Navalny is undeniably a very charismatic provocateur; however what does an ideal “Russia of the Future” look like to him?
(Gessen et al, 2021)
After conducting research for this article, I must say that I am impressed by Navalny’s resolve. Navalny is certainly superior in brain and brawn to the typical US backed banana republic stooge; he is the most convincing modern opposition figure that I have ever seen. However, after reading about him I am less than convinced of his authenticity. By acting in an apparently selfless way and returning to Russia from Germany in an attempt to “save” the Russian people with a blitzkrieg of outrage over his latest anti-Putin video, Navalny has convinced some Russians that they deserve a better standard of living; provided of course that they do what it takes to overthrow President Putin. It should be noted that the current protests against the Russian President are of a similar size to the aggregate protests in France and the Netherlands; however it doesn’t feel this way from where I am sitting.
Western coverage of the Russian protests is insatiable. We can draw some parallels between Navalny and the Venezuelan stooge Juan Guido; mainly that they are both Washington’s people and that they enjoy little popularity in their prospective countries (despite what Washington wants us to believe). Every time I log in to read my emails, there are another five articles written relating to Navalny and the protests in Russia. However, much like a Hollywood movie that tugs at the heartstrings without telling the full story as to why the protagonist suffers; after spending the better part of my day reading about Mr. Navalny, I am still at odds as to what an ideal Russia looks like to him in his own words. Navalny has even been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize; yet besides being a rabble rouser and some generic statements about the sanctity of the law and democratic processes there is so little that is known about his vision. Like the people who have historically lit themselves on fire as a form of protest, Navalny has undeniably garnered a great deal of attention for himself; the purpose of this article is to ascertain as precisely as we can Navalny’s arcane ideals.
The basic tenets of Navalny’s Russia of the Future party are more checks and balances to presidential power, exclusion of the current order of United Russia and other pro-Putin politicians from political office, a reduction in government interference in economic matters, requiring visas for Central Asian tourists and immigrants, abolishment of the draft, and most importantly a closer relationship with Western countries. The Russia of the Future party would be more aptly named the Russia of the Past party because it seeks to bring back the “glory days” when Russia was a vassal of the United States. It feels like we have all seen this movie before and I for one did not like the spectacle at all.
In the 1990s the relationship between the United States and Russia “was more of a top-down, colonial relationship between a conquering superpower, and a weak, defeated vassal state. And that’s exactly what Russia was back then: a colonized state…how totally subservient was Russia to America? Well, consider this: thanks to recently declassified presidential transcripts, we know that in 1999 Boris Yeltsin called up Bill Clinton to tell him that Vladimir Putin would be his hand-picked presidential successor months before anyone in Russia knew, and all but asked Clinton for his nod of approval” (Levine, 2020). The movie of the attempted Western subjugation of Russia had a happy ending, however let’s not press rewind just yet.
What I find particularly perplexing about the basic tenets of the Russia of the Future party is the abolishment of the draft. Do these people really think that the supporters of President Putin will simply lay down their arms and allow another Western puppet to sign away the Russian territories, and pervert the unadulterated way of life that Russian people have fought and died for? North and South Americans and Western Europeans have also bled for the Russian World in the settlements of Donetsk and Lugansk. Surely to destroy the Russian World there would need to be some boots on the ground so to speak; perhaps the boots that the Russia of the Future party would envision not to be Russian boots.
The cover of Mark Ames’s book. Mark Ames and Matt Taibbi are the Americans who chronicled the post Soviet degeneration of the Russian people (Ames et al, 2000).
Navalny is cunning and operates from a very low chakra, the root chakra, the animal chakra; fight or flight. During my preparation for this article I was surprised to discover that Navalny’s party only accrues at best 2% of the vote and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation garners around 20%. So the Communist Party constitutes the official opposition to United Russia, the party President Putin leads. This may explain why Navalny operates from the root chakra; Navalny knows that he will never win with rational argument. While watching his YouTube videos one message rings out clear; Navalny’s belief that the Russian people deserve better than the current state of affairs, and that Russian politicians are to blame for salaries that are comparably lower than Western salaries. Buddhist doctrine teaches that blaming is an ancient, popular, and time proven method of feeling better about negative circumstances. Blaming helps us all feel better about ourselves, however blaming is not productive. Navalny’s supporters are mainly young people and young people the world over (myself included of course) are attracted to rebellion, and also sometimes to destruction. Yes Russian salaries are generally lower than the salaries for similar jobs in the West however making this point without explaining that the rental price for flats in every corner of the West is exponentially higher is irresponsible.
The Soviet apartments are antiquated and downright unsightly you say? Perhaps, however in my city Worcester, Massachusetts there are over 1,500 homeless people shivering on the streets this winter. There is only one homeless shelter with less than 70 beds running at half capacity because of Covid19 (Worcester Housing Connection, 2020); for a city of almost 200,000 souls. I am sure that these homeless people would gladly accept a Soviet apartment over a flattened cardboard box or a tarp tent in the woods. Not to mention that comparing parasitical colonial powers to Russia is like comparing apples to oranges. One cannot objectively compare the Russian economy to the economy of the United States. If we took away the United States’ colonies in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East the United States wouldn’t have a means to exist; we are a warring society. The West has patsies, Russia has partners. Additionally the Russian people are such a highly educated lot that simple laws of supply and demand have understandably increased job competition and reduced salaries as well; Israel has the same problem, no civilization is immune to simple laws of economics.
This same “you deserve better” tactic is a classic play of the American foreign service. A textbook historical example are the series of actions that led to the removal, torture, and murder of President Gaddafi of Libya. President Gaddafi was accused of being a greedy tyrant who didn’t respect human rights and instead of Libya becoming an oasis of democracy and human rights post-Gaddafi, it descended into an all out hell on earth led by US and Israel backed “moderates.” Gone are the days when apartments and grants were given to recently married couples, and gone are the days when the president cared for the well being of his people. Surely the people of Libya desire to return to a time when life was secure, before all the false promises of a democratic revolution were presented to them.
This Google search graph clearly illustrates that the English speaking world only cares about human rights as it relates to the acquisition of more plunder (MacLeod, 2021).
Navalny is a hope broker, this means that he traffics with his supporters’ hope much in the way that a stock broker trades stock. The commodity that is hope does not ultimately belong to Navalny, he is merely the middle man. Navalny is a fully native Russian; born, raised, and educated in Russia (prior to attending Yale University) in the USA. Navalny is the Russian face of a very anti-Russian movement. The majority of Navalny’s supporters have no idea what kind of filthy people own the stock that they are buying into, they are kept well distanced from the truth. Navalny’s supporters are buying into his democratic stock, and they trust him because of his apparent candidness. His party’s explicit anti-Asian policies give him credibility in the eyes of the white nationalist portion of the population that disagrees with President Putin’s multicultural Roman concept of Russia. Navalny has a history of demonising immigrants as a way of making himself appear as the savior or the “white knight” of Russia.
German troops serving in Iraq; doing the dirty work of America and the international community (Buck, 2018).
In closing I would like to point out that Western democracy is not the gold standard of modern civilization that Navalny and his ilk would have us believe. We can safely say that an ideal Russia in the eyes of Navalny is similar to the pathetic, guilt-ridden post WWII Federal Republic of Germany. We are talking about a hypothetical Russia where Russian children are taught that guilt is inherited rather than earned, and a Russia that would be forced to pay reparations to the Chechen people who unsuccessfully tried to establish their own state with the financial backing of Saudi Arabia. A Russia of the future would have the Russian military in the Middle East destroying the last of the Arab and Persian republics. A Russia of the future would require a brutal polizei ready to haul anyone off to jail for singing unauthorized songs, or being caught in possession of unauthorized pro-Putin or pro-Eurasianist literature. And in order to keep the Russians at bay once and for all; a foreign military base would be needed so that foreign soldiers could immediately put a stop to any political organization that threatens the international community.
A tasteless portrayal of President Putin. Any leader that creates a system that is righteous and durable is Hitler v2.0 according to the international community. Lets not forget that President Putin’s father Vladimir Spiridonovich fought the Nazis.
Why do I bring up the subjugation of Germany? Because there is no better example of a European state that has been so thoroughly punished decade after decade; to the point where the great grandchildren of the Nazis are still having their taxes taken for reparations in 2021. This is the model of oppression that is to be applied to each nation that has offended the international community. I find it quite repulsive and tasteless that President Putin is often compared to Hitler in the Western media. We should acknowledge the fact that he is compared with Hitler as a sign that should the international community get their way, the punishment for the Russian people will be nothing less than harsh.
Navalny seems like a righteous person at first glance, however one must look deeper in order to find his true motives. Since Navalny is often vague about his true intentions, we have had to dissect the more explicit goals of the Russia of the Future party in order to ascertain what Navalny’s ideals are. Navalny will undoubtedly lead his herd to an empty pasture. To all false prophets like Navalny who try to convince their countrymen to turn on a leader of integrity like Vladamir Putin their efforts will prove worthless, the people will ultimately see through their every charade.