What national idea does Russia need?

The RUSSTRAT Institute presents a transcript of the speech of the Director of the RUSSTRAT Institute Elena Panina at the REGNUM news agency held on June 1, 2022: “What image of the future meets the goals of national development?”, organised by the RUSSTRAT Institute and the REGNUM news agency.

Today, probably, only the lazy do not speak about the national idea. But, unfortunately, very often the search for a national idea, as it has been happening in our country for several years, and especially recently, turns into a kind of profanity. And who just does not invent and put forward any national idea? However, the issue is much more serious.

We have been living in Russia since 1991 for more than 30 years, and under the 1993 Constitution, according to article 13.2, state ideology is basically prohibited. Well, let's turn to some rather ancient questions. To ancient Hellas. In his famous work "The State”, Plato wrote that in an ideal state, the thoughts and wise actions that flow from them are laid down in every citizen from childhood. As a matter of fact, without ideology, which is the foundation for the self-identification of the nation, on the basis of which the state arises, in general, in principle, no state can exist.

Constitutional prohibitions on State ideology exist, but in very few countries. In those countries where such a clause is not spelled out in the constitutions, this ideology is present de facto. We know perfectly well that in the United States of America, the main thing is "America first”. That is, there is an ideology everywhere, a great-power ideology. America is the master of the world.

This is instilled in US citizens from a very early age, and happens not only through the educational process. It happens through everything. Through product brands, through certain traditions and concepts. However, in recent years, only a part of this ideology has remained in the United States, that America is a dictator who dictates its way of life and conditions to the whole world. And everything else began to go away and be replaced by quasi-brands, quasi-concepts.

In Russia, however, the ban that was spelled out in the Constitution of '93 was somewhat negated by the amendments adopted to the Constitution in 2020. The basic concepts of God, traditional values, and family were introduced. As a matter of fact, these are the basic concepts by which our people live and by which our country is strong from century to century. Thus, the legislative framework for the national ideology has been created.

During our round table discussion today, I would like us not just to talk about a particular national idea, but to cover this topic from all angles. From the point of view of civilisation, from the point of view of culture, from the point of view of educational policy, from the point of view of economic policy. In all aspects. Because when we talk about ideology, it's not just one particular idea, it's a collection of ideas, views, traditions, habits, and world-views. All this together is called ideology.

Now we are particularly acutely aware of the fact that our country has not yet formulated an ideology, this grain has not been formed. It seems to exist among the people, but nowhere is it framed in any way. But we understand that a holy place is never empty. If one doesn’t have one's own ideology, it will inevitably be occupied by someone else's. And our ideological opponents, and now not only ideological, but direct opponents in the global war that has been unleashed against Russia, are very clearly using their Western ideology in order to weaken us from within and, above all, to influence our minds.

Especially on the still fragile minds of the younger generation. Therefore, today the task is acute to finally formulate national ideological foundations. This is the first one. Secondly, we must not just formulate, but restructure our entire policy, in absolutely all areas, in such a way as to raise the national dignity of our country to a completely new level.

Now an information war is being unleashed against us. After all, it has been conducted not since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, it has been conducted in recent years, and after 2014 - especially harshly. Any information war is conducted on the basis of one or another ideology. In this war, first of all, they try to impose other people's ideals on us, while showing our certain inferiority that exists in the Western consciousness. At the same time, we ourselves are often inclined to such a view of our society, we have self-flagellation in our blood.

Even if we don't say it ourselves, we think: no, it's better in other countries, they will produce something better there, they will come up with something better. Including at the domestic level. Our officials, and with them many citizens, hope that all the departed manufacturers will return to us again. This is present in us to such an extent that even when opening a restaurant chain on the site of the departed McDonald's, we use a new logo, but it is actually the old one and now it is some kind of parody. As if we can't even invent a brand ourselves.

I recently visited the rhythmic gymnastics palace of Irina Viner-Usmanova. I'm not going to talk about a great show right now. I want to talk about the building itself. I have never seen such a unique combination in modern architecture, in modern decoration, in design, where lacquer Palekh miniatures, khokhloma, Samarkand and Bukhara motifs coexist, it is unique.

Irina said the following: imagine, when it was being built, she had to fight a war with both the customer, contractors, and architects. She was told that she was building some kind of "lubok", and this is a work of art based on our diverse culture. Not only the Russian culture, but also the Uzbek culture, which is an ancient multinational culture of our peoples, was used there. This example shows how firmly rooted the Western ideology is in us, that even a talented architectural project based on national motives is perceived in the mind as a “lubok".

I'm talking about the fact that we have a lot of things that we could use as our national brands, as our face. But unfortunately, we don't realise many things. Thus, ideology is also present in what we use in everyday life, what we wear, what we eat. If you read Gilyarovsky - how he describes Russian dishes - what a great cuisine we have! There is not a single country in the world with such diversity. These are our national, seemingly everyday trifles that have recently begun to disappear from people's minds under the influence of Western stereotypes.

Speaking of ideology, it is probably necessary to consider this concept not only from the point of view of traditional values. Because when we say that ideology is only traditional values and we need to go back to our roots, this is, of course, correct, and they should be absorbed with mother's milk and accompany a person all their life as a given, as a natural habitat, as a way of life.

But young people don't always understand when we talk about traditions and going back to their roots. They immediately think that we should all "sit on the stove, play the accordion, and eat kalach”. I'm exaggerating, of course. The main thing is that in the modern world we must be able to give our own alternative. We don't need to go far for an example – let's take China.

Try to go to Chinese social networks and start working there, promoting your ideology. It will be quite difficult for you, to put it mildly. But their isolation on their values does not mean that they are isolated from the whole world and sit "eating rice". They have created their own powerful national Internet, their own social networks. In which, in the same way, there is an exchange of views, active discussions are conducted and life is in full swing. This is an example of not necessarily borrowing anything from the West.

As soon as we turned off Facebook and Instagram, there was so much shouting: help, disaster! But we do not yet have parallel social networks that could fully replace hostile sites. While they talked a lot about the sovereign Internet and even passed a law.

What needs to be done today? We must give people all the various modern opportunities so that the ideas that are inherent in Russian citizens become a natural extension of the environment in which our people exist.

Of course, when we talk about ideology - I'm talking about its modern understanding - we must take into account what we have always been strong for. And this is when our society was given a super task. Then our people can perform miracles. It's always been like this. So it was in our history before 1917, so it was in the history of the Soviet Union. Therefore, we must clearly set goals for the decades ahead, and not just talk about import substitution, for example.

The task is not just to replace the dropped import, but to create one’s own on a new technological basis. And this entails the main goal - Russia should become a technological superpower. More recently, it was discussed at high levels that Russia is an energy superpower.

Yes, we are certainly rich in energy resources, but being just a supplier of energy resources to the whole world is absolutely not enough for our country. This will not encourage the people to make achievements, to achieve such meanings that are worth living for. And it will not give confidence in the future of our young generation, in the fact that these guys here in their Motherland will be able to realise their capabilities and ideas. So they don't have to think about leaving like they do today. Unfortunately, a lot of specialists in the field of IT technologies have now left abroad. Yes, we are a great country and we set ourselves a great, big goal: Russia is a technological superpower.

At the same time, we have greatly underestimated our resource and human potential. Connecting the human potential and the most powerful base of material resources, i.e. minerals, forests, fresh water, and everything that Russia possesses, is a large-scale task. So far, this can't be done. So that our energy resources work for our economy. Our metals worked for our economy. Our people worked for our economy. Yes, of course, we probably need to export. But we have a huge domestic market.

It is necessary to abandon the dollar peg for domestic prices and introduce prices for domestic consumption that will be significantly lower than those at which we export our products to the West. These include energy prices, metal prices, and fertiliser prices... We can afford it. As a result, it will give a big boost to the development of the Russian economy.

What have we always been afraid of before? That the introduction of domestic prices will lead to illegal exports. That is, speculators will buy up products and raw materials here at these cheap prices, and then drive them abroad at external prices. But now, thanks to Western countries, they have saved us from these fears with their sanctions.

Of course, we need not only a new economic policy, but also a new humanitarian policy. We always underestimate the impact of ideas and ideologies, what Marxist philosophy calls the superstructure, on the economy. I'll give you a historical example. I recently published a book on the history of Western civilisation, “Hellas”. I gave examples of Solon's reforms there. The Athenian state needed to ensure an economic breakthrough, in modern terms, in the technological sphere. Of course, taking into account the level of development of the productive forces.

And Solon introduced a rule: an adult son has the right not to provide financial support to his elderly father if he did not teach him the craft. You see, through the law in the social sphere, the state's economy was influenced. What is important here is that the state, including through social reforms, implements the national ideology in life.

As for humanitarian policy. If we take the period of the USSR, then there was an ideology of internationalism. People, regardless of their nationality-Armenians, Kazakhs, Ukrainians, or Belarusians, Moldovans - those who grew up in the Soviet era, they even visually, even in their faces, differ from the generations who grew up in the post-Soviet period.

If I remind you now of the first line, “higher rise our bonfires, blue nights”, you will immediately reply, "we are pioneers, children of the workers”. Some will say - this is nostalgia for youth. Perhaps. But not just nostalgia. This is exactly the same ideological identity. An example of the criteria by which we recognise that we belong to a given culture. And today we don't have anything like that. And this should be taken for granted, and not just in slogans.

I recently visited the Gorky Children's and Youth Film Studio. Look, this is simply a pity! The studio, where so many films were made for children and young people, which talked about kindness, about an honest word, about relationships, all this is simply destroyed today. We practically do not make children's films and there is nothing to replace the void that has arisen. Well, Soviet films are still preserved, many of which are now often shown on television. Although there is something to write about, there is something to film, there is something to talk about. And without imitating Western talk shows, which are taken as tracing paper from Western programs. It is necessary to create our own.

One last thing I'd like to say. Of course, the process of restoring our ideas, our postulates, and our basic values is a long process. And not just restoration, but the formation of a new humanitarian policy. Education of the younger generation on this basis, starting from the earliest childhood. We have formulated the basic principles of this humanitarian policy.

And the fact that today most of our people have an understanding of what Russia is fighting for in Ukraine is the most important point. This gives us hope that our whole life will be built in accordance with the new ideological guidelines. With ideas that are based on our traditions and at the same time take into account the modern way of life.

Of course, in no case should such an idea as love for the Motherland be profaned. It is not enough just to raise the flag in schools and sing the national anthem. It is not enough just to introduce the positions of educators in the staff of schools. These are all tools. It is necessary to use together all the forms that confirm and convince that Russia is a Great country. And not just a great country, but the one in which I live and want to live. I want my children to live here. I want to take place here and realise myself as a person, as a professional.

I want my grandchildren to live here. This should be included in every step, in every moment of work and education. Without imposing, it should be natural. This is very important. It should be understood that ideological work is very complex, which is designed for more than one year. There is a basis for it. It should be very clearly combined with the national economy, with technology, with the development of science. We have every opportunity to deal with this.

Thanks!