It's a very good piece, with a sobering conclusion:
The fact is democracy has always been a loaded term in contemporary Russia, but perhaps now more than ever.
The pictures that accompany the transcript are mine - from the Victory Day Stalinist freak show, from the pro-Khodorkovsky rally in front of the courthouse, and from the Nashi get-together.
(Daniel, thanks for letting me know!)
Thanks for the links and pictures - they're very good.
ReplyDeleteI guess there has been some confusion in Russia about words like democracy, revolution, constitution, etc. ever since the 18th century. And I can't help remembering those accounts of early 20th century Russia, where it was reported that among people in the countryside there was a belief that "Demokratiya", "Revolyutsiya" and "Konstitutsiya" were the names of new empresses who had come to rule the country...
06.03.05 - 1:05 pm