The Natiocracy

(The author is the ideologist of the Organization of the Ukrainian nationalists (OUN) Nikolay Stsiborsky)

 

1.    Ideological bases of the Nation.

 

The Ukrainian nationalism struggles for creation political, social and economic system of the Ukrainian State on principles of the Natiocracy. For clarifying the internal essence of the Natiocracy and its difference from other political systems we shall review in turn the main program principles of the Ukrainian nationalism starting from ideological bases of the Nation and laws of its functioning.

Different political trends treat the Nation and the State in different ways. The political democracy recognizes the Nation, but deprives it of the spiritual essence, regarding the Nation as a materialistic formation. Putting in a basis of its ideology the liberal cult of personality (“the purpose of all is the person”), the modern democracy considers the State itself only a technical means of satisfaction society’s needs and its basic part - the separate person.

The socialism and communism essentially deny the Nation and the State, considering them a transitional historical necessity which in the future will be replaced by the state-free and international organization of a society and cosmopolitan leveling of all mankind.

The Ukrainian nationalism considers the Nation an absolute value, and the State - the organic form of its existence. For the Ukrainian nationalism the Nation is not a mechanical combination of the certain quantity of the people connected among themselves only by a generality of the territory, language and material interests, but the highest organic form of people’s life which has its own unique spiritual content, having been created from time immemorial on the basis of natural features of the given human community, its moral unity and an aspiration to carry out its own historic mission.

The nationalist understanding of the Nation (unlike ideologies of democrats, socialists and communists) is based on spiritually strong-willed outlook, that is such which considers the Spirit (Idea) of the Nation and the as the main bases of  life and motive forces of the Nation its Spirit (Idea) and the Will to create and struggle.

The nationalism regards the Nation as the most important real basis of spiritual and material life which unites both separate people and their interests.

The Ukrainian nationalism takes its own Nation for the highest, absolute ideological and real value, advancing the slogan: the Nation is above all! Nationalists want to see the Ukrainian Nation great, powerful and happy. Understanding the laws of its existence, they struggle for creating such a system which could provide firmness of the Nation in the future competitions as good as possible.

Basing its outlook on right understanding of the laws which lead Nation’s destiny, the Ukrainian nationalism opposes it to all other outlooks. The ideology of nationalism is integral, indivisible, aggressive and irreconcilable; it cannot be coordinated with other ideologies. The Ukrainian nationalism knows that by nature any national idea and national interest deny other ideas and interests. Therefore the nationalism constructs its ideology on maximalism, healthy egoism, love to friends, intolerance to foes, the activism which is able to break the alien force which wants to become an obstacle in Nation’s way.

In a choice of means of liberating the Ukrainian Nation, the nationalism does not limit itself to any "universal" instructions of “validity, mercy or humanism”. All is good that is good for the blessing, strength and development of our Nation; all is bad that weakens this strength and development – It is a basic principle of the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism.

 

2. The essence and tasks of the State.

 

Understanding of the Nation as the highest basis of public life in its internal value and importance leads the nationalism to corresponding treatment of essence and tasks of the state. Unlike socialist and democratic antistate theories the Ukrainian nationalism teaches that the precondition of providing   Nation’s all-round development and its active role on the world arena is the own independent State.

The state organization should coordinate interaction of all forces of the Nation and make their free development possible. According to understanding of the Ukrainian nationalism, the state organization should reflect correlation of separate national-public components, unite them into a single whole and protect it on the international arena by force and the right of the sovereignty.

Only state existence of the Nation completely carries out and strengthens the active nature of the National Idea. Therefore the main task of the Nation is to include the whole ethnic space into its State.

The Ukrainian nationalism wants to create the powerful and great State which would constantly be able - through the internal solidarity and external activity - to carry out the task of the Ukrainian Nation and to protect its interests on the international arena. In this aspiration the Ukrainian nationalism uses principles of healthy, egoistic national moral and exclusiveness of national interest which is above all "universal" doctrines.

In nationalist outlook the Nation and the State are the single and highest in its ideological and real value purpose. For nationalism the State is not an end in itself, separated from people and life. But along with the Nation it becomes the highest purpose to which nationalism subordinates all other purposes and interests ( class, party, group and personal).

Healthy and altruistic concerning its own Nation, the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism cannot agree with treatment of the State only as a technical mean of satisfying public and personal interests (as followers of commune-socialist and demo-liberal ideologies do). The state is not a shop to go to satisfy needs.

Defending national-public interests, helping the whole society and separate citizens to carry them out, the State at the same time has its own, independent essence and nature which results from the importance of its purpose and generality of its value. The nature and national-historical essence of the State make it the highest value to which partial and momentary interests should submit.

The state is not only organized suitability; first of all it is an inner sanctum of the Nation, which obliges the citizen to service, victims and high spiritual impulses. Not the internal struggle of partial interests, but only united, coordinated efforts of the whole society, directed at providing the strength and system of the State, can guarantee inner peace, protection, work, legality, social justice and progress to all social strata of the Nation. This constructive task is proclaimed by nationalism in the slogan:

- The State is above all classes and parties!

 The nationalist political system is built on respect of the authority organized according to a principle of representation in the state management of productive strata of the Ukrainian nation. Therefore by the term “Natiocracy” we understand a means of Nation’s supremacy in its own State which is carried out by power of all socially-useful layers incorporated according to their socially-productive function in representation state bodies.

 

3. The socio-production structure of the Nation.

 

Each national community has two sides of its existence: spiritual and material. The spiritual side is a source of Nation’s creativity, the material one is that real field on which this creativity is concretized in certain material acquisitions. The same as spiritual creativity submits to laws of qualitative individual gradation, material activity of a society is based on production gradation which is dictated by vital suitability and refers to as socio-economic division of labor.

It is necessary to note that distribution of public functions is not limited to economic activities; it also influences uneven concentration of wealth, introduces contrast of material interests and creates corresponding political systems where the right of power and supremacy is obtained by privileged, economically strong groups who impose the obligation of submission and economic dependence on financially weak people.

Democracy and commune-socialism approach to these problems in different ways. Admitting the fact of social inequality, political democracy has been searching for ways of its correction mainly in the ethic field, it has always thought that it is enough to proclaim freedom of the individual, bring him up with the help of the slogan of “equality and brotherhood” as this individual and the other, showing their aspirations through “the will of the majority”, will introduce a useful, corresponding to “fair logic” of life social order.

Meanwhile democratic theories have led to unexpected and opposite practical consequences: during the epoch of democracy and capitalism social inequality, material exploitation of work, political domination of financial, party and oligarchic minority over the working majority have got especially expressive antisocial forms.

The commune-socialist concept makes as many mistakes as the democratic one. While democracy, relying on the logic of "primordial forces’ game”, has underestimated significance of the organized public interference into social-production processes, commune-socialism has overestimated opportunities of plan-regulating principle in public life, bringing it to harmful sketchiness and spiritually-material leveling and egalitarianism.

Considering the mentioned problems, the natiocratic concept uses other principles. It regards internal relations of the Nation as an organic process of combining the Spirit and the Matter which at each historical age creates corresponding to it social-production and political forms. Constructive or destructive result of these forms during the given period depends on their timeliness and suitability to general needs of a constantly developing public organism. Here we observe the evolution which has its logic and divides history into certain consecutive stages.

The essence of Natiocracy is at the same time evolutionary and revolutionary. The first of these features is shown in a desire to keep actual and life-giving forces of the social order and provide them with the best conditions of development, and the second feature - in the organized ability to remove timely obstacles getting in the way of Nation’s progress. Therefore unlike other political concepts, Natiocracy doesn’t have features of a scholastic doctrinaire attitude. Leaning on the settled outlook, in the reorganization of social-production and political relationship inside the Nation the Natiocracy is guided not by useless or paper programs, but only by a direct skill to feel needs of the Nation and its separate elements.

Natiocracy recognizes that the inequality is essential for the society. This law is denied only by democratic illusions and commune-socialist demagogy. However the inequality corresponds to the variety and gradation of life which never suit stereotyped schemes. Actually constructive tasks of a society consist not in useless Utopias of total leveling (here the communism has classically gone bankrupt), but only in the organized aspiration for radical correction of modern production anarchy, destruction of parasitic exploitation of intellectual and physical work, oligarchic irresponsibility and class absurdities (bourgeois and communistic) which make up the illness of our epoch.

Proceeding from principles of quality, creative obligation, social justice and national ethics,  the Natiocracy establishes a system capable to assure an all-around development, a legal status and a fair equivalent (payment) of  work for each productive member of a society.

As the basis of its social-production and political system the Natiocracy takes life-giving – typical for our time and interests of the Ukrainian Nation - basic groups of peasantry, workers and  leading, productive intelligentsia which is an embodiment of  two previous social groups, guiding them in the creative, active future not by the way of antagonisms and the war of “everybody against everybody”, and only by the way of social peace and National solidarity.

 

4.    Social and economic bases of the Natiocracy.

 

The nationalism is the revolution aimed not only at renovation of national life, but also at radical replacement of decayed and parasitic socio-economic attitudes.

Real solidarity and priority of common interests of the Nation are possible only on condition of such a political and socio-production structure of the State which, leaning on above-class essence of the Natiocracy, not only would provide regulation of socio-economic contradictions, but - and it is the most important - would  minimize the possibility and reasons of them.

Two socio-economic systems make up poles apart of our age: the private-ownership capitalism of democracy and the state (pseudo-socialist) capitalism of commune-socialism.

It is not enough to explain the modern condition of capitalism by crisis of commodity overproduction, defects of an exchange and monetary circulation. Existing on basis of aged, rotting social props, capitalism experiences a real and dramatic revolution which from an economic sector transforms into socio-political war of everybody against everybody. Productive, socially useful, having a creative scale of enterprise capital has been compromised by anonymous - deprived of any creative stimulus - financial capital whose purpose consists in speculating artificial symbols of real values to the detriment of public interests.

The private property from the means of well-being and economic strengthening of a society has turned into the means of intensifying inequality; the private initiative from the engine of economic activities has transformed to the anarchy of manufacture and monopoly of greedy clans; natural person’s aspiration for profit has turned into legalized forms of exploitation of work, and the labor itself transformed in “ the usual goods ”, has lost the previous spiritual essence, morals and creative philosophy.

It is illogical to struggle for correction of the certain consequences without elimination of the causes which give rise to them. That’s why it is impossible to combine natiocratic principles of over-class system and social peace with forces of capitalist reaction which result in public parasitism and permanent social antagonisms.

The commune-socialism has created a new form in the socio-politic sector, having left old in its content social inequality combined with tyranny of the party top bureaucracy, and in the economic sector it has created a slow and chaotic machine of the state capitalism, which, having killed all healthy stimulus of work and private interest, presses a society with exploitation, senseless social experiments and squandering of national forces.

The Ukrainian Natiocracy formulates its socio-economic policy using critical experience and combination of old reasonable elements with new forms and tasks of public life. The Natiocracy does not deny private property, economic freedom and aspiration for economic profit. The property, the private initiative and the right of profit are concepts not only economic, but also psychological. They are the basic motive forces of economic development. Where these forces are paralyzed, public life, the same as the creative responsibility of a citizen, is dying.

The Natiocracy returns to these motive forces the peculiar essence lost because of capitalism. The institution of private property, economic freedom and  an incentive to profit turned in conditions of capitalism into the legalized by speculative formulas of "sanctity" and “ economic liberalism ” means of injurious exploitation, into the monopoly of oligarchic clans’ supremacy and into the immoral right of parasitic consumption of results of other people’s labor, producing nothing in return for it, are limited by the Natiocracy to firm frames of a creative obligation, so that the balance between the state authority, interests of the whole society and private incentives of the productive individual.

For the sake of preservation of social balance the Natiocracy gives to the social and economic system a combined character, when the private property and economic freedom will go with principles of the economic-planned control carried out by the State with  certain kinds of collective (national, municipal and cooperative) property  where it is caused by economic conditions.

Keeping the combined principle of collective and private interest, the Natiocracy will base industrial development of the country on mixed principles of the nationalized, municipal, cooperative and private-capitalist industry. In the first place such decisive for economic development of the country and its defense sectors as extractive, heavy, chemical industry, energy sector, transport and so on. Nationalization of all these types of industry is caused by the fact that in conditions of private-capital initiative the mentioned sectors are influenced by the most asocial consequences of capital concentrationM and monopolism, which damage public interests.

Municipalization will spread on the enterprises which serve the certain sites of municipal needs. But the majority of sites of the so-called light and consumer industry which make articles and products of mass demand will be a field of application of the cooperative and private-capitalist initiative. Experience of communism has shown, what comical consequences may be a result of attempts to replace here a creative role of private initiative by the bureaucratic command.

The next sphere of economic freedom will be trade. Concentrating in its hands monopoly in some spheres of external and domestic trade, as well as the policy of regulation of  commodity prices, the state will promote development of cooperation and the private initiative serving this important function of a public exchange. Actually this sector and also the industrial activity will be a basis for development of constructive in its social role cooperative and private national capital.

Involving the private capital in the limited spheres of economic activities, the Natiocracy does not forget its antisocial tendency to transform its constructive meaning into parasitic forms. In order to make it impossible, the state will coordinate all spheres of social and financial policy (labor safety, collective agreements, normalization of profitable percent, emission, a stock exchange, the check and bill reference, tax system, etc.), adjusting growth and redistribution of national riches in interests of the whole society.

 The most corresponding to interests of the Nation and problems of modern agricultural production the Natiocracy recognizes a private-ownership farm. Creating this agrarian system and adjusting mobility of the ground with the purpose of prevention of its unjust concentration, the state will allow also collective forms of land tenure (the labour unions, cooperative societies, etc.) there where it will suit conditions of manufacture.

That is how main socio-economic bases of the Natiocracy look like. Their internal essence is based on the priority of common interests of the Nation and National solidarity which will be realized  in the original form of the organization of a society. This form is the state syndicalism.

 

5.    The state syndicalism

 

Social division inside the Nation is an objective reality which is created by development of socio-production relations. Social groups of the Nation are organic communities which give to the structure of a society concrete forms and define its tasks.

The problem of social division of the Nation is extremely complex and many-sided, it can be solved neither with methods of class reaction, which tries to constrain development of socio-political and economic relationship (as it is done by modern capitalism), nor by narrow-class dogmas of permanent class war (as it is done by commune-socialism). The validity testifies that capitalism and commune-socialism show themselves in a social sphere in actually identical, though formally different, negative consequences just because both of them are first of all class concepts. Excessively favoring one social group (in the first case - bourgeoisie, in the second – artificially made proletariat) on account of damaging vital interests and even existence of other groups, they do impossible an all-around development of a public organism, and transform the state and authority into instruments of the class purposes.

The Natiocracy denies a principle of class struggle and the right of separate social groups to exclusive domination in the State and exploitation of a society. Considering the Nation as alive, integral - though also various in the components - organism, it transfers the decision of social problems to a plane of National solidarity, recognizing a priority of interests of the Nation above interests of separate groups and putting forward a principle of above class solidarity. Realization of above class solidarity is possible only on the basis of adapted to it economic system where a variety of kinds of economic activities and interests of separate social groups is coordinated and counterbalanced by scheduled intervention of the state which prevents economic means from transformation to asocial factors and adjusts fair distribution of the national income between all productive social layers of the Nation.

However it is not enough because economic policy, as well as the Supreme role of the state, can have useful consequences only when the state and its authority represent not class and usurpation cliques (as it is visible in conditions of capitalist democracy and communistic dictatorship), but the whole National society, considering its organic, functional distribution to separate parts (social groups). This form of public organization for the Natiocracy is the state syndicalism.

In the practical essence syndicalism is first of all predetermined by development of economic specialization association of the people working in certain economic branch. This association is created for protection of their professional interests. The state syndicalism considers all members of a society as producers of the certain values. Only production function of the individual and groups defines their role in a society. Caused by modern structure of a society the social morals cannot agree that upon its organism continued to parasitize asocial groups of exploiters. Rejecting speculative morals of capitalist democracy which uses demagogical slogans to hide exploitation, inequality and elements of hatred, the state syndicalism constructs its system on the healthy ethics concretized phrase: “The product of work should belong to producers”, on a principle of an organic society and a creative duty of its all groups which only gives the right to a material equivalent and political value in the state.

In conditions of capitalist democracy parties, not the social groups organized according to a professional principle, are the direct managing factor of the state and economic life. Applying for representation of interests of these groups, parties are in practice the most paradoxical display of the bent structure of the capitalist, deformed by contradictions and industrial anarchy, society. Representing its artificial superstructure organized not according to an organic principle of production distribution, bit only on the basis of "political convictions", these parties become destructive instruments of " free game ” of capitalist relationship and hidden by theories of "freedom-equality" egoistic interests.

The Natiocracy replaces “free game” of production anarchy with the economic plan; the chaos of self-interested "political convictions" – with a severe duty of service of the Nation and recognition of its Supreme authority, and counterbalances anarchy of fans of "freedom-equality" with compulsion of a duty. The social content of the Nation if determined actually not by democrats, liberals, socialists, communists, etc., but only by social groups. Syndicalism of the Natiocracy considers these groups a basis of political and economic system, transforming the State into the union of workers where each citizen and social collectives cooperate at the places determined, by their function, in order to achieve common spiritual and material development of the whole Nation-state.

Resulting from modern socio-production structure of our Nation, economic system of the Natioracy is based on the combined coexistence of the state, municipal, cooperative and private capital under a scheduled economic management and social control of the State that will cause also organizational forms of the syndicalist system. All organic cells of a society (social groups) will be organized in syndicates (trade unions) in conformity with their profession and economic functions.

The basic groups, which will represent in syndicates intellectual and physical work of the Nation, are: the production intelligency divided into different professional subgroups (scientists, technics, teachers, writers, office workers, etc.); workers of all sorts of  industry and transport, different industrial categories; peasantry and agricultural workers; owners of industrial and trading private enterprises, and so on.

Organizing representatives of concrete professions at places (in cities, industrial and rural cells), syndicates of a separate production category will incorporate according to territorially-administrative division of the state and the principle of vertical centralization in the highest associations - the syndicalist unions. Syndicates and their unions in their internal organization will have the corresponding independent rights (a choice of directing bodies, the member initiative). This autonomy should provide incorporated in them production groups of a society with an opportunity of healthy initiative, and transform syndicates into school of national-political, public and professional education of masses.

But taking care of independent development of syndicates, the Natiocracy at the same time involves them as components in the state organism and subordinates syndicates to the managing control of the state. Actually this law-public content of syndicates gives the state character to them (this explains a term - the state syndicalism, different from unorganized narrow-class syndicates of the capitalist system).

In conditions of capitalist democracy the labor is only exploited "goods" which is regulated by callous laws of "demand-offer". This emasculated makes it annoying for millions of people, and sometimes, even more, unrespectable necessity which predetermines physically aimless vegetation. Syndicalism of the Natiocracy returns to person’s work its lost spiritual essence. It takes all producers-citizens in position of co-creators, co-owners of produced values.

The society organized in syndicates becomes the most important, managing factor of social and economic life of the state. The coordination of interests of separate public groups, protection of interests of work, collective agreements, conscious operating participation and a material interest of the workers in production of enterprise, the social legislation, fair distribution of the national income, scheduled definition of current problems of a national economy (all those problems which in conditions of capitalist anarchy and communistic dictatorship cause or frank class struggle, or elements of the social hatred strangled by terror), all these problems will solidary be resolving by the society incorporated in syndicates.

These tasks should be carried out by Economic Councils, formed on the parity bases from representatives of different categories of syndicates. Economic Councils will function at different levels of territorially-administrative division. The All-Ukrainian Economic Council will be an official advisory body of legislative and executive authority of the State.

Providing the above class essence, the Natiocracy rejects participation of political parties in the government. It bases the political system on a combination of collective will of the National society and its constructive creativity with the Supreme authority of the Nation-state in which the state syndicalism will be an important political factor of this system.

In the state syndicalism reveals the harmonizing essence of the Natiocracy which, proceeding from indivisible unity of the Nation, at the same time takes into an account its organic division into separate production parts and connects them by functional dependence into the harmonious unity, realizing in this way the essence of a mode of domination of the whole Nation in its own State.

 

6.    The constant political system

 

The constant political system of the Natiocracy will become a consequence of emancipating (the National revolution) and preparing-reconstructive (National dictatorship) efforts of the Ukrainian nationalism and will mean transition of the Nation to final, ending stages of National-state construction.

Social and economic development of the Ukraine will lean on the combined system of state, public (municipal-cooperative) and private property, at planned management and the control of the State. This regulative character of a national economy will exclude classical liberalism and with it political parties as factors of political management of the state.

The function of parties in the state bodies will be performed by social production groups (syndicalism) organized according to a professional principle. This is the gist of the idea of the state syndicalism which replaces mediate representation of interests of population’s separate groups through artificial and antagonistic parties with direct and solidary representation of common and partial interests of the Nation through its organic production parts (socially production groups).

The Natiocracy denies party-parliamentary organization of democracy. Both during National dictatorship and in conditions of a constant political system parties will not exist. But the Natioсracy will lean on principles of equality of citizens in front of the law, personal and public rights and cooperation of the authority and people in the government.

Strong through its authority and stability, the Natiocracy, concentrating in its hands management, defense and state system, at the same time under its leadership will provide wide opportunities of creativity of the population in the most comprehensible to the Ukrainian conditions forms of self-management. Not in parties and political sectarian groups, but actually here, in institutions of local government (as well as in the syndicalist organizations) masses will find for themselves the school of national-political creativity and education, nominating from their own milieu the new leading and organically connected with them layer of skilled public men, organizers, business executives and statesmen.

The Ukrainian State according to its administrative-territorial system should be divided into lands, districts and communities (city and rural) which will have the self-government institutions and within the limits, established by the law, will supervise over local public affairs. Plenipotentiary representatives of the state government in separate lands will be the land heads who are at the head of local state administration and automatically have the position of a chairman of the Land council, thus connecting three elements of the management: the government, the control and public creativity and self-government.

Nation-wide legislative institution will be the State Council. As well as in self-government institutions, deputies of the State Council will be elected through direct, general, equal and secret ballot in noted quantity from each constituency. State Council candidates will be defined in constituencies by syndicates and their Economic Councils. The registers made by them will be transferred for voting of people of a constituency.

Eliminating the struggle of elective-party cliques and introducing the control, the Natiocratic system puts at the same time the State Council in direct communication with the People, transferring its formation to the social groups incorporated in syndicates. These state-political powers of syndicates, together with their social and economic functions (local and All-Ukrainian Economic Councils), will transform the state syndicalism into a class core and the main nerve of the whole Natiocratic system.

At the head of the Nation and the state organization  will be the Chairman of the State. It will not be a dictator who keeps his position by force of the supporters, not a toy, "representative" president of the democratic republic. It will be the Leader of the Nation, the best of the best sons who will hold the power of the State in his hands, basing it on general trust of the Nation and the right of his nature qualities. He  will be the embodiment of the authoritative essence of the Natiocratic state which will combine in itself healthy elements of monocratism and the responsibility.

The Chairman of the State will be elected for a term of 7 years by the National Assembly collected for this purpose. It will consist of the State Council, the All-Ukrainian Economic Council, representatives of syndicates and Land councils. The Chairman of the state will rule the Country, to represent it abroad, be the Supreme Leader of its Armed forces, have the right of the legislative initiative, dissolution of the State Council and the right of the veto to its decisions on certain constitutional bases. It will be at the same time the Head of the State Government and by his authority will appoint the State ministers, both from members of the State Council and out from it. The state ministers will be responsible for the ministries not to the State Council but to the Chairman of the State and will be removed from the posts by his order. The State Council will have the right of the control over legality of actions of the State ministers.

Thus, Chairman of the State by his powers will eliminate the contradictions created by political democracy following the "sacred" principle of division of legislative and executive authority, and will provide these authorities with correct interaction. The Supreme Court will realize the control of indestructibility of laws, lawful correctness of given out by the legislative and executive branches of power, cassation revision of all other legal proceedings. Accordingly land, district and city courts will provide the right-legality in the State.

That is how basically the constant political system of the Natiocracy will look like. The Ukraine will be authoritative and unitary, but in an appropriate measure also self-governing at a local level republic. This system with all its elements will correspond the essence of the Natiocracy as a mode of domination of the whole Nation in own State.