Grigory Pasko: Ideology – pokhuyism?

From eight o’clock in the morning I was looking in the window: from it, like in the palm of your hand, you can see school № 1965, which on October 11th was transformed into a polling station. Right until evening I did not uncover a single burst of massness: the people went, but somehow limply, one by one… At 10:30 in the barbershop I asked: speak up, who has already voted. The 10 or so people, including the barbers, were silent. «Why didn’t you go?» – I asked a man of middle years. «Fuck it», – said he simply and comprehensibly. 66% victorious unirussians [candidates from United Russia, the “party of power”–Trans.] throughout Moscow – a lie, even in consideration of the mental veneration of Russians before the two-headed power. Because pokhuyism is stronger than love for the bosses.

In the year 2007 at elections to the State Duma at voting in this same school I and several of my acquaintances took unfilled-in ballots with us [when we left]. In a couple of days in the district newspaper «Maryinsky vestnik» was published a report on the elections. In it I found a line that said that there were no unused and lost ballots based on the results of the voting. A flagrant and brazen lie, voracious and eating away at everything around it.

Of all the -…isms (stalinism, communism, brezhnevism, putinism…),pokhuyism, probably, is the least studied. This is strange, because it- is a part of the Russian mentality. A definition to this phenomenon Iam not going to give – let the reader do this himself. I will only saythat the use specifically of this word I considered the most preciseand not having analogues. (Indifference, an I-spit-on-it attitudetowards something etc. – is all not it).
Why did you vote for Zhirinovsky?» – I asked inhabitants of Yaroslavlat the elections to the State Duma? «Ah, for kicks!» – mirthfully andcarefreely they answered me. «Why did you vote for Medvedev?» – I askedinhabitants of Kirzhach (Vladimir Oblast) during the time of electionsof the president. «Ah, it makes no difference to us, for whom», -mirthfully and carefreely the inhabitants answered me.

Pokhuyism – serfdom’s miscarriage (I’d say serfdom is the principalfeature of the Russian mentality). It is inherent not only to theplebs, but to the powers that be too.
The absence of a real assessment of the state of the mechanisms at theSayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in the course of thetwo past decades – is this not a manifestation of the pokhuyism of thepower? Pikalevshchina (the dying out and fever of small towns,dependent on the state of one city-formational enterprise) – is thisnot the pokhuyism of the power?

The power does not suffer from pokhuyism in that case when what isbeing spoken of is its purse and the supporting of a favourable imageof the power itself. The power couldn’t care less what will be with thecountry in the future without alternative viewpoints on the developmentof society, the economy, politics… It is better for it when there’s onepresident – and for long (and better – forever), when there’s one party… In the role of the opposition – the tame and toothless manageableLDPR and CPRF. The leaders of these parties are funny on their own. Butthe picture as a whole -sad, really. Because the stagnation is visiblein everything – from the economy to culture.

Pokhuyism – the spawn of previous totalitarian regimes: fromstalinism to putinism. This is such a collective unconscious (asopposed to totalitarianism proper – a political system under whichideology plays perhaps the main role). Pokhuyism has no ideology – itis itself an anti-ideology. And if any ideology is called upon tofulfill a social-integrational function, to serve as a values referencepoint that motivates the behaviour of citizens and state policy, thenthe ideology of pokhuyism destroys values, does not accept social myths(a mandatory feature of an ideology) and does not try to find arational explanation for all social events. What is more – pukhuyismignores social events.

Putinism never has found its «Gleichschaltungsgesetz» (that’s howthe special law prescribing a unitary, binding-on-all-Germans ideologywas called in nazi Germany).
In any literature on political science we’ll find the followingbirthmarks of totalitarianism: the monopoly of the power overinformation, full control over the mass information media, extremeintolerance of any other-thinking, the regarding of idea opponents aspolitical adversaries, Suppressed in every way are individuality,originality in thoughts, cultivated are herd feelings, national enmity,envy, suspicion, denounciationism etc. In the consciousness of peopleis strenuously created the image of an enemy, with whom there can be noreconciliation.

Supported in every way are pugnacious moods, an atmosphere of secrecy…

All this has appeared under Putin. But still, there is nototalitarianism. Pokhuyism has become the reason why a totalitariansociety never has become reality under Putin. (There is no fear, thekind like under Stalin. If Stalin evoked horror and trembling, thenPutin – scorn and jeering. If under Stalin the MGB was engaged inpolitical investigation, then under Putin the gebists [from the last two letters of (K)GB–Trans.] have steeped into business (more precisely, into property redistribution). Bumpkins and washouts catch «spies»).

And although political propaganda has appeared, the features of areligious cult have touched upon only one object – the image of Putinhimself.