Dear friends,
Today I am submitting to your attention two interesting documents. A speech by “ex-oligarch and mobster now turned democratic activist” Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a reply to that speech by Igor Strelkov.
Make no mistake, there is a war going on. True, it has not yet turned into a shooting war with armies on both sides unleashing their power, but this is a war nevertheless. This war opposes, on one hand, the 1% ruling elites of the AngloZionist Empire and their allies in Russia – we can call them the “5th column” or the “Atlantic Integrationists” – and on the other hand, the Russian “Eurasian Sovereignists” and their allies in the rest of the world, including the many supporters of a sovereign and independent Russia in the West. This war has many “fronts” including, of course, the one between in Novorussia and Banderastan, but there are many more. There is one in Syria, Iran and Iraq. There is another one right inside the EU. There is another front in Far East Asia, along the Taiwan Strait, and yet another one in Latin America. In the recent past, these fronts could also be found running across the Serbian Krajina in Croatia, the border between Israel and Lebanon and in Chechnia. In fact, this is the first truly a *planetary war* and there are “fronts” everywhere. Even the Muslim “umma” is deeply split between those who support (US backed) Saudi Wahabism and those who oppose it (lead by Iran).
Right now, the most important one of these fronts runs across the Donbass, but this can change tomorrow.
One of these fronts runs across the Russian society. Khodorkovsky is the iconic symbol and spokesman for the “Atlantic Integrationist” camp while Strelkov is the iconic symbol and spoksman for the “Eurasian Sovereignist” camp. Please read both of their manifestos and compare them – you will see that the differences between these two worldviews are not only deep, they are mutually irreconcilable.
A big “thank you!!” to “A” who translated the Strelkov manifesto for this blog.
I hope that you will enjoy this fascinating read.
Kind regards,
The Saker
——-
Mikhail Khodorkovsky |
Khodorkovsky’s Speech at the Freedom House Awards Dinner
The following is the prepared text of the speech delivered by Mikhail Khodorkovsky at the 2014 Freedom House Awards Dinner on October 1. The text was originally posted here.
The European choice, social justice and national mobilization
1. There is a legend about how nearly 200 years ago, the Russian political émigrés of that time asked the Russian court historian Karamzin for the news about what was happening in the Motherland. Karamzin thought for a moment and then replied with a single word: “Stealing”. Little has changed in Russia since those times. Except maybe that the stealing has become even more sophisticated. Everything gets stolen in Russian, but the main thing – and this is unique, I suppose – is that in Russia even time gets stolen.
2. A little over 10 years ago I flew away from the USA to Russia, in order to strike out 10 years from my life and the life of my family. These ten years were taken away from me. In exchange I received some unique life experience that allowed me to rethink if not everything, then certainly a very large part of what I had been living by and what I had believed in the previous decade. But there is no way to bring back the time.
3. But the worst thing that I discovered when I got out of prison was that those ten years had been stolen not only from me, they had been stolen from the entire country. Time had struck the Putin decade out of Russia’s life. Concealed behind a façade of outward prosperity is the fact that the country has stopped its development. Not only that, in most areas it has been flung back far into the distant past: politically, economically, psychologically. The profusion of goods in the stores and the abundance of money in people’s pockets should not fool anybody. The regime can not take credit for this; it is a function of the oil market.
4. But that is not all. It turns out that the regime has robbed not only Russia, . It is trying to throw the whole world back into the era of the cold war (if not a hot one), when disputes are resolved at the point of a gun, while one’s superiority is proven not by rates of economic growth, but by military aggression. Russia and the world have come to a very dangerous point, beyond which looms a Third World War.
The return to Europe
5. A return to the European values that lie at the foundation of the Euro-Atlantic civilization, – a mental and political return – is the starting point for the new political course that could help Russia work its way out of the historical snare it is now in. Russia has just two ways it can go – forward into the post-industrial era together with Europe, or back into the Middle Ages , and after that into outright non-existence.
6. All that my country has today, everything that it considers truly “its own”, everything that has allowed it to become a great power and that is now its “calling card”: space exploration, the nuclear shield, literature and art, the high level of education and science (which even thirty years of “timelessness” were incapable of destroying) – was created within the scope of the European cultural tradition, in interaction with European culture and within the milieu of European culture. All of the deeds of spiritual valor of the Russian people, all of the innumerable sacrifices they have brought to the altar of their independence, were performed within the fold of the Christian tradition, which was and remains European in its nature.
7. A break with the West, with its values and its knowledge, is a dangerous step, one that leads to Russia losing its true cultural identity. The “Eurasianism” that is being actively forced upon society as the new totalitarian ideology is nothing more than a verbose justification for militant ignorance and barbarism. In order to preserve Russia as a single, independent, and sovereign state, it is imperative to return it to that path of development which it had followed in achieving its glory.
8. European values (or Euro-Atlantic, as it is now the common practice to call them) are first and foremost values of a strong and just state with effective institutions and laws that work. Russia needs these no less than any other people in the world do. Russia needs a law-based state and an open economy not because this will please Western Europe and America, but so it can work together with the Euro-Atlantic world – and if necessary compete with it as well – on equal terms. Peter the Great did not build the Russian army based on European models just to make the Swedes happy.
9. Whoever wants to be strong must not allow himself to fall behind. Russia can not and shut itself off from progress with some sort of Chinese Wall (in the literal and the figurative sense of this word). Anti-Western hysteria is a manifestation of psychological insecurity and fear of competition on the part of those fringe elements who are today’s elite in Russia. Churchill once said that the reason there is no anti-semitism in England is because the English do not think they are any stupider than Jews. We have no reason to fear Europe, because we are no stupider than other Europeans.
10. To be together with Europe does not mean dissolving into Europe. Russia has both its own distinct cultural identity and its own particular national interests, which it has to know how to protect. Denying Russia a European choice under the pretext of protecting its national interests or using the European choice as an explanation for refusing to protect national interests are both equally unacceptable.
A return to fairness
11. Modern Russian society is structured unfairly. Whoever has the biggest fist in it has bigger rights as well. In Russia today might is right, but it should be the other way around – what is right has the might. Restoring the “balance of fairness” is a top-priority task for all of the forces that have the transformation of Russia into a modern and dynamically developing state as their objective. If a solution is not found for this strategic task, society is not going to put its support behind any economic, social, or political reform. Paraphrasing Engels, we can say: all previous reforms in post-communist Russia led to an increase in social injustice; now the task consists of eliminating or at least reducing this injustice.
12. A return to social justice in Russia is impossible without repairing the damage caused by an unjust privatization. Privatization was a painful historical task without which Russia’s further development would not have been possible. But the way it which it was accomplished led to the emergence of extremely severe social side effects. The point of the next stage of Russia’s history will consist of eliminating these “distortions”. Today, the power is de facto reconsidering the results of privatization in its own peculiar way, taking ownership out of the hands of some people merely to transfer it immediately into other, supposedly more “on our side”, hands. This is not what our people are waiting for. This is not going to lead anywhere except to even more stealing and corruption.
13. To begin with, restoring fairness will have to also address the question of subsoil use – the main source of the Russian people’s wealth, and as of today its only one. At the given stage of historical development, we need to acknowledge the fairness of a simple formula – the income from the exploitation of Russia’s subsoil needs to belong to the people of Russia. The subsoil can be in the private ownership of those who extract this income for society – specifically for society – and who are efficiently managing operations and growing them. But it can not remain at the disposal of nomenklatura rentiers, who pay themselves disproportionate “salaries” and are incapable of working efficiently.
14. It is imperative to bring back fairness in income distribution as a whole as well, restoring proportional taxation rates. . We have got to create the image of the “responsible taxpayer”, with all of his obligations, but also, needless to say, with rights as well. Only someone who pays taxes has the right to ask the state – what has it done for him with these taxes? A rentier-nation does not have such a right, and this is why the power is doing whatever it wants with the nation.
15. The vector of development of Russian liberalism, which is exclusively political today, needs to be rethought. Producing draft constitutions and plans for radical political and economic reforms is a futile exercise until society begins to feel that the liberal idea is a fair idea.
16. Society has enormous potential for self-organization when there is an idea around which a matrix can form. For Russia, such an idea can only be a socially oriented nation state. The only question is will this socially oriented nation state be liberal or fascist?
War – the ultimate unfairness
17. Fascism – this is war. Russia is already making real war. those who send heroes to die not in the name of national interests, not to defend the Fatherland, but in order to keep in power a small group of plutocrats who are trying in this way to prolong the life of a regime that has already outlived itself.
18. War has become the sole driver of the moribund regime. It is happening in the Ukraine, but this war is not for Ukraine’s or Russia’s sake, but for the sake of power. What got such a wildly enthusiastic reaction from the man in the street is going to bring innumerable trials and tribulations to the Russian people in the nearest foreseeable future already.
National mobilization
19. The ruling regime is turning Russia into a Chinese protectorate. This is not even a question of the annexation of Siberia,. Today it would be enough just for Siberia to be completely locked in on China, which for all intents and purposes is going to be sucking resources out of it for free, like from a colony.
20. Russia has gotten stuck on a dangerous historical track, getting out of which is very complicated. In order to simply stop, and all the more so to switch to some other track, is going to require mobilization of all of the energies of the Russian people. The task of true Russian patriots is not in promising the Russian people smooth sailing but in telling the truth. Only if they understand the scale of the threat and of the historical significance of the moment can the people be moved to perform heroic deeds. And without heroic deeds, Russia today can not be saved.
21. The heroic deed of the Russian people must consist of constructive labor, of inculcating discipline and moderation, and of developing the ability to work together and to help one another – in other words, of reviving all those moral skills that had helped Russian culture to develop and that have been lost to a large extent in recent years. In order to raise the people up to be able to perform this heroic deed, the pro-European minority needs to prove its moral soundness and its readiness to observe, not in word, but in deed, the principle of equality of all before the law. It is precisely this equality of all before a law that is the same for all, before an adversity that is the same for all, and for a common cause that is the same for all, that the true sense of liberalism consists of. If the people come to believe in this, then everything else will fall into place – the reforms, economic progress, and prosperity for Russia.
22. Russia has been wasting time these past ten years; now is when we must begin to make up this lost time.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky
——-
Igor Strelkov |
Strelkov’s answer to Khodorkovsky
Forword by Colonel Cassad: After a long silence Strelkov speaks with program criticism of Khodorkovsky’s manifesto. Transition to public dispute where Strelkov opposes to vision of the fluent oligarch broadcasting from the USA, his vision of Russia’s future, considerably defines Strelkov’s vision of the country’s future. In general, Strelkov’s answer to Khodorkovsky, reflect his views that the Crimean Spring is the beginning of “revolution from above” which is carried out by Putin.
PUTIN’S DECADE RETURNED TO RUSSIA HOPE FOR REVIVAL
At the beginning of October in headquarters of the international human rights organization Freedom House in Washington, the former head of Yukos Mikhail Khodorkovsky made the speech convicting the Russian State and the President. The speech which formed the basis of the manifesto published afterwards. Having secured with support of global financial oligarchy, Khodorkovsky put forward some conceptual theses, using comparisons, analogy and association, familiar to the Russians, even sometimes copying methods of patriotic rhetoric. With enviable pathos and a claim for the status of an ultimate instance, the former oligarch tries to combine the incompatible. He “adds” liberal “values” alien to Russia and the Russian people to the concept of national pride and justice, close and native to the Russian heart, creating dangerous illusion of their organic compatibility. Khodorkovsky trying to accustoms active part of society to the future liberal transformations initiated by the world oligarchy and moreover – declares them, as only possible and useful. Unfortunately, it is simply impossible to ignore this combination of “warm with soft” and leave it without answer . Too dangerous speeches were heard from lips of the obvious enemy of Russia and attempt of implementation of the scenarios offered by him can be way too destructive. We have to give the, Russian, patriotic answer to the globalistic, liberal scenario imposed by Khodorkovsky under the guise of a new round of “reforms”. After all it is not simply leisure reasonings of the rich and uncommon criminal who ran away from the Fatherland, it is the ideological program of new revolution in Russia – “road map” of the oligarchical revolt directed as always in the Russian history, against the Governor, the People and the Power. Well, we will sort out everything point by point.
Russian choice, social justice and national mobilization
1. 100 years ago the last Russian Tsar-martyr Nicholas II wrote:” Around treason, cowardice and deception”. He meant not the people at all, not “fools and roads”, but the political, military and economic elite surrounding him during that period. Treason by elite ended up with the collapse of the greatest world power, the Russian Empire. 200 years ago the political elite under the leadership of the British envoy participated in regicide of the Emperor Pavel that led to Napoleon’s invasion and 1812 Patriotic war subsequently. 400 years ago during the Time of Troubles, political elite of Russia swore to impostors and the Polish king, committed treason both to the Fatherland and Faith, while only revolt by the Russian militia saved both Russia and Orthodoxy during this period, having laid the foundation of a new Russian Tsars dynasty. Since then in Russia a little has changed. The Russian governors with a support on the Russian people bring their lifes on the Fatherland altar, and the fattened, corrupted comprador elites doesn’t disdain in any ways to betray the Homeland, cowardly treason the Sovereign, to rob and subordinate the people for the sake of personal instant profit. Pacification always there came after long and painful years of a distemper – Russia which left behind crisis and bloody wars started developing progressively again. The history repeated itself 23 years ago (before our eyes) again: the “red empire” which really needed serious and extremely careful reforming was plundered instead, stolen and destroyed by rack of “repainted” high-ranking party officials, sold to recent “ideological enemies” and adjoined them unscrupulous nouveau riches. The history been accelerated … its rounds become shorter. And here again – the second time on our short century – the country which is hardly starting being restored after last “disorder” appears under the threat of a greedy scramble. Those to who were not allowed to plunder finally our distressful Homeland in the 90th, are eager for a revenge now.
2. 10 years of imprisonment for you, Mr. Khodorkovsky, is a real tragedy. After all, how much it would be possible to steal during this term! Your only task now is to make up for the lost time. Let’s look past 10 years of your activity. Since 1991 before the arrest, you, Mr. Khodorkovsky, “from anything” ( without investing a ruble, but having appropriated for tens of billions of dollars of national property) created the huge financial and industrial empire, having become one of the richest people of the country. Thus, as well, as all oligarchs of that time, you generously “walked on corpses”, didn’t constrain yourself by any moral restrictions, plundered and ruined huge Soviet industrial heritage. Rolled in money and “elitism”, without refusing to yourselves of anything. During the same years me and many of my friends and comrads were almost permanently at war for the Russian people and for Russia, against enemies of the Fatherland. At first in Transnistria, then in Bosnia, then in Chechnya. While we suffered a defeat after defeat because of treachery by so-called “new elite”, receded, gritting the teeth, accompanied by contemptuous and full of hatred comments from so-called “democratic” mass media, you, Mr. Khodorkovsky and such likes didn’t even remember needs of the country and its people. Therefore our experiences are essentially different. You learned to steal, plunder and lie and we – to protect Russia and the people. Even when anybody didn’t demand it from us. The prison always changes people, occasionally – to the better. You, alas, didn’t obtain due experience from that. After all, you didn’t plead guilty absolutely to anything even after return to freedom. Moreover, you appeared immediately in the camp of enemies again, thus having confirmed that you was in prison for a good reason.
3. What are you talking about using word “stole” ? You, whose credo was “to steal, steal and steal”? Have you build or manufactured something in your life, that would be possible to steal personally from you? No. Because you weren’t engaged in anything, except of theft, fraud and robbery, before the prison. From all your achievements, I am personally ready to recognize, as socially useful result only those “boots” which you “stitched” in prison. From the moral point of view, only this your work also is only worthy in all your, to put it mildly, rather dirty life of the highly professional thief and talented swindler. But worst of all that this work didn’t do for you good at all and, judging by with whom you act nowadays, it didn’t lead you to understanding of your own mistakes and crimes. When the real Patriots of Russia and the Russian people engaged in Novorossiya, you, having received pardon from the President Putin, immediately supported his enemies and enemies of Russia. You were on a Russophobic Maidan and gathered on the enemy territory all “color” of the Russian traitors on a forum to fight against the Russian Spring. You are saying that “Russia has ceased to grow”? It is direct result of your activity, your privatization, your comprador policy. Now your call is for cardinal reforms? With whom in alliance ?? With frank enemies of all Russian? Proceeding from patriotic motives?
4. Especially brightly your “patriotism”, Mikhail Borisovich, is shown in repetition by you of a “horror movie” about Russia, as a “threat to Europe and the whole world”. Once Goebbels, and long before him – Napoleon and the British lords Palmerston and Disraeli loudly (and it is much more talented manner) shouted about this “threat”. After them Winston Churchill did so and the U.S. President Ronald Reagan who, without a moment’s hesitation called the USSR “Empire of evil”. Thus, Mikhail Borisovich, you went on quite blazed way. It seems, with full confidence that only you are “the smartest” and something knew about the history, while all Russian people are full blockheads and ignoramuses. Well, cowards too who are easy for deceiving and intimidating by a ghost of “The third world war” that they easy agree to refuse the Fatherland and the help to their brothers perishing in Novorossiya in exchange for “would be no war at all cost”. But the main addressee of this address is not in Russia at all. It is some kind of “oath” to those who during all history of Russia dreamed to liquidate it. In my opinion, this is typical shulersky reception at which the player operating with marked cards, understanding takes place that him just about will expose, immediately accuses partners of deception. The Western world headed by global financial oligarchy which integral part you, Mikhail Borisovich, endeavor to present us, – being going to destroy or win neighbors, always and everywhere I started accusing future opponents, attributing it in accuracy own intentions. So it is possible to state: Russia really threatens with war. In hope that it will be frightened and capitulates, having allowed to disarm at first herself, and then finally to finish. What here to tell? The task of the real Russian patriots (but not frequenters Washington “Fried House”) consists in preparing for reflection of aggression from the West because only in this case Russia will have an opportunity to prevent it and to defend the sovereignty.
Return to Russia
5. Speaking about “the European values”, you, Mr. Khodorkovsky, either don’t understand or just pretend that you don’t understand) that they have no relation to the real Values, traditional for Europe. They are revived today in Russia by the President Putin. And those “values” which are imposed by world financial oligarchy as “European”, today are causing hundred thousand-strong protest actions in Europe. When last time, more than 20 years ago, the management of the USSR decided “to turn” to these so-called “values”, the country was split, as a result, plundered and humiliated, and the Russian people suddenly appeared to be the largest divided nation in the world. From the moment of coming to power Putin started correcting catastrophe of the 90th: to subdue absolute power of oligarchy, to nationalize elite, to restore the destroyed economy. In process of establishment of an order the President found it possible to show mercy even to such a bastard, as you showed yourself to the world, Mr. Khodorkovsky, prior to the prison. But you didn’t appreciated it. Probably, because you considered the favor rendered, as a manifestation of weakness. After all you, Mr. Khodorkovsky, of course, wouldn’t bother yourself with such sentiment, isn’t it? And now, having deceived the President by the false remorse, do you intend to take revenge for everything he did? That he relied on strengthening of the state and protection of national interests to the detriment of comprador elite? That he didn’t allow to sell on cheap the largest stocks of natural resources to “Rotschilds”, dooming Russia to the external management? That he punished you for openly stated intentions to discharge him from the power via unconstitutional way? From your words: being in prison, you “re-estimated a lot of things”. But just having been released, you appeared on different sides of the front with the Russian people in war for the Russian World, in direct and rigid opposition on Donbass again. Your hatred to Putin brought you into a camp of enemies not only personally of the President, but into a camp of enemies of the Russian state and all Russian people. How can you dare to reproach Putin that he stood up to defense of the people of the Crimea and Novorossiya, didn’t allow the Ukrainian nazis supported by the West to establish over the Crimea and Donbass a bloody dictatorship? After all Russians protecting themselves and their lifes. You accuse the victims that they allegedly have the nerve to defend themselves. The third world war is excluded while Russia is strong and rather powerful to guarantee, hence asymmetric, but strategic parity and while there are people in charge, who are not ready to trade off their country and the people for promises to be part of supranational financial elite. We will give worthy repulse to your persistent and not reclined during years of imprisonment, aspiration to sell something that doesn’t belong to you. We also won’t allow repeatedly just as was 23 years ago, to carry away ourselves through the false slogans.
6. Such things which you talking about, as “the European values and the euroatlantic civilization”, not only has no relation to Russia, but directly contradicts our national history, psychology, destiny. Europe departed from its own Christian values long ago, having plunged into the abyss of the most vile defects, and eulogized “euroatlanticism” is no more than the geopolitical doctrine of USA global domination, directed against the people of the whole world still keeping own religion, the sovereignty and national traditions. Russia was twice affected already in recent times with leprosy of “the progressive European ideas” and was heavy injured by mad hobbies of its own elites and intellectuals,has two roads today : either to return to itself, anew to find the Faith, the tradition, the values, the sovereignty or be dissolved in the global West, get into slavery and to disappear as a civilization, having lost everything. I will emphasize again, what outstanding hypocrisy Mr. Khodorkovsky, you possess when you regret about lost art, literature, science, space and other achievements of imperial and Soviet “totalitarian past”. Truly, “the wolf feel sorry for a horse – left tail and mane”! But even if we assume that something told by you is remotely true, I ask you to learn history a little: Russia received Christian Faith not from the Catholic West, but from the orthodox East – directly from East Roman Empire Byzantium, which remained the keeper of true Christianity throughout the whole millennium . However, how can you argue about Christian Faith?
7. Everything that Russia has today, was created by our people and our state in desperate fight for preservation of own originality, freedom and sovereignty. In fight against enemies both from the West, and from the East. Russia developed at first as the national state which grew to the great Empire because it was rather flexible in ability to perceive positive experience of neighbors. Nothing in it neither shameful nor superhonourable – because it is a way of all nations having the sane rulers, which are building and developing own state. Borrow doesn’t mean to copy blindly. Enough is enough … to copy [to that extend]. Only Marxism imported exactly from Europe – what’s a cost to the country! Every nation and very state is unique. As any grass field beautiful by different grasses and a scattering of various flowers, thus Mankind is beautiful in an inflorescence of the unique people, wrestling among themselves for “better place under the sun”, but not reminding that “flat public lawn” into which “the euroatlantic universal men”.
8. The euroatlantic values are “values of the strong and fair state”? Well done, Mikhail Borisovich! Now these values lead this greatest Europe, about which our home brew liberals so like to speak, to extinction of those people of Europe which follow them and which once created it. Is your so-called “justice” consists in it? However, you, for obvious reasons, don’t care about historical destinies of any those Germans, French or Britons. As well as Russians, Bashkir, Tatars, Lezgians and so on. And “the strong state”, so to think, means the USA? After all, no “strong” (that is rather sovereign and independent) states left over in Europe. The last sovereign state in Europe outside the former USSR which dared to defend interests of its citizens was Yugoslavia, has been crushed and subordinated 15 years ago. It was inclined to “the euroatlantic choice” by bombs and rockets, blockade and alien’s mutiny. Now its turn of Belarus and Russia, isn’t it? The Base in Ukraine was already created and the last breakthrough remains? The values spread by world financial oligarchy (“European”, “euroatlantic”, “universal”, etc.) – these are values of the national states elimination and radical cancellation of anything that bears a faint resemblance of social justice. Here, Mr. Khodorkovsky, you are either ignorant or conscious liar. Well about “ignorance” I’m saying “for the sake of a witty remark”, as I have no illusions concerning defects in your education. Liberalism which you defend, has as the ultimate goal total globalization, leveling of all people and religious communities under one consumer “comb” and the statement of the power of world financial oligarchy in process of abolition of all historically developed states (the project of the European Union – the first step in this direction). In the sphere of economic policy liberalism not only in practice, but in the theory rigidly denies social justice. Freedom of the market about which liberals go on, is incompatible with redistribution of profit as supporters of social justice insist. More Russia will be involved in globalization processes, the quicker will lose the sovereignty and opportunity to pursue social policy. Now on “mobilization”. We, of course, need powerful national mobilization against aggression of the “evroatlantist” aimed at the accelerated and final plunder of Russia under the pretext of “integration into the world community” and “global economy”. Mobilization both state and public. Because threat hung not only over the state sovereignty of Russia, but over cultural and moral identity of its people decomposed strenuously by propagandized and introduced “euroatlantic” defective – sodomy debauchery, pedophilia, murder of children and old men (abortions and euthanasia), drug addiction, terrorism, etc. brought by a “new humane world order”.
9. “The one who wants to be strong, can’t afford to be backward”. This is absolutely correct thesis. For this reason the decision by the President Putin on full modernization of army by 2020 is absolutely adequate answer to Russophobic hysteria from the West. The Russian military, heads of defense industry complex, regional industrialists and businessmen have to replace by themselves comprador elite of 90th, the so-called “oligarchs”, typical representative of whom you are, Mr. Khodorkovsky. Oligarchs are alien to Russia, their capitals and families are in the West though they made their capitals by exploiting the Russian people. They represent interests of global financial oligarchy, think in categories of ultra-liberalism and, in fact, consider themselves something like colonial administration. Therefore prefer to speak out their “revelations” by your “prophetical” lips from Washington DC.
10. Today is not Europe that matters, but Russia. Our way is a return to itself. It is necessary to return to Russia, to our history, to our culture, to our mission. This mission always was and remains in bearing Christ’s light of belief, ideals of good and social justice to people of the world, to be “keepers” against the evil, as the Apostle Pavel told. We had very heavy past. Russia was shook all 20th century in fevers of bloody revolutions and destructive wars. But thanks to the passed heavy tests, Russia managed to save a lot of things which Europe lost almost irrevocably. If Europe wishes to return to own traditions and the Christian principles, its on the way with us, but not with the financial oligarchy of the USA bearing to people of the world a godless civilization of moral decay, ideological zombiing, spiritual and physical death.
Creation of fair society
11. “Modern Russian society is arranged unfairly”, you are sayng. I completely agree with that. But I will repeat written above, it was made by you and such likes. Having used crisis of the USSR, you began to plunder and kill, appropriating national property. So you and your accomplices laid the foundation of “modern Russian society” where the most cynical and mean layer, working on arrangement and instructions of transatlantic curators, got all levers of economic and partly the political power. Right after coming to power Putin started correcting the situation, but the injustice, which became in the 90th the principle, has a deep root. Therefore return to our society of social justice will be long and difficult process. But I believe that we will cope with it without councils of the fluent ex-oligarch who made a fortune plundering the national wealth, created by a hard work of generations of the Russian people.
12. While reading your criticism of privatization (by the way, quite reasonable), I was surprised by your cynicism: You and such likes, acquired the capitals during this criminal capture of public property, and now trying to accuse anyone, only not those who is actually guilty. Privatization, for what it was, is not a “distortion”, but crime. As a result of it, the property was received not by ordinary people, but quick and unscrupulous minority. And largest “pieces” of property were acquired with direct support of the foreign financial capital going literally “on corpses”. Who knows this better than you? Putin started establishing the correct proportions, giving to the state the most important strategic spheres of economy. Thereby he just tries to correct catastrophic consequences of criminal privatization. Without eradication of the oligarchy established just on criminal privatization there will be neither social justice, nor full development of private business.
13. Saying that natural resources has to belong to the people, you are completely right herein. I already said that sometimes (though it is rare) the prison corrects well. In this point, the shift is undoubtedly positive. This is exactly whats happened to you: assets of your energy companies, criminally created, were transferred under management of the state, thus its people. How otherwise is possible to make natural resources a national property if not through their nationalization and redistribution of provit, in favor of all citizens? It excludes a private ownership of large objects in hydrocarbon extraction. History of Yukos is an example of how natural resources comes back to the people. Efficiency of its use is another question.To start with, they should be taken away from you and such likes, then it should be used most effectively. It is hard to argue with that fact that use of a resource rent is far from ideal. The main thing is not to leave anything of natural resources in a private possession of oligarchy.
14. Proportional tax scale is absolutely correct way. It is also the movement towards social justice. But only not for you, Mr. Khodorkovsky, grown rich on a robbery of the people and taken fortune abroad, to argue on it. In what country did you pay taxes? In Switzerland, in England, in the USA? Why dob’t you return to the people stolen, begin with yourself, pay taxes in Russia. Or for this purpose you should become a president at first? One similar oligarch quite recently assured electorate of the neighboring country in the same oath. His name is Petro Poroshenko. He swore give to the people of Ukraine everything sewed by his back-breaking toil ! But he isn’t in a hurry. So begin with yourself! Show to the world an image of “the responsible taxpayer”! Then, perhaps, somebody (strongly naive) will also believe you.
15. Liberalism as you understand it, Mr. Khodorkovsky, is absolute delusion. This flase doctrine which is completely ignoring God, spirit, culture, mankind, society and regarding an individual, his material private interests and the sphere of finance, as of paramount importance. Liberalism, understood in such manner, is absolutely incompatible with original freedom: how can be a person free, if society in which he lives, is a slavery of interest rate, a debt bondage of the international financial oligarchy and its local supervisors? If all human life is subordinated to search and enhancement of material benefits and the bank account statement is a criterion only? Today liberalism is totalitarian ideology on which distribution the USA build the world hegemony. It is unacceptable for Russia in no shape or form – neither in political, nor in economic, in legal. This is most important: for you, Mr. Khodorkovsky, liberalism is the ultimate truth and national development and social justice is good for populism. But in Russia liberalism is doomed, it is acceptable neither by right, nor left. It is the colonial ideology going against our Russian identity. Trying to destroy this identity for the sake of a celebration of liberal ideology you are destroying Russia too. I thought, it is your ultimate goal.
16. Socially oriented, based on Christian values state is the purpose, a reference point and strategy of the real Russian patriots. In achievement of this purpose “right” and “left”, supporters of a monarchy and socialism can unite absolutely freely. And of course, such state has to be based on a firm observance of precepts of law. But what is your relations to this? After all, you need to tempt the people and they are now inclined to listen to slogans of creation “the socially oriented national state” (without understanding how to build the “national” state on a place of the centuries-old Russian Empire in which hundreds of nations lived peacefully and developed). You throw this bone to us, the Russian people. But Russians are not any longer the trustful herd, which for the past century twice “pecked” on promises of “milk and honey” and as a result spilled oceans of the blood. Sincerely I hope that we learned something and we will manage to distinguish truth from the fake wrapped in a beautiful wrapper. The socially oriented national state is anything, but you, oligarchs, footmen of Rotschilds. Leave it, Mr. Khodorkovsky, national and social issues: these concepts demands clean hands and the faultless biography.
War is the tragedy which sometimes impossible to avoid
17. The USA and the American hegemony is a war. We see it in Libya, in Syria, in Iraq, and Afghanistan, in Ukraine. Everywhere, USA helps to carry out “color revolutions”, fascists, extremists, fundamentalists come to the power. To be the supporter of the USA, the West and NATO – means to be the fascist helper, the lawyer of war. This war is waged against the whole Mankind, which is not interested to live by the American rules and to serve obediently and servilely interests of world financial oligarchy.
18. This war is waged against Russia, against Ukraine. Those heroes who get up in defense of the Russian World who fights in Novorossiya, didn’t want this war. They wanted the peace. But peace can’t be at the price of freedom and dignity. In the conditions of the neo-Nazi junta brought to power in Kiev by your masters, Mr. Khodorkovsky and supported by you personally, life is not a life, but peace is not the peace. Russians in both, Crimea and Novorossiya get up for freedom and justice, for the rights of national development, for the language and culture. It was war against war. Your appeals to peace isn’t simple hypocrisy, this is treachery. However, as all the rest is. We are simply on different sides of the frontline, and your words for me who took active part in military operations in Novorossiya sound like appeals from other side: “Russian, give up! There will be a peace! You were deceived!” In reply to such call during combat conditions there is one answer. Guess, what? Problem of Russia today is not that a war is (as you say) allegedly “driver”. On the contrary, Putin did everything possible and does everything possible to avoid “big” war (the small one USA is already launched by the hands of Kiev and goes on, claiming human lives daily). To reproach the authorities of Russia that she doesn’t leave the Russian World to the mercy of fate, blasphemously. Defending this thesis, you find support of the westernized comprador elite which is regularly gathering for anti-Russians “Marches for the peace”. However, you should say goodbye forever to those who stood on the side of historical Russia and social justice and this is a vast majority of people. You are on other side of Crimea and Novorossiya, which now, more than ever, rally the Russians, supporting unconditionally decisive steps of Putin in this direction.
National mobilization
19. Acting authorities brought Russia to the threshold of decisive breakthrough towards independence, power and freedom which is capable to bring her out from zone of direct influence by the American hegemony. Unfortunately, at my private judgment, the specified breakthrough obviously it is slow down (suspected, by your secret and obvious adherents who still have huge influence, thanks to the stolen riches and high internal political influence, bought with that). Hesitations regarding the need to move forward are visible also. But people of the country are quite ready to it and it frightens you. The hysterics concerning threat of “the Chinese protectorate” also occurs from here. “The Chinese threat” is in the theory, so far. But open protectorate of the USA established over Russia as a result of Gorbachev and Yeltsin treason is a fact of life. The main threat to the sovereignty of Russia is an aggressive impact of the world financial oligarchy frightened by possibility of losing Russia from a slop trough of “colonial economy”. And in its fifth column, where you are one of ideologists.
20. The world financial oligarchy desperately and frenzy struggles against revival of Russia. If Russia withstands, it has a future; she will return to history and will win. But if the sales agent of world financial oligarchy hating all Russian (such as you), comes to the power in Russia, we will fail in a chasm in comparison with gangster era of 90th would seem as a children’s game . Disintegration of the country with all that implies in the form of wars, general poverty, hunger, epidemics and large-scale technogenic catastrophes, here that waits for us in this box. How it happens, so far on much smaller scale, I had to observe personally more than once and not two. Quite recently – in Ukraine, where “cherries” are still ahead. After all, Mr. Khodorkovsky, you want to help the West to destroy again that Putin in the 2000th started restoring. But you won’t be able to manage it because we are Russians, God is with us! World financial oligarchy, priests of Mammon, having put itself to the place of God and on its own behalf operating destinies of the world, overplayed itself. The American hegemony falls, as a colossus on clay feet. The West falls: its indigenous people dies out; European countries in 20 years will become Muslim; the Christian culture is tired out on the periphery of public life; China officially became the largest economy of the world; The USA aren’t able to pay its huge national debt; they are shaken by disorders on the racial and social soil, in an agony the West sows on the world only chaos and destructions, blood and sufferings. We have to go in other direction, towards revival of Great Russia against all threats and calls. The enormous turn is already made in this regard- Putin assembled Crimea back to Russia and nobody will be able to take it away from us!
21. You started talking about the Russian exploits, but reduced it to moderation and labor. Probably, you believe that future happiness of the Russian people is in a slave labor for a skilly bowl for the benefit of world financial oligarchy which you represent. And for the low-standard “shows” offered in addition to a skilly, which guarantee returning the person to a condition of the an animal, following the simplest instincts. Well, then “only over our dead bodies”! The Russian people have absolutely other horizons and the purposes, than dumb submission to the corrupted western elites. Here I will distract from your theses and I will briefly formulate our Russian answer which is expressed by a simple formula “For Faith, the Tsar and Fatherland”. For these sacred concepts the Russian people from time immemorial went to die, perfectly understanding that battling for them is a battle for themselves and for the future. Today it means quite concrete loyalty: to the Russian Orthodox Church, to the Russian state and Supreme Commander V. V. Putin.
22. Last fifteen years Russia prepared itself for breakthrough in the great Russian future. Now its time to make it.
Igor Strelkov
——-
UPDATE: please find below an edited and corrected version of the Strelkov manifesto (thanks to K.H. for his work!!)
PUTIN’S DECADE RETURNED TO RUSSIA HOPE FOR REVIVAL
In early October, at the Washington headquarters of the international human rights organization, Freedom House, the former head of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, delivered a speech, that indicted the Russian State and the President. The speech which would later form the basis of a manifesto, as espoused by Khodorkovsky was later published. Having gained the support of the global financial elites, the oligarchs, Khodorkovsky put forward his thesis using analogies, associations and even patriotic rhetoric, all quite familiar to the Russian people. With enviable pathos the former oligarch attempted to conflate the incompatible. He sought to associate “liberal values,” a concept alien to Russia and the Russian people, and the concept of national pride and justice, which speaks to the heart of the Russian people. In doing this he created a dangerous illusion of their organic compatibility. Khodorkovsky attempted to acclimate Russian society to a proposed future liberal transformation initiated by the world’s financial elites, who he deemed both necessary and useful. Unfortunately, it is impossible to ignore this unlikely combination of “hot and cold” and leave it unanswered. Two dangerous speeches were given by an all too obvious enemy of Russia, as any attempt to implement the scenarios offered by him would be far too destructive. It is necessary to give a rebuttal, a patriotic Russian response, to the globalist’s liberal agenda as outlined by Khodorkovsky, which he dresses in sheep’s clothing. These are not merely the leisurely ramblings of a rich, convicted criminal, who fled from the Fatherland, it is the ideological underpinnings of a new revolution to be waged against Russia— a “road map” for an oligarchic revolt, which is a constant in Russian history.
Well, we will sort out everything point by point.
Russian choice, social justice and national mobilization
1. One hundred years ago the last Russian Tsar, martyr Nicholas II wrote “Around treason, cowardice and deception.” He was not referring to the people, not “fools and roads,” but instead the political, military and economic elite, that surrounded him during that period.Treason by the elites led to the collapse of the greatest world power, the Russian Empire, during this time. Two hundred years ago the political elite under the leadership of the British envoy participated in the regicide of the Emperor Pavel, which led to Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion and then subsequently to the 1812 Patriotic War. Four hundred year ago during the Time of Troubles, the political elite of Russia swore an oath to impostors and the Polish King and committed treason to the Fatherland and Faith. Only a revolt by the Russian militia saved Russia and religious orthodoxy during this period, which laid the foundation for a new dynasty of Russian Tsars. Since that time, little has changed in Russia. The Russian governors with support of the Russian people have given their lives at the altar of the Fatherland, while the fattened, corrupted financial elites looks for every opportunity to cowardly betray, foment treason, while robbing and subordinating the Russian people for the sake of personal profit. After long and painful years of distemper, there would be pacification. Russia would once again move forward, embracing progress and leaving behind crises and bloody wars. The twenty-three years ago (before our eyes) the “red empire,” which desperately sought serious and much needed reform was, instead, plundered and destroyed by traitorous high-ranking party officials, who were joined by nouveau rich opportunists. For the second time in the past 100 years, as the traitorous cycles become shorter and shorter, a new threat appears, brought by those who during the 1990s were not allow to fully plunder the Russian State and, it appears, that they are eager for revenge.
2. Mr. Khodorkovsky’s your ten years of imprisonment was a real tragedy. How much you are able to steal this time, as you seek to make up for lost time is anyone’s guess. Let’s look back at the past ten years of your activity. In 1991 before your arrest, you, Mr. Khodorkovsky, (without investing a single ruble appropriated tens of billions of dollars of state property) created a huge financial and industrial empire and became one of the richest people in the country. You, like all the oligarchs of that time “walked on corpses,” plundered and ruined Soviet industrial heritage free of moral restrictions. You rolled in money and elitism, refusing yourself nothing at all. During this same time my friends, comrades and I were almost permanently at war for the Russian people and for Russia against enemies of the Fatherland. At first we fought in Transnistria, the in Bosnia and the in Chechnya. We suffered defeat after defeat, because of the treachery of the so-called “new elite and from the contemptuous and hate-filled lies of the so-called “democratic” mass media. You, Mr. Khodorkovsky, and those like you didn’t care for the needs of the country or its people. Therefore our experiences are quite different. You learned to steal, plunder and lie, while we fought to protect Russia and the Russian people, when on one even demanded it of us. Prison always changes people and occasionally, for the better. You, alas, didn’t have that positive experience. After all, you didn’t please absolute guilt to anything, even after your release. Moreover, you appeared immediately in the camp of our enemies, which has confirmed, that you were in prison for a good reason.
3. What do you mean when you use the word “stole?” You, whose credo it was “to steal, steal and steal!” Have you built or manufactured something in your life, that it would be possible to steal from you? No. Because you were not engaged in anything other than theft, fraud and robbery before you landed in prison. From all of your achievements, I am personally ready to recognize one as socially useful and those are the “boots,” that you “stitched” while in prison. From a moral point of view, only is this work performed by you is worthy, as opposed to your dirty life as a professional thief and talented swindler. But worst, judging with whom you now associate, you’ve learned nothing from your mistakes and your crimes. While the real Patriots of Russia and the Russian People are engaged in Novorossiya, you, having received a pardon from President Putin, immediately give support to his enemies and the enemies of Russia. You are on a Russophobic Maidan and have gathered together, on enemy territory, all the traitors in a forum to fight against the Russian Spring. You say that Russia has ceased to grow? It is a direct result of your activity, your privatization, your financial policies. Now you call for cardinal reforms in an alliance with enemies of Russia? And you consider this patriotic motives?
4. Especially bright is your “patriotism” Mikhail Borisovich, as shown by your “horror movie” repetition of Russia as a “threat to Europe and the whole world.” Once Goebbels, and long before him Napoleon, the British Lords Palmerston and Disraeli loudly (and in a much more talented manner) shouted about this “Russian threat.” After them Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan, who without a moment’s hesitation called the USSR, “The Evil Empire.” Thus, Mikhail Borisovich, you went on and fired away, as though with full confidence, that you were “smarter” and more learned about history, while all Russians were full blockheads and ignoramuses. Well, cowards are easy to deceive and intimidate with the ghost threat of a “Third World War,” who then refuse to help the Fatherland and their brothers perishing in Novorossiya. The main addressee of this response is not in Russia at all. It is some kind of “oath” undertaken by those, who during all of Russia’s history dreamed to have it liquidated? In my opinion, this is typical shulersky reception, at which the player operating the marked cards, hands the marked cards to a partner and then immediately accuses the partner of deception. The Western world headed b the global financial elite, oligarchs, which you are an integral part of, Mikhail Borisovich, endeavor to present us as about to destroy or win neighbors everywhere and always. So, is it Russia that really threatens war, in hopes that it will be frightened and that it will then capitulate, after first disarming? The task of the real Russian patriot (but not frequenters of Washington’s “Fried House”) consists of being prepared for aggression from the West, because only Russia has the ability to prevent war and defend its sovereignty.
Return to Russia
5. Speaking about “European Values,” you, Mr. Khodorkovsky, either didn’t understand or just pretended that you didn’t understand, that they have no relation to the real values, traditional for Europe. They are revived today in Russia by President Putin. And those “European Values,” that are imposed by the world financial oligarchy are today causing hundred thousand-strong protest actions across Europe. The last time, now more than twenty years ago, the management of the USSR decided to “adopt” these so-called “values,” the country was plundered, humiliated and the Russian People suddenly appeared to be the largest divided nation in the world. From the moment Putin came to power, he immediately started correcting the catastrophe of the ‘90s and he began to subdue the absolute power of the oligarchy, by nationalizing industries and restoring what was a destroyed economy. In the process of establishing order President Putin found it possible to even show, such a bastard as you, mercy and you didn’t appreciate it. Probably because you considered his treatment of you a manifestation of weakness. After all you, Mr. Khodorkovsky, couldn’t bother yourself with such sentiment. And now having deceived the President by false remorse, you intend to take your revenge? Why? Because he relied on strengthening of the state and protection of national interests to the detriment of the financial elites? Because he didn’t allow the sale of the countries natural resources for pennies to the “Rothchilds,” dooming Russia to external management? Because he punished you for openly stating you intentions to discharge him from power in an unconstitutional way? From your words, with regard to being in prison, you “re-estimated a lot of things.” But just having been released, you now appear on a different side of the front, in direct and rigid opposition to the Donbass struggle and against the Russian State and the Russian People. How can you dare reproach Putin, when he stood up to defend the people of the Crimea and Novorossiya against the Ukrainian nazis supported by the West, who sought to impose a bloody dictatorship. You accuse the victims, who have actually summoned the courage to defend themselves. The third world war is entirely avoidable, while Russia remains strong and powerful enough to guarantee strategic parity, as long as there are people in charge, who are not ready to trade away their country and their people for promises from the global financial elite. We will repulse your efforts to sell that which does not belong to you. We will also not allow a repeat of what happened twenty-three years ago and allow ourselves to be carried away by false slogans.
6. The things that you speak of such as “European Values” and “Euroatlantic Civilization” have no relation to Russia and directly contradicts our national history, psychology and destiny. Europe departed from its own Christian values long ago, having plunged into the abyss of the most vile defects, while eulogizing “Euroatlanticism,” which is little more than the geopolitical doctrine of the global dominations by the USA directed against the people of the world, who still keep hold of their religious values, sovereignty and national traditions. Russia was twice affected recently with the leprosy of “progressive European ideal” and was heavily injured by mad hobbies of its own elite and intellectuals. Today Russia has two roads: either return to itself anew and find the faith, the tradition, the values, its sovereignty or be dissolved into the West as its slave and disappear as a civilization, having lost everything. I will emphasize again, what outstanding hypocrisy Mr. Khodorkovsky, you posses when you regret lost art, literature, science, space and other achievements of imperial and Soviet “totalitarian past.” Truly, “the wolf feels sorry for a horse—left tail and mane.” But even if we assume that something said by you is remotely true, I ask you to lear a little history: Russia received the Christian Faith not from the Catholic West, but from the Orthodox East— directly from the East Roman Empire Byzantium, which remained the keeper of true Christianity throughout the entire millennium. However, how can you argue about the Christian Faith?
7.Everything that Russia has today was created by our people and our state in a desperate fight for preservation of our own originality, freedom and sovereignty. In the fight against enemies from the West and from the East. Russia developed first as the nation state, which grew to the great Empire because it was rather flexible in its ability to understand positive relationships with its neighbors. Nothing in it either shameful or superhonourable — because it was the way of all nations, that had sane ruler, which were building and developing their own state. Borrow doesn’t mean to copy blindly. Enough is enough. To copy [to that extent]. Marxism imported exactly from Europe, but what a cost to the country! Every nation and every state is unique. As is the unique beauty of any grass field, made up of different grasses and a scattering of flowers. Thus mankind is beautiful in an inflorescence of the unique people, wrestling among themselves for a “better place under the sun” and not that “flat public lawn” of the ?Euroatlantic.”
8. Are the Euroatlantic values the “values of the strong and fair state?” Well done, Mikhail Borisovich! Now these values, about which our home brew liberals so like to speak, have lead this greatest Europe’s people to extinction or, at least, those who follow them. Does your so-called “justice” exist there? However, for obvious reasons, you don’t care about the historical destinies of any Germans, French, Britons. As well as Russians, Bashkir, Tatars, Lezgians and so on. And the “strong state” means the USA? After all, there is no “strong” (that is rather sovereign and independent) states left in Europe. The last sovereign state in Europe outside of the former USSR, which dared to defend the interests of its citizens was Yugoslavia, which was crushed and subordinated fifteen years ago. It was inclined to the “Euroatlantic Choice” by bombs and rockets, a blockade and an internal alien mutiny. Now it’s Belarus and Russia’s turn isn’t it? The base in Ukraine has already been created and the last breakthrough remains? The values spread by world financial oligarchy (“European,” “Euroatlantic,” “Universal,” etc.) these are the values of the elimination and radical cancellation of nation states, that show any signs of social justice [or national sovereignty]. Here Mr. Khodorkovsky, you are either ignorant or a conscious liar. Well, about “ignorance” I’m saying “for the sake of a witty remark,” as I have no illusions concerning the defects of your education. Liberalism, which you defend, has as its ultimate goal total globalization and the leveling of all peoples and religious communities under one consumer thumb. And the global financial oligarchy is in the process of abolishing all historically developed states (the project of the European Union— the first step in this direction). Freedom of the market about which liberals go on, is incompatible with the redistribution of profit as supporters of social justice insists. The more Russia becomes involved in the globalization processes, the sooner Russia will lose the sovereignty and opportunity to pursue social policy. Now on “mobilization,” we, of course, need powerful national mobilization against the aggression of the “Euroatlantists,” which is aimed at the accelerated and final plunder of Russia under the pretext of “integration into the world community” and “global economy.” Mobilization both state and public should be undertaken. The threat hangs not only over the state sovereignty of Russia, but over the cultural and moral identity of its people, who are strenuously attacked by propaganda—sodomy, debauchery, pedophillia, murder of children and old men (abortions and euthanasia) drug addiction, terrorism, etc., as introduced by “Euroatlantists” as a “new humane world order.”
9. “The one who wants to be strong can’t afford to be backward.” This is an absolutely correct thesis. For this reason the decision by President Putin on full modernization of the army by 2020 is absolutely adequate to answer the Russophobic hysteria from the West. The Russian military, heads of the defense industry complex, regional industrialist and businessmen have to replace by themselves the financial elite of the ‘90s, the so-called “oligarchs,” who are typical representatives of who you are, Mr. Khodorkovsky. Oligarchs are alien [expatriates] to Russia, their capitals and families are in the West though they made their capital by exploiting the Russian people. They represent the interest of the global financial oligarchy, think in terms of ultra-liberalism and, in fact, consider themselves something like a colonial administration. Therefore they prefer to present their “revelations” by your “prophetical” lips from Washington DC.
10. Today it is not Europe that matters, but Russia. Our way is a return to self. it is necessary to return to Russia, to our history, to our culture, to our mission. This mission always was and remains in bearing Christ’s light of belief, ideals of good and social justice to people of the world and to be “keepers” against the evil, as the Apostle Pavel told. We have had a very difficult past. Russia was shook during the 20th century in fevers of bloody revolutions and destructive wars, but we are thankful to have passed these difficult tests. Russia managed to save a lot of things which Europe has lost almost irrevocably. If Europe wishes to return to its own traditions and the Christian principles, it will find that way with us and not with the financial oligarchy of the USA bringing to the people of the world a godless civilization of moral decay, ideological zombism, spiritual and physical death.
Creation of fair society
11. “Modern Russian society is arranged unfairly,” you say. I completely agree with that. But I will repeat what I’ve stated above, it was made that way by the likes of you. Having used the crisis of the USSR, you began to plunder, national property, and kill. So you and your accomplices laid the foundation for “Modern Russian society” where the most cynical and mean
layer, working under the direction of the transatlantic curators, got all levers of economic power, with partial political power. Right after coming to power President Putin started correcting the situation, but the injustice of the ‘90s has deep roots. Therefor the return to our society of social justice will be a long and difficult process. I believe that we will cope with it without council from the fluent ex-oligarch, who made a fortune plundering the national wealth, which was created by the hard work of the Russian People.12. Reading your criticism of privatization (by the way, quite reasonable), i was surprised by your cynicism: You and your like, acquired the capital during this criminal capture of public property and are now trying to accuse anyone other than those who are actually guilty. Privatization, for what it is, was not a “distortion” but a crime. As a result, the property was received not by ordinary people, but a quick and unscrupulous minority. And the largest “pieces” of the property were acquired with the direct support of foreign financial capital walking literally “on corpses.” Who knows this better than you? Putin started establishing the correct proportions, giving to the state the most important strategic spheres of the economy. Thereby he tried to correct the catastrophic consequences of criminal privatization. Without the eradication of the oligarchy, established on criminal privatization, there will neither be social justice nor full development of private business.
13. Saying that natural resources have to belong to the people, you are completely right. I have already said that sometimes (though it is rare) the prison corrects well. In this point, the shift is undoubtedly positive. This is exactly what happened to you: asses of your energy companies, criminally created, were transferred to the state, for management, and its people. How otherwise is it possible to make natural resources a national priority, if not through their nationalization and the redistribution of profit to all citizens? It excludes a private ownership of large projects in hydrocarbon extraction. The history of Yukos is an example of how natural resources come back to the people. Efficiency of its use is another question. To start, natural resources should be taken away from you and all like you, then it should be used most efficiently. It is hard to argue with the fact that use of a resource is far from ideal. The main thing is not to leave any natural resources in possession of private oligarchs.
14. Proportional tax scale is absolutely correct. It is also a movement towards social justice. But only not for you, Mr. Khodorkovsky, who has grown rich on robbing the people and have taken you fortune abroad, to argue on it. In what country did you last pay taxes? In Switzerland, England, the USA? Why don’t you return the people’s money and begin with yourself, by paying taxes in Russia. Or for this purpose you should become a president at first. One similar oligarch quite recently assured the electorate of the neighboring country with the same oath. His name is Petro Poroshenko. He swore to give the people of Ukraine everything he had sown with his own back-breaking labor. But he isn’t in a hurry. So begin with yourself! Show the world an image of the “responsible taxpayer,” then perhaps, somebody (strongly naive) will also believe you.
15. Liberalism as you understand it, Mr. Khodorkovsky, is an absolute delusion. This doctrine which completely ignores God, spirit, culture, mankind, society and regards an individual’s private material interests and finances, as of paramount importance, is false. Liberalism, understood in such manner, is absolutely incompatible with original freedom: how can be a person free, if society in which he lives, is slave to interest rates, debt bondage to the international financial oligarchy and its local supervisors? Should all human life be subordinated to the search and enhancement of material benefits with one’s bank account statement as the sole criterion? Today liberalism, on which the USA has built its world hegemony, has replaced the totalitarian ideology, is unacceptable for Russia in every shape or form – whether political, economic or legal. This is most important: for you, Mr. Khodorkovsky, liberalism is the ultimate truth and national development and social justice is good for populism. But in Russia liberalism is doomed, it is acceptable neither by the right, nor left. It is colonial ideology going against our Russian identity. Trying to destroy this identity for the sake of a celebration of liberal ideology would destroy Russia, though this is your ultimate goal.
16. Socially oriented and based on Christian values, the Russian state is the purpose, a point of reference and the strategy of real Russian patriots. To achieve this purpose “right” and “left”, supporters of a monarchy and socialism can unite absolutely and freely. And, of course, such state has to be based on a firm observance of the precepts of law. But what is your relations to this? After all, you need to tempt the people so that they are inclined to listen to slogans on the creation of a “socially oriented national state” (without understanding how to build the “national” state on a place of the centuries-old Russian Empire in which hundreds of nations lived peacefully and developed). You throw this bone to us, the Russian people. But Russians are no longer the trustful herd, which for the past century twice “pecked” on promises of “milk and honey” and as a result spilled oceans of the blood. Sincerely I hope that we’ve learned something and that we will manage to distinguish truth from lies wrapped in a beautiful wrapper. The socially oriented national state will not be composed of oligarchs, who are the footmen of Rotschilds. Mr. Khodorkovsky, national and social issues: these concepts demands clean hands and a faultless biography.
War is the tragedy which sometimes impossible to avoid
17. The US hegemony means war. We see it in Libya, in Syria, in Iraq, and Afghanistan, in Ukraine. Everywhere, US helps to carry out “color revolutions,” where fascists, extremists, fundamentalists come to the power. To be the supporter of the USA, the West and NATO – means to be a fascist helper, the lawyer of war. This war is waged against the whole of Mankind, which is no longer interested in living by American rules and serving obediently the world financial oligarchy.
18. This war is waged against Russia, against Ukraine. Those heroes who have gotten up in defense of the Russian World, who fight in Novorossiya, didn’t want this war. They wanted the peace. But peace can’t be at the price of freedom and dignity. In the conditions of the neo-Nazi junta brought to power in Kiev by your masters, Mr. Khodorkovsky and supported by you personally, a life is not a life and peace is not the peace. Russians in both, Crimea and Novorossiya stand up for freedom and justice, for the rights of national development, for their language and culture. It was war against war. Your appeals to peace isn’t simple hypocrisy, it is treachery, like everything else with you. We are simply on different sides of the frontline, and your words for me who took active part in military operations in Novorossiya sound like appeals from other side: “Russian, give up! There will be a peace! You were deceived!” In reply to such calls during combat conditions there is one answer. Guess, what? Problem of Russia today is not that a war is (as you say) allegedly being driven by Russia. On the contrary, Putin did everything possible and does everything possible to avoid “big” war (the small one USA is already launched by the hands of Kiev and goes on, claiming human lives daily). To reproach the authorities of Russia that she doesn’t leave the Russian World to the mercy of fate, is blasphemously. Defending this thesis, you find support from the westernized financial elite which regularly gathers for anti-Russians “Marches for the peace”. However, you should say goodbye forever to those who stood on the side of historical Russia and social justice and this is a vast majority of people. You are on other side of Crimea and Novorossiya, which now, more than ever, rally the Russians, supporting unconditionally decisive steps of Putin in this direction.
National mobilization
19. Acting authorities brought Russia to the threshold of a decisive breakthrough for independence, power and freedom, which will bring her out of the zone of direct influence of American hegemony. Unfortunately, in my private judgment, the specified breakthrough has obviously been slowed down (I suspect, by your secret and obvious adherents who still have huge influence, thanks to the stolen riches and high internal political influence, bought with that). Hesitations regarding the need to move forward are visible also. But people of the country are quite ready for it and it frightens you. The hysterics concerning the threat of “the Chinese protectorate” also occurs from here. “The Chinese threat” is in the theory, so far. But the protectorate established by the USA over Russia, as a result of Gorbachev and Yeltsin’s treason is a fact of life. The main threat to the sovereignty of Russia now is an aggressive move by the world financial oligarchy and Russia’s fifth column, who are frightened at the possibility of losing Russia from the slop trough of the “colonial economy.”
20. The world financial oligarchy desperately and frenziedly fights against the revival of Russia. If Russia withstands this fight, it has a future; she will return to history and will win. But if the sales agent of world financial oligarchs, who hates all Russians (such as you), comes to the power in Russia, we will fall in to a chasm and in comparison to the gangster era of ‘90s, that will seem like a children’s game. Disintegration of the country with all that implies in the form of wars, general poverty, hunger, epidemics and large-scale technogenic catastrophes, is what awaits us. Now it happens, on much smaller scale, I had to observe personally more than once. Quite recently – in Ukraine, where “cherries” are still ahead. After all, Mr. Khodorkovsky, you want to help the West to destroy again what Putin in the 2000th started restoring. But you won’t be able to manage it because we are Russians, God is with us! World financial oligarchy, priests of Mammon, having put themselves in the place of God and on its own behalf, overplayed itself. The American hegemony falls, as a colossus on clay feet. The West falls: its indigenous people die out; European countries in 20 years will become Muslim; the Christian culture is tired out on the periphery of public life; China officially became the largest economy in the world; The USA isn’t able to pay its huge national debt; they are shaken by social and racial disorders on their soil, The West is in an agony and sows on the world stage only chaos and destructions, blood and sufferings. We have to go in another direction, towards revival of Great Russia against all threats and calls. The enormous turn is already made in this regard- Putin brought Crimea back to Russia and nobody will be able to take it away from us!
21. You started talking about the Russian exploits, but reduced it to modernization and labor. Probably, you believe that the future happiness of the Russian people is as slave labor for the benefit of world financial oligarchy which you represent. And for low-standard “shows,” which guarantee returning the person to a condition of the an animal, following the simplest instincts. Well, then “only over our dead bodies!” The Russian people have absolutely other horizons and purposes, and not dumb submission to the corrupted western elites. Here I will distract from your theses and I will briefly formulate our Russian answer which is expressed by a simple formula “For Faith, the Tsar and Fatherland”. For these sacred concepts the Russian people from time immemorial went to die, perfectly understanding that battling for them is a battle for themselves and for the future. Today it means quite concrete loyalty: to the Russian Orthodox Church, to the Russian state and Supreme Commander V. V. Putin.
22. Last fifteen years Russia prepared itself for the breakthrough in the great Russian future. Now it is time to make it happen.
Igor Strelkov
Dear The Saker,
I hope Strelkov sent the crook Khodor. a copy of this (He wipes him clean off the floor) so he can read it at his leisure outside Russia. He sure as hell won’t be very welcome there I’m sure……The crook Khodor is delusional – did he go a bit mad in prison?
I am waiting to see what will happen with Yukos – he is obviously waiting for a big pay-out.
Rgds,
Veritas
Russians and foreigners may wonder why Khodorkovsky was punished so leniently, and why Russian government and media do not call a spade a spade, including heroic Igor Strelkov.
Khodorkovsky has blatantly ratified his decision that he is no Russian but a globalist, Goy hating enemy alien candidly committed against humanity to the destruction of Christian Russia, the land of his birth. But no one will say so. Blessed if I know why.
The schmuck Khodorkovsky” should go on his knee & praise his God. Satan. That Putin isn’t Stalin. Because he would have been fertilizer by now!
Very interesting and enlightening.
Strelkov is reincarnation of the best of tsarists officers.
I stopped visiting Saker’s wonderful blog six weeks ago due to attacks on me by other commentators, some of which were deeply hurtful. Here I am, back again, mainly because the sister site slavyangrad.org has gone quiet for unknown (and worrisome) reasons. So I shall dare to offend you again.
The article says, “This war has many ‘fronts’ including, of course, the one between in Novorussia and Banderastan, but … there is another front in Far East Asia, along the Taiwan Strait”.
I hope this does not mean we are expected to oppose Taiwan’s freedom, just because the US suppports it! I am for the freedom of Russia, Novorossiya, Catalonia, Palestine, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan. I oppose the aggression of the US, Israel, China, NATO and the EU. To me, this is an alignment with human freedom, and an opposition to big power in all its forms.
If you don’t like my lines of divisions, go ahead an justify yourselves.
“Anti-Petrodollar” CEO Of French Energy Giant Total Dies In Freak Plane Crash In Moscow
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/20/2014 – 19:10
Three months ago, the CEO of Total, Christophe de Margerie, dared utter the phrase heard around the petrodollar world, “There is no reason to pay for oil in dollars,” as we noted here. Today, RT reports the dreadful news that he was killed in a business jet crash at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow after the aircraft hit a snow-plough on take-off. The airport issued a statement confirming “a criminal investigation has been opened into the violation of safety regulations,” adding that along with 3 crewmembers on the plane, the snow-plough driver was also killed.
I am reminded of Peter Kropotkin:
“… the whole atmosphere of every prison is an atmosphere of glorification of that sort of gambling in “clever strokes” which constitutes the very essence of theft, swindling and all sorts of similar anti-social deeds.” PKropotkin’s Memoirs, ca 1899
“… the whole atmosphere of every prison is an atmosphere of glorification of that sort of gambling in “clever strokes” which constitutes the very essence of theft, swindling and all sorts of similar anti-social deeds.” PKropotkin’s Memoirs, ca 1899
IMO, “similar anti-social deeds” encompasses fraud, as misrepresentation of one’s identity, actions or accumulations.Every society decides what level it tolerates/accepts of these frauds.
The practice of creating justifications criminals to pretend their clever-strokes are acceptible.
Time and again one is forced to notice that the empire men talk and act all as the antiChrist or in Islam Faith the Dajjal!!!
“starve for your own good,lose your dignity and humanity,it is so much more sensible to become less than an animal that is the way( in Pursuit of Happiness)”!!!
These are salesmen of the Devil.
I wonder how mr.Khodorkovsky is so attune to the Christian Faith?I thought that he belongs to the Chosen ones.
Good that he talks about european values.What did they bring to the world for the last thousand of years if not endless genocides,hegemony ,poverty,destruction and humiliation to all mankind,all in the name of a Christianity that is the exact antithesis of Christ ,his crucifixion and Resurrection.
Christ was borne in what is called the Levant and even His Message has been stolen from us the original descendants and made be to appear a vulgar european product!
Mr.Strelkov is speaking for all of us in his response.
BCH
I ask you to learn history a little: Russia received Christian Faith not from the Catholic West, but from the orthodox East – directly from East Roman Empire Byzantium, which remained the keeper of true Christianity throughout the whole millennium . However, how can you argue about Christian Faith?
—–
What a comeback!
Did this just moot MH17?
http://rt.com/news/197648-moscow-vnukovo-jet-crash/
http://rt.com/news/197648-moscow-vnukovo-jet-crash/
Did this just moot MH17?
I wonder how mr.Khodorkovsky is so attune to the Christian Faith?I thought that he belongs to the Chosen ones.
—
Thus the definition of Anglo Zionist. He is being groomed to take over “when” the oligarchs overthrow Putin
Obama wants a war
Saker thanks for this great article…where else can anyone get an article like this ?
I sent it to three of my friends…
The schmuck Khodorkovsky” should go on his knee & praise his God. Satan. that Putin isn’t Stalin. Because he would have been fertilizer by now!
Perhaps Russians will look at the decaying Ukraine and bankrupt Europe and see what “becoming European” will really mean for them.
Europe vs Russia
The theme of who was guilty of “the eternal war between Europe and Asia” was a favorite one of the Greek poets and historians (it is what prompted Herodotus to write his Histories). What is interesting about it is that the origin of this “eternal war” was an act of stealing and rape by pirates of the seas (Phoenicians in that case), to which the Greeks retaliated stealing the “Golden fleece” from the Caucasus (along with the daughter of the local king). And so on….
Oh, come on!
“Khodorkovsky is the iconic symbol and spokesman for the “Atlantic Integrationist” camp while Strelkov is the iconic symbol and spoksman for the “Eurasian Sovereignist” camp.”
Only in their own minds.
Khodorkovsky is insignificant and Strelkov less than that.
The vision of the future that offers us hope and promise that our descendants might survive and flourish is a multi-polar world.
Or, if it is grander, A Multi-Polar World.
Anonymous at 00:22 – I’m sad that you were hurt by your previous experience here. I’m glad you came back.
May I offer the suggestion that you choose a made-up name for yourself instead of posting as Anonymous? This way we can get used to your perspectives over time. I find a lot of merit in the lines you’ve drawn, but one comment isn’t going to do it. If you want to advance your viewpoint – and I hope you do – it’ll take some discussion and exposure of your ideas, and seeing how they relate to current posts as they’re made here.
Many people won’t respond to an anonymous comment, including me usually, and the biggest reason is that it’s hard to keep track of them. Also, many trolls come in as anons during hot news events, so the no-name name has become a little tainted.
Please pick a name for yourself – it’s not necessary to supply a URL or identify yourself in any way beyond your screen name. And post again so we can start to recognize and assimilate your viewpoint over the weeks and months into this gently simmering, ad hoc working consensus of what’s going on and what matters most.
Strelkov talks too much about religion/Christ/God and Tsarism/monarchy to my taste.
The Anonymous poster who wants to play Russia against China has offered the chance to make the following point:
There is an interesting parallel between the Taiwan independence movement and the Ukrainian (Galician) nationalist movement in that both were decisively influenced by the efforts of foreign powers to foster a separate identity among people who are ethnically near-identical and who largely share a common history.
The Taiwan independence movement is a legacy of Japanese rule and its alienation from China is not about political differences so much as it is about the idea that the Taiwanese, by virtue of the strong Japanese and later American influence, are more “developed” than the mainland Chinese even though almost all of the Taiwanese are the descendants of Chinese settlers who arrived starting in the 1600s and who moved back and forth between the mainland and Taiwan regularly until Japan conquered Taiwan in 1895.
About half of the Taiwanese electorate seems to sympathize with the independence faction since the administrations of independence faction leaders Lee Teng-Hui and Chen Shui-bian saw a massive propaganda campaign to promote a non-Chinese Taiwanese identity. However, at least half of the electorate still considers Taiwan as part of China, whatever reservations they might have as to the particular form that reunification could take. Their differences with Beijing are broadly analogous to the differences between Russian patriots who favour the Czarist legacy vs. those who favour the Soviet (Stalinist) legacy. China, like Russia, has also seen a re-evaluation of the KMT legacy vis-a-vis the CCP (and even to an extent the late Qing dynasty) just as the Russians have done for the Whites vis-a-vis the Reds, though it is happening more gradually because China did not experience the state collapse that Russia did.
This pathetic chosenite Khodor is a total waste of oxygen. I’m surprised his meaningless ramblings got even noticed. He is a master of theft just like the rest of them Atlantists-Anglo-Zionists scumbags. No wonder all he is talking about is theft.
A very big thank you to the person who translated this entire transcript.
Hat in hand.
The energy wars have a London adress: http://praag.org/?p=16493
Strelkov notes that Khodorkovsky speaks from Freedom House. Freedom House is an NGO with ties to CIA-State. See generally various articles on the website of Global Research. 157
Why released Mikhail Khodorkovsky? With moderate policy dont win wars.Putin must decide finally to clean the Kremlin from the Fifth Column like Stalin did with the Moscow Trials, in 1936.and win the great patriotic war.
Like Psaki, Khodorkovsky is uniquely suited.
Mr. Strelkov has very eloquently stated Russia’s position. Inspiring truth.
~Susan
Haven’t had time to read these yet, but it’s worth remembering that Freedom House was the creation of Leo Cherne, an important figure in the Truman-era Anglo-American intelligence circles of Allen Dulles, James Jesus Angleton, Jay Lovestone, John Train, et al. Cherne’s International Rescue Committee (IRC) was described by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, its one-time director of public relations, as an instrument of “psychological warfare.” The closely related Freedom House project was directed by Cherne for many years. Geostrategists such as Zbigniew Brzezinski, who has written that Russia is destined to fragment as the Soviet Union did, have sat on its board. Freedom House was run for many years by Adrian Karatnycky, now of the Atlantic Council. AK and his wife, Nadia Diuk (NED VP for Eurasia), cut their political teeth in the 1980s, working for the NYC-headquartered Prolog Research ops of OUN-UPA figure Mykola Lebed, whom CIA chief Allen Dulles had enabled to enter and remain in the USA (Army Intelligence wanted to block him as a war criminal), and then funded for decades to promote literature distribution, etc. into Ukraine.
Strelikov could simply point Khordo to the real-life laboratory of his egalitarianism: the West. On the one hand, we have the “right” to “gay” marriage, abortion, and unlimited debt and bankruptcy. On the flip side, our infrastructure is deteriorating while new wars of plunder are launched worldwide, government at all levels is loaded with debt and bankrupt, benefits are cut to the poor and elderly to preserve military spending in the face of compound interest, banksters rob the national treasuries with official collusion called “stimulus” and, of course, elections are rigged.
Well, I do not have time to read it all now (going to the gym now) but I see that this scoundrel (Khodorkovsky, of course) says (the face of reinforced concrete which has):
…”It is precisely this equality of all before a law that is the same for all, before an adversity that is the same for all, and for a common cause that is the same for all, that the true sense of liberalism Consist of”…
Well, this guy must think we suck still the finger, “equality, common, same for all”, based on liberalism sounds as an oxymoron.
@Mordaz said… Strelkov talks too much about religion/Christ/God and Tsarism/monarchy to my taste.
And what’s your taste? Mikhail Borisovich’s one? I bet it is.
Dear Saker,
First let me thank you for all your informative, and even inspiring posts.
As a third generation half-Russian American I have always had an interest in and fascination with Mother Rossiya.
While I agree with you on the majority of issues you bring forth, I will not bore you with those, as debate and discussion are most interesting where opinions divert.
First I would like to address certain issues which I feel impair the dissemination of many of your key points to a Western audience – where they are most needed. And where I think your blog can play a key if seminal role in even our MSM but will never reach it do to certain sticking points.
The first is the role that England and Israel play as the centers of world power. Please remember that LaRouche, who is very bright, and has some brilliant folks under him like Tarpley, is almost entirely discredited here, as a sociopathic cult leader. It would be much more practical to use the term *globalist libertarian* or even *neolib* to get your point across.
I have known enough Russians to also know that the evils of Communism are blamed on the Jews, and while I certainly do not believe that you or most of the folk on this forum are anti-Semites, speaking os ‘Rothschilds’ or goyim will polarize Western readers, and shut off a key base of readers with the intellectual capacities to understand your points.
I do not believe that anyone in the West understands Russian Orthodoxy. Even I dont. Strelkov in presenting the issue is being made to sound like some crank fundamentalist, and goes over the top with the mention of monarchism. These issues need to be explained before us Westerners can disseminate citations to our colleagues. Keep in mind that a secular culture does not imply a degenerate culture, and the Chinese and Buddhists, who are culturally quite conservative, are also atheists.
Now lets get to liberalism. Here in the US the term has come under full attack from the neocons, as it represents anything resembling affirmation civil rights or affirmation of the Social Contract. In Russia it appears it means neoliberalism: social darwinism where only the wealthy and corporations have rights.
As of now, by focussing on Russian nationalism, rather than as a beacon and as a last hope against the cancerous globalism that is upon is, Russia needs to be seen as a second pole against an out of control hegemon, and something that can not only stabilize Europe, but the US as well, by restoring balance to world affairs – the Cold War kept us remarkably benign and gave us the Pax Americana.
Please do not take this as a criticism – just some thoughts on how to make your ideas more ‘palatable’ here.
I would perfectly understand the response: “Hell with public opinion. This is my blog, and I’ll speak as I think”.
I would even applaud your Russian tenacity.
However Russian culture and language has a certain *assertiveness* about it that may cause Westerners to tune out messages that they would be much more recptive to if aligned more with *their* culture.
Bozy
There is only so much that one can do to make the terminology and concepts of someone like Strelkov more palatable to a Western audience. He is not an adherent of liberal democracy as it is understood by any sections of the mainstream and even more marginal sections of the Western political scene. Unless one accepts that liberal democracy is not necessarily such a good idea, then Strelkov, Nasrallah and company will always come off as fundamentalist cranks. The closest that we can come to translating the ideas expressed by Strelkov into contemporary Western forms would be the discourse of someone like Tarpley who talks about the progressive role of strong centralizing rulers who protected the public interest against the oligarchs. That discourse runs up against the liberal fear of concentrated personal power in the hands of the sovereign and Tarpley, as far as I have noticed, has not been able to offer a theoretical counter to that fear because there is no counter-argument to it so long as one stays in the liberal democratic paradigm.
I think that it is also important to note that neither Russia (nor China for that matter) is interested in leading some kind of anti-hegemonic camp. Both of these countries tried that during the Cold War and both found the great heap of “internationalist obligations” to be too much to bear. Rather, each is trying to build up a series of relationships that will help protect their interests against the aggression of Western ruling circles so as to establish a new balance of power in the world.
Each part of that world that is under threat by the current ruling order ultimately needs to look after itself. They can cheer when they see victories of countries engaged in similar struggles because those victories will often indirectly make their own struggles “easier”. However, no one in say Latin America or Africa, much less North America itself, should be waiting for Russian or Chinese liberation troops come to their rescue. Foreign allies can be important but their role has to be secondary otherwise resentment will build and the eternal friendship between the allies ends up being somewhat less than eternal.
@Anon 21 Oct’14 00:22 >
“I hope this does not mean we are expected to oppose Taiwan’s freedom, just because the US supports it! I am for the freedom of Russia, Novorossiya, Catalonia, Palestine, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan. I oppose the aggression of the US, Israel, China, NATO and the EU. To me, this is an alignment with human freedom, and an opposition to big power in all its forms.”
It is very unfortunate, if any commentator hurt your feelings. However, personally i found Saker’s blog site to be one of the few sites where truth-logic-knowledge trumps street-smart polemic-driven commentators.
Would you please write your definition of freedom so that we can also understand how Hong Kong-Tibet-Taiwan-Catalonia should be free. Till now, no political, economic, sociological thinker could give a definition acceptable to all educated peoples of the world.
There are hundreds of regions in the world where at least 60% of the population would like to be ‘free’ from their current political entity (country). So would you support their freedom ?
Straight-Bat
European values: balance of power politics and well nigh continuous warfare for centuries. Shifting allegiances to ensure that no single power comes to the fore, to form a trans-European empire.
There is no single European ethos: there are a lot of distinct cultures in Europe. There are commonalities, but being European in part means not letting the competing regional powers get the upper hand. In the modern era, this has shifted somewhat by financial imperialism, but France will always be ruled by the ENArques, Germany by industrialists/bankers,…
Khodorkovsky is just another spin artist. All those type guys are just pale imitations of the genius satire, Остап Бендер, doing his “Вы только представьте себе!” act in front of the chess club, baffling all with bs, keeping the people occupied, getting the people involved in diversion, so that Остап can accomplish his real goal, of stealing the money. Only Khodorkovsky’s schtick is demonization, accusation of others, to direct attention away from himself and his crimes.
TRX
@Bozy
Attention Hasbara!
The discourse would be more “palatable” to the West if you don’t ever speak about Jews.
OTOH the blog is not addressed to the ones who won’t change their opinions, no matter how finely you “tune” your message (which is the Anglo-Zio “culture”).
@song
Thank you for illuminating some important issues.
This is one of the most informative and educational of all blogs on a number of key issues.I believe there are a number of
purely technical issues of terminology and even linguistics that serves as a barrier to a larger Western, or particularly
American public – not that we are so exceptional as to require special attention – but only that if somehow certain issues
or terms were clarified, even within a glossary, that the views contained herein might attain a much greater public
acceptance.
Liberal democracy. This is a term frequently used in the pejorative, and frankly, to most Westerners, the criticism of which
subtly implies a favoring of fascism, with oligarchy and even monarchy being but variations on the theme.
To most Americans, and presumably Westerners, it has tradionally meant a political system based on Civil Rights and the
Social Contract in an economic framework that was both dirigist and labor oriented. The epitome of this system in the USA
was the Great Society of Lyndon Johnson, and in an earlier form, the New Deal of FDR.
The current globalist elite have conflated the term with neoliberal libertarianism: That there should be no regulation
whatever of the financial or corporate sectors, and that true freedom of choice should be reserved only for the wealthy
elite. In the past generation Marx has indeed been vindicated: Class warfare.
Tarpley’s main thesis is that a liberal democracy *cannot exist* without a dirigist regulatory system, and mentions that our
system was the most successful when wealth accumulation was the most regulated under Glass-Steagal and a 90% taxation
bracket for our oligarchs. As well as a certain degree of central planning for our economy, best exemplified by our early
Space Program.
I *believe* Strelkov and other Novorossiyans originally proposed a democratic ansd partially socially socialized system,
with a strong Social Contract and nationalization of the oligarchs’resources. To me that sounds alot like a liberal
democrat.
Putin’s restrictions on NGOs and foreign press ownership are not anti-democratic in nature, as long as the regulations are
supported by the majority of the populace, who presumably have no fond memories of the laissez-faire capitalism that Yeltsin
with the full support of the Western media had wrought upon them. Our own laws on *subversive* organizations are far more
draconian than anything that Putin has enacted.
Points of contention that should not be misunderstood *as* liberal culture is the absurd exaggeration of our media on such
issues as homosexuality, promiscuity, and the generally obnoxious and superficial popular *consumer* culture, largely driven
by corporate interests. There is a difference between permitting deviance and espousing it. Certain things are better left
ignored. Liberal culture has existed without them, and most of the truy vapid decadent pursuits are generally the province
of the wealthy and not the general culture.
I do not think its fair to expect the BRICS nations to provide us a regime change. But the creation of a *multipolar* world
apart from the dollar, and hopefully the WTO would intoduce a healthy counterbalance and give ‘the masses yearning to
breathe free’ a second wind. It would also help roll back Islamic extremism if the West could be deterred from adventures in
the mideast, where it was spawned to destabilize Russia.
The problem we have here with our mainstream media is that it has subverted our language to the point of defining the box,
so anything outside it seems marginal or deviant. Such as the word *socialism*. So terminology is crucial in getting points across.
With the right terminology Putin can even be presented as a liberal (or populist) democrat.
Bozy
The discourse would be more “palatable” to the West if you don’t ever speak about Jews.
OTOH the blog is not addressed to the ones who won’t change their opinions, no matter how finely you “tune” your message (which is the Anglo-Zio “culture”).
*******************
I do not necessarily believe this to be true.
Lets take, for example, the Crimea.
Here in AZ land, from the very start our MSM has chimed in on how Putin *stole* Crimea from the poor defenseless Ukrainians, who had just recently rescued their democratic nation from an evil dictator.
I fimly believe that anyone spending a few hours reading this blog, and the evidence presented, and even confirmable by our MSM itself (if you know where to look) will either question or reverse their beliefs on the issue.
As far as Jews, it would be wise to note that some of the most stinging froms of criticism of the neocon version of Zionism come from members of that faith.
Think Chomsky. And J-Street.
Bozy
I suggest the most important aspect of Uncle Misha’s speech is that it was in English.
Some still think that Russia is spelt Moscow or St. Petersburg, sometimes both, and build extrapolations there on.
Bozy,
“Neoliberal libertarianism” is just liberal democracy and capitalism given a few more decades to ferment.
I agree that many Western countries had a better system of political economy in the period of 1950-1970 than they do now. Dirigism would be preferable to the current system. Why then, was the dirigist system of political economy dismantled? Because when you have representative democracy the representatives are, generally speaking, the representatives of the holders of big capital more than anything and dirigism, once capitalism has developed to a certain level, starts becoming restrictive of profit-making. The populace as a whole is not able to provide a counter-force to the interests of capital because popular opinion is malleable, particularly in an increasingly consumer-based economy where advertising has become ever more sophisticated.
Where does the counter-balance to big capital come then? In the dirigist systems, it came from a strong monarchial figure and the people that he gathers around him. The best example is that of Charles DeGaulle after his return to power in 1958. Such a figure depends on a mix of personal charisma, historical legitimacy, and careful politiking to keep power. In effect, he has to be an uncrowned monarch maneuvering in a representative democracy and over time his personal charisma, historical legitimacy and careful politiking will be worn down by the incessant efforts of big capital as well as the lack of consistent support from the populace. DeGaulle did not refer to the French people as “sheep” for no reason.
Consequently, in order to return to some manner dirigist political economy, one needs a ruling strata that is the least dependent on business interests as possible. That means a ruling strata that derives its force from a combination of spiritual force and military power.
As for Novorussiya and Strelkov, I think that the regime that many of the more idealistic elements wanted to put in place was a sort of Christian social state. Strelkov seems to want some sort of combination of “Czar and Soviets” as many Russian patriots do. In such a state, there could be a great deal of local direct democracy. I do not read Russian so I cannot say if this is Strelkov’s idea, but if he is anything like the Slavophile authors of the 19th century, then he would have sympathy for the local self-governance of the Russian commune.
Song, China is only re-interpreting the KMT ‘legacy’ in the dreams of Western propagandists. The KMT degenerated under the US stooge Chiang, into incompetent but murderous fascism, then terrorised Taiwan into submission, and were only rescued from their just desserts by US intervention.
Chiang Kai-shek was not a US stooge, though other members of his entourage were. Before he became a US client, he was a German client and before that he was a Soviet client.
The KMT failed because of its lack of ideological and political unity. There was too much factionalism and Chiang could not make the necessary purges. Chiang himself is not seen too badly in contemporary China. Just watch how he and his son Chiang Ching-kuo are portrayed in the big PRC historical film “The Founding of a Republic”.
The proto-fascist element of the KMT was its best feature as it sought to formulate a reformed neo-Confucian ideology to keep the party’s capitalist element under control. They failed in that effort but given how they had a civil war and foreign invasion to deal with as well I will give them a break. The CCP faces similar challenges today as it tries to maintain ideological and party unity so as to harness the wealth of the capitalist class without becoming completely subsumed by it.
As happens to me always with Mozgovoi, I can not object to anything Strelkov says. All very reasonable for the Russian people.
To me, however, I would like a state, as he describes, but secular, and everyone at home to practice the religion that seems good.
Everyone could be so spiritual as he wants, and could go to the temple he wants, but please, no impositions from the state, or special privileges to any religion.
Strelkov: “14. Proportional tax scale is absolutely correct way.”
On this one, Strelkov (and so many others) has fallen into the trap, set by the neoliberals/oligarchs.
In assessing taxation policy one needs to examine effects on aggregate demand, and wealth transfers. Proportionate taxation, flat taxation, decreases aggregate demand. Economy looses.
trx
Anonymous said,
25 October, 2014 17:04
Not if taxes are progressive. Those who earn more pay more.
Of course out with opaque mechanisms to evade taxes as investment companies with variable capital ( SICAV ), that is why the rich pay less taxes in Europe than any common employee.
My answer is how would Russia look if Khodorkovsky had his way… or Putin had not stopped him !!!
How many Russians would prefer Khodorkovsky’s Way…. and how many Putin and his team’s way ?
That is what matters….
How long would Russia be Russia, a sovereign state, one of the few on this planet, if Khodorkovsky got his way ?