to develop effectively their own resources, it is easier for Russiansrnto imagine seizing those that are already developed beyondrntheir frontiers.rnThe leaders of a nation in which surgical patients suffer thernhighest rate of infection in the industrialized world, whose factoriesrncannot produce effective contraceptives, and whose citizensrnendure a perpetual scarcity of soap—not to mention thernwidely reported shortages of fruits, vegetables, dairy products,rnand meat—^will have to face difficult choices in establishing prioritiesrnfor the years ahead. Survival must come first, but arnstruggle for survival has been a part of the Soviet experience everrnsince the Bolshevik Revolution. Indeed, the manner inrnwhich Soviet leaders approached that struggle helped to bringrnon the crisis Russians now face. Trying to survive until tomorrow,rnthe Soviet Union’s leaders lived too long for today. Nowrnsenseless pollution, wasted resources, a chronically unproductivernlabor force, and widespread contamination of the environmentrnproduced by more than half a century of Soviet recklessnessrnthreaten to overwhelm a country that has neither thernwealth nor the technology to repair the damage.rnAlthough born and grown to middle age in a world of crisis,rnRussia’s leaders in the years ahead will confront very differentrnproblems than they have in the past. Whether they, with arncenturies-long tradition of information control, corruption,rnand bureaucratic bungling can engage the talents of arntalented people on a truly national scale and educate them inrnthe complex forms of modern-day communications and technologyrnremains to be seen. It will require enormous energy, unprecedentedrnideological flexibility, and political genius to accomplishrnthese tasks, and it is still not clear what groups inrnRussian society might carry them out.rnHow such a transformation will be accomplished—or if itrnwill be accomplished, in fact—will shape the Russians’ responsernto the massive tangle of problems that only now are beginningrnto appear. In centuries past, their response to similarrncrises has been to turn to the West for the technology neededrnto strengthen their defenses. Then, as soon as those borrowingsrnmade it feasible to do so, they sought to prevent the culture andrnpolitical processes of the West from following the technologyrnthey had acquired. If the Russians do not escape the burden ofrntheir history, that pattern will repeat itself.rnThe shape of Russia’s future therefore depends much lessrnupon whether Yeltsin remains in office than on whether the arbitraryrnabsolutism of proizvol can be made to give way to thernlawful use of power. For that to happen, Russian men andrnwomen will have to become more involved in making the policyrndecisions that will shape their future. If the burden of theirrnhistory prevents them from venturing into the minefields ofrndemocratic politics that the eradication of proizvol would create,rnRussia’s leaders may turn once again to the course that hasrnserved them so poorly in the past. That would mean perpetuatingrnproizvol, abdicating the civic responsibilities that Russianrncitizens are only now beginning to take up, and returning tornRussia’s long-standing pattern of crisis management and reformrnimposed from above. Looked at in the starkest terms, thatrnis what Zhirinovsky’s strong showing in Russia’s recent electionrnmay indeed promise. If so, Russia of the 21st century will bernwhat she has always been: a nation ruled from above by leadersrnwho see their people as a national resource to be exploitedrnfor personal gain and international aggrandizement. <0rnA VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTIONrn$ ^ ‘ c^ 5^ .t^ .Ti ^ .rn’ « >rn°4-rnBy: William Rawle, LL. D.rnSECESSION AS TAUGHT AT WEST POINT MILITARY ACADEMYrnYes! For the first time in over 160 years the book that was used at West Point thatrntaught secession as a right of the States has been re-published.rn-k Rawle, a Northerner and friend of Washington and Franklin wrote a textbookrnin 1825 that vindicates the strict construction, State’s Rights view of the Constitutionrnif One complete chapter devoted to the Why, the How, and the When of secessionrn•k Edited and annotated for modern readers by Walter D. and James R. Kennedy,rnCo-authors The South Was Right!rnk Paperback, 284 pages, $13.00 shipped first class mailrnMake check payable to and order from: Old South Books, P.O. Box 46, Simsboro, LA 71275 cDirnMARCH 1994/19rnrnrn