On the essence of the people in its manifestation

On the essence of the people in its manifestation in riots and revolutions

Abstract

It is recognized that a revolution is a spasmodic transition from one qualitative state to another. A revolution can be cultural, technological and social. If with the first two types of revolution everything is more or less clear in terms of qualitative changes, then opinions differ on the social revolution. And indeed, it seems that the revolution should, finally/ sweep away the oppressors, but no - all social revolutions ultimately left the oppressors and the oppressed in their places. And no one has explained this phenomenon.

Key words: person, people, consciousness, self-consciousness, philistines, population, revolution, coup, oppressors, oppressed.

Whatever definitions are given to the social revolution, one thing is clear: it eliminates the pause, or rather, stagnation in the development of society, thereby ensuring its progress, mainly by giving more scope to the productive forces within the framework of the improved production relations, supported by appropriate laws.
In this regard, in one of my recent works (Revolution as a consequence of the rise of self-consciousness to a high level. 21. 08. 2023. [Electronic resource]. Access mode: Amazon. © Nizovtsev Yury.) was shown that a number of coups d’etat, generally recognized and even called revolutions, were not such, since they had nothing to do with progress; on the contrary, they led to the decline of the state. Such, for example, was the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, the result of which was the disappearance of the renewed state after several decades.
Along with that, some coups in the state system led to a radical elimination of stagnation in society, ensuring relatively rapid social development. This, for example, was the so-called Meiji revolution in Japan in the middle of the 19th century, which, thanks to gradual reforms, led to the flourishing and strengthening of the state. However, the reason for this progress was not the dissatisfaction of the oppressed with their oppressors, but the international situation, which threatened to turn the proud rulers of this backward country into seedy satellites of the developed countries of the West.
Generally speaking, the traditional point of view on the revolution as the peak of the struggle of the oppressed against the oppressors makes some sense, since the poverty of the producers of all material goods in the face of the rulers who manage and use these goods cannot but lead at least some of the oppressed to the idea of the injustice of social relations.
However, over the entire existence of civilization, excluding the last centuries, there have been by no means revolutions, but more or less spontaneous uprisings, riots, various kinds of disturbances, which, at best, led to a change of dynasties or power elites, leaving numerous oppressed in the same, if not in worse situation.
If you plunge into a historical excursion, then some doubt immediately creeps in about the positivity of the results of the struggle of the oppressed with the oppressors, when, in some cases, the oppressed won, expelling or destroying the former power elite.
For example, after the death of the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (the end of the 3rd century BC), a massive uprising of landowners began, which was joined by slaves. And, oddly enough after the death of the last representative of the Qin dynasty in 207 BC merely village headman Liu Bang, who was one of the leaders of the struggle of the oppressed against the oppressors, a year after the victory of the rebels has become the undoubted oppressor, having proclaimed himself emperor and found a new Han dynasty (Elder Han Dynasty).
The most ideological and consistent Bolshevik, a fierce fighter for the liberation of the oppressed throughout the world, V. I. Lenin, after the victory of his party as a result of the October cope of 1917 in Russia, has become one of the most brutal dictators in the history of mankind, having begun the extermination of the Russian people in the glory of victory communism throughout the world. I. V. Stalin continued this utopian aspiration, having exterminated the peasantry in Russia and plunging its population into the permanent barracks poverty.
That is, these representatives of the oppressed, who became sincere fighters for the happiness of all peoples on Earth, after their victory in Russia turned into the worst oppressors of their own people, no matter what the corresponding propagandists said, and no matter, which excellent goals these fighters were guided by their own unreason.
In more detail, my interpretation of the need for antagonism in a developing society can be found in the work “The justification of the inevitability of the manifestation of antagonism in a developing society” (see, for example, website proza.ru. 2023. Nizovtsev Y. M. (Низовцев Ю М.)).
Let us also note that the concept of “the people” is rather vague both from the perspective of the historical formation of the population of a particular country, and the inevitable heterogeneity of the population due to biological and socio-economic reasons.
For example, about the population of any country, including underdeveloped ones, one can only say that it is not united by a territory, as many believe, which can change and even disappear (Jews), but by culture, the basics of language, laws, ethical norms, ways of governing, communicating through religion, etc.
All these features, characteristic of the population of underdeveloped countries, it is true, are also underdeveloped, but, nevertheless, they allow the population to realize their common existence, which comes down to a certain interaction caused by the peculiarities of living here or there, which contribute to trade or fishing, or hunting, or both, etc.
These characteristic features can be combined by the term collectivist "self-consciousness," which for the population as a whole and in parts for different communities and states can differ significantly in level - cultural and managerial.
Therefore, it is pointless to assert that in countries with a system close to the tribal, the people live, since in these countries there is, on the contrary, a rather heterogeneous population, the unification of which is only just beginning to form a nationality.
However, the underdeveloped countries are characterized by the fact that almost their entire population is engaged in not very productive labor and crafts due to their technological backwardness. It is largely illiterate and capable of little beyond basic survival activities. And only a few percent of the population consist the power elite, officials, security forces and other servants of the highest authorities.
What happens to the development of these communities?
Growing technological progress is liberating more and more of the population from unproductive labor, transferring it primarily into the service sector, as well as knowledge workers such as teachers, doctors, technicians, engineers, managers, businessmen of all kinds - from small self-employed to the owners of the large enterprises.
Therefore, there are fewer and fewer people engaged in unproductive or monotonous work, but not by much, since at present, even in developed countries, this part of the population is usually engaged in work for the sake of earning money, but not for pleasure. Together with the unemployed, housewives and pensioners, this population is at least 80% of the total population of the country.
This entire heterogeneous mass is usually designated by the term “the people,” perhaps because almost all people representing this mass are dependent on the ruling elite or even oppressed by it. Besides, this elite essentially acts in its own interests, for example, declaring wars, organizing financial crises, carrying out reforms beneficial to themselves, enriching themselves in every possible way, without asking anyone, despite the democratic system it proclaimed with parliament and other associations and parties claiming the representation from the people.
However, the power elite with its minions attached to it in the form of the judicial authorities, paramilitary units, deputies, officials, etc., has nothing to do with this people, parasitizing on them.
Of course, from this people over time, not only the parasites emerge, but also those dissatisfied with the powers that be, uniting in the so-called theinformal opposition to the authorities, as well as people capable of the creative activity, which, in fact, ensures the progress as technological, and cultural. A significant contribution to this is made by the educational process, which, of course, does not produce talent, but divides a significant part of people according to the interests and abilities that they can demonstrate, however, depending not only on interests and abilities, but on the current situation, and it, as a rule, it dictates not providing the opportunity to receive satisfaction from interesting work, but getting at least some work.
In this representation of the people as mostly a mass of philistines, the meaning of the concept of democracy turns into a farce, since there is nothing easier than to deceive a philistine, to lure him into something unrealistic, to promise him God knows what only in order to leave oneself in power. And this philistine will always vote for the most cunning and resourceful deceiver, who will immediately forget about his promises until the next election.
Therefore, democracy is nothing more than the most clever deception of the narrow-minded philistine, still hoping for a better life, which in fact is getting worse, but he endures because he believes in democratic values, which never existed and never will be, about what was mentioned still a long time ago by the great Plato:  “And then democracy comes into being after the poor have conquered their opponents, slaughtering some and banishing some, while to the remainder they give an equal share of freedom and power; and this is the form of government in which the magistrates are commonly elected by lot… This, then, seems likely to be the fairest of States, being an embroidered robe which is spangles with every sort of flower. And just as women and children think a variety of colours to be of all things most charming, so there are many men to whom this State, which is spangled with the manners and characters of mankind, will appear to be the fairest of States… how grandly does she trample all these fine notions of ours under her feet, never giving a thought to the pursuits which make a statesman, and promoting to honour anyone who professes to be the people's friend… I replied, which, as they tell you in a democracy, is the glory of the State – and that therefore in a democracy alone will the freeman of nature deing to dwell… the insatiable desire of this and the neglect of other things introduces the change in democracy, which occasions a demand for tyranny… loyal citizens are insultingly termed by her slaves who hug their chains and men of naught; she would have subjects who are like rulers, and rulers who are like subjects: these are men after her own heart, whom she praises and honours both in private and public. Now, in such a State, can liberty have any limit?... And above all, I said, and as the result of all how sensitive the citizens become, they chafe impatiently at the least touch of authority and at length, as you know, they cease to care even for the laws, written or unwritten; they will have no one over them… Such, my friend, I said, is the fair and glorious beginning out of which springs tyrant… This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears above ground he is a protector… having a mob entirely at his disposal, he is not restrained from shedding the blood of kinsmen?” (Plato. Complete works. Republic. Book VIII. Hackett Publishing Company. 1997.)
Be that as it may, in contrast to underdeveloped countries, the level of self-consciousness of the population in more developed countries with an educated population as a whole is increasing, but this increase mostly applies to mental workers, and the bulk of the working population remains in the rank of so-called philistines.
This is precisely that part of the population that, for various reasons, was unable to break out of monotonous or uninteresting or lack of initiative work either into the elite, or into its servants, or into the creative stratum, despite the fact that some of these people may be well educated and bear quite complex tasks, working as doctors, teachers or engineers.
In other words, they are all doomed to the monotonous life, despite the fact that some of them may have good abilities, but they do not find the application and are quickly devalued as unnecessary. Almost all of them, over time, come to terms with their unenviable situation and try to improve their own well-being, limiting themselves to the desire for a problem-free and well-fed life. The philistines do not strive for something new through their own efforts, achieving a more comfortable state in life from the standpoint of simply acquiring and consuming its benefits.
That is, their dissatisfaction with life, which is quite inert, comes from the animal component of consciousness, which, as you know, seeks only to improve nutrition, comfort, dominance in their own environment, as well as a pleasant pastime, including reproduction. As a result, the level of their self-awareness, which is intended to seemingly strive for something outstanding, does not differ in height.
The philistines, who make up the bulk of the population, are currently represented mainly by pensioners, housewives, service workers, small clerks, workers in the agricultural sector of the economy and enterprises producing certain equipment, and other workers who are not burdened with solving the significant tasks, complex problems, inventing new or solving the secrets of beingness.
The absence, as a rule, of the proper level of education and upbringing does not allow these ordinary people to massively use social elevators and set high goals for themselves: such dull and hopeless life, corresponding to the underdevelopment of the self-consciousness of the masses, and therefore its external expression in the personality, does not at all contribute to the transformation this whole mass of people into smart, educated, cultural, creative, energetic and sociable subjects.
Therefore, this category of the population bears such name, although some public figures call the philistines by the people, apparently due to their overwhelming numbers in the total population.
Of course, reducing the majority of the working people to the philistines is unlikely to delight the readers, but such is life and these are the statistics.
It is unlikely that considerations concerning the philistines in general will be refuted the words of F. M. Dostoevsky about the French philistines, which can be unmistakably extended to all current individuals of the same breed: “The French, by God, are such persons that cause the urge to nausea. You talked about the smugly arrogant and shitty faces rampant on our resorts. But I swear to you that they are superior to ours here. Ours are simply carnivorous scoundrels, and for the most part conscious, but here he is quite sure that this is how it should be. The Frenchman is quiet, polite, but false, and money is everything to him. There is no ideal. Don’t ask not only for beliefs, but even for thoughts. The level of general education is extremely low (I’m not talking about sworn scientists. But there are not many of them, and, finally, is erudition an education in the sense as we are accustomed to understanding this word?” (Mityushev Library. Travel Notes. France. Fyodor Dostoevsky Letters. “Winter notes about summer impressions” to N. N. Strakhov, June 26 (July 8), 1862. Paris).
And further, in another letter: “In general, the bourgeois is not very stupid, but his mind is somehow short, as if in fragments. He has an awful lot of ready-made concepts, like firewood for the winter, and he seriously intends to live with them for at least a thousand years... … And what indifference to everything, what fleeting, empty interests. I happened to be in Paris in society, in a house, where many people had in my time. It’s as if they are all afraid to talk about something unusual, about something not so petty, about some general interests, well, about any kind of public interests. It seems to me that there could not be a fear of spies here; everybody here simply forgot how to think about anything and talk more seriously.” (Ibid. 1863)
However, even such miserable life is often not possible for the However, even such a miserable life is sometimes not possible forthe philistines due to the arrogance and oppression of the rulers, which brings them to an extreme degree of indignation due to the impossibility of existing in such situation. Then a riot breaks out, which sometimes leads to the demolition of the ruling elite, judging, for example, by the preserved chronicles of ancient China, but does not affect the situation of the oppressed philistines, which sometimes became even worse under the new dynasty (see, for example, my work "The driving force and source of development of the person and his communities". Chapter 6. 2018. [Electronic resource]. Access mode: www.litres.ru. Amazon. Yury Nizovtsev).
The philistines also now play a similar role in underdeveloped countries. Moreover, the external forces, understanding the biological and social weakness of philistines, excite them into so-called “color revolutions”, which are of little use to them, but the result for the external forces can be significant. An example is the “color revolutions” in a number of Arab countries, Georgia, and Ukraine.
It is curious that social revolutions, indeed, significantly accelerating social development by qualitative changes in society itself, changing the power elite to a more acceptable one for the implementation of changes in technology and culture, are produced as the final chord of the struggle of the informal oppositionists with the power elite, whose ideology is inferior to the new ideas of the opposition , but the philistines, as a rule, avoid this struggle, first taking a wait-and-see attitude.
Of course, these ideas are accessible mainly to  the educated people, but the masses end up leaning towards them in the simplified presentation of opposition propagandists, since they are possessed by the impossibility of existing in the old relations, reinforced by the hatred of the oppressed to the oppressors and the hope for a better future in new conditions.
In other words, we can say that a revolution differs from a coup or rebellion in the superiority of new ideas of the informal opposition over the ideology of the power elite with the recognition of these ideas by the masses, due to which the self-consciousness of the informal opposition in its altruistic expression finally finds agreement with the extreme degree of dissatisfaction with the animal component of the collectivist consciousness masses, coincided in this case and with the dissatisfaction of their self-consciousness is already a little higher level than before, outraged by the inability to exist normally in the current situation, and putting their hopes on new slogans of the opposition.
In turn, the level of self-consciousness is not growing by itself, but is a product of a fairly high degree of cultural and technological development of society, during which both factors influence each other.
Therefore, there were no revolutionary events, for example, during the transformation of the slave system into a feudal system, which corresponded to a long process of awareness by the active part of the population of the futility of slave labor, leading society into stagnation, both for the slaves themselves and for the development of technology. Therefore, in order for labor to bring greater income, it had to be released to a certain extent, that is, workers should be interested in the results of their labor, which happened gradually over time.
Be that as it may, the fruits of the revolution are received by the new elite that has finally seized power, its allies and servants, while the working people, who are mostly classified to the philistines, receive, at best, pitiful handouts, without getting the rid of the oppression that over time, under capitalism it even intensifies, despite the claims of its propagandists about the liberation of labor that has occurred.
Moreover, due to conservatism, isolation in their own little world, and lack of pronounced interests to the outside world, the philistines easily succumb to propaganda. At a certain moment they can become patriots, in another case, haters of everything foreign under the influence of appropriate propaganda. That is, the philistines easily succumb to deception, and even having recognized it, as a rule, they put up with it.
As a result, this medium is the main source, supplying "the cannon fodder" to the battlefields, not realizing the essence of the war, but enthusiastically participating in it, although the Dardanelles or Europe "do not shine" by them.
The philistines also participate in civil wars with unusual rage, if they are fired with the appropriate ideology, since, as you know, a not too developed brain prefers not to delve into the problem, but to perceive ready-made simple explanations of what is happening, which is facilitated by the low level of self-consciousness of the philistine in terms of altruism, over which dominates the animal component of consciousness, always ready to take away from the weak prey.
In addition, the philistines are typical conformists, even when they understand what is happening.
An example of this is the overwhelming majority of the population of developed countries, whose standard of living is relatively high, but it is achieved for the most part thanks to unequal relations with underdeveloped countries, which are robbed in various ways by the developed ones, which are giving the part of the loot to own the philistines, who in no way oppose this.
However, the philistine, who has largely the animal consciousness, knows how to endure and adapt, like an animal, to everything, as long as he is not deprived of the most necessary things - food, simple pleasures, garden beds outside the city or in the countryside, a cheap car and smartphones in which he can see anything even on the go.
In other words, all philistines are guided mainly by their own reason and experience: preoccupied with themselves and their own well-being, they do not strive for either “high” or “low” goals, limiting themselves by the desire of problem-free and well-fed life, in which it is desirable to see troubles only in monitor screen. The philistines do not strive for something new through their own efforts, achieving a more comfortable state in life from the standpoint of simply acquiring and consuming its benefits.
Thus, the bulk of the population of any country, which is called the people, are nothing more than the philistines, indifferent to everything that does not affect them.
But driving the philistines to extremes is fraught with danger for any power elite. Their rage becomes indescribable, animalistic, and they demolish everything in their path, especially if they recognized the deception that led them to this extreme.
It is also interesting that the so-called intelligentsia, which includes all mental workers, basically has a philistine essence, since it depends on those in power, receiving appropriate allowance for work in clearly defined areas in healthcare, education and other spheres of public service, although it hides own true affiliation with the philistines, but its behavior, except for informal oppositionists to the authorities, always demonstrates her philistine essence by the fact that she concedes - and this fact is demonstrated by known history - the power powers granted to it by the rebellious people, for example to the extremists in the form of the Bolsheviks, or to the candidates for dictators, such as Bonaparte and his nephew Napoleon III, or another clique close to power, as happened in Russia after the collapse of the USSR.
The rest of the population is divided into the main parasitic group represented by the power “elite”, which is accompanied by a variety of servants, both ideological and protecting it; a layer of informal opposition to the power elite; creative personalities; business people (businessmen, bankers, managers); economists; army representatives; representatives of various types of criminals. The latter are nothing more than open parasites, mirroring the power elite, taking away from the population what the power elite did not have time or could not capture.
It is with them that the power elite, excluding, of course, the informal oppositionists to the authorities, and the criminals, share the loot first of all,
Nevertheless, despite the blatant injustice of such relations, the development of society in such a technological civilization is in full swing, without losing acceleration to the point of singularity, at which the civilization's own time collapses and it disintegrates (see e.g., Nizovtsev Yury. Communes as of crash of all civilization. Amazon. Oct. 10. 2016).