Yavlinsky on the Crisis
A conference on the theme “Ecology and politics” took place at the end of November of this year in the Institute named after N.Vavilov in Mosco. There weren’t many speakers: chairman of the committee for ecology of the Public Chamber V.Zakharov, former minister of ecology of Russia V.Danilov-Danilyan, correspondent-member of the academy of sciences of the RF A.Yablokov and politician G.Yavlinsky. We offer our readers a part of the latter’s speech.
From a speech by Grigory Yavlinsky at the “Ecology and politics” conference:
“…An authoritarian state… is not very interested in the opinion of citizens. When it was interested, then in every pre-election program there was [something] about ecology…Now about the crisis. From the middle of the 90s our state – this is a state of businessmen. The state machine represents the interests of clearly defined business- groups. These interests are perpendicular to the interests to the interests of the people. The task of business – to consume nature. That’s how business works. While society’s interest – is to protect nature. In this compromise – the guarantee of forward movement… We do not have a state that represents the interests of citizens.
To export oil, gas and arms – that’s what our state knows how to do.
With such a design of the state, ecology – this is an obstacle, because it oversteps the bounds of the interests of the state.
What the state doesn’t like, it prohibits. Now the word crisis isprohibited. The is already working on cases «of inflaming the crisis».Inasmuch as my lecture is not public, I say this word.
First a joke. A child comes to the father. Say, papa, is the crisisgoing to affect us? No, answers the father, it won’t affect us, onlythe oligarchs. For us it’s simply…the end. Unlike the financial one,the ecological crisis will affect everybody – it won’t distinguish:oligarch or not.
When there’s a crisis in ecology- then this everybody understandsand knows. Humanity has populated the earth, and nature can no longerdigest the waste products of the life activity of people. A criticalsituation. But this is not AIDS, with which it is not clear what to do.With ecology it is clear: save living nature, and it will save you.
With the economic crisis, it’s more complex… The causes of it are inthat they have created a new financial instrument: for bribes they gaveout non-recoverable credits. On the basis of false documents, in scalesof billions… Money is cheap. From oil. Same thing in America. But inRussia it’s more complex. You can’t print money in a large quantity.The cause in our country: unbridled greed. Plus lies. This – is aprogram of self-destruction. ..In Russia there is no private property:you can take away everything from anybody. Examples we know – the YUKOSaffair. The whole world knows them.
The judicial system is dependent, laws are provisional. We’ll addhere the war in Georgia; the scandals with TNK-BP, the referral byPutin of a doctor to metallurgy.. . Who is ready to take upon himselfrisks in such a country? Nobody! Everybody’s taking money out of thiseconomic atmosphere. Just in the period from 7 through 14 November 22bln dollars from the reserves of the state were allocated forsupporting the exchange rate of the ruble, and another 30 bln dollarsthey simply carted out beyond the pale of the country. The stabfund andreserves won’t last long. We will turn out in the year 1998, in asituation of default, with such tempos.
How do we get out of the crisis? They gave a lot of money tosomebody. To whom, where, who, what did he do with all of it? Unknown.We more or less guess whom they gave it to and where he managed to putit. But this is guesses… That’s how this system works.
… The premier says: they have gone beyond the border, don’t do thatagain. Good, they nod to him. At every level of the vertical areadopted their own decisions. The stability is in that nobody isfighting with corruption. The system is stable, but it’s rotting. Now,with the amendments to the Constitution, it’s going to rot for 12 yearsand will rot completely.
…The problem of world and Russian politics – is in getting away fromthe fundamental theme: human rights, liberties.. These principles havebeen suffered and cried for by two world wars. This is principles ofpeople’s lives and their dignity. There was crisis in the 20 century.And with a crisis we’re ending the first ten years of the 21st century.Cynicism and hypocrisy in politics. Inhumanity – just the story withBakhmina is enough…
…The way out – in replenishing the shortage of morality andconscience. In our system today the main things are – chance and force.With such an approach a crisis is inevitable.
