Some Rays of Light

Abstract

An intelligent person cannot remain indifferent to evils which destroy the normal conditions of life. According to a saying, ‘fish seek greater depths, man a better life.’ Many people adapt themselves to the ruling spirit of corruption, follow the wrong way, do what everybody does. But there are always those who cannot be dishonest, ruthless and base, those who understand that moral decay threatens the existence of society and do not reconcile themselves with the existing order. Some of these people remain passive, some react in various ways, criticizing, opposing and undermining the existing regime. Such people may be found not only among those who suffer from the existing system but also among the privileged and ruling groups. History gives us many examples of how slaveholders emancipated their slaves, landlords distributed their estates among the farmers, children of high ranking dignitaries became revolutionaries and joined back-to-the people movements, as occured in Russia in the seventies of the XIXth century. There are such transitional periods when members of the ruling class lose their confidence in the justice of the existing order and in their right to govern and to retain their privileges.