My Dear Friend!
So, talking about no alternative in Russia I decided to better tell the story about Lev Kopelev and Yeltsin.
There was no alternative to Yeltsin either until the time… I believe it’s clear until what time. Kopelev if someone doesn’t know was a great dissident, the original of one of the protagonists of the novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn «In the First Circle». And so Kopelev loved Yeltsin perhaps even less than I love… I believe it’s clear who – Putin. And so Kopelev came to Moscow and he was visiting and talking with friends. And all the friends were saying there was no alternative to Yeltsin. That was exactly on the eve of the election for another term. And all his friends were smart liberals and intellectuals. And the dawn was already visible outside the window…
Kopelev opened the window and saw a lone stranger walking along the gloomy street. He gestured to him and said, to be precise – shouted: “Here! Here! Here’s an alternative to Yeltsin!”
It is quite a well-known story. What has always fascinated me in that story was that Kopelev proposed a person from the street as an alternative – not any of the intellectuals who were ready to obey the acting ruler.
Slaves are not fit to rule. Frankly speaking, the worst dictatorship is that of a slave.
As far as I remember, there is such a phenomenon in Russia. The collective consciousness adores a position, not a person. Every leader who takes over a chair traditionally called «a throne» becomes a tsar. In the film about Brezhnev, the granddaughter asked her mighty grandfather whether he was a tsar. After a little pause Brezhnev said, «Yes, I am a tsar».
Here I have to draw a religious analogy. As you know, in the Orthodox Church we believe that the personality of a priest does not matter when he celebrates the Holy Sacrament. In case he is appropriately ordinated, he is just a tool in the hands of the Lord.
In the times of the monarchy, a tsar was also considered «the anointed one ». Who anointed your leader? I won’t tell you. However, I am sure he is anointed with blood and mud.
Hope you will understand that – the sooner, the better.
Yours,
Borya