07.05.2006 Democracy-whose choice?

In April when the leader of УThe youth human rights groupФ Maxim Efimov came to our school ?9 to tell us about nationalism problems in Russia, I came across a small book quite by chance. (УDemocracy- my choiceФ). This book is a collection of articles, different points of view about democracy in Russia.
The book is very interesting without any doubt. But after reading this book, it seems as if you become depressed: Do the Russian really need democracy in the country? More than half a book contains only points of view and articles by Maxim Efimov. ThatТs why the book seems to be УthinФ. I must confess, Maxim is very interesting to listen to and his books are worth reading, but the book seems to be more УjollyФ when it contains as many points of view as possible. To my point of view, the most interesting theme in the book is УThe role of religion in the modern societyФ, and the point of view of Stanislav Rinkevich to be exact, who introduced himself as a УsatanistФ. No I am not a supporter of Satanism, but the article by Stas is noted from the others. He speaks straightforward: УThe participants didnТt make me happy, I didnТt hear any interesting thoughts from them. The girl complained that she wasnТt told about the essence of all religions. It seems as if she came to the market and chose products.Ф
The book lacks lots of different points of view about democracy. Why not to listen to the CommunistsТ point of view about Democracy? A point of view of another person is also a point of view. It seems as if the authors of the articles introduce to us only one point of view.
In my opinion, the main thesis of the book is the last words in the book: УDamn them!Ф УTheyФ means Russian authorities, that donТt want Russia to be a democratic country. Though according to the PresidentТs words, we are still building Democracy. It reminds me of building a Communism society and we know what it can turn out to be.
I had such an impression that the main enemy of todayТs elite (authority) is supposed to be the Democracy. And its main part- the civil society to be exact; that from time to time raises its head from the authoritive darkness. The main friends of the authority are force structures that break all meetings, УclownsФ that try to fool people, and bureaucracy that doesnТt understand such terms as СpityТ and УsympathyФ.
The book gives a cause for thinking. Maybe somebody after reading the book, can look at the world and surroundings in another way. Though the book has some downs, it is still good. But the book should be improved (especially mistakes and slips of the pen in the article УThe life of the Russian language in the modern societyФ), but I hope that the book will make people think: do they really need democracy? What do we want to be: slaves of the totalitarian system or citizens of a free country? The choice has been made for you by somebody, but you can change itЕ.
Misha Meshkov