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Page 8 of 9 Who writes this stuff? We will not speak about the fascists — with them everything is clear. But, alas, the range of haters is much broader. The majority is anonymous, but I will try to figure them out and share with you my guesses and imaginings. It is obvious that most of them are young, and certainly not lumpen proletariats. They are certainly literate, and not factory workers or peasants. And not all that often are they police officers, prosecutors, or FSB.
So then, who are they? First let me tell you a short, sad story. To Moscow from America came a Russian writer who was a political prisoner during Stalin’s time. He was so famous that even today’s youth have heard of him. He spoke to students at the Moscow Management Institute, which trains economists and managers. (I have changed the name of the institution.) The guest was introduced by a guest well-known publicist and politician from the 60s generation.
The students listened to him, and then they listened to the guest. That is all.
No one asked a single question.
They were not interested in them. They had before them, and in their dreams, a completely different life and a different path, and different plans and thoughts.
So, I think that many of the authors of the commentary on that web site are from this generation, the young and the successful, only now about 10 to 15 years older. Their lives did not begin in elite institutions, but they did not begin from scratch. Having mastered their necessary specialties, they settled in with a firm, built a career, and got big money. Not big when compared to the capitalists, the owners, but when compared to ordinary Russians. They are able to freely travel abroad, when their hearts desire. They are able to change cars every three years, and buy apartments and villas and whatever else these young people of 30 to 40 may wish for. Their childhoods were in the Soviet years, while their adolescence and youth was during the nightmare of Gaidar’s reforms, which was like shock therapy. They still can recall their young memories of the confusion and despair in the eyes of their parents… But now they are making up for everything!
Their attitude toward the political and oligarchic power in Russia is best expressed in their own words: “Those commies didn’t allow anybody anything, but these guys have it for themselves and allow it for others.”
And so, to the most aggressive of that generation, Anna Politkovskaya is the enemy. She criticized the government that makes them prosperous. Consciously, unconsciously, directly or indirectly, but this is effectively so. And an ideological cover is always added, and looks just as sincere as any other ideological cover.
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