Фарида, здравствуйте. Текст получился сильным и значимым, особенно в смысле Вашей рефлексии собственной национальной идентичности в России и за её пределами, до войны и с её началом.
Но вопрос “How can I help, here and now?” — это вопрос, которым я снедаем изнутри и снаружи (поскольку я, как человек, в своём окружении наиболее сильно погружённый в повестку, беспрестанно слышу его от своих друзей). И я хотел бы попросить Вас подготовить материал, в котором на вопрос «Что следует делать простому среднестатистическому гражданину для приближения падения режима?» будут пытаться по-своему ответить эксперты разных областей (политики, политологи, социологи и пр.). Потому что пока что все материалы, содержащие разговор с экспертом, которые я встречал в наших медиа, никогда не содержали хотя бы попытку этого эксперта определить поле возможного действия для граждан России и предложить что-либо кроме стандартных «митинги, посты, донаты медиа и правозащитникам»...
Talk to your parents, relatives, friends, acquaintances, who blindly believe Putin's propaganda and explainto them what is going on in Russia & Ukraine. Start with those that you trust and will not denounce you to the police This is best done in an environment of trust, or from a safe place, or if you are outside Russia.
When they reply with the usual propaganda and lies, LISTEN to them first. Let them speak. Hear what they have to say.
Then explain calmly and with kindness that they are being misinformed and manipulated by propaganda and why Putin is spreading propaganda. Direct them to news, links, sites where they can read uncensored news.
Make a list of such news sources and show them how to use an internet VPN Virtual Private Network to access unfaked & uncensored news.
When 2 or 3 of them are open to listening, invite them to speak to each other so the discussion can continue even when you are not there speaking to them. Encourage them not to be afraid to speak and discuss.
Ask them questions such as: What do you know about...? What do you think of what Russia is doing in Ukraine? Do you think that will be good for Russia's future? What do you think are the true reasons for the Ukraine invasion? No, not the propaganda "reasons". The true reasons, what does Putin want to achieve?
A russian man living abroad wrote in an article that he felt shocked when he realised that his mother who lived in Russia and was an intelectual, believed all the TV propaganda from Putin and was not able to form her own opinions, then he blamed himself since he avoided discussing current issues with her, as she had old fashioned ideas from her soviet education.
With time, patience and many phone calls, he was able to explain to her what's really going on.
Another girl said that her discussions with her retired parents always ended with her giving up as they were convinced Putin was their hero, a protector of Russia, he could do no wrong for Russia.
Since taking the time to explain to her parents WHY she has a different view, they have become interested in what she has to say. They are listening to her now.
It takes time, but don't give up.
Do not stay silent.
One person at a time, one conversation at a time.
Speak... Listen... Speak... Listen...
Repeat.
Every day...
Until every Russian understands that there is a better way for the future of Russia, and for the future of every russian, than the Putin way. And the west doesn't hate Russia and doesn't want to destroy Russia.
Russia is a great country with such huge potential. It could be the best & richest country in the world to live. Foreigners would want to emigrate there. If only Putin ruled like a president for the people and not a president of corruption,
he has been allowing the oligarchs to steal Russia's wealth... wealth that ends up in luxury mansions in Europe, yatchs, private planes, secret investments... bank accounts in Switzerland. Wealth that belongs to the Russian people.
And then he blames the west. The west is the "enemy" of Russia, he says.
I imagine that in a prosperous & pleasant Russia, Putin would not need to invade other countries to gain control. Countries would want to trade with Russia. Foreigners would want to go to Russia to live the good life there and would happily exchange their savings for rubles.
The ruble would be a strong currency, probably the strongest...
But no... Putin chose corruption & MADNESS instead of logic.
Propaganda & Ignorance have to be reversed and only Russians can do that. No one else.
Could you please say a couple of words about yourself? I’m certain that you are not from Russia, so the fact that you (extensively!) answered my specific Russian-to-Russian question seems strange to me...
I was curious and used google translator to read your comment and then felt compeled to answer it. Apologies if you think that I, as a non-russian speaker, should not have answered it.
Since this is an open forum anyone can answer comments here, this platform (substack) is open to anyone around the world without any restrictions. Nothing strange when someone posts or comments. Next time you do not wish non-russians to comment on your post, please say so.
Would love to know more about you too!
By the way, Google translate is not 100% effective, but I do hope this is how you say it:
Мои искренние извинения еще раз. Спасибо за ваше сообщение.
Firstly, when I said “That was strange to me” I meant “I’m curious why you did that” rather than “You shouldn’t have done that”.
Secondly, I'm Russian, so if I write “Thank you for your answer”, then I really appreciate you, not just want to seem polite.
Thus, there is no need for you to apologise.
Also, as I said earlier, I’m curious why you decided to write so extensive answer about Russia's political situation and perspectives to me, a Russian, although you’re not Russian yourself. Like, imagine: one American asks another “What can we do with Trump?” and then one Russian guy writes him a huge answer about it in Russian language! This is not necessarily bad or incorrect, but this is very strange, isn’t it? :) That is why I asked you to tell me about yourself a little — I’m just curious, nothing more.
Finally, I want to recommend you to use Yandex.Translate to work with Russian language instead of Google. Yandex.Translate is made by Russians, so it was created mainly for translations to and from Russian and works much better than Google with it.
I'm not an activist and I'm not paid by anyone, so my opinions and comments are just my own.
Why did I reply to your comment?
As I said, because I felt compeled to do so. You posted a question, I posted an answer. All within the original topic.
The current crisis in Ukraine is somehing that has kept me awake at night thinking: how can we be confortable in our beds while so many are being killed, fleeing or hiding in basements, exhausted, cold & hungry? And what can we do about it?
One thing I do a lot is read news & blogs like this one, from different sources. Good sources. When I feel I have something to add to the discussion, I comment.
When another poster makes a reference to another language or country, I sometimes greet them in their own language. Others have done the same to me in other forums here in substack and I think it's a nice touch.
Behind the reasons & anti-reasons for this conflict in Ukraine are human beings. Exactly like us.
I / We cannot just go about living our lives as if that's nothing to do with us. We have to do everything we can to stop people being killed. On both sides.
Someone here (in Paris) said to me the other day: there's too much news about Ukraine & Russia. We have to switch off and live our lives. We cannot spend our days worrying about it.
I answered: Worrying about it is the least we can do. Think about what the victims (all victims) are going through. And for what?
The next thing we must do (after worrying) is to make sure that people KNOW what's going on. If everyone in Russia knew what's really going on, I'm sure they'd be totally devastated.
Most would say: Not in my name!
But I don't know if that would be enough to bring any change. Too late for this conflict but full information about this one may avert the next one.
Thank you for your first answer again. It has reminded me of some important things that I knew, but forgot because of pain and hatred and disgust and... we feel a lot of different feelings for notre Patrie now, I don’t want to write all of them. So, thank you, Ribas, for your reminder.
I'd like to read the rest, but it's behind a paywall which demands a subscription to FT - and I have all the subscriptions I need right now. I'm sure it's a good article, though.
Thanks - that was a great article. I think a lot of the trouble in Russia is that the old national security state apparatus wasn't kicked to the streets in 1991. Putin and his crew of oligarchs, and people like Dugin and Kirill - all of them elements of the old Soviet national security state - just renamed themselves, went from apparatchiki and nomenklatura to leaders and oligarchs and archbishops and suchlike. The old structures remained, they just got called by different names. The power relationship between nomenklatura and the mass of the people never changed - as happened in Poland, and Czechia/Slovakia/Czech republic, and East Germany and so forth. And still, in a lot of those places, the power dynamic can still go over to tyranny, because the people aren't armed as a sufficient counterpoise to potential tyrants in governments. "A well-regulated militia, being practiced in the proper use of military arms and being able to act in concert to resist tyrants and criminals, being necessary to the continued freedom of a state which has become freed of tyranny and unjust power, the right of the people, in their individual capacities, to keep and bear the arms used by military units, shall not be infringed or forbidden - and the enforcement rights lie with the people themselves, not the governments, against whom this right is asserted." Just governments only exist when the consent of the governed is freely given - and consent only exists when there is no fraud or duress used by other parties seeking to perpetrate injustice, even if that's in the name of some purported social good. So that in a free society, not only is there a right to keep and bear arms, it's really a duty, too - a duty to preserve your own freedom, then that of your family and friends, then of your community - and then that of strangers who pass your way and seek safety from those who wish to oppress them... It's centralized power which spoils things, you get people attracted to that kind of power who are psychopaths and narcissists and Machiavellians, and you wind up with a pathocracy:
"A totalitarian form of government in which absolute political power is held by a psychopathic elite, and their effect on the people is such that the entire society is ruled and motivated by purely pathological values.
A pathocracy can take many forms and can insinuate itself covertly into any seemingly just system or ideology. As such it can masquerade under the guise of a democracy or theocracy as well as more openly oppressive regimes.
Characteristics
1. suppression of individualism and creativity.
2. impoverishment of artistic values.
3. impoverishment of moral values; a social structure based on self-interest and one-upmanship, rather than altruism.
4. fanatical ideology; often a corrupted form of a valid viable ‘trojan’ ideology which is perverted into a pathological form, bearing little resemblance to the substance of the original.
5. intolerance and suspicion of anyone who is different, or who disagrees with the state.
6. centralized control.
7. widespread corruption.
8. secret activities within government, but surveillance of the general population. (In contrast, a healthy society would have transparent government processes, and respect for privacy of the individual citizen).
9. paranoid and reactionary government.
10. excessive, arbitrary, unfair and inflexible legislation; the power of decision making is reduced/removed from the citizens’ everyday lives.
11. an attitude of hypocrisy and contempt demonstrated by the actions of the ruling class, towards the ideals they claim to follow, and towards the citizens they claim to represent.
12. controlled media, dominated by propaganda.
13. extreme inequality between the richest and poorest.
14. endemic use of corrupted psychological reasoning such as paramoralisms, conversive thinking and doubletalk.
15. rule by force and/or fear of force.
16. people are considered as a ‘resource’ to be exploited (hence the term “human resources”), rather than as individuals with intrinsic human worth.
17. spiritual life is restricted to inflexible and doctrinaire schemes. Anyone attempting to go beyond these boundaries is considered a heretic or insane, and therefore dangerous.
18. arbitrary divisions in the population (class, ethnicity, creed) are inflamed into conflict with one another.
19. suppression of free speech – public debate, demonstration, protest.
20. violation of basic human rights, for example: restriction or denial of basic life necessities such as food, water, shelter; detainment without charge; torture and abuse; slave labour." https://pathocracy.wordpress.com/definition/
So the thing to do is to decentralize power, so that government(s) can be kept on a very short leash... "We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable, that all men are created equal and independent; that from that equal creation they derive in rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these ends, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government shall become destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing it's powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes: and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. but when a long train of abuses and usurpations, begun at a distinguished period, and pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to subject them to arbitrary power, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1776-1785/jeffersons-draft-of-the-declaration-of-independence.php
Very thought provoking and I thank you for your views and ideas : wishing you the very best in this crazy world
Фарида, здравствуйте. Текст получился сильным и значимым, особенно в смысле Вашей рефлексии собственной национальной идентичности в России и за её пределами, до войны и с её началом.
Но вопрос “How can I help, here and now?” — это вопрос, которым я снедаем изнутри и снаружи (поскольку я, как человек, в своём окружении наиболее сильно погружённый в повестку, беспрестанно слышу его от своих друзей). И я хотел бы попросить Вас подготовить материал, в котором на вопрос «Что следует делать простому среднестатистическому гражданину для приближения падения режима?» будут пытаться по-своему ответить эксперты разных областей (политики, политологи, социологи и пр.). Потому что пока что все материалы, содержащие разговор с экспертом, которые я встречал в наших медиа, никогда не содержали хотя бы попытку этого эксперта определить поле возможного действия для граждан России и предложить что-либо кроме стандартных «митинги, посты, донаты медиа и правозащитникам»...
озможного действия для граждан России...
Dear Neckto,
Thank you for your post.
You can...
Talk to your parents, relatives, friends, acquaintances, who blindly believe Putin's propaganda and explainto them what is going on in Russia & Ukraine. Start with those that you trust and will not denounce you to the police This is best done in an environment of trust, or from a safe place, or if you are outside Russia.
When they reply with the usual propaganda and lies, LISTEN to them first. Let them speak. Hear what they have to say.
Then explain calmly and with kindness that they are being misinformed and manipulated by propaganda and why Putin is spreading propaganda. Direct them to news, links, sites where they can read uncensored news.
Make a list of such news sources and show them how to use an internet VPN Virtual Private Network to access unfaked & uncensored news.
When 2 or 3 of them are open to listening, invite them to speak to each other so the discussion can continue even when you are not there speaking to them. Encourage them not to be afraid to speak and discuss.
Ask them questions such as: What do you know about...? What do you think of what Russia is doing in Ukraine? Do you think that will be good for Russia's future? What do you think are the true reasons for the Ukraine invasion? No, not the propaganda "reasons". The true reasons, what does Putin want to achieve?
A russian man living abroad wrote in an article that he felt shocked when he realised that his mother who lived in Russia and was an intelectual, believed all the TV propaganda from Putin and was not able to form her own opinions, then he blamed himself since he avoided discussing current issues with her, as she had old fashioned ideas from her soviet education.
With time, patience and many phone calls, he was able to explain to her what's really going on.
Another girl said that her discussions with her retired parents always ended with her giving up as they were convinced Putin was their hero, a protector of Russia, he could do no wrong for Russia.
Since taking the time to explain to her parents WHY she has a different view, they have become interested in what she has to say. They are listening to her now.
It takes time, but don't give up.
Do not stay silent.
One person at a time, one conversation at a time.
Speak... Listen... Speak... Listen...
Repeat.
Every day...
Until every Russian understands that there is a better way for the future of Russia, and for the future of every russian, than the Putin way. And the west doesn't hate Russia and doesn't want to destroy Russia.
Russia is a great country with such huge potential. It could be the best & richest country in the world to live. Foreigners would want to emigrate there. If only Putin ruled like a president for the people and not a president of corruption,
he has been allowing the oligarchs to steal Russia's wealth... wealth that ends up in luxury mansions in Europe, yatchs, private planes, secret investments... bank accounts in Switzerland. Wealth that belongs to the Russian people.
And then he blames the west. The west is the "enemy" of Russia, he says.
I imagine that in a prosperous & pleasant Russia, Putin would not need to invade other countries to gain control. Countries would want to trade with Russia. Foreigners would want to go to Russia to live the good life there and would happily exchange their savings for rubles.
The ruble would be a strong currency, probably the strongest...
But no... Putin chose corruption & MADNESS instead of logic.
Propaganda & Ignorance have to be reversed and only Russians can do that. No one else.
Good luck!
Dear Ribas,
Thank you for your answer.
Could you please say a couple of words about yourself? I’m certain that you are not from Russia, so the fact that you (extensively!) answered my specific Russian-to-Russian question seems strange to me...
Dear Neckto,
I was curious and used google translator to read your comment and then felt compeled to answer it. Apologies if you think that I, as a non-russian speaker, should not have answered it.
Since this is an open forum anyone can answer comments here, this platform (substack) is open to anyone around the world without any restrictions. Nothing strange when someone posts or comments. Next time you do not wish non-russians to comment on your post, please say so.
Would love to know more about you too!
By the way, Google translate is not 100% effective, but I do hope this is how you say it:
Мои искренние извинения еще раз. Спасибо за ваше сообщение.
Dear Ribas,
Firstly, when I said “That was strange to me” I meant “I’m curious why you did that” rather than “You shouldn’t have done that”.
Secondly, I'm Russian, so if I write “Thank you for your answer”, then I really appreciate you, not just want to seem polite.
Thus, there is no need for you to apologise.
Also, as I said earlier, I’m curious why you decided to write so extensive answer about Russia's political situation and perspectives to me, a Russian, although you’re not Russian yourself. Like, imagine: one American asks another “What can we do with Trump?” and then one Russian guy writes him a huge answer about it in Russian language! This is not necessarily bad or incorrect, but this is very strange, isn’t it? :) That is why I asked you to tell me about yourself a little — I’m just curious, nothing more.
Finally, I want to recommend you to use Yandex.Translate to work with Russian language instead of Google. Yandex.Translate is made by Russians, so it was created mainly for translations to and from Russian and works much better than Google with it.
Thanks for your answer Neckto.
I'm not an activist and I'm not paid by anyone, so my opinions and comments are just my own.
Why did I reply to your comment?
As I said, because I felt compeled to do so. You posted a question, I posted an answer. All within the original topic.
The current crisis in Ukraine is somehing that has kept me awake at night thinking: how can we be confortable in our beds while so many are being killed, fleeing or hiding in basements, exhausted, cold & hungry? And what can we do about it?
One thing I do a lot is read news & blogs like this one, from different sources. Good sources. When I feel I have something to add to the discussion, I comment.
When another poster makes a reference to another language or country, I sometimes greet them in their own language. Others have done the same to me in other forums here in substack and I think it's a nice touch.
Behind the reasons & anti-reasons for this conflict in Ukraine are human beings. Exactly like us.
I / We cannot just go about living our lives as if that's nothing to do with us. We have to do everything we can to stop people being killed. On both sides.
Someone here (in Paris) said to me the other day: there's too much news about Ukraine & Russia. We have to switch off and live our lives. We cannot spend our days worrying about it.
I answered: Worrying about it is the least we can do. Think about what the victims (all victims) are going through. And for what?
The next thing we must do (after worrying) is to make sure that people KNOW what's going on. If everyone in Russia knew what's really going on, I'm sure they'd be totally devastated.
Most would say: Not in my name!
But I don't know if that would be enough to bring any change. Too late for this conflict but full information about this one may avert the next one.
There's hope...
Yes, there is.
Thank you for your first answer again. It has reminded me of some important things that I knew, but forgot because of pain and hatred and disgust and... we feel a lot of different feelings for notre Patrie now, I don’t want to write all of them. So, thank you, Ribas, for your reminder.
I'd like to read the rest, but it's behind a paywall which demands a subscription to FT - and I have all the subscriptions I need right now. I'm sure it's a good article, though.
https://www.ft.com/content/e92823af-aa1f-4bd9-a28c-641162b95be4?accessToken=zwAAAYHeHlNWkdPpKCOvqh9L2dOijGQRYrlb5AE.MEUCICMmYyaN_wbTQxm_8HRrTlMMpEwZolukEK8Rqkop22ToAiEAtVB_kmFrTEfFaMcodRK65t43pHoMSXw5V66hmDRZl7g&segmentId=e92823af-aa1f-4bd9-a28c-641162b95be4
Thanks - that was a great article. I think a lot of the trouble in Russia is that the old national security state apparatus wasn't kicked to the streets in 1991. Putin and his crew of oligarchs, and people like Dugin and Kirill - all of them elements of the old Soviet national security state - just renamed themselves, went from apparatchiki and nomenklatura to leaders and oligarchs and archbishops and suchlike. The old structures remained, they just got called by different names. The power relationship between nomenklatura and the mass of the people never changed - as happened in Poland, and Czechia/Slovakia/Czech republic, and East Germany and so forth. And still, in a lot of those places, the power dynamic can still go over to tyranny, because the people aren't armed as a sufficient counterpoise to potential tyrants in governments. "A well-regulated militia, being practiced in the proper use of military arms and being able to act in concert to resist tyrants and criminals, being necessary to the continued freedom of a state which has become freed of tyranny and unjust power, the right of the people, in their individual capacities, to keep and bear the arms used by military units, shall not be infringed or forbidden - and the enforcement rights lie with the people themselves, not the governments, against whom this right is asserted." Just governments only exist when the consent of the governed is freely given - and consent only exists when there is no fraud or duress used by other parties seeking to perpetrate injustice, even if that's in the name of some purported social good. So that in a free society, not only is there a right to keep and bear arms, it's really a duty, too - a duty to preserve your own freedom, then that of your family and friends, then of your community - and then that of strangers who pass your way and seek safety from those who wish to oppress them... It's centralized power which spoils things, you get people attracted to that kind of power who are psychopaths and narcissists and Machiavellians, and you wind up with a pathocracy:
"A totalitarian form of government in which absolute political power is held by a psychopathic elite, and their effect on the people is such that the entire society is ruled and motivated by purely pathological values.
A pathocracy can take many forms and can insinuate itself covertly into any seemingly just system or ideology. As such it can masquerade under the guise of a democracy or theocracy as well as more openly oppressive regimes.
Characteristics
1. suppression of individualism and creativity.
2. impoverishment of artistic values.
3. impoverishment of moral values; a social structure based on self-interest and one-upmanship, rather than altruism.
4. fanatical ideology; often a corrupted form of a valid viable ‘trojan’ ideology which is perverted into a pathological form, bearing little resemblance to the substance of the original.
5. intolerance and suspicion of anyone who is different, or who disagrees with the state.
6. centralized control.
7. widespread corruption.
8. secret activities within government, but surveillance of the general population. (In contrast, a healthy society would have transparent government processes, and respect for privacy of the individual citizen).
9. paranoid and reactionary government.
10. excessive, arbitrary, unfair and inflexible legislation; the power of decision making is reduced/removed from the citizens’ everyday lives.
11. an attitude of hypocrisy and contempt demonstrated by the actions of the ruling class, towards the ideals they claim to follow, and towards the citizens they claim to represent.
12. controlled media, dominated by propaganda.
13. extreme inequality between the richest and poorest.
14. endemic use of corrupted psychological reasoning such as paramoralisms, conversive thinking and doubletalk.
15. rule by force and/or fear of force.
16. people are considered as a ‘resource’ to be exploited (hence the term “human resources”), rather than as individuals with intrinsic human worth.
17. spiritual life is restricted to inflexible and doctrinaire schemes. Anyone attempting to go beyond these boundaries is considered a heretic or insane, and therefore dangerous.
18. arbitrary divisions in the population (class, ethnicity, creed) are inflamed into conflict with one another.
19. suppression of free speech – public debate, demonstration, protest.
20. violation of basic human rights, for example: restriction or denial of basic life necessities such as food, water, shelter; detainment without charge; torture and abuse; slave labour." https://pathocracy.wordpress.com/definition/
So the thing to do is to decentralize power, so that government(s) can be kept on a very short leash... "We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable, that all men are created equal and independent; that from that equal creation they derive in rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these ends, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government shall become destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing it's powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes: and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. but when a long train of abuses and usurpations, begun at a distinguished period, and pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to subject them to arbitrary power, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1776-1785/jeffersons-draft-of-the-declaration-of-independence.php
Hi! I will try to get a free link and attach it here ASAP.
https://archive.ph/Swtkv