Grassroots Politics

As the countdown nears to the Dec. 4 State Duma elections, United Russia is desperately shaking up the bureaucrats, demanding they ensure a 60-70 percent vote for the party – even though the actual level of support for the ruling party is less than 40 percent. The remaining numbers will have to be made up by resorting to voter fraud and administrative pressure.

But not even the most sanitized report issued by the Central Elections Commission can ensure what is most important – the loyalty, or, at least, the passivity of the population, which will allow the authorities to continue with their “anticrisis” program.

The Kremlin set up a structure designed to ensure that any protest movement is drawn into one of the parties it controls. But now discontent in society is growing. When Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s speech in the sports arena was drowned out by jeering, the opposition was not responsible.

This is just the beginning. In 2012, the social sector will be made “self-sufficient,” leading to cuts in subsidies and benefits. Russia’s budget figures for 2012-14 say funds for education, health care, culture and housing will be cut by nearly half.

The European debt crisis moreover threatens to spill over at any moment. The consequent drop in demand for oil and reduction in prices will eat into Russia’s main source of revenue. The country’s currency reserves will suffer. Any subsequent shocks will deepen the internal problems in Russia.

The authorities understand this. The budget includes increases in expenditures for the police and military by a quarter. The ruling elite is preparing for a class war – but a few more police batons will not be enough. The elite needs ideological support.

Recently, Medvedev made harsh statements against U.S. plans for a missile defense shield across Europe. This, of course, was targeted at his audience back home. Another example is the expulsions of Tajik workers, organized by the authorities to “save” Russian workers.

© RIA Novosti. / Artem Zhitenev

Protesters in Moscow demanding greater representation for the opposition at the forthcoming elections

This ultra-right, nationalist ideology is seen by the ruling class as a means of turning workers against each other by demonstrating that there is an outside enemy and diverting fire away from itself. This approach appears destined for success – so much so, that both United Russia and the opposition, including the so-called “Communist” party, have adopted it.

Another ideology trotted out by the ruling class in these times is patriarchy. To mobilize the reactionaries, bureaucrats are suddenly proposing a whole number of sexist and homophobic initiatives. To begin with, they have passed a law placing restrictions on a woman’s right to have an abortion. Then, in Archangelsk, a ban was placed on “homosexual propaganda amongst minors.” Now similar initiatives are being taken up in St. Petersburg, Moscow and on a national level.

Lawmakers say they are concerned for the children – the same children they plan to leave without benefits, kindergartens and schools following the election. Moreover, these new laws restrict websites, hotlines and educational centers – that is, they are banning things that provide assistance to suicidal LGBT teenagers.

Yet these methods of gaining political capital do not seem to be working. Homophobia, sexism and nationalism cannot replace social guarantees and jobs.

An increase in the social budget can only be achieved if military spending is slashed, and large-scale industry and banks are nationalized and placed under the control of workers’ organizations. But the bosses and bureaucrats do not plan to give up their profits – and the logic of their class war requires us to unite into a mass movement free from discrimination. By doing this we can avoid fighting each other, focusing on those who really caused the crisis – the 1 percent of bankers, industry owners and politicians who condemn us to live in poverty so they can save their profits. 

Zhenya Otto is a socialist and feminist activist in Moscow, whose blog can be read at: http://socialistworld. ru/jane-otto The views expressed in this article are the author’s own, and not necessarily those of The Moscow News.