I will use this account as a repository for my larger texts, as Facebook moderation policy tends to be questionable, especially in view of the Russian-Ukrainian war and associated Russian disinformation and propaganda efforts.
I rarely appear here, Facebook is still the preferred communication tool. ========== Я использую этот аккаунт как хранилище больших текстов, так как Фейсбук часто удаляет их по надуманным предлогам, особенно в связи с российско-украинской войной и российской информационной войной в частности.
Меня здесь почти не бывает, для оперативной связи пока лучше пользоваться Фейсбук.
The world is fascinated today with Volodymyr Zelensky, a young and bold president who dares to oppose Russia. Is he the lone noble fighter? Or is he driven by different motives? And is he really the EU integration advocate for Ukraine?
The Good
From February 24 onward, we saw Mr. Zelensky boldly rally Ukrainians to fight against the Russian invasion. He wears a military jacket, unshaved, and has the look of a soldier. Some journalists have already compared him to Winston Churchill and other similar figures of the past, who were not afraid to fight against the invaders. His team created a title for him: “The one who did not run away”.
This is the most important thing you need to understand about Mr. Zelensky. He is an actor, and not a bad one. He knows how to create an image, and his team of image makers are constantly working on polishing it. His team of talented speakers, like Arestovich and Podolyak, create the right background for it.
But if you compare these speeches to the ones just before the invasion - they’re different as day and night. “Relax, we are going to a picnic soon! All these war talks are getting us nowhere and repel the investors” - was the reaction of Zelensky
(direct speech) to a question on the threat of Russian invasion, based on US intelligence reports and Mr. Biden’s warnings
.
Perhaps, the story of how Volodymyr Zelensky became the President of Ukraine will bring some understanding.
The Bad
2014. Zelensky performs his stand-up routine in front of Russia-backed separatists of Donbass, and in Moscow. Among other things, he mentions that the Russian army did not invade Ukraine, but moved the border further. Other anti-patriotic and anti-Ukrainian statements were frequent in his shows. Basically, he was repeating Russian propaganda mantras as jokes, which, through the oligarch controlled media, became popular among the less patriotic and politically educated part of the population.
It is not his country – he is on tour here. — Oksana Zabuzhko, a famous writer, on Zelensky before his election
Playing musical instruments without hands was how Zelensky became famous. And sponsorship of Ihor Kolomoysky.
) where Zelensky plays a president. The key thing here is that Zelensky’s character rules on a whim, and the show gives an impression that that is possible. A very primitive and populist representation of state and politics. Again, the show was packed with Russian narratives demeaning Ukraine and Ukrainians. This was the foundation of the election campaign that followed.
2019. Yesterday’s comedian becomes president overnight. In contrast, Ronald Reagan spent decades in different elected positions, before running for president. Zelensky has a party (Servant of the People, aka the “Green party”, but which has nothing to do with ecology) that was created for him just weeks before the campaign.
In just 2 months since the presidential election, which is an overwhelming win of Mr. Zelensky, his party manages to take an unprecedented 50+ percent in the parliament, making all other parties an opposition, without a need for coalition. One party forms the government and dictates everything.
How was that possible?
Why did a successful team of president Poroshenko, who managed to preserve Ukraine as a state, without severe economic disasters; and to successfully reform many things, lose elections to a political rookie? How did a comedian who repeatedly insulted and demeaned Ukraine, its statehood, culture and heroes, with no strategy, no ideology and no political experience become the President, defeating a career politician, very respected in the West?
Because the elections were accompanied by an unprecedented defamatory media campaign to discredit the pro-Ukrainian choice, European way, and Mr. Poroshenko personally. Because almost all media in Ukraine are controlled by oligarchs, and Mr. Kolomoysky in particular. Following his election, Zelensky has spent 3 years on a campaign against ex-president Poroshenko, accusing him of all possible problems in Ukraine.
Some of the theses that had deluged on a Ukrainian commoner from all the TV channels, save a few:
The West wants land and resources from us, EU will rob Ukraine blind;
Joining NATO will further alienate us from Russia, Russia is a friend, and we should rule out the misunderstandings with it;
EU is ruled by the freemasons, and similar conspiracy theories;
Poroshenko is a thief(!) - no proof whatsoever, but repeated from all outlets
Poroshenko managed to increase his wealth 82 times. (Blatant lie: wealth of Mr. Poroshenko actually decreased from 1.6B USD to 0.7B while in the office, he was dropped from the Forbes billionaire listings
; he regained his former wealth later, after still nowhere near the 82 times figure);
Poroshenko killed his own brother(!) - again, no proof
And similar groundless claims and accusations. There is a popular joke that it is Mr. Poroshenko who killed JFK, Laura Palmer and Jesus Christ.
On the picture: ex-President Poroshenko is picking mushrooms - a popular pastime in Ukraine. But unaware reader may think of something gruesome.
So, Zelensky came to office on a platform of anti-western, mildly pro-Russian rhetoric. Due to greed and incompetence of Zelensky’s -men, they did not make a clear turn, but started making chaotic movements, pro-Russian moves, backing off, because of the opposition watched and criticized their every move.
Lviv, European Solidarity meeting
The Ugly
Zelensky: I owe you nothing! - a famous slip when he was caught unaware by a journalist.
To sum-up Zelensky’s 3 years in the office:
Contempt for the constitution. Zelensky called an early parliamentary election, which resulted in his party dominating all branches of power. He tried to further increase his dominance by aligning with the pro-Kremlin OPZZh party
(UKR), now banned for collaboration with Moscow,, but failed. Had he succeeded, the alliance would have been able to change the constitution legally, ignoring all opposition.
Ignoring the country’s defense. The Ukrainian army was systematically undersupplied. Neither in 2020 nor in 2021 under Zelensky were the Defense budget’s goals met.
Rollback of anti-corruption efforts:The special anti-corruption prosecution office and court were sabotaged by the green party. And it is now included as one of conditions for Ukraine to stay on the path for joining the EU.
Systematic legal and extrajudicial repression of the opposition. The prosecutor’s office has started about 200 cases against Mr. Poroshenko and other opposition politicians, activists, war veterans, etc. None of the charges held up in court, but the prosecution hoped to find a judge who could be convinced to ignore the defense arguments, Russian style rubber stamping of the verdict. Only political and media pressure holds the prosecution dogs at bay.
, Pryamoy and Espresso TV channels who are loyal to the opposition, were disconnected from broadcast without a court order, during the war. Before then, there were multiple attempts to foreclose or expropriate these media assets, debunked in courts
Sabotage of defense efforts in the South. It was Zelensky’s party that decided to remove landmines on the road from Crimea. The cleared road later allowed the invaders a safe passage to Kherson and Mariupol. The “Road building campaign”, just before the invasion, allowed the invaders to reach the outskirts of Kyiv in just days; the Chornobyl zone was left unguarded;and it was the government, not military, who ordered this;
Ignoring allies. Intelligence-based warnings from the allies, such as Joe Biden, were ignored, on the ridiculous pretext of “avoiding general panic and not panicking investors”;
Having collaborators right under his nose. in Kherson and Mariupol, formation of Territorial defense was sabotaged by the local governments, consisting of OPZH and Servant of the People, Zelensky’s party. A few Zelensky party comrades openly declared their allegiance to Russia and now collaborate with the occupational administrations.
What were the motives here?
Now for the most important part. Zelensky is not an independent politician. He depends on oligarchs, mainly Ihor Kolomoysky, a top billionaire in Ukraine (oil, gas, construction, media) and a convicted criminal in the USA (federal felony charges on money laundering and fraud).
Ihor Kolomoysky
For Mr. Kolomoysky, Ukraine joining the EU means one thing: rule of law. This means that an independent court will execute the US extradition order, and he will end up in a US Federal Prison for many years, if not for life. The charges against him are solid, otherwise he would defend himself in court, like Mr. Poroshenko does.
Earlier, in 2019, after Zelensky won the elections, Kolomoisky openly declared
a pro-Russian switch in Ukrainian course, integration back with all Russia-led structures, and forgetting Maidan and Eurointegration. Such an open declaration was clearly an act of high treason. He was ready to ask Zelensky to surrender Ukraine to Russia with open arms, but his efforts failed due to opposition vigilance and multiple demonstrations of people in the streets, and Zelensky was too afraid of losing popularity, not to mention another revolution if things went totally out of hand.
Now, since the war has started, losing it is not exactly a desired outcome for him, either. He has crossed too many lines dealing with Russia, in particular, funding the voluntary forces back in 2015, before he changed his allegiances. Russia does not need a too-powerful local governor whose allegiances may vary; they will appoint one of their own, totally loyal to them, and get rid of the rest. Possibly by execution.
Therefore, Kolomoysky has only two viable strategies:
a stalemate. A lingering war without a decisive victory. This specifically keeps Zelensky in office indefinitely.
A one-party, Russian-style dictatorship, in which the ruling party guarantees him immunity.
This aligns very well with Zelensky, who is very dependent on public praise and approval ratings. Just before the war, his ratings tumbled, almost below those of the opposition. This is a typical picture for a disposable political project, such as “Servant of The People”, which cannot maintain long term loyalty. Zelensky likes to play the role of an ambitious leader, he knows how to do it. After all, he is an actor.
But the bad thing is that he has no competence to fulfil all the responsibilities of a president, and unlawfully delegates those responsibilities to his assistants, who have no legal basis for performing such duties.
The more the collective West praises Zelensky - who clearly does not deserve it - the more he believes in himself being the “chosen one” of sorts. He believes the war is already won, and it is time to go back to business, which is to eliminate the opposition. However, recent remarks by Mr. Biden show that he very well understands who Zelensky is. And unannounced visits by Mr. Johnson look like inspections of an executive, when something is not working correctly.
Ukrainian forums are full of empty profiles who preach Zelensky . There is a danger that blunders and deliberate abuse of the position by Zelensky will be suppressed with the money of Kolomoysky.
Since Ukraine is gaining EU candidate status, many things are changing. First, European politicians will have more weight and influence in internal matters. Even such primitive incentives - as “no reforms - no money” will work.
The pro-European opposition (European Solidarity party, ES) is making a lot of effort to make EU membership happen. Since Ukraine is still a democracy, although with flaws, political pressure on the government and Zelensky has forced him to take steps towards Europe. Otherwise, he might step into the shoes of Mr. Yanukovich, who refused the EU association offer and was kicked out of the office.
A Maidan scenario, where the people or the military (which is the same at war) take power, if Zelensky crosses the line, is very undesirable, as Ukraine is in a full scale war. We need men fighting on the frontiers, not in Kyiv. But if the choice becomes: remove the president from office or lose the war, it is obvious how the military will behave. And such declarations were subtly made in the media by different rank commanders - nobody will tolerate surrender, or any other compromise with Russia at the cost of Ukrainian people. That includes giving away territories, European orientation, or any laws that defend Ukrainian independence.
Since the initial unity, declared in February, was shattered by unprovoked attacks of the Presidential office on opposition and some generals, the military and opposition openly criticize Zelensky and his team, there is no need to hold the pretense.
This is what Zelensky has been entangled with, having his rating hit rock bottom just before the start of the Russian offensive.
European integration is a chance for Ukraine. And, surprisingly, for Zelensky as a politician, should he start implementing the necessary steps, and forget his past shady deals. Moreover, the pro-European Ukrainians, responsible already for two revolutions in the country, do not want to miss that chance. With Zelensky or without.
How can we continue helping Ukraine with such leadership?
That is the key point. In this respect, Ukraine is very different from many other countries, especially Russia. Ukraine has the active part of society, which always rallies when the country is in danger. They did back in 2014, and they do so now. Huge efforts are being made by the volunteers to help the army with supplies, before the official supply line was open, and volunteers do a great deal of helping in delivering the aid straight to the forces. This includes medication, night vision equipment, car parts, generators, army radios and all other non-lethal equipment.
More importantly, the army is well respected in our society, has its own leadership and situational decision making, and is an important driving force in society. As the Mariupol defense story shows, it will not surrender, even if deserted by government officials.
It is also worth mentioning that Zelensky is under pressure from many sides. He can be influenced in a positive way, too, if he realizes that there is only one way out. It is still possible to persuade him to make the right decision, if these oligarch fixers: Yermak, Podolyak, Arestovich and some others are restrained.
Do not over glorify “The man who did not escape”! He was simply put in a situation where there was no escape. There are other people who deserve the praise. The soldiers who fight, most often against impossible odds. The commanders, who use their brain and gut instinct to organize the defense, and now counteroffensive, with minimum losses possible with such unfavorable odds. The volunteers, who spend all their time delivering whatever the army needs, evacuating the civilians, organizing impossible logistics chains in a country disrupted by war. And last, but not the least, our Commander-In-Chief, gen. Valery Zaluzhny - the real commander of the Ukrainian army, the mastermind of all success the army has so far. He is the man the soldiers are ready to follow in battle.
General Valery Zaluzhny, the Commander-In-Chief of Ukrainian Forces
The important thing is that there are men and women now fighting for the future of not only Ukraine, but the Free World as we know it. Should Putin win this time, he will become unstoppable.
Bottom line: Ukraine is not Zelensky! Help Ukraine, not Zelensky!
Yes. He is the product of what I call the “core Russian” mindset (aka ‘true Russian’, as labelled by a fellow Quoran).
(some species in their natural habitat)
This mindset is not very well known to foreigners, who mainly interact with the westernized educated minority. Some borderline people may have features of both, i.e. in some respect, they behave like the core Russians, in other - more civilized.
This mindset is typical for the low-educated common people, who live outside the capital cities and do not aspire to rise above their primitive lives (see why - below). But not always. A common farmer may have their own judgement and even think critically, while a professor of philosophy may not only share these destructive beliefs, but even form a pseudo-scientific foundation for them, and ingrain these ideas into the minds of his students.
This mindset is also called: chauvinistic, imperialistic, traditionalist, soviet. I prefer not to use the term ‘conservative’, because it has nothing in common with the Western conservatives. Completely different values and morale.
This set of belief is frequently mockingly marked homo soveticus. There is a story behind it: USSR had claimed to develop a new, better species of a human being, devoid of greed and selfishness. The label reflects that they indeed grew a new species, but with completely different traits. Whether it was the intention, is another matter.
A core Russian is not necessarily stupid. Such a mindset can be combined with a cunning brain, searching for opportunities to steal, or attack. Core Russians become great career criminals.
So, what defines the core Russian mindset:
Moral relativity. There is no good and no evil. There is ‘Us’ and ‘Them’. What is good for ‘Us’, is good. “Us” is usually ‘Russia’, but can be narrowed further down.
(the captions read: Our Holy land vs Their barbaric wasteland, and so on)
Collectivism. A single life means nothing. An individual must conform or is an enemy. Hence, core Russians always say ‘we’, even if there is no crowd to back them.
: the same statement is both true and false (or multiple mutually exclusive statements are all true), it depends on the circumstances, who is speaking and to whom it is addressed, and what is the motive.
A consequence of the previous one: there is no truth, as it cannot be objectively established. There are only points of view.
An obvious consequence: lack of critical thinking. It is a key core Russian trait, sometimes mentioned separately. Obviously, if one accepts contradictions, making logic unworkable, one cannot debunk false statements.
Another consequence: sociology does not work. When a core Russian is asked a question by someone they think as important, they always try to guess the “correct” answer that will satisfy the one who is asking. To get true answers, the interviewer must choose questions carefully, like at a criminal investigation. However, it should not deceive you: they sincerely approve the war in Ukraine, as it fits their values.
Willful ignorance. A core Russian does not want to hear any opinions or facts that contradict their established beliefs. Education is viewed as a hindrance. A core Russian saying sounds like: “Oi, ain’t you the cleverest one?”. Don’t get misguided, this particular phrase is a direct insult.
Magical thinking. A lot of core Russians personalize natural or society phenomena. They believe that everything is caused by a will of some very powerful person or entity. It is not necessarily a religious belief in God, but some mystical power, rituals, superstitions that a person automatically follows without any explanation or even internal rationalization.
This is sometimes reflected in irrational behavior. Such as a man repeatedly fails to achieve something, but instead of analyzing the mistakes and reconsidering the strategy, he repeats exactly the same steps, hoping to be lucky next time. This is the likely explanation of the #Chornobaivka phenomenon (when Russian troops occupied the same airbase 17 times in a row, only to be destroyed by Ukrainian artillery fire, without any change of tactics).
Such people are susceptible to superstitions and conspiracy theories.
Zero-sum game assumption. Core Russians do not believe in a mutual benefit. If someone offers them a deal which looks profitable for both sides, they still look for a catch, and try to cheat, so that their partner loses. Even if the partner’s loss eventually backfires on them. If such a person is caught cheating and is brought to court, he sincerely replies: Because I wanted to win, not to lose!
Example: Russia does not want Ukraine to become free and prosperous, because by doing so, they believe that they will lose competition and be out of trade. And this opinion is shared by the majority of their population.
Fatalism. Everything is pre-determined. A person cannot change their fate. We are little people and nothing depends on us. This is sometimes labelled as “acquired helplessness syndrome”.
Might is right. Core Russians only respect strength. Raw strength. This is why there are so much casual manslaughter, caused by a drunken brawl gone badly, including father-son debates. Any formal agreement (such as ‘law’), is only respected if there is some enforcement directly behind it, and punishment for violation is severe.
Crime does not exist. (derived from moral relativity). Everybody steal. If they are successful, they are lucky. If not, too bad for them. But stealing from me is a crime, and I will kill for that!
Killing is bad, they say, but a core Russian will kill, either when they gather as a mob, or when they are given sanction.
Militarism. A core Russian man usually becomes very sentimental, when he is remembering his military service. Although the details are frequently obscured and covered by phrases like “you don’t know, you were not there”. In reality, the service is typically some drills and idle talks. But it develops subordination and kills whatever remains of critical thinking - an order must be always fulfilled, even if it is impossible, stupid or in breach with the law. Core Russians despise anyone who have not served in the army, although their own service has little to do with proper army training.
Core Russians adore military style, they always dress up in camo trousers and coat, even if they do not plan a hunting expedition. They like to show off replicas of Soviet or Russian tanks, warships, planes, etc.
The army is usually the only social elevator a core Russian can catch. The other one is organized crime.
Cult of crime. Although not shared by all core Russians, nevertheless, it is favored by a significant subset of them. Not all of them have connections with the criminal world, but they still copy their manners, wear gangsta style clothes, etc. The criminal subculture is very trending in Russian pop media, and many pop stars deliberately romanticize the ‘bad guys’. Prison life, cry over the misspent youth, ‘mama, please forgive your wayward son’, bravado and contempt towards the non-criminal people - these are the motives of ‘blatnyak’, aka ‘chanson de russe’ - the pop subgenre that romanticizes and glorifies thug life. “Blatnyak” motives are very prominent in the mainstream Russian pop culture.
(typical Russian criminals in prison)
Russian police are also severely influenced by this subculture, in a way you can’t tell a thug from a cop by jargon.
The core Russian youth prefer the Russian gangsta rap, emerged in late 2000s, who openly glorify murder with sadistic tendencies.
(a core Russian youth. aka gopnik)
Cult of WWII. Militarism is further enhanced by the WWII cargo cult (rus. pobedob’esie, победобесие - a term used by non-core Russians, meaning “unholy victory”), slowly developed since Soviet times to a new quasi-religion. Because they are taught that Russia single-handedly defeated the greatest evil in the world - Hitler. WWII is labelled “Great Patriotic War” (GPW): 1941–45. This was done to hide the facts that USSR collaborated with Nazi Germany before 1941, and occupied other countries in the same fashion.
(A WWII cargo cult parade, Russia, circa 2020)
The history of WWII/GPW is interpreted in the same Us/Them paradigm: everything USSR did was right, if you disagree - you are the enemy and side with Hitler.
This is why they label Ukrainian resistance fighters, both of WWII and now, as Nazis.
Contempt for the weak/lack of empathy. Since early childhood, most Russian boys bully one another, until some sort of social hierarchy establishes. Then they usually concentrate their bullying on one or two smaller ones who cannot fight back and quickly become an outcast.
If you ask a bully - why do you behave like this, they say “Because I can”. Meaning that they do not get a punch back in their face.
The core Russian youths are labelled gopniki (see above) - they share this attitude and attack anyone they can, to rob or just for the fun of it.
This explains the attack on Crimea in 2014. They did it, simply because they were ready, and knew that Ukraine was unprepared to fight back, just after the Revolution of Dignity.
Love for grandeur. A core Russian likes to show off, when they believe their neighbors won’t harm them for doing so, and/or their wealth comes ‘from above’, i.e. granted by the Tsar or his subordinates. They build palaces, buy huge yachts, extremely large and useless limousines, etc. They decorate everything with gold and precious stones. They hoard huge amounts of cash in their vaults (also because they do not believe in investment). This is also due to the fact that they know that their wealth may come and go any moment.
They also like to hire servants, even if they do not really need them, just to be able to show their higher standing over them. Domination is everything.
(wealthy Russians, 1990 style)
A Russian can be either rich or poor. Rich is considered ‘lucky’, or ‘granted by the Tsar’. Poor is the norm, how people are supposed to live. Anyone who tries to rise up from the poverty is frowned upon.
Once a Russian is rich, he starts resenting his former poor friends, calling them names and separating from them.
Resentment to achievement and merit. If an active person manages to achieve certain wealth or status, he is resented, if not openly hated, by the majority of core Russians. You can hear the usual leftist-style retorts, such as: ‘no wealth can be obtained in an honest way’, ‘he has cheated all of us’, ‘he must share his wealth with the common decent folk’, ‘he is a Jewish, that is why he is so rich’, etc. Having an opportunity not to be caught, these people will try to harm the successful one, even if it means to kill him.
This is also why they resent the West.
But this does not apply to the Tsar or his boyars (see above).
Paternalism. A core Russian depends on a strong father figure, represented by the national leader (Tsar), to feed them, to provide them with everything.
(poster caption: Thanks to our beloved comrade Stalin for our happy childhood. This slogan was overused until Stalin’s death)
The state is not just an arbitrator who sets the rules and enforces them, but the ultimate master. A core Russian is born to serve his master. When a leader is not a tyrant, he is despised by his subject as ‘weak’.
Atomization. As a consequence of paternalism, Russian society is very atomized. People do not establish horizontal connections easily. Having some work to do, they always rely on someone to tell them what to do, instead of doing it themselves.
Lack of initiative/responsibility. Following the logical chain above, we see that a person who tries to take responsibility beyond their immediate family is frowned upon. If they ask someone “could you please do that”, they may respond with an angry “you are not my boss to tell me”. If an initiative is successful, people say ‘we did it’, or even ‘it is done’ forgetting the one who suggested it, or even did most of the work. But if it fails, the initiator is the one who failed, even if others directly sabotaged it.
Xenophobia/supremacy cult. Core Russians beleive they are a supreme race, who inherited the empire from the Romans (the “Third Rome” concept
). All other nations are considered inferior, and are called vile names. This applies both to non-Russian ethnic groups who live in Russia (who, in turn, despise everyone except themselves), and foreign nations. Also, smaller nations are despised more than the bigger ones.
As a consequence of this and resentment to merit, the provincial core Russians usually hate residents of Moscow and St. Peterburg. They believe their wealth is gained at their expense, because someone above distributes it unfairly (i.e. unevenly). The hate goes both ways: once a provincial core Russian settles in a big city, he start hating provincials - he believes they are after his job and home.
‘Historical rights’ concept. One of justifications of their expansionism is that Russia owned something in the past. No matter how exactly did they part ways with that land or property, they want it back simply because they previously owned it.
Compare it to a guy who sold you a house, then gets drunk and tries to kick you out, because he used to own it in the past. Even if he sold it many years ago.
Male chauvinism. A woman has no say, she’d better watch the children - that defines it all. In this text, I sometimes intentionally use ‘he’, because women usually keep to themselves, letting their men speak. But they, too, are part of this mindset, and bring up children in it.
Not giving a damn. This is a typical reply of a core Russian, when someone tries to persuade them to think of the consequences of their poor decisions, or else. Eg: Putin is leaving your country without a future - I do not give a damn about it.
Upd: The following traits are kindly contributed by Susanna Vijanen - in comments
Contempt on creativity, innovation and arts. Russia has always been technologically backward and relied on espionage rather than innovation. Russian design is ugly and uninspiring. Russians have always admired the works of artists, but held the artists themselves in contempt as effete weaklings.
My bandmate was once stopped by the police walking home late in Moscow, on suspicion of drug abuse. The usual cop intimidation small-talk:
So, the long hair? What do you do for a living?
I am a musician. Play in a band.
Got it, unemployed junkie.
He was finally released, after some more questions like this. And he does not do drugs at all.
Alcoholism and drug abuse. How do they drink vodka in northern lands? In Sweden: with water. In Finland: without water. In Russia: like water. Getting blasted is a survival mechanism in a hostile society.
(Caption: They say “we are pigs”)
Russian drinking culture can be mathematically expressed in a formula: maximum raw alcohol per rouble. They drink everything that burns, if it is cheap. And millions die from alcohol-related problems, including surrogate poisoning and even alcohol OD. Such disregard for own life is the “I do not give a damn” attitude. No surprise they have the same disregard for others.
In high society, it turns upside down: they drink the most expensive stuff money can buy, but in the same manner of downing it bottle after bottle, without even trying to taste it.
Russian language has most number of synonyms for two words: drunk/getting drunk, and a fool.
In some parts of Russian society, it is a norm to be constantly drunk. It is generally tolerated and even rationalized: eg. he is an artist, he needs inspiration.
Living in the moment and disregarding the future. Core Russians never plan anything in the long run: they essentially live in this moment. They never invest on anything, but instead favour conspicuous consumption.
This is why Russian oligarchs spend money on yachts and prostitutes, instead of ambitious life goals, such as a space flight or cure for cancer.
Preferring petty short term gains instead of plentiful long term benefits. The war in Ukraine “to prevent Ukraine from joining the EU and the NATO” is a hallmark of sacrificing long term benefits (peace, prosperity, respect, reputation, wealth) for short term gains (plundering Ukraine)
Generally, core Russians prefer to have a small, but regular pay, to an ambitious well-paid job that requires more effort, such as addtional training. Or even coming to your boss and saying “I want to do that!”.
Preferring having enemies instead of having friends. For the Core Russians, having enemies means being feared and being respected. Having friends means being suspicious and vulnerable.
Just think how many of these traits can you observe with Putin and his lot…
——
PS. This was mainly written before the #BuchaMassacre news came out (although I suspected something of a kind happening on occupied territories), which only confirms the statement. Putin did not order rape and random killing of civilians for fun. The Russian soldiers did it only because :
1. They were armed, while the civilians were not.
2. They were given a license to do anything, including a kill, without criminal persecution.
Links
I decided to link related and simiar answers and posts here
PPS. Note for professional anti-fascists, humanists and the kind. These are mostly first hand observation. I am not calling to action here, but sharing these observations to study the phenomena or to try to explain it. We cannot afford to keep ignoring reality, even if we do not like it or it does not fit our set of beliefs. Discussion of this mindset in Ukraine is becoming mainstream now, although started long ago.
Another short definition of this mindset: a nation of serial killers. A serial killer has his/her own motivation, based on inner beliefs, so killing is justified (e.g. Jack the Ripper believed that prostitutes are sinful, and he was cleansing the world of their sin for God’s sake). But their attitude towards accidental killing shifts towards ‘collateral damage’ attitude, described above. The more they kill, the more they are self-justified.
I use detection criteria. If I have mostly positive answers to the tests below, this is a Russian troll. Strong emotions. Their response is always emotional, where emotions should not apply - we are not talking about intimate relations here, but about things that should be rationally explained, such as diplomacy and politics. Wherever you see words like ‘betrayal’, ‘brothers’, etc., in a political context, it is likely a propaganda worker.
Interpretation of news. Russian newsmakers do not just tell the story, they always add their interpretation of the fact, sometimes with emotional labels as above, or with milder, but still suggestive words that may alter the meaning of the statement. Whenever a question is asked in a neutral way, the propagandist mixes these in, creating an inconsistency of definitions. Eg. instead of “Ukrainian government: they will say “Kiev government”, meaning that it does not control the entire country and they do not consider it legitimate.
Keyword check. This is the easiest one. There is a number of cliche words actively used by the Kremlin lot, and they have a bad habit (for them) to repeat these consistently, so that they better sink in (so they think). In reality, it is the easiest way to spot them. Examples:
Junta in Kiev
coup of Maidan
“the Ukraine” (more on this later)
"Kiev" instead of "Kyiv", after being repeatedly corrected
Ukrainian army bombing Donbass
US controlled Ukraine
people’s militia of Donetsk and Luhansk (also ‘partisans’)
Russian peacekeepers in Donetsk
Banderites, Ukrainian Nazis (this list of slurs is quite long)
Best thing here is to have these keywords in a list, and run a search whenever you suspect one
Profile check. Sometimes, they pretend to be Americans (French, Italian, British, now they fancy the complex Spanish names). Usually, such a profile features random locations for work, school, etc : Born in Mexico, graduated from a University in Stockholm, worked in the USA, but live in Colombia. Next thing to check is the number of question related to Russia, Ukraine and global politics vs their own country. In some cases, it is 100% detectable. In other cases, ask them a question: “which bar do you visit in your town”, or any other casual question you would ask a person to know them better. They prefer not to answer, or produce absolute rubbish.
Statements of different authors are too consistent, but inconsistent over time. Propaganda workers, at least low level ones. use a script book, which has standard replies to mostly frequently asked questions. They are instructed to follow it literally, so that they do not make mistakes. This is why they use keywords (see above) and whole sentences by the book. And when the book changes, they begin telling different things, as if their opinion has changed overnight without any explanation. Note that here on Quora, there are more advanced workers, who know English well enough to make smoother transitions. But they also make mistakes.
Knows too much about Russia. Meet Joe Ramen, a resident of California, who pretends to be interested in Russian politics and simply loves Putin. But then, confronted by a Ukrainian blogger, he goes into lengthy account of Russian military equipment, procurement and military service, or details of everyday Russian life that a foreigner would have no idea about, without deep research. Such as a price for vodka in the USSR in 1985, or names the senior soldier call the junior in Russian army. A side effect of it is overgeneralization, when a Russian troll tells a garbage story about their life, full of Russia specific details, not possible in another country. For example, they tell that they bribed a cop in Germany to get away with a traffic fine, which is almost impossible.
Russia is a Dreamland. Russian propagandists describe Russia as a country of wonder, where food is best, life is easier, jobs are paid splendidly, no crime,etc. It always is accompanied with criticism of the Western life, sometimes simply stating how expensive it is, sometimes telling another crucified boy story. If you challenge such a story with a bit of truth, they start bashing you as a russophobe, followed by a whataboutism rant about your country. Mistakes in English. Most profound are lack of articles (Russian language does not have them), misuse of tenses and incorrect spelling. Also, some of the international words may have slightly different meanings (false friendsis the term) in different languages, and you see a weird use of a familiar word in a wrong context, eg: someone calls a dilapidated building a ‘barrack’, which is not how this word is used in English. Sometimes, a native Russian not too fluent in English may sound a bit like Master Yoda. However, if you know both languages well enough (as I do), you can easily spot a sentence translated from Russian, sounding not too English. Getting emotional, these guys start making stupid mistakes, such as calling you ‘fascist’ or ‘nazist’ (this is how Nazis are called in Russian).
Too many references. Some propagandists like their arguments to look solid. They paste dozens of links either to their own posts, or some Russia controlled websites. Russian wikipedia is also mostly controlled by Russian propaganda and cannot be considered a reliable source. Sometimes, they edit an article right before posting a link to prove their point. “It is obvious that…” arguments. Sometimes they start with such preambles to produce their propaganda statements as textbook quotes, or something we all know, but forgot since high school. Also “it is a well know fact that…”. As my school math teacher always replied: “It is so obvious that even can be proved”. Lengthy unrelated historical rants. Russians are so obsessed with WWII that they tend to refer to it even on unrelated topics. Reflection. When you say “Russia illegally occupied nd annexed Crimea”, you get an immediate reply “USA has occupied all Europe”, “Ukraine occupied Donbass” or anything ridiculous like that. When you try to prove an opponent that they are lying or misinterpreting the facts, they accuse you of lies in response, turning all your arguments on you, reverting all you say. This is consistent with the core Russian belief that there is no truth, everybody lies, and picks the story that fits best with their belief.
Whataboutism. “What about workers’ rights in the USA” was the favorite one used by USSR propagandists back then, hence this term, coined by the Western press. This is simple. They ask a totally unrelated question to move the conversation in another direction. Such are best to be left ignored.
Productivity impossible for a human. A propaganda profile may be operated by a team of people. This is why it is not advisable to argue with them sometimes, as they start spamming you with tons of replies that you have no time to answer. A propagandist profile may have hundreds of posts per day, if you check the timeframe, it seems that the dude never sleeps at all. Some of the most aggressive ones start digitally stalking you, commenting your every post or comment everywhere. The aim is to make you reply aggressively, so Facebook may block you for hate speech. These should be blocked and reported.
Maybe the list is not complete, this topic is worth writing an academic paper.
There are some honest Russian people who also follow these patterns of online behavior. Am I wrong calling them propaganda workers? Only partially. Wrong that they are not paid for doing this work. But still, they spread disinformation on behalf of the Russian government, and are proud of it. They do not contribute by adding anything of value to the same government issued disinformation. n terms of harm done to the freedom of speech, they are the same.
This is my first post on DreamWidth platform. I have deleted the journal on LJ, due to political censorship issues and overuse of advertising by the platform.
Стуча копытами, в зал зашла судья и зачитала приговор. Её словам кивал прокурор, почёсывая рога.
Именно так выглядела сегодня эта "защита верующих" в исполнении язычников и сатанистов.
Очевидно, неправосудное и жестокое решение вызовет рост антиклерикальных настроений и агрессивной критики РПЦ. Любое правонарушение, совершенное милиционером, обсасывается в новостях. Ведь никто не любит милицию и не упускает возможность покритиковать её. Точно так теперь дорогие часы, мерседесы или священники, попавшие в аварию, будут главными хитами новостей. С обязательным упоминанием положений Трулльского и Лаодикийских соборов.
Нужно было быть в зале суда, чтобы оценить масштаб бреда: три девушки сидят в бронированной клетке с пуленепробиваемым стеклом. Все трое в наручниках (не смотря на то, что в клетке). По периметру клетки стоит 9 (девять) сотрудников МВД и бойцов спецназа и строго следит за каждым их движением. Две служебные собаки.
Как в фильме про опасных маньяков-людоедов, склонных к побегу.
Колосальные государственные ресурсы отвлечены, чтобы влепить ДВА ГОДА ЛИШЕНИЯ СВОБОДЫ совершившим АДМИНИСТРАТИВНОЕ ПРАВОНАРУШЕНИЕ.
Да, можно сколько угодно называть их акцию отвратительной и идиотской. Глупой и ориентированной на пиар. Да, я сам называл их дурами за эту акцию.
Обзывайте их любыми словами, имеете право, но не требуйте, чтобы общество лишило их свободы. Если мы слезли с деревьев, если мы не язычники и не идолопоклонцы, если в обществе есть представления о законе и порядке, то мы не можем сажать людей в тюрьмы за такое.
Но, стучащие копытами черти в судебных мантиях, исполняющие приказы своего кремлевского хозяина, отлично знают, что делают. Под предлогом "защиты РПЦ" они сажают в тюрьму за ту кровную обиду, которую Pussy Riot нанесли им своей действительно отличнейшей акцией на Красной Площади:
Черти хитрые: и оскорбившие их девки наказаны (в тюрьме сидят), и РПЦ получила волну ненависти, невиданную с 1917 года. Именно поэтому главной судебной линией было старательно "доказать": это была не политическая акция. Слово "путин" не звучало. Никакой политики. Они просто пришли, чтобы осквернить храм и оскорбить чувства верующих.
Ну бред же это, очевидный всякому. Что тогда политическая акция, если не это?
Путин и его дружки, в открытую, воруют миллиардами долларов. Только мы расследуем несколько таких дел и собрали все доказательства.
Масштаб ежедневных хищений в Газпроме, Роснефти, Транснефти, госзаказе и т.д. поражает воображение. Хоть одного человека на скамье подсудимых видели? И я нет. Мы годами требуем возбуждения уголовных дел на явных жуликов. Не хотят, и, даже наоборот, защищают. Видели, наверное, этот популярный пост о сравнении наказаний. Так и и работает система.
Pussy Riot, натанцевавшие на штраф или 3 суток ареста, будут сидеть 2 года. А деятели, укравшие из Транснефти $ 4 миллиарда, будут наслаждаться роскошной жизнью. Они знали правила и отстегнули главному вору страны.
Если отвлечься от самих девушек, то дело PUSSY RIOT - дело об окончательном и демонстративном уничтожении правосудия. ГлавВор громко сказал нам всем: буду сажать, тех кто меня обидел, и не думайте, что мои черти в мантиях заморачаются каким-то там паршивым законом, уголовным процессом и состязательностью. Я здесь решаю, кто и сколько будет сидеть.
Это прямо касается всех, кто сидит по делу 6-го мая, и любых других политзаключенных. Каждого из нас, кто может таким политзаключенным стать, если не выполняет главное требование ГлавВора: молчать и не вспоминать о своих правах.
Я близко стоял от клетки. Некрасиво, наверное, сказать это о феминистках, но я видел, что они мужественно восприняли несправедливый и незаконный приговор.
Их уже поддержал миллион звёзд, но самым проникновенным мне по-прежнему кажется "Малява" от рэппера Сявы.
Кай Хансен присоединился к группе UNISONIC, в которой поет бывший вокалист HELLOWEEN Михаэль Киске. Также в состав группы входят басист Деннис Вард и барабанщик Коста Зафироу (PINK CREAM 69) и швейцарский гитарист Манди Майерс (ex-ASIA, GOTTHARD, KROKUS).
На днях спокойно паркуюсь на Новочеркасском бульваре. Тут прямо передо мной встает черная тюнингованная зубила (восьмерка) с глухой тонировкой. Подрезает чиста па пацански, с визгом тормозов, под 45 градусов к обочине. Открывается водительская дверь, и из зубилы вываливается... бабка! На вид около 70, жирная такая, вся в складочку, как свинья из "Ну,Погоди!", в старушечьем сарафанчике и с хозяйственной сумкой, вполне пригодной для рукопашного боя (не знаю, что они туда вечно кладут). Пока я тихо охреневал в своей машине, она с размаху закрыла свою дверь и двинулась в сторону рынка.
Интересно, а права у нее есть? Или у внука тачку просто взяла покататься? Стиль вождения вполне соответствовал машине.
Или это была праворукая восьмерка? За глухой тонировкой не видно, где у нее руль был.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
