National policy of social democrats

In the relevant articles, we have already analyzed why racism, Nazism, patriotism, nationalism, and fascism are harmful to social development. We also explained the problems to which the policies of internationalism and multiculturalism lead. The majority of the arguments on which the subsequent text is based are set forth there, so it is absolutely essential to familiarize oneself with those articles before reading. The present article is precisely intended to outline a possible program for solving the problems identified in them, which can be viewed as a more modern development of the ideas of Eugène Lanti expressed by him in the “Manifesto of the Anationals”¹. For now, the article represents merely a draft rather than the final version of the social democrats’ program on the national question, and therefore it will be altered and supplemented.

Main requirements

The best racial/national policy, in our view, is a gradual abandonment of racial/national policy. Making distinctions between races and nations can be useful only in a narrow scientific sense, whereas in a political and legal sense it is harmful, as we have already mentioned. Removing races and nationalities from the political field can be achieved, in our opinion, through the gradual and phased implementation of a complex of the following measures:

1. Ensure equal rights in practice for all citizens of the country regardless of their race and nationality;
2. Exclude the recognition of any national and ethnic sovereignties within the country;
3. Review the territorial division of the subjects of the future Republic, excluding any national basis from it;
4. Exclude the task of forming national and ethnic identity from cultural and educational state policy;
5. Pursue a policy of regionalism, that is, a process of redistributing power competencies, transferring functions from the national to the regional level;
6. Exclude nationalist and racist statements and theses from the propaganda machine controlled by the state. Eliminate unnecessary mentions of nationalities as much as possible – for example, do not take them into account during the population census;
7. Stop funding any patriotic public initiatives, as well as those that can be identified as racist and nationalist;
8. Establish requirements and conditions of cultural integration for migrants. Try to reduce the arrival of migrants who share a conservative ideology (religion, nationalism, and so on). A “melting pot” policy must be consistently pursued in relation to migrants;
9. Conduct a DNA test of ethnic origin for every citizen at the state’s expense. This way, everyone can see for themselves that there are no pure races and nationalities;
10. Fight racism, nationalism, and patriotism using measures similar to the denazification measures in post-war Germany. This should take place within the framework of the general process of de-conservatization;
11. Promote progressive values, forming the self-awareness of citizens not as representatives of a particular nation, but as representatives of a particular profession or belief system;
12. Facilitate integration processes (in the case of Russia, this means European integration);
13. Facilitate the processes of global linguistic unification.

Other measures, such as the lustration of the nomenclature and a complex of measures for a general rise in the standard of living, are intended to indirectly contribute to the anational policy of the social democrats.

Implementation

How might the results of these measures look in practice? It will be a Republic divided into regions (states) formed not on a national principle, but on the basis of economic regionalization. In the case of Russia, it must become part of the European Union and play one of the leading roles in it, while social democrats of other continents must stimulate the creation and development of continental unions between countries in their own regions.

Racists and nationalists, of course, will put up fierce resistance to both the revision of territorial division and European integration. After all, the former threatens the loss of political influence (and as a consequence – a source of income) for the local national nomenclature, while the latter threatens a total ideological defeat for conservatives as a whole – the loss of the “special Russian path” (which has already led the country to the edge of the abyss), nationalism, religious obscurantism, the practices of the oprichnina, and so forth. However, the interests of the nomenclature (including the FSB and the military) will have to be sacrificed in the interests of the majority of citizens.

Therefore, initially, a lustration of the nomenclature should be carried out. This must be done prior to the revision of territorial division and most of the other measures.

Linguistic unification

Social democrats consider a swift transition to a single world language to be impossible; therefore, the process of linguistic unification can only be gradual and is capable of stretching over many years.

Which language is the most preferable for transition in the future? Today, the choice lies primarily between English and Esperanto. Both have their advantages, but English possesses the two most significant ones: first, it currently holds the status of a universal international language³, and it is spoken by over one and a half billion people in the world⁴. A person with knowledge of English will be able to find their way in many parts of the world. Second, a vast amount of useful articles, research, literature, educational materials, and so forth has been created in English.

Consequently, for the transition, it is necessary to raise the level of English proficiency in the country and increase its importance – this will make it easier for the masses of specialists to familiarize themselves with English-language literature (perhaps the most valuable in terms of summarizing scientific experience) and, accordingly, increase their efficiency and the efficiency of the country’s economy as a whole. “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”, citing HeadHunter, reports that specialists with knowledge of English are valued higher in the labor market and, when applying for a job in 2016, could receive a salary bonus ranging from 3 to 20 thousand rubles⁵. Correspondingly, they gain value in the international labor market as well. It is beneficial for conservatives to hinder citizens from learning foreign languages so that they cannot leave for another country and escape from conservative slavery, whereas social democrats care first and foremost about the standard of living of their citizens; therefore, our task is to raise the level of knowledge of foreign languages, primarily English. This is to say nothing of the fact that we will increase the convenience of foreign travel for our citizens and the opportunity to experience many cultural works in the original⁶.

At the same time, we can also turn our attention to Esperanto – a language developed by Dr. Ludwik Zamenhof specifically to create the simplest possible language that can be learned in the shortest possible time⁷. Jan Baudouin de Courtenay mastered Esperanto in 20-25 hours, and after just some ten hours, he could read and understand it quite fluently⁸. Doctor of Philosophical Sciences Arnold Zofnas testifies that it is much easier to learn than, for instance, English⁹. According to the online publication “Bumaga”, “regular word formation, accessible pronunciation, the absence of grammatical meaning in intonation — all this allows one to learn it several times faster than practically any national language, even a simple one”¹⁰. Leo Tolstoy wrote about this language:

The ease of acquiring it is such that, when I received an Esperanto grammar, dictionary, and articles written in this language about six years ago, I was able, after not more than two hours of study, if not to write, at least to read the language freely.

In any case, the sacrifices which every man of our European world would make by devoting a short time to the study of this language are so insignificant, and the consequences which may result from the adoption of it by all — if only by Europeans and Americans — by all Christians — are so immense, that one cannot but make this attempt¹¹.

In addition to the universally recognized simplicity of learning Esperanto, we also have the fact that a second foreign language (especially with the similarity of general rules) is learned much more easily than the first, which is confirmed by many linguists¹². The well-known polyglot and author of books on linguistics Benny Lewis believes that it is the very first language that is the most difficult to learn, it becomes the hardest, and all subsequent languages will be much easier to learn¹³. For this reason, Lewis suggests spending two weeks learning Esperanto in order to get months ahead in the study of the language you need.

This allows social democrats to introduce one grade of Esperanto study into the school curriculum prior to studying English, in the event that experimental verification of this hypothesis is confirmed. In this way, the efficiency of study will increase simultaneously, and citizens will acquire a knowledge of Esperanto. By applying various measures to popularize these two languages – ensuring the universal availability of mass media in these languages, television programs with courses for their study – we will create a base for the transition in the future (in 5-10 years) first of state administration to English or Esperanto (as well as the defense of theses and dissertations), and later of the entire education system. One way to improve the level of English, including among the elderly population, could be the active use of English subtitles, especially during screenings of foreign cinema industry products. On the whole, the development of a program for such a transition, so that it turns out to be the most smooth and painless, should be entrusted to professional specialists.

Territorial division into regions

The revision of territorial division raises two questions – on what principle the new borders should be drawn and the question of the status of languages. The question of borders should be resolved on the basis of economic regionalization – this is expedient from the point of view of economic development planning. After 1917, regionalization was carried out for the purpose of implementing the plan for the electrification of the economy (GOELRO), and in the 1960s–1990s, the designated regions were the basis for economic planning and management¹⁴. According to Vasily Semyonov, Candidate of Geographical Sciences, one of the goals of economic regionalization is the improvement of territorial management¹⁵. This is precisely one of the reasons for revising the territorial division from the social democrats’ point of view. The definition of an economic region from the Finam financial dictionary:

Economic region is a territorially and economically integrated part of the national economy of a country (region), characterized by:

• unique natural and economic conditions;
• an historically established or purposefully created specialization of the economy based on the geographical division of labor;
• the presence of stable and intensive intra-regional economic ties.

According to J. Friedmann, a distinction is made between: core regions, upward-transitioning regions, frontier regions of new development, and downward-transitioning (depressed) regions¹⁶.

According to the definition of the Great Encyclopedic Dictionary, economic regionalization is the “identification of a system of co-subordinated economic regions of a country or a large region, objectively reflecting the established territorial division of labor. The main goal of economic regionalization is to create optimal conditions for the implementation of regional socio-economic policy (including territorial forecasting and planning)”¹⁷. Thus, the new territorial policy of the social democrats (which includes division into regions — states or territories — created on the basis of economic regions) will not only meet the requirements of the fight against racism and nationalism, but will also contribute to solving economic tasks.

However, modern models of economic regions, including those outlined in the all-Russian classifier of economic regions¹⁸, must be revised in order to ensure the speediest reduction in the development gap between regions and the subsequent stabilization of the gap at minimal values. This must already be the task of a commission of leading specialists in geography, economics, and so forth.

As for the question of the status of languages, we, as mentioned above, cannot withdraw the languages of national minorities from circulation, nor is it necessary – they will simply have a slightly different territorial attachment, which will apply to specific settlements rather than to republics (until the completion of the processes of linguistic unification).

The article was written in cooperation with Tom Schmidt.

1. Eŭgeno Lanti. Manifesto de la sennaciistoj kaj dokumentoj pri sennaciismo // SAT (Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda) (www.satesperanto.org). [Electronic resource]. URL: http://www.satesperanto.org/frakcioj/sen_ms.html (accessed: 11.04.2020).
2. The selection of recipients of state support in the field of periodical press in 2018 has concluded // Rospechat – official website (www.fapmc.ru). July 20, 2018, 11:45. [Electronic resource]. URL: http://www.fapmc.ru/rospechat/newsandevents/newsagency/2018/07/item3.html (accessed: 01.05.2020).
3. Michael Rosen. How English became a universal international language // BBC News Russian Service (www.bbc.com). December 20, 2010. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.bbc.com/russian/uk/2010/12/101220_english_international_language (accessed: 13.03.2021).
4. How Many People In The World Speak English? // English Language School London. St George International (www.stgeorges.co.uk). [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.stgeorges.co.uk/blog/learn-english/how-many-people-in-the-world-speak-english (accessed: 13.03.2021).
5. Alexandra Vozdvizhenskaya. Language careers // Rossiyskaya Gazeta (rg.ru). April 5, 2016, 21:15. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://rg.ru/2016/04/05/znanie-anglijskogo-iazyka-uvelichit-zarplatu-rossiianina-v-poltora-raza.html (accessed: 01.05.2020).
6. Maria Mezentseva. English in the Palm of Your Hand. Spoken Topics – 36 p. – SPb.: Litera, 2014
7. Mikołaj Gliński. 8 Facts About Esperanto // Poland and Polish Culture (culture.pl). December 27, 2016. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://culture.pl/ru/article/8-faktov-kotorye-neobhodimo-znat-ob-esperanto-i-ego-sozdatele (accessed: 01.05.2020).
8. B.G. Kolker. The International Language Esperanto: A Complete Textbook. Internacia lingvo Esperanto: plena lernolibro / B.G. Kolker. 2nd ed., rev. – 264 p. – M.: Impeto, 2009. – p. 52.
9. A.Y. Zofnas. Philosophy. Part 1. The Subject of Philosophy. Ontology: textbook and reference guide / A.Y. Zofnas. – 196 p. – Odessa: Science and Technology, 2009. – p. 99.
10. Anna Khromykh. “The Language of Equals”: how much time it will take to learn Esperanto and why it is needed in St. Petersburg // Bumaga (paperpaper.ru). July 26, 2016. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://paperpaper.ru/esperanto/ (accessed: 01.05.2020).
11. L.N. Tolstoy. Complete Works. Third Series. Letters. Volume 67 – 338 p. – M.: State Publishing House of Fiction, 1955. – p. 102.
12. Yulia Smirnova. The second language comes easier // Komsomolskaya Pravda (www.kp.ru). September 25, 2006, 02:00. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.kp.ru/daily/23778.5/57769/ (accessed: 01.05.2020).
13. Benny Lewis. Just 2 weeks learning Esperanto can get you months ahead in your target language // Fluent in 3 months (www.fluentin3months.com). [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.fluentin3months.com/2-weeks-of-esperanto/ (accessed: 01.05.2020).
14. V.A. Semyonov. Socio-economic development of modern Russia (geographical aspect): A textbook for the FNO RGUP. Part 1. – 188 p. – M.: RGUP, 2015. – p. 103.
15. Ibid.
16. Economic region: basic concepts and terms // Finam.ru (www.finam.ru). [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.finam.ru/dictionary/wordf00778/ (accessed: 02.05.2020).
17. A.M. Prokhorov. Great Encyclopedic Dictionary. – 1628 p. – M.: “Soviet Encyclopedia”, SPb.: “Leningrad Gallery” Fund, 1993. – p. 1545.
18. “All-Russian Classifier of Economic Regions. OK 024-95” (approved by the Decree of Gosstandart of Russia dated 27.12.1995 N 640)