my starting
point while setting out five priorities for
technological development, offering specific
measures for the modernisation of the political
system, as well as measures to strengthen the
judiciary and fight corruption, is my views on
russia抯 future. and for the sake of our future it
is necessary to liberate our country from persistent
social ills that inhibit its creative energy and
restrict our common progress. these ills include:
1. centuries of economic backwardness and the habit
of relying on the export of raw materials, actually
exchanging them for finished products. peter the
great, the last tsars and the bolsheviks all created
?and not unsuccessfully -- elements of an
innovative system. but the price of their successes
was too high. as a rule, it was done by making
extreme efforts, by using all the levers of a
totalitarian state machine.
2. centuries of corruption have debilitated russia
from time immemorial. until today this corrosion has
been due to the excessive government presence in
many significant aspects of economic and other
social activities. but it is not limited to
governmental excess -- business is also not without
fault. many entrepreneurs are not worried about
finding talented inventors, introducing unique
technologies, creating and marketing new products,
but rather with bribing officials for the sake of
慶ontrolling the flows?of property redistribution.
3. paternalistic attitudes are widespread in our
society, such as the conviction that all problems
should be resolved by the government. or by someone
else, but never by the person who is actually there.
the desire to make a career from scratch, to achieve
personal success step by step is not one of our
national habits. this is reflected in a lack of
initiative, lack of new ideas, outstanding
unresolved issues, the poor quality of public
debate, including criticism. public acceptance and
support is usually expressed in silence. objections
are very often emotional, scathing, but superficial
and irresponsible. well, this is not the first
century that russia has had to confront these
phenomena.
people tell us that we cannot completely cure
chronic social diseases. those traditions are
steadfast, and history tends to repeat itself. but
at one point serfdom and rampant illiteracy seemed
insurmountable. however, we overcame them all the
same.
of course traditions have a considerable influence.
but they nevertheless fit in with each new era and
undergo changes. some simply disappear, and not all
of them are useful. for me, only unquestionable
values which must be preserved may be regarded as
traditions. they include interethnic and interfaith
peace, military valour, faithfulness to one抯 duty,
hospitality and the kindness inherent in our people.
bribery, theft, intellectual and spiritual laziness,
and drunkenness, on the other hand, are vices that
offend our traditions. we should get rid of them by
using the strongest terms.
of course today抯 russia will not repeat its past.
our time is truly new. and not just because it is
moving forward, as time does, but also because it
opens up before our country and each one of us
tremendous opportunities. opportunities of which
there was no trace twenty, thirty, or much less a
hundred or three hundred years ago.
the impressive legacy of the two greatest
modernisations in our country抯 history ?that of
peter the great (imperial) and the soviet one --
unleashed ruin, humiliation and resulted in the
deaths of millions of our countrymen. it is not for
us to judge our predecessors. but we must recognize
that the preservation of human life was not,
euphemistically speaking, a government priority in
those years. unfortunately, this is a fact. today is
the first time in our history that we have a chance
to prove to ourselves and the world that russia can
develop in a democratic way. that a transition to
the next, higher stage of civilization is possible.
and this will be accomplished through non-violent
methods. not by coercion, but by persuasion. not
through suppression, but rather the development of
the creative potential of every individual. not
through intimidation, but through interest. not
through confrontation, but by harmonising the
interests of the individual, society and government.
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