Politics
Continuing support for Stalin reflects ‘irrational idolatry’ of the state
Reading Time: 4 minutesContinuing support for Stalin reflects ‘irrational idolatry’ of the state
by Paul Goble
Continuing popular support for Joseph Stalin reflects “the irrational idolatry” of the state that the Soviet dictator promoted through his attacks on religion and expansion of the role of the political system and consequently cannot be overcome as many think by calls for repentance, according to a Novosibirsk scholar.
In an essay in today’s “Nezavisimaya gazeta,” Sergey Dzyuba says that he came to this conclusion after recognizing that “all logical arguments had already exhausted themselves in arguments with Stalinists” and that the source of their passions must be sought in “the irrational” nature of their faith in the state (www.ng.ru/ideas/2010-06-28/9_religion.html).
Once one does that, Dzyuba continues, it becomes obvious why today’s supporters of the Soviet dictator remain so committed to him and his system. In the 1920s and 1930s, Stalin simultaneously destroyed much of the religious infrastructure of the Soviet Union while “sharply increasing the social functions” of the state.”
As a result, the faith that Russians had traditionally put in their religion was displaced onto the state. They no longer felt the need to pray to a transcendent God when the state supplied all their earthly needs. Indeed, Dzyuba writes, “In place of the former God, at the subconscious level appeared a new idol, on which everything depended, an idol in the form of the state.”
The parallels between religion and Soviet ideology especially in Stalin’s time have often attracted attention, but the full impact of this on the subconsciousness of Russians has seldom been fully explored, Dzyuba suggests. When it is, he argues, the ways in which Stalin and the state took the place of God become very clear as do the reasons for the survival of the cult now.
Those are rooted, the Novosibirsk scholar suggests, in the way in which Stalin acted. Unlike in the West where the power of the state rose and the position of the church declined, in the Soviet Union, this process was not “evolutionary” or “initiated from below.” Instead, in the USSR, it was radical and imposed from above.
(It is however interesting to note, Dzyuba observes, that “nevertheless even in Western countries has been observed something similar with regard to the appearance of new idols in mass consciousness,” as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn regularly pointed out when he was living in exile in the United States.)
Because of the way the Communist system imposed this change in the lives of those who lived under it, the scholar argues, “the fetishization of the state which took place under Stalin became the essential factor which influenced the political mentality of our compatriots for many decades ahead.”
“This explains a lot,” he says. It explains “why the people completely sincerely voted for the CPSU and did not especially regret the lack of real political discussions in society.” For the Soviet population, the government simply was beyond their ability to control, just like any divinity would be.
This reality even helps explain “why people so easily forgave the state for its shedding of the innocent blood of their fellow citizens – such a sacrifice is completely in the spirit of ancient pagan traditions,” traditions that Stalin in effect revived by destroying the influence of the church in the lives of Russians.
This “fetishization of the state” continues to be “one of the dominating factors in the political life of Russia” even now. It is shown in the mass support for United Russia, the party of power, “despite the absence of obvious achievements of the latter, the high rating of the leaders of the country, the obvious political apathy of the overwhelming majority of citizens” and so on.
It also helps to explain, the Novosibirsk analyst says, the current extraordinarily high interests of Russians in the victory of their sports teams abroad and, what is more serious for the future, “the high level of xenophobia in society, the hurrah patriotism of ‘Nashi’” and other groups.
But if the fetishization of the state is explicable in Stalin’s time because of the dramatic growth in the power of the state, the enshrining of an official ideology, and the destruction of religious life, now, Dzyuba says, “historical conditions are completely different and there is no objective base for the fetishization of the state.”
It is “difficult to say” what “this contradiction of tradition and reality will lead to,” Dzyuba writes, “but certainly not to anything good.”
“Contemporary Stalinists,” he sums up, “are simply people who deeply and emotionally have faith in the importance of the state as the organizer of the fate of people. For them, the state is the alpha and the omega, the idol, the holy cow, the guarantor and source of the satisfaction of all fundamental requirements of an.”
They are “people who had the subconscious level have created their own idol.” They deify Stalin as “the founder of this system of values,” as “the prophet of the new faith,” and consequently like any believers in any religious system, they cannot tolerate any attack either on him or on the state they believe in.
Many people argue that de-Stalinization will take place only after “general repentance” or the holding of Nurnberg-like trials. But Dzyuba says that his investigation suggests that such an approach “does not have any sense.” Repentance is “possible only in the framework of a specific generally-recognized religious ethical system,” he notes. And that is lacking.
“The ‘religion’ of the Stalinists and the statists who are close to them in spirit consists in bowing down to the state as an idol. This is neo-paganism in the purest form. And it is necessary to escape from it above all,” to go beyond “the shameful spiritual illness of idolatry.” If Russia does not do that, its citizens can hope for little good in the 21st century.
“When citizens finally come to the understanding that the state does not have a neo-pagan sacral significance,” Dzyuba concludes, “that it is above all only a social institute in their hands, that it is not they who must serve the state but the state them, then the supporters of Stalinism simply won’t remain in the country.”
A new football club has earned a leading place in the UEFA Champions League groups and starred in the headlines of worldwide football news yesterday. The Football Club Sheriff Tiraspol claimed a win with the score 2-1 against Real Madrid on the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. That made Sheriff Tiraspol the leader in Group D of the Champions League, including the football club in the groups of the most important European interclub competition for the first time ever.
International media outlets called it a miracle, a shock and a historic event, while strongly emphasizing the origin of the team and the existing political conflict between the two banks of the Dniester. “Football club from a pro-Russian separatist enclave in Moldova pulls off one of the greatest upsets in Champions League history,” claimed the news portals. “Sheriff crushed Real!” they said.
Moldovans made a big fuss out of it on social media, splitting into two groups: those who praised the team and the Republic of Moldova for making history and those who declared that the football club and their merits belong to Transnistria – a problematic breakaway region that claims to be a separate country.
Both groups are right and not right at the same time, as there is a bunch of ethical, political, social and practical matters that need to be considered.
Is it Moldova?
First of all, every Moldovan either from the right or left bank of Dniester (Transnistria) is free to identify himself with this achievement or not to do so, said Vitalie Spranceana, a sociologist, blogger, journalist and urban activist. According to him, boycotting the football club for being a separatist team is wrong.
At the same time, “it’s an illusion to think that territory matters when it comes to football clubs,” Spranceana claimed. “Big teams, the ones included in the Champions League, have long lost their connection both with the countries in which they operate, and with the cities in which they appeared and to which they linked their history. […] In the age of globalized commercial football, teams, including the so-called local ones, are nothing more than global traveling commercial circuses, incidentally linked to cities, but more closely linked to all sorts of dirty, semi-dirty and cleaner cash flows.”
What is more important in this case is the consistency, not so much of citizens, as of politicians from the government who have “no right to celebrate the success of separatism,” as they represent “the national interests, not the personal or collective pleasures of certain segments of the population,” believes the political expert Dionis Cenusa. The victory of FC Sheriff encourages Transnistrian separatism, which receives validation now, he also stated.
“I don’t know how it happens that the “proud Moldovans who chose democracy”, in their enthusiasm for Sheriff Tiraspol’s victory over Real Madrid, forget the need for total and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria!” declared the journalist Vitalie Ciobanu.
Nowadays, FC Sheriff Tiraspol has no other choice than to represent Moldova internationally. For many years, the team used the Moldovan Football Federation in order to be able to participate in championships, including international ones. That is because the region remains unrecognised by the international community. However, the club’s victory is presented as that of Transnistria within the region, without any reference to the Republic of Moldova, its separatist character being applied in this case especially.
Is it a victory?
In fact, FC Sheriff Tiraspol joining the Champions League is a huge image breakthrough for the Transnistrian region, as the journalist Madalin Necsutu claimed. It is the success of the Tiraspol Club oligarchic patrons. From the practical point of view, FC Sheriff Tiraspol is a sports entity that serves its own interests and the interests of its owners, being dependent on the money invested by Tiraspol (but not only) oligarchs.
Here comes the real dilemma: the Transnistrian team, which is generously funded by money received from corruption schemes and money laundering, is waging an unequal fight with the rest of the Moldovan football clubs, the journalist also declared. The Tiraspol team is about to raise 15.6 million euro for reaching the Champions League groups and the amounts increase depending on their future performance. According to Necsutu, these money will go directly on the account of the club, not to the Moldovan Football Federation, creating an even bigger gab between FC Sheriff and other football clubs from Moldova who have much more modest financial possibilities.
“I do not see anything useful for Moldovan football, not a single Moldovan player is part of FC Sheriff Tiraspol. I do not see anything beneficial for the Moldovan Football Federation or any national team.”
Is it only about football?
FC Sheriff Tiraspol, with a total estimated value of 12.8 million euros, is controlled by Victor Gusan and Ilya Kazmala, being part of Sheriff Holding – a company that controls the trade of wholesale, retail food, fuels and medicine by having monopolies on these markets in Transnistria. The holding carries out car trading activities, but also operates in the field of construction and real estate. Gusan’s people also hold all of the main leadership offices in the breakaway region, from Parliament to the Prime Minister’s seat or the Presidency.
The football club is supported by a holding alleged of smuggling, corruption, money laundering and organised crime. Moldovan media outlets published investigations about the signals regarding the Sheriff’s holding involvement in the vote mobilization and remuneration of citizens on the left bank of the Dniester who participated in the snap parliamentary elections this summer and who were eager to vote for the pro-Russian socialist-communist bloc.
Considering the above, there is a great probability that the Republic of Moldova will still be represented by a football club that is not identified as being Moldovan, being funded from obscure money, growing in power and promoting the Transnistrian conflict in the future as well.
Photo: unknown
Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Natalia Gavrilita, together with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicu Popescu, pay an official visit to Brussels, between September 27-28, being invited by High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles.
Today, Prime Minister had a meeting with Charles Michel, President of the European Council. The Moldovan PM thanked the senior European official for the support of the institution in strengthening democratic processes, reforming the judiciary and state institutions, economic recovery and job creation, as well as increasing citizens’ welfare. Natalia Gavrilita expressed her confidence that the current visit laid the foundations for boosting relations between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union, so that, in the next period, it would be possible to advance high-level dialogues on security, justice and energy. Officials also exchanged views on priorities for the Eastern Partnership Summit, to be held in December.
“The EU is open to continue to support the Republic of Moldova and the ambitious reform agenda it proposes. Moldova is an important and priority partner for us,” said Charles Michel.
Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita also met with Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economy, expressing her gratitude for the support received through the OMNIBUS macro-financial assistance program. The two officials discussed the need to advance the recovery of money from bank fraud, to strengthen sustainable mechanisms for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in Moldova, and to standardize the customs and taxes as one of the main conditions for deepening cooperation with the EU in this field.
Additionally, Prime Minister spoke about the importance of the Eastern Partnership and the Deep Free Trade Agreement, noting that the Government’s policies are aimed at developing an economic model aligned with the European economic model, focused on digitalization, energy efficiency and the green economy.
A common press release of the Moldovan Prime Minister with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission, Josep Borrell Fontelles, took place today, where the agenda of Moldova’s reforms and the main priorities to focus on in the coming months were presented: judiciary reform; fighting COVID-19 pandemic; promoting economic recovery and conditions for growth and job creation; strengthening state institutions and resilience of the country.
“I am here to relaunch the dialogue between my country and the European Union. Our partnership is strong, but I believe there is room for even deeper cooperation and stronger political, economic and sectoral ties. I am convinced that this partnership is the key to the prosperity of our country and I hope that we will continue to strengthen cooperation.”
The Moldovan delegation met Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice. Tomorrow, there are scheduled common meetings with Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Adina Valean, European Commissioner for Transport and Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy.
Prime Minister will also attend a public event, along with Katarina Mathernova, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.
Photo: gov.md
Politics
Promo-LEX about Maia Sandu’s UN speech: The president must insist on appointing a rapporteur to monitor the situation of human rights in Transnistria
The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, pays an official visit to New York, USA, between September 21-22. There, she participates in the work of the United Nations General Assembly. According to a press release of the President’s Office, the official will deliver a speech at the tribune of the United Nations.
In this context, the Promo-LEX Association suggested the president to request the appointment of a special rapporteur in order to monitor the situation of human rights in the Transnistrian region. According to Promo-LEX, the responsibility for human rights violations in the Transnistrian region arises as a result of the Russian Federation’s military, economic and political control over the Tiraspol regime.
“We consider it imperative to insist on the observance of the international commitments assumed by the Russian Federation regarding the withdrawal of the armed forces and ammunition from the territory of the country,” the representatives of Promo-LEX stated. They consider the speech before the UN an opportunity “to demand the observance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the Russian Federation with reference to this territory which is in its full control.”
“It is important to remember about the numerous cases of murder, torture, ill-treatment, forced enlistment in illegal military structures, the application of pseudo-justice in the Transnistrian region, all carried out under the tacit agreement of the Russian Federation. These findings stem from dozens of rulings and decisions issued by the European Court of Human Rights, which found that Russia is responsible for human rights violations in the region.”
The association representatives expressed their hope that the president of the country would give priority to issues related to the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region and would call on relevant international actors to contribute to guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms throughout Moldova.
They asked Maia Sandu to insist on the observance of the obligation to evacuate the ammunition and the military units of the Russian Federation from the territory of the Republic of Moldova, to publicly support the need for the Russian Federation to implement the ECtHR rulings on human rights violations in the Transnistrian region, and to request the appointment of an UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.
**
The Promo-LEX Association concluded that 14 out of 25 actions planned within the National Action Plan for the years 2018–2022 concerning respecting human rights in Transnistria were not carried out by the responsible authorities.
The association expressed its concern and mentioned that there are a large number of delays in the planned results. “There is a lack of communication and coordination between the designated institutions, which do not yet have a common vision of interaction for the implementation of the plan.”
Promo-LEX requested the Government of the Republic of Moldova to re-assess the reported activities and to take urgent measures, “which would exclude superficial implementation of future activities and increase the level of accountability of the authorities.”
Photo: peacekeeping.un.org
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