By Yuri Makarov, The Ukrainian Week magazine

Source: http://tyzhden.ua/Politics/96551

Provocateurs brought the well-known bulldozer to the walls of the President’s Administration not for nothing; since bulldozer is the only tool of solving problems that they understand – a symbol and archetype. You say, scraper? Bulldozer, all the same.

Photo by Tyzhden.ua

Yanukovych is pushing his nation like a bulldozer. Attempted clean-ups against Maidan on the Wednesday night, when the whole world watched the events online, when the EU High Representative had come to settle the confrontation, was just another evidence of his brain condition.

Over the last weeks, armchair conspiracists have been designing marvellous versions: mass uprising was a result of the conspiracy of ‘gas magnate’ against the ‘Family’, or the conspiracy of oligarchs, or some another conspiracy, ‘whoever was to profit from it’. These were the efforts of human mind to give a rational explanation of the behaviour which is not governed by any reasonable rules, only by instincts: to bend, to push aside, to oppress, to seize. One shouldn’t ask why the Mezhygirya boor always chooses the worst decision: beating students on November, 30 stirred up the protests which could have subsided otherwise. Thanks to the clean-up on the Bankova Street, when the violent young men had already hidden in the building of the President’s Administration, the protests gained a second wind. Arrests, pressure on the activists, raid at the opposition party’s headquarters, police attacking the editorial offices of independent mass media inflame and infuriate the society. So far, all decent conscientious Ukrainians have united in their dislike to Putin; now Yanukovych replaced him. According to different calculations, from 75% to 85% of Ukrainian population support the participants of the protest actions in their demands.

THE PRESIDENT SEEKS AN OCCASION TO SHOW HIS POWER EVERYDAY, NOT IN THE SAME OPENLY BRUTAL WAY BUT THOUGHTLESSLY JUST THE SAME

Any clever ruler would find a way to calm the passions in the face of political and, especially, economic crisis, within an inch of default. If not to take some traditional steps that would have quieted down Maidan (to release several detained men, to dismiss the most odious officials, to drown the crisis in negotiations), then, at least, not to escalate the situation but to wait until frost and fatigue will do their work. The informed sources assure that there were no secret attempts of drawing a part of the opposition to his side, no attractive offers, no ‘sweets’. Instead, the President seeks an occasion to show his power every day, not in the same openly brutal way but thoughtlessly just the same. Seeing how his actions are disguised by propaganda, all of us simply make helpless gestures: ‘New-Year tree’, skating-rink, public order – are these the arguments?

The main tendency shaped in the course of the last week is a transfer from embarrassment to blunt attack. Panic lasted for a long time, as if our Head had hidden himself from the problems – now at hunting, now in China, now in the company of his bosom friend in Sochi. The ranks of the ruling deputies seemed to waver; the officials destroyed unnecessary documents and formatted hard drives on their computers. Chief Manager of one Austrian air company which specializes in charter flights argues that at the end of November the amount of requests for flight from Kyiv to the West reached a record, having significantly exceeded the peak on Christmas holidays in the last years: the Establishment sent their families as far as possible from the people’s wrath. AT last, they recovered their wits, drew up bums and special divisions, began dispersing pickets and narrowing the ring of siege of Euromaidan. The disgraceful round table of Yanukovych and ‘colleagues’ was expected to become a demonstration of power but showed only lack of the least ideas, except one: no step backwards.

Apart from other vices of the regime (arrogance, greed, neglecting national interests for the benefit of one’s own purse and comfort), the current events showed one more defect – intellectual incapability, inability to response to the problems in real time. According to one well-known deputy, whose nerves failed after 29/11, a high official had assured her ‘in five minutes’ before the crisis that everything was under control, people would not revolt, as their reliable analysts had said so. Naturally, if to focus on the political consultants imported from the East, who can hardly comprehend Ukrainian mentality, one might believe for some time that people support their sovereign and the rebelling streets are filled with the same hired people, simply with other flags. When the scene from the window convinces them to the contrary, it’s time to make decisions; but there are no decisions.

Mass uprising has exposed the defects of the state system, which Yanukovych has been building for a long time. Its key features are narrowness and incompetence. The personal worldview of our guarantor does not contain the complexity of the country that fell under his power on evil occasion. Virtually, he did not walk far away from a medieval baron who spends time at ball, hunting and collecting tribute. Close persons confirm that ‘daddy’ doesn’t overwork. At the same time, every one attests to his fantastically developed possessive instinct of a man who is used to taking and doesn’t sincerely understand why he has to give back. Unfortunately, the part of population cultivated in Soviet practices and used to submission and following bosses provides exactly such a type of leader the unlimited personal resources.

Selection and placing of executors in line with the principle of personal commitment resulted in the situation when the state mechanism refuses from functioning adequately. Finances are in terrible condition, indeed, tax base gets narrow, export decreases, goods turnover is reduced, and economics stagnates. Plus (or rather minus) the international status hanging between two worlds. Plus (minus) social tension. However, the pyramid of power is built in such a way that signals from the top are transmitted with interferences to the bottom; and there are signals from the bottom to the top, at all. When the subordinates are afraid to convey bad news to the ruler and tell only what he wants to hear (this is exactly how the guarantor’s surroundings operate), the system lose its meaning in information terms. Still, the main task is accumulation, and this system is suitable for usage. In crisis moments it produces only violence and chaos.

At present, there are almost no doubts that Viktor Fedorovych personally didn’t give an order to smash the heads of the protesters. Apparently, he just blurted out that one had to take care of the situation and added a few strong expressions to reinforce his words, out of habit; and then the rifle on the wall fired itself. As of the evening of the last Monday, that is, before military actions, commanding officers of the special police divisions and interior troops concentrated in Novi Petrivtsi and Vasylkiv didn’t have the faintest idea of the task that they would have to perform. The rifle was taken off the wall. Hungry, tired, confused, restless “Berkut” fighters will and do vent their anger on every one who gets under their batons. Though, even if they had managed to disperse EuroMaidan completely, it wouldn’t solve any problems of the regime but multiple them, on the contrary.

The chief thing demonstrated by the acting leader of the nation over the last days: he doesn’t care about any positions of any other countries (with the exception of Russia, which he tries to impress as a powerful landlord), nor about interests of long-term sponsors, oligarchs, who are ready to make a compromise with people, judging on their behaviour, nor about the opinion of his own people. To reckon with the circumstances means for him to retreat, to lose positions, to give back, what contradicts his nature. Tendency of sharpening the conflict is the result not of a personal Yanukovych’s bloodthirstiness but of his system helplessness. The only thing that the state machine produces perfectly is fear. For the society imbued with existential fear it is quite a strong motivation. Hence, rude pressure, obedience of ‘wheels’ (judges, prosecutors), appeal to the darkest lumpen instincts. Nevertheless, contemporary Ukraine is more complex and modern, what has been convincingly proved by Euromaidan.

Viktor Yanukovych fell the victim of his own narrow-mindedness not only himself, but also made all people of Ukraine its hostages. It is obvious now that, notwithstanding the remnants of democratic entourage, the President of the Republic of Ukraine, virtually, became a dictator, and a dictator of the oldest, antediluvian model. They are not produced in our days. Lukashenko, Turkmenbashi, Saddam, Mobutu, Ceaușescu, Gaddafi… Welcome to the club of dinosaurs. Most of them died out, though.

Source: http://tyzhden.ua/Politics/96551