Homo Sovieticus and ... where do we go from here?

 War continues to rage, the death toll continues to rise. World-wide we stand united in our support and sense of awe at the unfettered courage of this people and their leader, Volodymyr Zelensky. Here in Thessaloniki a well-known sea-front installation sports the Ukrainian colours as a mark of support and respect. Certainly, those sentiments are appreciated by and encourage the war victims, but are they enough?                                                    

 When teaching in the High School, I used to encourage students to think analytically by offering them the following syllogism to consider:

·         State X is virtually crime free

·         Crime is bad

·         Therefore, this state is good.

Then we went on to read Ray Bradbury’s short story The Pedestrian of a crime-free dystopian state where the population, constantly sitting before tele-screens, is policed for ‘non-conformity’ by a robotic police-car. The pedestrian of the title is apprehended for going for an evening stroll. After reading this, we return to reconsider the syllogism.

This came to mind the other day when someone said it was Zelensky’s fault and that he must go so that the war would stop. We would all agree that the war is horrendous but making it thus stop is not of necessity a good thing. Possible consequences could be Ukraine losing its right to self-determination and ethnic cleansing. The Russians have already stated their intention to ‘purge fascism’ despite the fact that in the latest elections right wing parties gained more seats in Russia than in Ukraine. Moreover, Putin’s acquisition goals are likely to spread over a wider geopolitical frame.       

                                              

So, what is a possible outcome of this entire combat? To consider that we need to examine the Russian psyche. Martti J Kari, of the Finnish Defence Intelligence, explained his understanding of nardnost - the sense of Russian national identity. He sees it as epitomising endurance and the tolerance of two realities; he exemplifies this by giving two Russian words for truth:   

pravda - tactical truth, what it is expedient to classify as true.

istina - the opposite of falsehood, a fundamental truth.

He also contrasts the terms tenure and possession – the latter being a concept that is not in synch with Communist rationale. Instead, those within the current hierarchy enjoy tenure of position, resources, property, etc. The higher up the hierarchy one is, the greater power and profit one can access. Which goes hand in hand with the degree of corruption that is tolerated. Overstep what your position allows and you’ll be shot down – perhaps literally.

Homo Sovieticus, your average Russian, is fed mis/disinformation is filtered through the tv channels which are largely state-controlled. The people are seen as products of long-term social engineering, by which they are made increasingly dependent on the state and have become ready to trade their freedom in return for not having to make decisions or accept responsibility.

 Since 2019 the ‘fake news law’ has made it a criminal offence to publish ‘unreliable’ information and to express disrespect for society, government, the constitution, etc.  The vague wording allows for its selective application to deter or silence critical voices. There have, indeed, been some dissenters – below you can see a demonstration in Moscow of anti-war protesters - but only something on a huge, unified scale could dismantle the political structure.

                                             
Negotiation attempts have so far not been fruitful. Lenin himself stated:

‘Russia is deaf to the logic of reason, but sensitive to the logic of power.’

Yuval Noah Harari, the Israel historian, says Putin is not interested in negotiation but only in annexing Ukraine.

NATO, the USA and the EC needed to show more steel and early on. But they still have time.

 Or can we place hope in Russia’s youth, more globally educated, au fait with and more informed by the social media, to put this warlord in his rightful place?