“Sovereignty” and rabid nationalism has become the new signature of the Georgian government, which is hellbent on repressing every part of society to ensure the total domination of the current ruling bourgeoisie.

It all started with the introduction of the so-called law on transparency in 2023, after which the government introduced another repressive law anti-LGBT propaganda and the law about offshore companies which would make it easier for the ruling class to launder money.

After the reintroduction of the “law on transparency of foreign influence” and the brutal crackdown on protests that came after them, the government, predictably, used intimidation, and vote-buying to ensure electoral victory – an excellent demonstration of full capacity of the so-called democratic process.

The Georgian middle class is in disarray and effectively is standing against an existential threat, given the promises from the government about widespread terror and repression against those who it deems traitors.

There have been protests against the government since it has declared the freezing of EU integration till 2028, and, in turn, the government has responded with the use of extrajudicial crackdowns, systemic torture, massive arrests and terror by far-right thugs.

While the government churns out delusional propaganda everyday and the middle class and the haute bourgeoisie fight among each other, the conditions of the working class deteriorate and the State sows diversion and spreads propaganda where it can, and where it cannot, stiffles out any sign of dissent among the workers with force and intimidation.

Bourgeois Sovereignty and Nationalism

The government claims it is defending “Sovereignty” of the Georgian nation against the foreign influence and is justifying the repressions as being targeted against the traitors of the nation.

The so-called law about transparency is directly tied to this rhetoric – in reality, it is a tool the government will use to repress and destroy the middle class and NGOs.

Ironically, the government, at the same time, also passed the law that makes it easier for offshore companies to operate in Georgia. We can only guess, as all the law-abiding citizens should, that this will be used to further increase transparency of finances and will not be used by the current ruling bourgeoisie with its ties to Russia to launder their money in a more efficient way. In short, there is no doubt what do nationalism and national sovereignty entail – the sovereignty of the bourgeoisie class and guarantee of its domination.

The farcical theatre of nationalism has been playing out in Georgia for decades already. Right, left and centre alike share identical and identically absurd fantasies and formulas of nationalism. All of them preach the same words, chastise the same sins and extol the same virtues. Then it must not come as a surprise that Georgia has come to such a baffling picture: Everybody agrees but hates each other.

The ideology is so prevalent that politics cannot exist in its ideological form, there is no room for disagreement. Even the ruling party, with its obvious sympathies for Russia, is forced to spew bullshit about joining the EU in 2030.

Everybody loves Europe, Georgian nation, democracy, and sovereignty. And everybody hates traitors, authoritarianism, and foreign influence. There’s only a slight problem: Nobody has any clue what these mean anymore. And we doubt they meant anything in the first place.

Behind these shadows of ideology lay bare the ugliness of bourgeois society with the self-interest of the ruling class and divisions within. Then the root of “polarization” becomes clear: There cannot be a “dialogue” between “opposing views”, because there are no opposing views, there are only the opposing interests among inter and intra-class lines.

On one hand, there is the relatively affluent petty bourgeoisie, which has financial ties to Europe and travels there frequently. On the other hand, there are influential members of the haute bourgeoisie that have ties to Russian capital and are represented by the ruling party at the moment. There is also a segment of haute bourgeoisie that is more dependent on the Western capital.

But far the most important and influential is the richest man in Georgia by a wide margin, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who seeks to establish complete control over the country. It can be presumed that the small opposition among the haute bourgeoisie against the current course is not only due to the ties to different capitals, but also due to the fear that they might be crushed in the future by Ivanishvili.

One Man’s Reactionary Georgian Dream

Bidzina Ivanishvili is the one who is calling the shots. He is the sacred body of the so-called Georgian nation, similarly to Augustus and the Roman Empire. He incorporates in himself all of the “independent” branches of bourgeois government: He owns the executive, the legislative and the judiciary branches.

Liberals, of course, are not baffled by this dysfunction of their system. More stupid ones among them may even attribute this defect to the un-exorcized demon of “Soviet Mentality”. The reality, however, is quite simple: The way Georgian government works is not completely different from the way the bourgeois government works in any other case, or in the much-praised USA, for example, which by the virtue of being a wealthier country with a wealthier bourgeoisie, has a multitude of oligarchs instead of just simply one.

Ivanishvili simply has the means and ambition to become the sole head of the capital in the country, and by extension, own the government. His power is completely based on his capital.

Thus, the State shows him the recognition that he deserves and is almost deified. His informal standing and status reinforce this, having been bestowed only the vague title of the “Honorary Chairman” of the ruling party, aptly named “Georgian Dream”.

The ruling party talks of the mythical “Global War Party”, the Freemasons, foreign influences, and other scary big words which do not mean anything. It is not completely clear whether Ivanishvili himself believes in the demons he conjures or is simply making up tales to scare the populace. In any case, it is clear that he desires to avoid war and globalization and intends to establish “Georgian Sovereignty”, the grand reactionary dream of turning against the flow of history and of creating an anclave of peace and stability amidst the chaos, war, instability, and increasing globalisation around the world.

The fantasies of Ivanishvili sound awfully similar to the ideology of other geopolitically similarly aligned countries – in particular, the theory of the so-called multipolar world. This multipolarity, of course, just means the freedom of the national bourgeoisies to repress and exploit the local working classes, instead of the process of globalization meddling in their affairs.

Left and Right Wings of Capital: One Hand Washes the Other

The left and right wings of capital alike revel in this miserable farce. Both the left and the far-right, despite their insistence on their opposition to capitalism, are too enthusiastic to support the march towards authoritarianism and repression. What is clear is that philistine “anti-capitalism” of both turned out to be nuanceless geopolitical anti-Americanism and banal nationalism.

These two flanks, despite their seeming opposition to each other, worked tirelessly for the benefit of the State. The left deployed its propaganda machine of brainless heads, while the far-right deployed its muscle.

The self-proclaimed defenders of the working class applauded the repressive apparatus of the ruling class and squealed with joy at the State’s pathetic attempts at patriotic and religious propaganda. It is now clear to see, though it was not very hard to see before either, that the sole worry for these clueless and corrupt politicians was never the working class, but ideological opposition towards “Liberalism” and whatever they conjure it up to mean in their deluded minds. For the left, it is simple: if the bourgeois State attacks liberals, to hell with the working class and its demands! The left stubbornly refuses to see that it is precisely this government that oversees the efficient repression of the working class and ensures the unlivable working conditions.

As for the far-right, it is not difficult to see why they would support the State on its current path – they do share the fanatic patriotism and glee at the State’s authority. It is a clear fact that the government uses fascist militants for their terror aims. The media calls these thugs “titsushkiy”, in reference to the informal thugs used by Victor Yanukovich in Ukraine. But it must also be mentioned that these thugs tend to be overwhelmingly far-right in their beliefs and tend to belong to various fascist militant organizations.

The only political opposition are the liberals, who decry State now for the sole reason that it has at this specific point in time turned specifically against them. And even in this opposition it is mild and weak. Liberals, despite their repression, refuse to go against State in principle, and only claim that this current government is “illegitimate” and not really a government at all. They refuse to believe that the police is not filled with those who are, in the depths of their hearts, good and honest men who are secretly against the ruling party, or given enough time, can be reasoned with and shown the absolute truth of the liberal dogma. In short, they’re as hopeless as ever.

However, of course, there are certain deviations from this liberal dogma, and the followers of liberalism themselves are becoming more and more confused and radicalized. Some talk about the defense of constitution as a form of revolution. There are a lot of misguided calls for revolution without having any understanding of how the revolutionary process develops.

The Working Class – Repressed As Always

As always, what is left and discarded is the working class. It is whipped and told to shut up by the State and the far-right, and ignored by the left.

As for the liberals, the petty bourgeoisie, in its best tradition, flees and begs the proletariat for support. The middle class, when it has no support from the ruling class, is left impotent and unable.
“Strike!” – the petty bourgeoisie demands. These pretentious liberals have just remembered about the existence of a magical thing called the working class, which has these mystical ability to strike. It is bewildering how the liberals invented striking from scratch – some even did not believe in such a concept and argued that employers would just fire everyone who tried to stop working.

But liberals have seemingly forgotten that it was them who ignored the existence of the working class before or even gleefully supported its longstanding repression outright, which has left the proletariat unable to do anything.

Besides, the petty bourgeoisie moralistically condemns the worker for not striking, because this is about “the Motherland”, not their self-interest. They complain about the strikes that are done with the demand for better working conditions and pay, and instead demand that the workers call for the new elections. Put plainly, they complain that the working class follows its own interest and not the interest of the middle class.

While everyone spews this ideological bullshit, the State further strengthens its repressive apparatus and ensures even better efficiency for repressing the workers.

But fear not, amidst the repressions against the public workers, teachers of schools and pre-schools, etc., the government has thrown the workers a bone – pensions have been raised by 35 GEL, from 315 GEL to 350 GEL. Hooray! This won’t be enough to even cover the rising prices, but all that matters is patriotic pride, right? At the very same day, it was decided that the parliamentarians’ salary will be raised twofold to 11,680 GEL We can only imagine the hard work the comrades at the Deputies’ Trade Union must have put into this achievement.