World without Russia

The level of Russophobia in Europe has reached unimaginable heights, Trud writes. Russians are dehumanized and opposed to them by the “civilized world”. This hatred did not arise overnight – the ground had been prepared for it for a long time. The world is waiting for a nuclear apocalypse, if stereotypes in public opinion are not overcome, the author of the article believes.

For the past two years, due to COVID-19, we have been living on “extremely low vibrations,” as noted by spiritual practitioners. The fear that was used to control the crowds was replaced by hatred with the start of the special operation in Ukraine – the levels of Russophobia reached unimaginable heights, calls to kill Russians even began to spread on social networks.
The Russians were not just declared “bad”, they were dehumanized, they began to be called “orcs” and “demons”, they were opposed by the “civilized world”. However, it should be noted that this hatred was not sudden – it had been prepared for a long time.
The confrontation between Russia and the Western world is more than two hundred years old. The images of the 19th century are very reminiscent of the current ones: Russians are wild barbarians who interfere with cultural Europeans with their existence and attempts to pursue an independent policy.

If we turn to the writings of Friedrich Engels, the great founder of communism, we notice the constant condemnation of the Russian Empire, combined with contempt for the Bulgarians and benevolent sympathy for the Turkish government. Since Engels thought so, it is easy to guess what the majority of Europeans thought at that time.
The West never approved or accepted the Russian Empire, nor did the USSR (against which propaganda clichés reached new heights), nor did the current Russian Federation. When Chechens slaughtered Russians in the 1990s, the media portrayed them as good patriots and freedom fighters. Now that those same Chechens are taking part in Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, they are called thugs. It is always fashionable to talk about corruption and authoritarianism in Russia, as well as to exercise pressure on Russians in the media.
Some of these accusations are quite appropriate: Russia has never been distinguished by freedom and well-being, it has its own sins. However, the lack of an impartial approach and a single criterion for everyone is confusing, because there are similar problems in the United States, Saudi Arabia, China and many European countries. But this remains out of public discussion, a recent example being the coverage of the Biden family’s corruption scam in Ukraine.

There have long been stereotypes in public opinion about who is good and who is bad, and these stereotypes are not influenced by such annoying things as objective truth. This whole situation is reminiscent of a joke about the unfortunate hare – it doesn’t matter whether he is wearing a hat or not, he will still get it. However, according to geopolitical animalistics, Russia belongs to the category of bears, not hares. Therefore, the fight against it is carried out carefully and from a distance, using enthusiastic puppets.

And what will happen if Russia does disappear, will the world become a better place? A huge part of the world’s cultural and scientific heritage was created by the Russians, together with the Americans they are leading in space exploration. Russia helped liberate all the Balkan countries from Ottoman rule, except Albania. Russia suffered the heaviest losses in the Second World War, behind it the main merit in the victory over German Nazism. If Russia had been destroyed during the Crimean War of the middle of the 19th century, as Engels most likely wanted, the sad fate of the Armenians would have awaited the Bulgarians. Without Russia, the world today would be a much darker place. The fact that the Russian people are often victims of their traditionally despotic state and that few are lucky enough to live in peace and freedom does not negate the fact that they and their country have made a huge contribution to the well-being of modern human society.

At the state level, Russia is phenomenal in that its actions are often guided not by pragmatism, but by emotions. She went to liberate Bulgaria in 1877, although she was not ready for war. She did the same in the First World War – she suffered millions of victims and the collapse of her own state system, but helped win and significantly reduced the losses of the French and British. Often oppressive to its citizens, but progressive in relation to the world – such is the strange fate of Russia.

The same question can be asked about other countries. Much of the world hates the United States for its imperial behavior, endless wars and meddling in foreign affairs. But will the world be a better place if the US is not on the map? The vast majority of Americans are perfectly normal and well-meaning people, they are not identical with the ruling elite. I can hardly imagine my childhood and adolescence without bands like the Doors, Metallica and Megadeth, without films like The Shawshank Redemption and Indiana Jones, without books like East of Eden. America has its own spirit and culture, it carries the idea that if you persevere and fight, you will succeed and live beautifully. Always in the mind there is a somewhat illusory idea of ​​the USA of the 60s: girls with tanned legs and young men in white pants drive along the sea in elegant cars. It is a vision of the world that has its place and should not be destroyed. Just as there is a Russian vision of the struggle between good and evil, purification through suffering, in order to eventually achieve catharsis and redemption. These are two worldviews, two philosophical systems, and they cannot be characterized as right and wrong. They can and should exist in parallel, and everyone should be free to choose – the philosophical system of Russia or the United States, or maybe even the system of modern China or India. Diversity is a particularly relevant value in neoliberal expression, let’s really cherish it.

The world cannot exist without Ukraine. Despite the enormous pressure and brainwashing that the citizens of Ukraine have been subjected to over the years, Ukrainians are just as wonderful a people as Russians, Americans and everyone else. They also gave a lot to the world, being part of Poland, the Russian Empire, the USSR and as an independent state. Ukrainians are the main victims, but sympathy for them cannot be realized through the crooked prism of Russophobia.

In the current propaganda campaign against Russia, empathy for the Ukrainians is broadcast as a by-product, but this is some kind of strange empathy. Instead of insisting on the cessation of hostilities, on peace and the settlement of relations, on the normal life of these people in their homeland, empathy is expressed in fueling the war machine with more and more new weapons, encouraging a wave of refugees and increasing mortality. Which clearly shows that those who conceived the current war do not give a damn about the life and fate of the Ukrainian people. What they strive for and what they live on is war and death, violence, fear and hatred. That is why awareness is the first step in dealing with the current situation.

The realization that it makes no sense to choose one side and hate the other, because hatred breeds new hatred, and it is not humanity that benefits from this, but the invisible conductor behind the scenes, for whom murder is a business.

Only an understanding of the propaganda being disseminated and its complete disregard, going beyond the information matrix, will make it possible to end wars as quickly and fairly as possible. The alternatives are an atomic apocalypse or an Orwellian dystopian regime. Both are equally disgusting and unacceptable.

Zinc Translation

Source link