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The Russian Question at the End of the Twentieth Century (1995)

Nobel Prize Winners

Author Info:

Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn
12/11/1918-8/03/2008
(Translated by Yermolai Solzhenitsyn)

At first the two pieces that make up this book seem oddly matched. "The Russian Question" is a brief (particularly by Mr. Solzhenitsyn's standards, one hundred and ten pages is incredibly brief) and idiosyncratic look at five hundred years of Russian history, in which Mr. Solzhenitsyn develops the theory that Russia has been at its best when it concerned itself with internal development and at its worst when it pursued expansionist policies. This is followed by the eighteen page text of a speech that he gave to the International Association of Philosophy, in which he addresses the question "What is the role, the justifiable and necessary share of morality in politics?"
In the latter, he begins by noting that where Erasmus had considered politics to be a category of ethics, Enlightenment philosophers like John Locke dismissed the moral dimension of State actions. Modern political theorists and philosophers have essentially replaced morality with a belief in Progress, a faith that human life necessarily and inevitably becomes better with the passage of time and the development of new technologies.

Mr. Solzhenitsyn does not challenge the fact that science has made our material lives easier and given us an extraordinary level of affluence :

Human knowledge and human abilities continue to be perfected; they cannot, and must not, be brought to a halt.

But, he says, Progress has bumped up against two realities : first, the limited physical resources of the planet; second, the intractability of human nature. That is, human nature by its acquisitiveness and selfishness makes us always dissatisfied with even the material plenty that human progress has provided. Rather than slaking our thirst, it has merely whetted it. And, in the absence of moral, religious, and spiritual concerns, our thirst for personal possessions and pleasures is very nearly all that remains of us. We are become little more than a random collection of atomized consumers, gone is any sense of a human community or of a higher purpose to our lives.

What Mr. Solzhenitsyn asks of us is not that we stop human progress, instead he admonishes :

We must not simply lose ourselves in the mechanical flow of Progress, but strive to harness it in the interests of the human spirit; not to
become the mere playthings of Progress, but rather to seek or expand ways of directing its might towards the perpetration of good.

He is not terribly explicit about the specific good to which Progress might be harnessed, but he does suggest how we might restore some semblance of balance to our physical desires and restore a sense of purpose to life. First, he calls for us to re-center our moral universe :

    [N]othing so bespeaks the current helplessness of our spirit, our intellectual disarray, as the loss of a clear and calm attitude towards
    death. The greater his well-being, the deeper the chilling fear of death cuts into the soul of modern man. This mass fear, a fear the
    ancients did not know, was born of our insatiable, loud and bustling life. Man has lost the sense of himself as a limited point in the
    universe, albeit one possessed of free will. He began to deem himself the centre of his surroundings, adapting not himself to the world
    but the world to himself. And then, of course, the thought of death becomes unbearable: it is the extinction of the entire universe at a
    stroke.

Having refused to recognise the unchanging Higher Power above us, we have filled up that space with personal imperatives, and suddenly
life has become a harrowing prospect indeed.

It was the first Sophist, Protagoras, who opined that : "Man is the measure of all things." Mr. Solzhenitsyn reminds us what an inadequate measure we are individually and what egomania is required for each of us to believe that the world revolves around only us.

So, the second thing he calls for is that we learn to restrain our desires, that we practice self-abnegation, despite the riches that are set before us. He fully recognizes how difficult this will be, but harkens back to earlier days for a model we might follow :

    Today [self-restraint] appears to us as something wholly unacceptable, constraining, even repulsive, because we have over the centuries
    grown unaccustomed to what for our ancestors had been a habit born of necessity. They lived with far greater external constraints, and
    had far fewer opportunities. The paramount importance of self-restraint has only in this century arisen in its pressing entirety before
    mankind.

Paradoxical, isn't it? Through most of human history people experienced want because there truly was not enough to feed and clothe and house everyone. They did not need to practice internal restraint because they couldn't afford even what they needed, never mind luxuries. Now we have more than we will ever truly need, yet in the getting we have lost our purpose and perhaps our souls.

It is Mr. Solzhenitsyn's belief that the value of cultivating self-restraint, of accepting that we are not the center of the universe, lies in the idea that :

[I]t helps bring back the awareness of a Whole and Higher Authority above us--and the altogether forgotten sense of humility before his
Eternity.

Then, if we were to accept the notion that simply because we have the capacity to create great wealth does not mean that we have to consume it endlessly, but could instead defer our own gratification for the good of those around us, and could develop ourselves spiritually rather than being obsessed with the material, we might find life to be imbued with a noble purpose :

There can be only one true Progress; the sum total of the spiritual progresses of individuals; the degree of self-perfection in the course of
their lives.

And so we see how the two parts of this book form a coherent whole. In the first, he is summoning Russia to look inward and to focus on the needs of its own people, to forsake the dreams of empire and of achieving greatness through plunder and acquisition. Towards the end of this first section he says :

We must build a moral Russia, or none at all--it would not then matter anyhow

In the second, he says :

[S]elf-limitation is the fundamental and wisest step of a man who has obtained freedom. It is also the surest path towards its attainment.

The first seeks to limit the material aspirations of the nation, the second those of its people. Both place morality back at the center of politics and elevate spiritual concerns above physical. Both define Progress as more than the creation of wealth, tying it directly to the development and health of the human soul and of human society. Mr. Solzhenitsyn, as he acknowledges, asks much of his fellow men, and this has made him somewhat unpopular both here in the West and in Russia. But he has been unpopular before and been vindicated by events. The nascent spiritual awakening that has followed the horrible events of September 11th, the sense that a long period of rather decadent self-indulgence has come to a violent but necessary end, gives one hope that he will prove right again.

(Reviewed:01-Jan-02)

Grade: (B+)

Websites:

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Links:

    -WIKIPEDIA: Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
    -OBIT: Alexander Solzhenitsyn, 1918–2008: Russian traditionalist, Nobel laureate, feted in the West for criticism of Soviet Communism, then spurned for rejecting liberal materialism (Andrew Cusack, 3 August 2008, Norumbega)
    -OBIT: The death of Solzhenitsyn: The Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov on how the author of the Gulag Archipelago, who related the terrible truth about Soviet totalitarianism, outlived his era to become something of a living monument to Russia's past (Andrey Kurkov, 05 August 2008, New Statesman)
    -In Memoriam: Solzhenitsyn's Life And Writings (Forbes, 8/05/08)
    -INTERVIEW: Alexander Solzhenitsyn On The New Russia (Paul Klebnikov, May 9, 1994, Forbes)
    -ESSAY: The Prophet at Harvard (Dinesh D'Souza, 8/05/08, AOL News)
    -OBIT: The man who shook the Kremlin: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who died this week, was instrumental in bringing the Soviet Union to its knees, and he never wavered from his belief in a writer's moral responsibility to truth and beauty (Alexander Nazaryan, 8/05/08, Salon)
    -OBIT: Chronicler of the gulag (The Australian, August 05, 2008)
    -OBIT: Nobel Winner Chronicled Tyranny of Soviet Union (J.Y. Smith, 8/04/08, The Washington Post)
    -OBIT: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) (Gregory McNamee, August 4th, 2008, Britannica Blog)
    -TRIBUTE: Solzhenitsyn at Work (JOHN McCAIN, August 4, 2008, NY Sun)
    -OBIT: Last struggle is over for Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Tony Halpin, 8/04/08, Times of London)
    -OBIT: Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, R.I.P. (National Review, 8/04/08)
    -OBIT: Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the man who exposed the horrors of Soviet Communism, dies aged 89 (Tamara Cohen, 04th August 2008, Daily Mail)
    -OBIT: CHRONICLER OF THE GULAGS: Russian Literary Giant Solzhenitsyn Dies: Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the man whose writings exposed the brutality of Stalin's murderous labor camps, has died at the age of 89. Death, he told SPIEGEL last year, "is a natural milestone of one's existence." (Der Spiegel, 8/04/08)
    -VIDEO: Solzhenitsyn Dies at 89; David Remnick Reflects (Open Culture)
    -ESSAY: Understanding Solzhenitsyn (William F. Buckley Jr., April 14, 1976, National Review)
    -ESSAY: Solzhenitsyn -- a Rightist? (William F. Buckley Jr., August 1975, National Review)
    -OBIT: Alexander Solzhenitsyn dies aged 89 (Damien Francis, 8/04/.08, guardian.co.uk)
    -INTERVIEW: An Interview with Alexander Solzhenitsyn (Joseph Pearce, February 2003, St. Austin Review)
    -INTERVIEW: 'I Am Not Afraid of Death': In an interview with SPIEGEL, prominent Russian writer and Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn discusses Russia's turbulent history, Putin's version of democracy and his attitude to life and death. (Der Spiegel, 7/23/07)
    Alexander Solzhenitsyn dies at 89 (BBC, 8/03/08)

Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who exposed Stalin's prison system in his novels and spent 20 years in exile, has died at 89, Russian media say.

Obituary: Alexander Solzhenitsyn (BBC, 8/03/08)

Born into a family of Cossack intellectuals, Alexander Solzhenitsyn graduated in mathematics and physics, but within weeks the Soviet Union was fighting Hitler for its survival. Solzhenitsyn served as an artillery officer and was decorated for his courage, but in 1945 was denounced for criticising Stalin in a letter. He spent the next eight years as one of the countless men enduring the gulags. He was one of the lucky ones to survive.

The rest of us were the lucky ones. MORE:
    _REVIEW ARCHIVE & LINKS: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (BrothersJudd.com)
    -LECTURE: A World Split Apart (Text of Address by Alexander Solzhenitsyn at Harvard Class Day Afternoon Exercises,Thursday, June 8, 1978)
    -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 1918 - 2008(dwhudson, August 3, 2008, GreenCine)

    -OBIT: Nobel prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn dies aged 89 (guardian.co.uk, 8/03/08) -OBIT: Soviet Dissident Writer Solzhenitsyn Dies at 89 (Reuters, August 3, 2008)
    -OBIT: Alexander Solzhenitsyn Dies at 89 (VOA News, 03 August 2008)
    -ESSAY: Empire-Slayer (Daniel J. Mahoney, Dec. 19, 2005, National Review)
    The Last Prophet: Alexander Solzhenitsyn (Ian Hunter, July/August 2003, Touchstone)
   -ROUNDTABLE: 1998 AMERICA: TRIUMPHANT? OR IN TROUBLE?: responses to A World Split Apart by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn * John O'Sullivan * Mark Steyn * John Lukacs * Edward Ericson * DavidAikman * Michael Novak, The American Enterprise)
    -REVIEW: of Two Hundred Years Together by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Richard Pipes, New Republic)
    -REVIEW: of The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings, 1947–2005, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, edited by Edward E. Ericson, Jr., and Daniel J. Mahoney (Daniel L. Tubbs, Claremont Review of Books)
    -REVIEW: of Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile, by Joseph Pearce and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Ascent from Ideology, by Daniel J. Mahoney (James F. Pontuso, Claremont Review of Books)

Of particular merit is Mahoney's chapter on Pyotr Stolypin, prime minister of Russia from 1906 until 1911, who might be called the "hero" of Solzhenitsyn's Red Wheel. Stolypin, a liberal who nevertheless admired Russia's ancient culture, attempted to reform his nation's semi-feudal political and economic practices while at the same time preserving the old customs and habits that were the bonds tying Russian society together. Stolypin was the only Russian statesman who understood the delicate balance between the old and the new — between conservation and change. His assassination led to the fall of the Tsar, the victory of Bolshevism, and the murder of millions of innocent people crushed under the relentless and inhuman Red Wheel.

FILM :
    -FILMOGRAPHY : Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Imdb.com)
    -INFO : One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1970) (Imdb.com)
    -INFO : The Knot (1999) (Imdb.com)
    -REVIEW : of The Knot : Written and directed by Aleksandr Sokurov (Alexander Soifer , American Historical Review)

GENERAL :
    -Russian Orthodox Church
    -Post-Soviet Media Law & Policy Newsletter
    -Russia Reform Monitor
    -ARTICLE : Father's ?ideals strike a chord with Solzhenitsyn (Kelly Burke, 30/04/2001, Sydney Morning Herald)
    -ESSAY : Russia Repents? (Vladimir Osherov, First Things, December 1997)
    -LECTURE : Address by Václav Havel, President of the Czech Republic, before the Members of Parliament (Prague, 9 December 1997)
    -LECTURE : Awakening from Nihilism: The Templeton Prize Address (Michael Novak, First Things, August/September 1994)
    -ESSAY : "Redeemer Empire": Russian Millenarianism Ý(DAVID G. ROWLEY, American Historical Review)
    -ESSAY : Stalin's Apologists at The Nation (Dr. Thomas S. Garlinghouse , FrontPageMagazine.com | June 21, 2001)
    -ESSAY : The Era of Error (Michael Ignatieff, New Republic)
    -ESSAY : I, Spy : The sanatorium-spas of the former Soviet Union--once serving only party workers, KGB agents, and the sick--stand now as "instant ruins." (LYLE REXER, July 2001, Metropolis)
    -REVIEW : of Galina Mikhailovna Ivanova. Labor Camp Socialism: The Gulag in the Soviet Totalitarian System (Bruce F. Adams, American Historical Review)
    -REVIEW : of Retreat from the Finland Station: Moral Odysseys in the Breakdown of Communism. By Kenneth Murphy (James Finn, First Things)
    -REVIEW : of Resurrection: the Struggle for a New Russia by David Remnick (Vitali Vitaliev, booksonline)
    -REVIEW : of The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire: Political Leaders from Lenin to Gorbachev by Dmitri Volkogonov (Anne Applebaum, booksonline)
    -REVIEW : of A History of Twentieth-Century Russia by Robert Service (Orlando Figes, booksonline)

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The Russian Question at the End of the Twentieth Century (1995)

Nobel Prize Winners

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