PARADIGMAL REPRESENTATION OF PATRIOTISM AS A NATIONAL IDEA OF RUSSIA: CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The growing spiritual crisis in society of Russia has brought to life new trends that require deep theoretical reflection. Among them is the idea of patriotism and its development as a national idea. The unfolding discussion on this problem in science has revealed many conflicting views on the essence and content of patriotism. To strengthen the arguments and expand the evidence base, the authors turned to the scientific heritage left by the revolutionary democrats of Russia of the century who at that time developed the original concept of patriotism. Extrapolation of tendencies of the patriotism of the 19-th century to the modern Russian soil revealed an amazing similarity of negative trends after 170 years: the preservation of poverty, the growth of the tax burden, weak social protection of the population, and others. In the 19-th century, new trends were added to them: the growth of corruption, embezzlement, large-scale illegal enrichment, deepening the gap between the rich and poor, the globalization of the Russian economy, and so on. The existing socio-economic and moral-spiritual situation in Russia does not give any grounds for identifying patriotism with the national idea. In this regard, the author’s concept of genuine patriotism in the format of the national idea is proposed.