Sketches of Russian History II: Alexander III's counter-reforms

Alexander's father, the aptly named Alexander II, was the man who freed the serfs. Alexander III however, did not believe in his father's reforms, and rather felt that they undermined his and his family's authority.

Alexander was strongly influence by Constantine Pobedonostsev. As you can see from his political briefs, he felt that reforms were antithetical to the development of Russia. He distrusted education and felt that the less the better. Social programs were wasteful because the individual was insignificant except to serve the purpose of the state which was divinely granted the Czar. Further, once people become aware, through education, of a way, Constantine feared that they would contribute to societal conflict. Culture and art, not to mention welfare programs have little or no value to the Czar. According to the supporters of this policy, that would lead to less order not more.

I found Pobedonostsev interesting for many reasons. Perhaps most of all, he understood and attempted to implement programs, with an accompanying ideology, that would most likely keep the Czar in power. The less the people know, the better.

As I am often tempted to do, I recognize parallels between this ideology and those that run in conservative circles today. The debt, the war, the fear mongering all allow GWB to cut social programs. However, as most realize, that does not decrease spending. GWB is spending more than ever on the military, or should I say, the administration gives money once used for social programs to his friends in defense firms whether we need their products or not. That in turn, allows power and money to be consolidated in fewer individuals. I find it particularly worrisome to realize that the same ideology employed 150 years ago to keep power, are used today to acquire more of it.

The losers in this game are the same as those in the past: the people, the individual, and the institution of democracy.

In our day, a mechanism exists to regain some semblance of democracy in this country. That mechanism is participation--active participation in the political process.