Russian political psyche: history and modernity
disclaimer #1. any links and sources which is going to be posted here are quite possibly biased
disclaimer #2. Unsupported claims and irrelevant ravings will be ignored.
Ok, lets get started.
Before posting anything here, you, Westerners must remember that we, Russians, lived for three generations under stern but (mostly) just supervision of omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent state. If you think it explains everything - you are probably far from truth.
How the whole system has been set up - that is a huge historical question, still unanswered, how it works today, after a dissolution of Soviet state - I'll try to explain.
Now we have a mostly free market economy, paternalistic politics, consumerism ethics and apathetic population.
I won't tell about structure of the economy, it's well known, but I'll tell what people think about it: free market is unjust, capitalism is unhuman, so any ideology which denies it as an economic basis would have public approval.
Most important tool of the paternalistic policy is the controlled media, full of dumb entertainment and, quite recently, spiritual guidance from the Orthodox chirch, pseudo-patriotic sentiments and sheer propaganda Dr Goebbels would be proud of.
Why it works? I think of the part of the answer is simple: people are stupid, so they are unable to tell the truth from the lie, they are politically powerless, because they are trained to be divided, they are in general want to be left alone, but won't mind to listen about great achievements, kicking some asses, stupid Americans who can't find Ukrain on the map or spoiled and souless Europeans - the majority of the Russians exposed to the media are prone to any lies which brings a little bit of comfort.
End of part one. Part two on the way (may be)
Old Aspirations - New Tensions: “In Search of a New Russian Identity”
Old Aspirations - New Tensions: “In Search of a New Russian Identity”
Entry Excerpt:
--------
Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.
Statues are more than history
Citing Mirhond in part:
Quote:
3. I. personally, needn't to justify anything to anyone, (as much as you don't need to justify your compatriots honouring Estonian Waffen SS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3585272.stm),
what Russian establishment is going to do with this - I don't know and I don't care.
The linked BBC report is from 2004. The statue was actually moved at the insistence of the Estonian government to a private location see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_of_Lihula
When I toured Western Ukraine (after independence) a few years ago we learnt that statues were an essential sign of local history. Crossing from one town to another across a stream we came across a Stalin tank on a plinth and a communist era leaders statue - I think it was Stalin. A few miles away a new, local war memorial was inscribed for WW2 1939-1947 and our guide explained the last two years were for those who fought against Soviet rule.