VADIM BELOTSERKOVSKY
51
that such groupings
always do exist
within a government . This is what
Medvedev counts on. In fact, however, nobody has ever produced any
hard evidence for such a hypothesis (except perhaps for a brief
post-Stalin period). Always and everywhere, of course, some people
will be more aggressive and others more moderate and sober. But
to
form
effective
groupings they, obviously, need some outside support
from society and that presupposes a measure of independence for the
people . It is imperative
to
have layers of society economically
independent of the state for classes or associations, parties, unions, a
free press and other democratic institutions to exist. Nothing of the
sort exists in the Soviet Union, as we know. What does exist is only the
following:
a) A latent personal struggle for power in which the one who
is trying to get to the top may become at any moment more" left" or
more' 'right," more aggressive or more moderate than the one on
top-but once in power, he will become practically a duplicate of his
predecessor .
b) Soviet leaders who seem
to
us slightly more moderate, are
often the ones closest
to
the helm of power, since obviously they ha'le
to take account of reaction from abroad and hence are made to feel a
greater degree of responsibility for their words and decisions.
c) Finally, it is known beyond any doubt that the Soviet Party
oligarchy consists of jittery buteaucrats who dare not have an opinion
of their own and who anxiously strive
to
show their respect for the views
of the authorities. And this is the main condition for success and
advancement. As
to
setting one's hopes on the young cadres as
Medvedev does, this is an illusion most Soviet people have discarded by
now. A professional Party career is now regarded as being so
dangerous, insecure and unworthy of respect that any half-way decent
person who is at all able to do something else, will not aim at such a
career and will discourage his children from it as well. Higher Party
posts, as a rule, are filled by the morally and intellectually most
backward people.
The rumors now being circulated of a struggle inside the Central
Committee of the Communist Party, of an opposition
to
the policies of
Brezhnev-may very well have been disseminated in the West by
Soviet
organs
in charge of such operations. The message may come
through as follows: If you overdo the pressute on Brezhnev and force
