In the midst of the unorganized chaos of Russian politics, there seems to be some sort of hope creeping over the horizon. Russia is facing the possibility of a Libertarian party entering Duma. It has been enjoying a steady growth and has reached the mandated quota to officially become a recognized political party. Finally, a voice of reason piercing through the befuddlement! Right? Well, not exactly.
First of all, it’s going to be an up-hill battle getting the paperwork done. Things will have to be done; things a libertarian would not be proud of like bribing government officials. That’s just how the game works. They have to pay off the right people, and make sure those people move things along, for Duma is more of a night club that charges admission than a political entity. To infiltrate and destroy the beast, the hopefully soon-to-be party will have to play by the very rules it aims to eliminate. I gather that they would not be particularly proud, but they would have to do what needs to be done.
So let’s say that they would get past the first hurtle. Let’s say that they would be a recognized party in Duma. Let’s even take the leap of faith and imagine that they manage to win over the support of a public that only knows and wants authoritarians to be their mommies and daddies. Winning public approval will be a struggle. The party will have to grow considerable to make any big, long lasting splash. The movement they have now will have to stand the test of time, which will be difficult.
But let’s say that they make it into Duma and grow their supporter base. Let’s say that they pass that hurtle. They will have to face their most daunting challenge. That would be to stay legitimate in Duma.
We think that our congress is corrupt. With crony capitalism running amuck, it is easy to forget that in other countries, corruption is even more rampant. It is easy to forget that not all the other countries are like Singapore. Russian corruption would be impressive, had it not been so destructive. It has turned the country into a commodity; a money making business. To be part of Duma is to be a member of its share holders. The citizens are the assets.
As you can imagine, this does not fit well with a libertarian view, and it is difficult to argue that our heroes are going in with the purest and most noble of intentions, but the danger of corruption is very real. Power corrupts and that is exactly why we have Libertarians. It must be very scary going into government as a person who believes in limited government and knows the corrupting influences of such an institution.
Do not get me wrong, I have a profound respect for Vera Kichanova and the rest of the hopefully-soon-to-be party, but they have never experienced real power, and their true test is still at hand.
This is, of course, not to say that there is no hope for Russia. I believe in them. After all, it is impressive for them to even gain the recognition they have thus-far. I have high hopes for them. I think we all do. We want to see them succeed, but the odds are not looking good. Then again, maybe it really is time for Russia to have a proper revolution. Maybe Russia really is starting to figure out what freedom is. Maybe they are right about to come to the logical conclusion of their more than one-thousand year journey, starting with asking Rurik to rule over them and ending in empowerment. This is, of course, a possibility. Or they will crash and burn and be remembered as a noteworthy, yet untimely attempt at bringing freedom to a place which was not ready for it.
No one can really know what will happen, but I think that it is fair to say that it will not happen very quietly. Putin will probably--no, definitely try to stop them. The other parties will as well. The Russian media will blow up a storm. Then, the world media will catch wind of this and spread the word. People from all corners, near and far, will start to have opinions, both informed and otherwise. Everyone loves a good controversy.
Anyway, after some time, the world will probably find something else to be excited about and things in Russia will continue to happen. Marx may not have had the best approach to economics, but he did get one thing right: if a people are oppressed for long enough, then they will revolt. So if the “revolution” will not happen this time around, after the party climbs out of the rubble of its own failed attempts, it will regroup and try again at a more opportune time. I suppose the trick is to not be buried in too much rubble. They have to be very careful not to turn into the very beast they vow to slay. It would be a real shame.
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