I want to propose a formula that, in my view, concisely captures the goal that people who talk about “systemic change as a whole” should be aiming for. As you have probably already guessed: “Ukrainians for Ukrainians.”
Many of you are probably now thinking about mutual aid, charity, or something like “own to own, by one’s own.” Of course, that’s part of it. But in reality, we’re talking about a simple, hard truth: everything called well-being—material, spiritual, cultural, whatever else—all of it is created by some people for other people. Nothing else in the living and inanimate nature around us has anything to do with this. And in order for life to improve, nothing else is needed.
You can’t produce or sell things people don’t need. Unless they’re forced, they won’t buy them. You can’t provide assistance “to no one,” can’t write music or poetry “to no one.” Even “for yourself”—any unrecognized poet will tell you this—always implies “for someone who might understand someday.” Everything we do, we do for others, and receive from them what we need. The self-organizing structures currently operating at the Maidan demonstrate this best. People work there for free, but that doesn’t mean they receive nothing in return for the benefit they bring to other people. In reports, I’ve come across the same words many times, spoken by different volunteers: “life has been filled with meaning.” This, I will tell you, is worth a great deal of money—ask the millionaires.
Peaceful and voluntary exchange of goods, labor, good deeds—this is what makes each of us better and richer. Accordingly, everything that hinders this—any aggression, compulsion, whether “legal” or “illegal”—is a crime. People beating other people who did not attack them are criminals. People “legally” or “illegally” taking income from other people are criminals. People preventing others from producing and selling goods for other people are criminals. And so on.
Sooner or later, the Maidan will end, and “power” will end up in the hands of some politicians. It’s clear that there are substantial differences in the scenarios for how events will unfold, but “the system as a whole” will not change. The formula “Ukrainians for Ukrainians” allows us to see the goals and choose the means, and allows us not to fall into another round of “they deceived us” and, ultimately, to change the system. The super-goal we should aspire to is achieving a situation where nothing prevents Ukrainians from working for each other’s benefit. Everything that is non-peaceful and non-voluntary, everything that is an obstacle to us working for each other must be dismantled and eliminated.
The formula I’m talking about is also a simple criterion for evaluating all sorts of ideas and measures that are now being proposed by everyone and their brother. It’s quite easy to determine whether something helps “Ukrainians for Ukrainians” or whether it’s yet another variation on the theme of “a good boss for Ukrainians” (which in practice always means “Ukrainians for the boss”). Well, it’s my job to propose, and you can decide for yourselves.