War and the political maneuvers around it constantly push into the background what happened at the Maidan. That’s just how it turned out—the Maidan, without having properly finished, immediately morphed into a war. The experience and lessons of the Maidan have not been properly analyzed or comprehended. This is, of course, very bad, because unlike war, the Maidan is a manifestation of the natural course of social life. And in order to move forward, we need to understand what happened yesterday, and for now we are deprived of this knowledge.
I will try in this column to set forth what seems to me the main lesson of the Maidan and, accordingly, what provides a fairly clear program for the future.
This is not about what goals the people at the Maidan set for themselves, not about presidents, reforms, and programs. This is about what the Maidan showed, regardless of the intentions and goals of its participants.
So, during the Maidan, private individuals who stood and fought there used:
Private mobile communications, which allowed them to contact each other;
Private internet, which also allowed them to maintain communication, ensure coordination, and organize live broadcasts;
Private media, which covered events to the best of their understanding;
Private transport, including taxis, which carried protesters;
Private stores and pharmacies, which sold food and medicine to protesters and their supporters;
Private gas stations, which sold gasoline for Molotov cocktails.
They were opposed by:
State police. The Maidan people couldn’t call the police to drive away the “Berkut.” We have one police force, it’s state-run, and it was against the Maidan.
State laws. If you protest, the state will pass laws designed to make your protest impossible. This was clearly demonstrated on January 16.
State courts. Judges ruled as their bosses ordered. This was so far from justice that it was even funny to some degree.
Workers of state enterprises. They were the basis of the “anti-Maidans.”
State-dependent media. Everyone saw them, everyone remembers what they said and showed.
State transport. The bosses said stop, and it stopped. “Metro, stop! One-two!”
Yes, of course there were private entities on the side of the “anti-Maidan” too. There were taxis that raised prices. But there were also those that drove for free. A private entity differs from the state not in being good, but in being many. And they are different. And everyone for themselves. This is its great strength. With the state, you simply give an order and it does it. With private entities, you need to control each one—intimidate, persuade, bribe. And each private entity separately.
The goal of a good political program is to ensure that there are no more revolutions or that revolutions are no longer needed. This can be achieved in two ways. The first is when everything around is state-run. State transport, state internet and mobile communications, state stores and gas stations. Imagine it? Here the revolution will end before it properly begins. You will be arrested before you leave your home. The second situation is when everything is private. Here there are simply no reasons for revolution, because there is no all-encompassing and all-regulating “authority.” There are grievances of private entities against each other, which are resolved in court. There you have it—the “Private Sector” program for the future.