Ethnic segregation In Latvia

At one time - pro forma sake! - it was necessary to me to visit in Riga at employment at the expert removing a psychological barrier in dialogue in the Latvian language. Classes lasted three days for three hours, were held in Russian and consisted of the monologue of the specialist himself, broadcasting about everything little by little. I was amazed by several phrases that sounded persistently and constantly. One of them, referring to successful people in financial or career terms, has already become ordinary: "He rose" (Not is risen). By the way, to this kind of phrases adjoins and no less repugnant, in my opinion, the euphemism "this is your problem" (That's your problem), meaning in essence "it does not concern me" and hiding complete indifference to the person. It's funny that all these "mantras" are taken, as a rule, from American films. But in contrast to Americanism, the next impromptu was also heard in class. He referred to the authorities, which were said this way: "They do not have to explain anything." It was implied that the authorities had no obligation to explain the authorities to the electorate about the decisions they were making. Except, as I understand it, pre-election promises, which are not taken into account. Further explanations were given regarding the Indian caste system, which was presented as an example of the stratification of society. Direct analogy with Latvia was not carried out, but the unpleasant residue remained.

Bolivar can not stand two

I was always interested in how ethnically local the power elite really is. After all, linguistic segregation is only one of the components (as they now like to say!) In the way of the division of society. In fact, young and middle-aged people can learn the language and have already learned. So what's the deal? Why are obstacles to access to power for the second largest community in Latvia still exist? They refer to language, then to occupation, then to loyalty to the state, then to the "core" of the Constitution, which can not be changed, or even - oh, horror! - to the Kremlin. In the end, it seems that the cause can always be found, although the imagination is already running out, but the main thing is not to let anything go.

But the first ethnic segregation, though implicit, began already in the early 1990s with the de-industrialization of the Latvian economy. In the industrial sector, mainly "Russian speakers" worked. There were also a lot of Latvians, but there were more Russians, because the business documentation was in Russian. Now it is perceived as russification, forgetting that Russian served as the language of interethnic communication. And there was nothing strange about this for a multinational country like the USSR.

An example for comparison. In the period of independence, one of the local firms with which I cooperated received a letter from Georgia in Georgian. Employees of the company for a long time turned it, wondering where to find an interpreter, and then took and answered in Latvian. What they wrote there, I do not know. I think that nothing good. But things from this are unlikely to be better. More Georgians did not write.

So, the beginning of de-industrialization was perceived by someone as a time of unlimited opportunities, someone "got up", some hopelessly descended, someone for the time being was still trying to stay afloat.

Before perestroika, I worked as an interpreter at the WEF and I remember the construction of a new food factory. We translated documents and patents for him. True, they went there to dine quite rarely, since our corps was far away and we did not have time to return during the lunch break. But I remember that it was wonderful there. I especially liked it, because there were almost always the olives I loved.

I must say that the organization of the food system at the plant was different from everything I saw, since I, as an interpreter, had to visit other enterprises. Women working at the WEF could purchase products, practically without leaving the territory of the plant. Running after the shops was not necessary. Of course, on the territory there were very old shops, and so-called "harmful production", but the reconstruction carried out by Oleg Konstantinovich Lenyov, the director of the association, was more than successful.

Then, in the 90s, the plant was destroyed. I already did not work there, but my colleagues told me that the railing from the staircases with the "meat" was torn off and taken to the dachas. Verily, the time of unlimited possibilities has come. Dismissed workers and specialists rushed to where. Other successful enterprises suffered the same fate. Thus, a layer of industrial workers and scientific and technical intelligentsia was cut off. The first Social Darwinist selection took place. On those who can rip off the railing and those who can not. On nationality, then, they did not speak so loudly.

When complaining that in Latvia the passive population, not fighting for their rights, I think: who can really get together and demand anything? What are the levers of pressure on power? There is no proletariat. Drivers from Rigas satiksme (city transport) receive very decent salaries, why should they strike? The doctors demand that they be paid "in a European way". The revelations of one of the doctors to whom I went, I was only convinced of this. Teachers will soon have no one to teach, they are no longer up to strikes. And strikes we have some kind of puppet. If, for example, the SNCF (railway) strikes in France, the entire industry of the country stops. And we have no industry. Merchants and merchants, by their nature, can not strike their own. Trade unions serve mainly state officials. I know this firsthand. Pensioners quietly try to survive. The atomized population gives loans, pays for the education of children, barely pulls on themselves bills for the apartment and utilities. There remains discontented youth. But she once "pobastovala", smashing shops with alcohol in the Old Riga (I think this was someone arranged a provocation), and now, as a rule, makes legs. Leaves abroad. So to whom to strike?

During the de-industrialization of the 1990s, a layer of society was cut off, potentially capable of resisting the authorities and limiting it to their own.

Then came the institution of non-citizens. This was already an obvious ethnic segregation. Though in aliens have got also Latvians. But, as they say, the wood is cut, the chips fly. "Negroes" (non-citizens) and knowledge of the language did not help. It was necessary to recognize the "correct" history of Latvia, sing or, as I sometimes joke, "dance" the anthem, then the Citizenship and Immigration Department could still think and decide.

Did this state need the naturalization of non-citizens? I do not think so. Of course, there was a problem, but the main thing is that a significant part of the population found themselves in the legislative order deprived of any opportunity to influence the authorities. However, we must admit that many did not want to take citizenship. For different reasons. The reasons for these are more or less known. In a word, there were alien'y. And the circle of the "elect" narrowed again. Bolivar galloped on.

About the sacred cow

The killing of a cow in India was equated with the killing of a brahmana, a member of the highest Indian caste. About our sacred cow [Latvian], which is esoteric - not written down, but implied! - "the core of the Constitution," can not only tell the Laws of Manu, but also Russian folk tales. Remember, there is an island on the sea on the ocean, an oak stands on that island, an oak is buried under an oak tree, a hare in the trunk, a duck in the hare, an egg in the duck, ... "the core of the Constitution" in the egg.

Our "brahmanas" quickly realized that ethnocratic liberalism is very convenient. For Europe, we are liberals, why not support us, that is, not to give money. But inside the country we defend our language, we are small, we are few, we have to protect, we can only live here, so there will not be enough money for everyone. And we want to live with dignity, and not as in the "accursed" past, where, incidentally, for the most part, "brahmanchiki" and hatched, having received free education and at the right time having the right party positions. Selectivity taxis. The population is catastrophically decreasing.

As for the Russians ... First, the educated and thinking Russians still exist, not all of them left, and this is always dangerous. Secondly, they too feel themselves with impunity. Those who came, long ago or recently, can still and can be "shamed", but the fact that the Russians - the native population of Latvia, the powers that be refuse to admit flatly. In one institution, the official for a long time persuaded me: "Well, what are you Russian!". Russians are the Petrovs, Ivanovs and Sidorovs. Who then Gorbunovs, Loskutovs and others like them, I do not know. Oh yes, Latgalians! But it's almost Latvians! In a word, either a Latvian, or ... a shisha. Not for that, we are non-citizens invented to produce additional non-Latvians.

I know many local Russians who obtained citizenship automatically, who at one time wrote the nationality "Russian" in their passports in order not to pass the exam in the Latvian language. I myself did so in a certain period. Oh, this is another weighty argument in favor of nationalists. Are you so dumb that you can not learn a language? We always said that the Russians are not capable of anything, they do not know how to manage their country, and they interfere with us. You see, then one referendum, then the second one on the nose ... Money is only spent on all sorts of trivia, and the people of Latvia are against. The people of Latvia want to live with dignity and speak Latvian. Who does not agree and makes claims of the authorities, he is not a people, but marginals who do not understand either their own or the state's welfare. Who is not with us is against us.

Well, even if you're with us, we'll see how you behave yourself. For we, brahmanas, climbed here first. The seats are all busy, gentlemen, you'll have to stand in line for a while, holding a pot of loyalty in your outstretched hands and carefully observing the hierarchy: first the western Latvian, then the local, then all the rest, but the last place is fixed unconditionally and until the end of the century for the descendants of Krivich.

Indeed, four castes. With the advent of immigrants, there will be a fifth - untouchables. Do you think these will be immigrants? No matter how it is!

And all this thanks to the sacred cow, personifying abundance, purity and holiness. For ours and in the person of our "brahmanas".

Live with dignity, without working

Where in Latvia it is possible to receive a good salary, especially not soaring? No, I do not want to say that there is absolutely nothing to do there, work is work. Thinking work has always been underestimated by the plebeians, work for the public too, but there the material reward is painfully good. Here in Saem (I just can not understand why the Russian word "diet" provokes rejection?), And I'm talking about it, the two sit side by side and think. One thinks about dinner, the other about law. One - about his mistress, the other - about football. Thinking work therefore causes suspicions that it is impossible to verify anything. How much you worked there is unclear. Understood in the law or not, it's hard to say. Laws are different. Put me there, I would be confused. But no, many are not lost and, I would even say, very satisfied. So pleased that I do not want to leave. They say that they have been sitting for so long that they have gained experience. Something, yes. Shuffles, portfolios, slogans, appeals ... Backstage fuss at the third-rate theater. The role of Juliet at once three pretenders: one eye is beautiful, another has a figure, and the third text knows by heart. But everyone wants. Tragedy? So what? We have a good director, we will make a happy ending. The public will believe. And who is now remembering this Juliet? What we show, then eat. And whoever does not agree with our interpretation, we will quickly erase false memories. How? - Yes, nothing is easier. We'll take something away, we'll not let it go anywhere, we'll stifle taxes and checks, we'll drag us through the courts, we'll fire them, and if there are not enough ways to infect the infarction! We want to live not only with dignity, but also peacefully. Do not interfere. And then our thoughts are confused.

Thoughts are really confused. And not only those who speak, but also those who speak listen. "The economic crisis in Latvia developed according to the scenario of the V-shaped crisis - the sharp decline was followed by a rapid recovery, and this is the best way to overcome it," said Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis. I do not even want to look at the Latvian text. I'm afraid that the charm will be gone. Clearly, the crisis has been overcome and investors' confidence has been restored. If you want to cry with happiness, take your time. Personally, to you, investor confidence has nothing to do. Because there are those who are supposed to live in dignity according to their rank. And to work, this is how it will turn out.

Another example from life. I translated somehow the legal text from Latvian into French. The Frenchman had to pay three lats and some santims for providing additional information. The letter was written on three or four pages in fractional letters. Officials copy-paste in this letter almost all the legislation vbuhat, especially not caring whether it is appropriate here some articles of the Civil Code or not. The shocked Frenchman had to ask me what he had done. I had to calm down. Here is one example of the "conscientious" work of the state apparatus. Mental copy-paste in action or "share everything I can." The principle of work: the more serious the dossier, the more reliable the impact on the topic.

Therefore, when I hear the words about what kind of competent parliament and government we have, I immediately remember the unforgettable Latvian: "Iekšā ir, bet ārā nenāk" (There is something inside, but you can not see from the outside!).

Of course, all of them are ordinary people, nice, kind or unpleasant and evil, with their problems and tragedies, clever or stupid, but when they are together and when they consider themselves elite (and they think so, there's no doubt about it, just look To the expression of their faces, then the Queen of England will also seem to be a native aunt!), Then the caste will work: "They become nonsense, complacent, arrogant, intolerant. In the heat of political disputes, they do not find it possible to hide their contempt for those who stubbornly refuse to enlighten - to those who "do not get it" in the smug jargon of political infallibility. At the same time, presumptuous and insecure, new elites, especially the class of specialists, look at the masses with a mixture of disdain and fear. "[Lash K. Uprising the elites and betraying democracy]

Masses often respond to them. At us in Latvia they do it still on kitchens. Sometimes, however, the strikers - mostly it concerns people of creative professions! - give free concerts in front of the building where the Cabinet is hiding. Ministers silently listen to choral singing, seeing that they hear the voice of the people, and cry quietly. After the concert, everyone is divorced enlightened.

Latvia joined the host of the celestials

So, we have such "brahmanas" as we have.

The title of this section of the article is not my invention. I happened to see a translation from Latvian into Russian, where it was, of course, spoken about modern Latvia. On this phrase, I just choked. I do not know if this is an interpreter's license or so it was really written, but it was all the same in meaning. Having regained its independence, Latvia, it is worthless to sneem, in this host has entered and descend from Olympus, none of its inhabitants are already going to. In any case, the place under the sun is won. It remains to keep him.

And then the new implicit segregation will not interfere. It is about limiting access to education. Perspectives in this area were outlined by the Russian historian, sociologist and publicist Andrei Fursov. In his opinion, the situation will develop almost everywhere as follows:

- education will become a caste-hierarchical with a sharp restriction of access, first with the help of a market that supposedly expands educational opportunities, then socially secured;

- mass education will be fundamentally bad, unsystematic, patchwork-mosaic;

- the real science, first of all theory and forecasting, will turn into a caste occupation of a part of the tops; "Beneath" will be innocuous empirical studies with an irrational shade and folk-science, especially it will touch upon the historical science that is currently experiencing a crisis in the West and in the East;

- the stupefying entertaining in the non-stop mode will be proposed to the masses (actually already offered!), Turning people into a crowd of morons who are unable to live without guide-shepherds;

- politics will finally die, its place will be occupied by show business; The twisted puppets of show business to real power and to the real layer of the owners have nothing to do; The ruling layer, as in the novel by St. Lema "Eden," can generally turn into demigods, invisible, who live in an isolated forbidden space and thanks to technical achievements are invisible to the masses, and therefore instill even greater fear.

What you do not celestials? Of course, we can see our Latvian politicians "live", I think, for quite some time, but who can guarantee that this will always be so.

So, we will summarize:

(1) the destruction of industry, which ensured the destruction of the proletariat and the scientific and technical intelligentsia as layers of society capable of opposing and limiting the power in their organizational qualities and intellectual potential;

(2) the creation of an institution of non-citizens, which allowed legally to deprive a significant part of the population of the opportunity to influence the power;

(3) language discrimination (along with a "correct" understanding of history, recognition of occupation and the notorious "core of the Constitution"), pursuing the selection of reliable and proven personnel, as rotation and renewal of the administrative apparatus are necessary, and the relative democratization of society does not allow to securely protect power structures from Penetration into them of alien elements;

(4) restricting access to higher education for "Russian speakers" (dropping out due to language policies that lead to a decline in the level of education) and for the poorer layers of the population (through market mechanisms), then securing the social function behind every single layer of society.

It turns out that the specialist psychologist was not so far from the truth.

The above is just the tools to achieve the goal. Our "brahmanas" are concerned about the future. About his, of course. Here and this time, should be with someone's clues, remembered the varnovo-caste social hierarchy. However, psychologically, it suits them best. Arias still. The only trouble is that all the eastern "zamorochki" in the Western world easily come close to Nazism. Followers of Blavatsky influenced the Fuhrer. The theoretical concepts of Mircea Eliade, one of the most interesting researchers of mythology, in whose soul India left an indelible mark, somehow merged with the views of the Nazis. It is only fair to note that the philosophy of Eliade is immeasurably deeper and more penetrating than the study of Hitler's "culturologists," and the similarity between them is more formal. But there is feedback. I recently read that Hitler is revered in India and Pakistan, and in Bollywood film will be shot, where they will tell about the Fiihrer's love for India.

And yet, the ethnocracy of the elite is a sweet game. Not for nothing, she so easily reconciles with the dominance of English, many of her representatives seek to work abroad, marry their daughters for foreigners and settle in the West. Real internationalists! So Robert Kilis, the Minister of Education, said about the following: "Russian - for earnings, English - for the mind." If you translate into a more understandable language: money should be taken from Russians (students from Russia!), And learn in English.

So the translation of the Russian schools into the Latvian language offered by the nationalists will not only reduce the level of knowledge that has already occurred, but will also affect the overall development of schoolchildren, depriving them of the opportunity to adequately perceive lectures in universities in the same English. If, of course, this practice is introduced! After all, to understand the lectures, in addition to knowledge of the language, you also need knowledge of other subjects. The general outlook, so to speak.

And finally this is reductio ad absurdum: it seems to me that in the near future the native speakers of the Russian language will be former graduates of Russian schools who have remained in Latvia and completed one hundred percent education in the state language, as well as their descendants. Well, if they will be destined for the fate of the servants. But they will "save" the disappearing Latvian language!

Well, we still have time to settle and try to change our own destiny. Therefore I want to ask: which caste suits you personally, dear non-citizens and fellow citizens? It's time to think about it, until our "brahmanas" finally determined a niche for all residents of Latvia and did not bring us somewhere to go there. After all, everything that they do not, definitely leads to the "history of Great Success" of our country.

Hare Krishna, dear non-citizens and fellow citizens! Hare Rama!