Nationalism and Orthodoxy in Ukrainian Political Thought: the Ontology of Resistance
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Nationalism and Orthodoxy in Ukrainian Political Thought: The Ontology of Resistance Matthew Raphael Johnson Introduction: Ukraine and “the Nation” The Hetmanate as the Central Element in Ukrainian Political Ideas: The Background to Ukrainian Social Thought From Pereslav to Andrusovo: The Horror of the 17th Century Ivan Vyshenskii (d. 1620) and Gregory Skovoroda (d. 1794) Taras Shevchenko (d. 1861) Drahomanov (d. 1895) and Kostamarov (d. 1885) Ivan Franko (d. 1916) The UAOC under Patriarchs Dmitri and Volodymyr The Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the 20th Century under Vasyl Lypkivsky and the Poltava Movement An Overview of Ukrainian Nationalism in the Second Half of the 20th Century From the Second World to the Void, Ukraine's Second Ruin: 1990 to 2015 Conclusions (c) Hromada Books, 2017 ISBN: 978-1-387-11207-4 Acknowledgments The typical book on Ukrainian history is written in well funded universities by alienated, urban and cultureless professors. These privileged dons have an army of research assistants (sometimes called “students”) whose uncopyrighted research is no doubt valuable as raw material. High salaries, total job security, secretaries, graduate assistants, grant money and a host of other privileges make their job much easier. How much of their books is really their work is something that is not likely to be solved. Given that so much of this is written by others, with the assistance of so many others, and on university time generously funded by taxpayers (among other people), the claim to copyright is a sick joke. While their privileges are many, it does come at a price: their total lack of freedom. This book was written without any of that. All the work, research, translations, copyreading and proofreading is – for better or worse – the responsibility of the author. If the reader finds a typo or an inadvertent mistake, let it slide – give me a break. Had I the resources of the typical author in this field, it would be less excusable. In the process of writing this book my life has changed so radically I seem to be in some surrealist dream- state. So much of the work that went into this large tome was, to some extent, a means of distracting myself from it all. I guess this is a healthy approach. My sons Gabriel and Michael deserve mention as my one true, real victory. They are assets to humanity. My students, especially from my time as a professor at Mount St. Mary's University (2005-2008), a time cut short due to mismanagement and corruption, deserve a special thanks. This book is dedicated to the memory of the late Hieroschemamonk Brendan (Williams), who died in May of 2015 after 40 years of intense suffering from fibromyalgia, lupus and a host of other diseases I would not wish on anyone. Once he built up a tolerance to all pain medication, he felt the raw, grinding and acidic pain of his diseases. Fr. Brendan was my spiritual brother for many years and his death, at least to him, was a welcome relief. Though it all, he retained his sense of balance, his mood and occasionally, his sense of humor. He will be sorely missed. Preface: The Ukrainian Debacle This work was written at a time when Ukraine and Ukrainian history was front page news. Throughout 2014 and 2015, the west was treated to Ukrainian identity, albeit mangled and misrepresented, that heretofore could not have been more foreign. Nothing has changed. The misinformation has made the educated public far less able to understand the situation than ever before. Ukraine at the end of 2015 is a tragic, pathetic farce. Her present misery is proof of the evil presently ruling our world. Ukraine, from a Russian Orthodox nationalist like myself, has been hijacked by westerners who loathe all forms of national assertiveness. Faux-nationalist groups were used in the violent coup of 2014 and then cast aside as embarrassments later on. The fact is that the Ukrainian pantheon of nationalist writers, including Bandera himself, were philosophically no different than nationalists the world over. Bandera was many things, a “nazi” was not one. I've sympathized with the plight of Novorossiya from day one, but their condemnations of the Kiev government as “nazi” are laughable. Bandera would have condemned each and every aspect of that coup. He loathed and distrusted the west, capitalism and usury, precisely the forces that took over the country. Since independence, the industry of Ukraine has been hollowed out and today, no longer exists. What little remains in Ukrainian hands is poorly maintained and produced extremely poor goods. All profitable industry has been liquidated and sold off to pay debts. Vladimir Dubrowski of The Ukrainian Center for Socioeconomic Research (CASE Украина), however, states the following: The de-industrialization of Ukraine is favorable. In the long run, the capital and labor of industry in Ukraine is unlikely to be competitive. In tropical and subtropical countries, there is no need to spend money on heating and warm clothes. Therefore, they can provide labor-intensive production of cheap labor and will have a greater competitive advantage. Thus, in Ukraine there is no cheap labor, nor a favorable economic climate. Its rapprochement with Europe will fix this problem, but it would not be under the countries of the EEA or the Customs Union.1 One thing that cannot be denied is that Ukrainian independence has been a miserable failure. Yet within this failure, western banks continue to lend and prop up the Washington-backed Poroshenko state. There is no chance of even a partial repayment. Franklin-Templeton Funds has been one of the main underwriters of this failure. Between 2013-2014, this fund lent the Ukrainian state $9 billion and charged a “moderate risk” 7.2% annual rate. It is fairly clear that “markets” have no role here, and politics has center stage. Further, they have agreed to write off 20% of Ukraine's previous debt only to justify lending them more money. There is no reason to believe that any accurate accounting of this money will ever be made, as is in the case of the $1 billion loan to Moldova. At the moment, Ukraine remains generally useful to the west, though this usefulness is now running out of gas, so to speak.2 1 Gorohov, Alexander. Украинская экономика: катастрофа идет по. 2013 плануhttp://pda.warandpeace.ru/ru/analysis/view/82598/ 2 Швецов, Святослав (March, 2014) Между Майданом-2 и революцией: логика разрушения Второй украинской республики. Hовости Днепропетровска и Украины за сегодня 23 May, 2014 Экономика Украины переживает жесточайший Western banks, however, are not insane. The present agreements put these banks in full control of not only Ukraine's present, but its future too. Any future Ukrainian economic growth is promised as repayment to the west. Presently, the agreement states that if Ukraine's GDP grows more than 3% a year in 2021, creditors will received a full 15% of all this equity. If it is only a single percentage point more, a full 40% will be taken. Poroshenko has long ceded the Donbass to Russia, partly because Kiev cannot afford the region and mostly because it will never be reconciled to Kiev. 95% of Ukrainians claimed they have seen a radical drop in their well being as compared to 13% of Crimeans. According to the Kiev International Institute of Sociology, Yatsenyuk's approval rating is 3% while president Poroshenko's is less than 1%. By contrast, the Crimea has seen a substantial rise in wages since it voted to be a part of Russia, with substantial Chinese and Russian investment already having broken ground there. Salaries have increased 300% over the last two years as confidence, sales, investment and construction have boomed since now, Crimea has privileged access to the Russian, Chinese and Indian markets. Its pensions have doubled. Since the vote for reunification, Russian and Chinese investment has radically modernized the health care system and over 3 billion rubles have already been spent. Of course, according to the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 90% of Crimeans have a positive view of Russia. Western provocations have done nothing but pushed Russia farther towards China. Few realized that the Russian кризис и процессы системного разрушения – народный депутат. «Корреспондент» http://korrespondent.net/ukraine/politics/3367715-ekonomyka- ukrayny-perezhyvaet-zhestochaishyi-kryzys-y protsessy- systemnoho-razrushenyia-narodnyi-deputat energy sector had about a 25% stake owned by foreigners. That needed to be quickly liquidated under sanctions. Today, trade with China is well over $100 billion and the proposed Siberian-Chinese gas system is a massive potential source of income. From 1994 to 2013, Ukraine has received well over $14 billion from the IMF. While many worthwhile investment projects go unfunded, the IMF knowingly gives this money without any regard to its use or repayment. It became essential for the west to overthrow Yanukovych in order to clear the legal route to absorb the country as repayment. As the debt sits at $200 billion, it is repayable regardless of the performance of the Ukrainian economy. Between 2012-2013, tax payments fell by half and now, few taxes are paid at all. The present Ukrainian economy has a real value equal to that of the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan, and is lower than Cyprus, Luxembourg, and the Canary Islands.3 That the world's banking elite continue to “lend” money to Ukraine shows ow economically untrustworthy they are. The IMF in particular continues to give money to Kiev without any real accounting or expectation of repayment. As investment has ground to a halt in the US, the world's banking elites are throwing away billions in Kiev. Nicholas Gueorguiev, head of the Ukraine team at IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, and Jerome Vacher, the IMF representative in Ukraine, has rerouted IMF cash to banks owned by oligarchs Igor Kolomoisky and Victor Pinchuk.