic group, nation is the only surrogate immortality.
To make at least a part of something powerful and immortal - one of the
most important existential human needs, and consumption growth may be
temporary unless its anesthetic. Public policy does not notice this desire, too, can
hope only for a temporary success.
However, large uniting society - as, indeed, and the disjunctive it - the
illusion, the collective dreams of the past and the future does not arise often. In the
USSR such a great unifying vision for a time was communism in the late Soviet
era dominated dissociative dream, the dream of a capitalist paradise, where each
individual can become bounty consumer society. As we know, a new social myth,
says that parliamentary democracy, the impact of localization of the CPSU, and
later - the dismantling of the Soviet citizens of the former Soviet Union will give
the opportunity to benefit from development of capitalism, while avoiding its
costs, not far lasted as long as the Communist myth.
It is not only a practical reduction in living standards, unemployment and the
like - Communist chimera yielded incomparably more terrible disaster, and yet its
adherents felt honor, valor and heroism to believe in it, despite all the atrocities and
the meanness of communist rule. There, in sight of grief, still lying sunny edge
nepochaty - and it gave strength to the mountains of Brest, which was never
completed. But much harder on their own struggle for personal survival, unable to
suppress a sense of pride for a small part in the great and noble common cause.
Much more patience and faith in the future are shown, where the myth of
paradise and capitalist economic prosperity processed in the clothing of ethnic
collective salvation, and the economic prosperity magically became a consequence
of national liberation. The new myth of the society to destroy a multi-country, due
to its inherent elements of a collective ethno-national salvation, but for those lucky
ones who have been the predominant ethnic identity, the same myth strengthens the
illusion of strength, beauty and immortality. But for those unfortunate, who was
the dominant imperial identity, fell immediately and the material and psychological
deprivation. Therefore, it was easy to predict that «doubly resentful» soon also try
to compensate for their loss of the psychological double devotion somehow is not
imperial, and national chimeras.
In a much better psychological situation were those who felt themselves part
of the beautiful, powerful and immortal civilized world.
Faster in the capitalist paradise! And if the move prevents ballast - former
Soviet republics - to reset them with «steamship of modernity»! If the inside
Russia in the confused feet economically unsuccessful professional and age groups
(pensioners, the collective farmer, «Public Employment»), the disappearance or
minimization «livestock» - a clear benefit. Index - An introduction to dream, to the
modern Western capitalism, rather than the historical and sociocultural
reproduction izzhivshego ourselves in the old communist guise imperial state.
After the collapse of the USSR cruel economic reality has changed the
nature of the myth of salvation for some time it became a purely individual, with
each for itself, but one God for all - unless there are personal myths in general,
because individualism is not even a phantom promises of immortality.
Nevertheless, when in the early 1990's the dream of personal success in the
capitalist Eden confronted with reality, it changed direction, has become more
private, it is no longer generalize all layers. At some time the majority of the
population has become almost indifferent to the total, including the political
interests of their ethnic group, every left only the personal economic interests. And
this lasted almost the entire post-Soviet era: the growth stage of the dream of
individual success in the material race of capitalism is largely blocked the
inclusion of compensatory mechanisms ethnicity.
At the same stage of the economic crisis, when to reach economic prosperity
has become increasingly difficult, the economic vision of capitalism, losing its
anesthetic function is likely to start replaced the nationalist dream of a common
salvation, with a predominance of non-economic compensatory illusions.
 But there is another historically stable, self in the decorations of a historical
era dream, which can, if not completely replace the dream-illusions pomerkshie
consumer society, at least help a lot of conservation-ethnic state - this imperial
dream. This is the dream of a big, powerful, culturally diverse imperial state as
timeless, almost sacred values, which can correlate my life and mentally to
perceive it more meaningful, historically, not random, attached to transvremennoy
essence.
And in this imperial dream could compete with the dream, the National
etnonatsi. Since the essential difference is that the imperial dream unites polyethnic
state and ethno-national dream - destroy.
Strangely enough it may seem today, the imperial dream is quite competitive
in comparison with the dream of ethno-national, because it allows a person to join
a wider and multisyllable than the nation, universe. This imperial vision comes to
the less severe contradiction with the processes of socio-cultural, including
language unify large geographical and civilizational spaces, it is closer to global
peace.
It is not by the preceding phase of globalization was based on the
harmonization and coordination of large spaces of the imperial British, Austro-
Hungary, the Russian empires. Recalling the life of many prominent people age,
we see the development of their biographies in the different geographical and
cultural locations in Europe and the world: «The power of European culture until
the mid-century, was in her confusion, overlap: born in Budapest, lived in Vienna,
wrote in German, spoken in Hungarian.
The very possibility that the geographic and socio-cultural mobility play a
role in the fate of teleology, including in the professional field. And today the
implementation of the imperial dreams increases the chances of human life to a
social success, it can give a person more than the realization of dreams of ethno-
national.
For the imperial dream of the scale and variety, are small potentially big
plays not only in the existential charm, but also in social pragmatics, like a small
speaker replaced a stronger, more widespread - including English. Possession of
these languages provides the opportunity to be heard and understood in a much
larger territories, which increases his chances to make even a successful consumer,
that under modern capitalism is the ultimate expression of mass social success.
The embodiment of imperial dreams can give more than the embodiment of
dreams ethno-national, and in today's Russia. The dream of the Russian imperial
world can do no less attractive than, for example, the American dream of peace.
This is not the dream of restoring the Soviet Union with a stable of Trojan horses,
as possessing all the formal attributes of independence, national republic - this is
the dream of the Russian imperial world as an enormous space of life
opportunities, geographical space and social mobility, carried out regardless of
ethno-national affiliation Rights .
In this space of the imperial world represented all or nearly all, are all
distracted from existential horror of life, there are no dull uniformity, there are no
guarantees of long-term and sustainable wealth and poverty, the place in the social
hierarchy - there can be almost instantaneous ascending and descending vertical
mobility.
The dream of the imperial world includes social success, which is
determined by a personal contribution to the imperial cause and the personal
success of each. Civil society empire founded on the idea of ministry. This idea
embodies the imperial nobility, expressed in its social life, the idea of serving the
Empire, the essence of its ethnic composition of old imperial principle: no matter
what you blood, it is important that you serve the Empire, in our case, the Russian
universe.
Crowned imperial dream to dream about the world as a system of imperial
universums exempting the person from the goods of ethnicity, are attached to the
values of a large world, gradually preparing him to the world, global sirech,
citizenship. Today it is an American imperial world, and the emerging universe of
European Union and Russia resurgent kvaziimpersky world. In doing so, our
imperial dream naturally grows out of Russia's historical and socio-cultural
traditions, yet despite everything does not die out during the years of life in the
not-too-comfortable nation state.
What does this dream can become today? In combination, at first glance,
nesochetaemogo - freedom and service, voluntary service of hereditary aristocratic
values. The first step should be an ideological perception that the imperial spirit is
not a concentrated form of national egoism, but, rather, is to overcome for the sake
of prosperity of a multinational: the mature empires provide examples of relatively
peaceful and lasting coexistence raznokulturnyh ethnic groups - with their much
greater autonomy than is usual in national states. The house, which is ruled by a
wise master, life is not only safer, but more freely than in the equally communal.
Because tolerance may be limited to those who are confident in their strength and
responsibility, those who feel the owner.
The first practical step would seem to be making programs revival
polyethnic imperial aristocracy.
And while that is a complicated topic, the first principle can be set today: the
reliance on talented and romantic.
The main direction of design as the old imperial aristocracy of the imperial
world - it assumes the inclusion of the aristocracy etnonatsio-national.
Unfortunately, in today's Russia there is no or almost no, not only universal in the
spirit of the imperial aristocracy, but also lokalistskoy ethno-national aristocracy.
But there are some people, there are social groups from which you can recruit
neophytes to the imperial aristocracy, the imperial civil society - perhaps the most
ready to execute the mission science.
Also, we see an opportunity to revive the imperial aristocracy, through the
revival of honor professional classes, officers, workers, government officials. You
can, thanks to the numerous historical evidence, to remember the Russian
Academy yunkerskie that prevailed in the special spirit. You may recall the
Petrograd workers and the beginning of last century, which was the case prior to a
general, whole, to the State and the reasonable, equitable life in it. And then let all
of this desire justice and degenerated zahlebnulos during the Soviet era, it remains
a valuable model of care on the general, not only for their own good.
In other words, the imperial aristocracy are those who can serve the interests
of the empire, the imperial civil society, those who own material success
sopodchinyaet general imperial success. Of course, such allegations sound a little
pafosno and almost from the Soviet. But do not forget that in Japan, for example,
the descendants of noble (samurai), the birth will be happy to appoint to senior
management positions, including those in private business. In old Europe, this
practice is also quite widespread.
The point is that these people can make important decisions based on the
sverhekonomicheskih property of their perceptions of the dignity and welfare of
the state. These people can not or almost can not buy them very difficult to
convince falsify financial statements to deceive the state and shareholders, as
happened, for example, the company's senior management prisnopamyatnoy
«Enron». They can only kill, but it is quite different quality of person, his senior
imperial quality.
Imperial aristocracy represent people of different classes and ranks, of
different ethnicities, this notion is more a hereditary aristocracy, although where
possible, in many ways grows out of her and her relationship to the world. It
consists of people care for the common cause, people for whom it is not less
personal than your home and family. Of the people who are willing to build and
defend a universal imperial space, sacrificing the private for the success of the
total.
Such people and many in Russia today, but they do not represent any
organized force, and, moreover, the state does not provide them with the slightest
support to such a reproduction. (Public support in the first stage should be no
social institutions, but has already proven to single, and in doing so should not be
so great to bring scallywag.) Revival of the imperial aristocracy - it is
nadetnicheskaya idea without at least partial realization of which it is impossible to
translate any other large-scale ideas, calculated for several generations.
 It is involved in such projects creates a sense of public unity, in which the
so-called ordinary people need even more than themselves aristocrats because he
really does nothing to obscure the existential horror of nullity.
It is imperial aristocracy is a core, the core of the empire of civil society,
based on the idea of ministry. In this society dominated by repeat perpetual
imperial principle: no matter what you have blood, no matter your social
background is important as you serve the Empire. In order clarifying the principle
that in today's world, military service to be the main stops.
Because of the great powers possessing nuclear weapons today, there are no
material reasons to fight each other: all that you can capture, it is cheaper to buy. A
fight for the false influence, supporting each other adventurist regimes, rather than
keep them under control - this is not cynical geopolitics, but disinterested
communal squabbles. If the dream of a common humanity, it is high time to realize
that even the mighty player in the international arena is not able podmyat the
whole world under its protectorate - to unite all of the heroes. By a common
humanity imperial worlds can only move together. Using competition with each
other only truly effective means - the temptation.
And winning will be the one who will take the upper hand in the event of
dreams.