Vladimir Sivitsky: "If we all do what we ought to do following the spirit and the letter of the Constitution, life will be better, the country will flourish, and people’s lives will be fulfilled."
12 December is Constitution Day in Russia. Vladimir Sivitsky shares his reflections on the meaning of the Constitution for the country and for society.
The Russian Constitution is the highest source of Russian law, which gives all that is needed for development. It protects freedom of thought and expression, entrepreneurship and creativity, eliminates unjustified restrictions on property ownership, guarantees support through difficult life situations, and so on.
If someone raises the question of why some of its principles are not working as one would like, the person must ask themselves as to what they have done individually for the implementation of the Constitution; whether all taxes have been paid, all obligations fulfilled, whether one properly measures up to the ideals of humanity in terms of relations with family, with neighbours, with colleagues, even with fellow commuters, and so on; is everything done in full accordance with the Kantian principle of 'do unto others as you would have done unto yourself', and has all the potential of innate ability been fully realised in each person? If we all do what we ought to do following the spirit and the letter of the Constitution, life will be better, the country will flourish, and people’s lives will be fulfilled.
Because with the Constitution, is not what is written on paper that decides matters with the utmost authority, but instead it is the daily real efforts of the people to bring the principles of the Constitution to life, in the sphere of real, practical living, beyond ideas, because only in this form do the most important events modern living take on true meaning.