Conference
Role and conditions of the development of Family Homesteads for the socio-economic transformation of Russia
Report
25 October 2017
Theses:
1. The dream of a just society, as a driver of social development.
2. The worldview of people and families is the energy and moral basis for the prosperity or destruction of the state and economy.
3. Family Homesteads – a new social and natural form of life of Russian citizens, where a stable, responsible, creative worldview is born, directed far into the future.
4. Necessary economic and political steps to develop the creation of settlements consisting of Family Homesteads, as a method of building anti-crisis policies and economics.
To begin the discussion of this topic I will indicate the starting premises of my perspective:
– there are no bad or good people, countries, or situations;
– there are conditions of a problem that life offers us to solve in a given place, time and circumstances;
– every thought, word or deed of a person, a group of people or a country is an examination for humanity.
Proceeding from these premises, I will also consider the topic of a just [~ correct, fair, proper] society. The best minds of humanity dream of it. The dream of such a society is deeply in the heart of any person, however, it has not been realized.
Today, on the planet, human society consists of many countries. Their state structures differ little from one another and exist as a pyramid, at the top of which is the ruling clan regulating commodity-money flows, changing and establishing the rules of life, while below are the producers of material and spiritual value. On the quality of these spiritual values that feed the elite, depends the image and actions of the top of the pyramid. I think, proceeding from this pattern, a statement was born – “Every nation is worthy of its government”. For example, take the recent past of our country. In the wild 90s, when Western spiritual values based on the exaltation of the dollar were offered to the people, many dreamed of becoming rich quickly and did not hesitate to trample on morals. Toward the top of the pyramid of power, were drawn clans with a similar worldview. When society yearned for honesty and justice, the same qualities of character appeared in the leadership. If the majority of citizens wish to create a state of justice, the elite will be raised into the depths of the people, and brought up on the same spiritual foundations. That is why, in my opinion, it is so important to designate and proclaim a national idea. It will nurture like-minded people, and then the dream will become reality.
Adoption of values alien to our culture in the recent past led to a sharp destruction of the institution of the family and a shift in social emphasis towards false goals. A person lives in such a society, learns, gets a profession, makes a career, creates a family, raises children, but, at 40 years feels that their energy is already waning, and life is not happy. Why? All their life this person runs after the values imposed by the system, for money, for position in society, pushes grown-up children into this marathon, and they look at their parents, at their bleak survival and they think, “I don’t want that”. And then a person remembers that in his youth he thought the same way! But it has already taken off, it’s impossible to stop. When the meaning of life is lost, there is a spiritual crisis, illness and early death. A person is by nature a protector, living for the sake of those they love. If they cannot provide for their family, they sees that they can not change anything, they feel incomplete, unfulfilled and do not want to live.
The world outlook, like the notion of a just society, is mainly formed by the family, the culture of the people, and the environment. But there are things which are unshakable: any living being, including humans, has the right to life, freedom of development, and a territory. The encroachment on this right is unfair and deforms the person’s outlook, developing in it the energies of destruction, greed, envy, arrogance, lust for power. This combination turns the master’s mind into a puppet of his own passions, destroys the person from within, and suppresses benevolent qualities. Life, as in a distorted mirror, is perceived by such a person in a distorted way. They exist on the brink of survival, false goals take away free time and cultivate low passions. Medicine, education, war, science, sports and so on have all become business. But conscience, honor, love? If it does not bring money, then why is it needed? According to some studies, happy families in our country number 5 for every 10,000. Here, too, double standards are sprouting. The union of two has turned into a conditional agreement, according to which the pair remains as long as mutual interests are being satisfied. Children who grew up in such families have a lower sense of responsibility and an increased entitlement for protection of their own personal interests. That’s what Russia got by accepting other people’s values, and letting their own drop.
What guarded our soldiers in the Great Patriotic War, sitting in the trenches? He thought about his family, children, and home. He defended a friend, an old neighbor, a widow and her children living in a house in a nearby street. But nobody thought about them and as a rule, the government of the country sacrificed these men for the sake of saving industry, material values, and the system itself. But it was from the energy of life of the same women, children and old people that our country rose from the ashes of ruin. So where does the state draw strength? From the pure energy of the family, built on love, selfless service to relatives, devotion to the culture of ancestors. It is this wealth, which makes up the majority of our people, that did not allow enemies to conquer the country even once. According to divine rules, our ancestors built their family and clan community, where the whole settlement is one big family.
To give birth to a new world order, it is necessary to analyze the past in order to see from there useful experience, as to what is suitable to implement now. For instance, a Family Homestead for every family who wants to create a Space of Love for their loved ones. This idea was first expressed in a series of books by V.N. Megre the “Ringing Cedars of Russia”, in the mid-90s of the last century, and found a response in the hearts of many people who are already building their family homesteads.
In their family homestead, a person is responsible for their own well-being, health and prosperity of the family. Uniting with their like-minded neighbors, residents solve common problems of roads, work, leisure, education of children and so on. In a small community, everyone is familiar and open with their joys, troubles, and care for children like a big family. High mutual assistance, responsibility of everyone for the well-being of all, and at the heart of relations is sincerity, conscientiousness, and honesty. Having much in common with living nature, a person learns to understand, appreciate, and treat it carefully. They see the good results of their efforts and the negatives of destructive morality which causes damage to the family and descendants. In the well there is always clean water, and in the forest – a source of firewood, berries and mushrooms. Everything is done by the owner. Each subsequent generation will improve their homestead, which they inherit. So people have a creative attitude to life. For children born in a family homestead, the Homeland is not an abstract concept, but a favorite place on Earth belonging to a particular clan by birth. It educates the independence and responsibility of a person, the worldview is formed on the basis of a harmonious relationship with nature and people. It will improve the whole structure of society from the bottom up.
It is necessary that the Constitution protects one’s ancestral land as a valuable asset of the country, then the state will be immune to external unfriendly forces. Today there are 371 settlements of family homesteads in 58 states of the Russian Federation (the map of settlements is current for 2016, http://www.anastasia.ru/static/patrimony_list.php), and this figure is constantly increasing. These people need support by way of legalizing their situation, and we already need a Presidential Decree on free allocation to each family who wishes to own one hectare of land for the creation of their family homestead on it. And that the land is allocated for life use with transfer by inheritance, and the products produced in the family homestead are not subject to any taxes, such that the prosperity of the ordinary worker and his family, and not the wealth of officials, is strengthened from the results of the labor they invest. Perhaps this will be the beginning of building a just society for everyone.
Volkova Irina Viktorovna
Family Homestead Settlement Rodnoe,
Vladimir region
E mail: viv-vladimir@list.ru
Report presented at the “Conference on the role and the conditions of Family Homesteads for the social and economic development of Russia”, 25-6 October 2017 at Moscow State University Lomonosov
Translated by Kemble Dawson Walker 7 Dec. 2017
Original article published 6 Dec. 2017 (in Russian): http://anastasia.ru/news/detail/36198/