I think sometimes you just have to acknowledge that a task is beneath you. Obviously I can’t speak for every single tard-pilled hick in the comments sections on Facebook, but I work with a good deal of them at the ol’ steel mill. Most of them can’t locate the Pacific Ocean on a map, and any free time they have to remedy this problem is instead spent online shopping or watching YouTube videos of people dick-flipping their four wheelers. Stanning for Russia is just a part of their identity costume, not the result of any intellectual heavy lifting.
I have to confess that I couldn't finish reading due to time constraints, but I'll catch up later.
I think I know which Korean author you mean. I had already expressed my astonishment as to why you have to visit Russia in these times.
I was born in Moscow in 1978 and lived there until 1991. My sisters, nephews and nieces and their children still live there. And yet I would never have dreamed of travelling to Moscow in these times.
Many people don't understand when you say that you hate Russia. However, this is often not even about Russians as a nation, but about the state itself, which is deeply rotten from within. Human life has never been worth anything in Russia. The country has been a cult of death for centuries.
I neither want to love nor approve of such a country.
Yeah exactly. Russophobia is such a cheap jab to lob at people, it just plays into Putin's imperialistic playbook. Many of my best friends are Russian, and they definitely hate Russia for all the obvious and mentioned reasons.
Russia as a system has produced habituated cruelty, normalized violence, and a kind of everyday nihilism. I have to keep reminding myself that the people aren't born horrible. They're shaped by centuries of imperial logic that tells them survival justifies anything. Probably a bit about the cold too, ha. When your national myth is suffering and your winters are -30, warmth—literal or emotional—becomes optional.
Agreed that Russia sucks, not sure what the point is of pointing this out, as they aren't changing or going anywhere, at least in the near future, but I guess it's worth pointing out for the clueless people who are not yet aware of this fact.
Considering changing US policy has direct consequences not just on Ukraine, but the rest of the world, I think Trump cozying up to Putin is a great time to remind people of how terrible Russia is.
“Useful idiots” is the right term for the left- and now right-wing apologists. Russia has cultivated them for a long time, they know how to play on Western weaknesses (not only ideological — let’s not forget money, like how US businesspeople went to Stalin’s USSR during the famines and built the factories without which Soviet modernization would have taken much longer).
Two other things…
One, my friend from the North Caucasus (a Russian citizen) recently met a few Russians (also Russian citizens) who did not know that his home region of Dagestan was part of Russia or what/where it was at all. And that isn’t even the first time that happened.
Two, I was listening to a Russian podcast recently and the host was referencing the scene from Brat where Danil is holding a cowering American at gunpoint and mockingly lecturing him—could you imagine the damage to the Russian self-image if the same scene had been in a Hollywood movie but reversed? It is axiomatic in Russia that Hollywood always depicts Russia in a bad light (as if only and especially Russia, and as if Russia is beyond all critical or negative depictions).
Lastly, Richard Pipes laid out the sources of Russian expansionism pretty well in his day, and nothing has changed or ever will.
Another telling aspect about the scene in Brat 2 you mentioned is Danila’s famous quote “в чем сила? Сила в правде” “in what is power? Power is on truth” suggesting Russia is strong because it represents truth whereas the US represents money. Give me a break.
To be fair, Balabanov was probably trying to make it seem ridiculous, showing there is actually only power in power, but that hasn’t stopped Russians from repeating that line to make themselves feel better
I've always wondered what Balabanov’s intent was. Did he want audiences to like Danila and see in him the heroic epitome of Russian Soul, or was it masterful satire depicting a racist bumpkin who knows nothing about the world and takes no issue shooting his way out of problems, or is it a bit of both?
Is the name of the above book, "Extermination Alone will Keep them Silent" or is that the chapter name? I have a really bad habit of buying interesting sounding books while fully knowing I have no time to read them.
Thank you for reading and the validation. Often people see anger as an issue that requires management or therapy, but I think in many cases to be angry is simply to be human.
This was very educational. I knew about the Soviet era atrocities but knew nothing of the circassians. Thanks for the illumination on the subject. This is a very complicated, nuanced and emotionally charged subject. A subject that your clearly know much about. I hesitate to comment because I could be accused of being out of my depth, and that would not be an entirely unfair charge. I could comment reams about this post. Much of it very much agree with and sympathize with. I take few exceptions. One might be that Ukraine is in a struggle for self determination. Ukraine is in a struggle to figure out what global hegemony it will live under. Will they get raped and become a vassal state of the West or the East. You also mentioned the Winter War between the Finns and Russia. A war where Finland was invaded by Russia. Finland fighting under constant promise of Western support in the form of manpower (they were already getting material and volunteers) that never came, extended likely for the purposes of just forestalling and weakening the Russians while the West could use the time to refit and rearm. Sound familiar? Those buffer states aren’t used as a expendable, consumable buffer state by Russia but by the West as well.
Thanks for reading. You bring up a lot of valid points. Regarding the Circassians, it's an ugly part of history almost unrecognized by the entire world. Resources for learning the language are extremely scarce.
I thank you for sharing that. I will look into it. I’ve just briefly read about their association with Islam. I think another thing that has to be taken into consideration here is Russias very valid concern of being invaded by some amalgam or multinational Western power block. People forget that Nazi Germany was very much a multinational force of conglomerated states and allied with participatory states. There were Romanian and Spanish troops on the Eastern front, and many countries contributed to the SS, a very multinational cadre of Dutch, Finnish, Lithuanian, French (short of an exhaustive list). It now has a multinational force on its door step comprised of lands once occupied by the Germans. Because this is an alliance of the willing as opposed to occupation (and I would even debate that assertion) and since this encirclement has taken place over many decades as apposed to the sudden, aggressive “lightning” fashion employed by the Germans during WW2, does this make it any less threatening? Is an encirclement conducted by dead sprint and sheer initiative or by poise and slow calculation any less threatening upon comparison with one another? Add to that your mentioning Azov. Though you are right in your assertion that they do not represent the average Ukrainian, have you read anything about Operation Gladio and the role of Reinhard Gehlen and gahlenorg. Employing Italian fascists and Adwehr and SS troops as stay behind networks in Europe/Eastern Europe. Also to agitate/provide false flag events in Europe and even as far as South America to dissuade, frustrate, hamper, frame up the Soviets (which needed no help in the realm of smearing their reputation). I know a few things about small arms and at the beginning of the war in Ukraine there were many Ukrainian soldiers using WW2 era German weapons that seemed to fresh out of cosmoline (in some instances with some upgrades such as apparatus for firing at night and modern optical sights). Why did these weapons proliferate to the extent that they did at the beginning of the war? They’ve been there since 1945 in the form of Gladio stocks along with the multigenerational Nazis to use them. I’m in no way running interference for the Russians, Ukrainians or anyone else but simply mentioning things that you may not have considered. If Germany itself could not be completely denazified by occupation forces, how thoroughly were the sympathetic states in the balkans and Eastern Europe denatzified? I think we have a very simplistic view of war as Americans. There are “gray zone” rear echelon actions, influence operations, preparing the battlefield, economic machinations that are all part of modern war and they in no way resemble the costly, attritional open warfare on a battlefield that gets so much publicity. I’m reading a book by Herman Giskes called North Pole Calling London about the Dutch underground/British SOE conducting “war” with radios as the primary and exclusive “war implement”. War is a very big iceberg, with much of it being underwater, obscured from view for all but the most discerning and educated eyes. Kinetic operations are but the small crest above water my friend.
Wonderful, and channeling your rage like this worked great! Doen’t need an ounce of editing. Raw, and I hope your old friends get a chance to read this. Loved it 🫶
Like the post, and tbh I’m not well versed in Russian or Ukrainian history, so it was really informative. However I would just like to raise one point in that I do think that when leftists ‘sympathise’ with Russia, it’s mostly from a it’s not black/white stand point.
Like it’s less about justifying Russians invasion, but more so about rejecting the narrative that Russia is the ‘baddie’ and inherently evil, and Ukrainian as the ‘goodie’ and we should love and unequivocally support them.
I don’t support Russia by any means but this narrative only serves the west, and paints the war into something that it literally isn’t. And I don’t think your post disputes this (I think) but I personally haven’t come across many tankies supporting Russians invasion into Ukraine, (online maybe a different story they should touch some grass) and if you have friends like that maybe stop being friends with them lmao cause they sound pretty childish.
Hopefully you live in a better environment. I live in Kazakhstan, so currently I don’t run into tankies at al, but in the small California town I’m from, they are plentiful. Also, fans of the so called “dirtbag left” podcasts such as Chapo Trap House (which I mostly like) and academics like Norm Finkelstein (again, I mostly like him) are almost exclusively tankies. Norm is great to watch in debates and his stance on Israel is great, but he has the most braindead takes on Russia, and therefore so do most who listen to him.
I see, I’m from a small town in West Yorkshire, so hanging an Ukraine flag in the centre of town and welcoming Ukraine refugees is the only really acceptable political action and commentary lmao.
So it makes sense why our experiences differ a bit.
I grew up in Russia (Siberia to be precise) and I’m not sure why you think there were never textbooks about what happened during Soviet times etc - in fact, Russia went through perestroika and glasnost when the West was seen as a pinnacle of democracy and there was a great gnashing of teeth and renouncement of all the bad things Russia and the USSR did. “Take as much sovereignty as you want” Yeltsin famously said to the former USSR states. There was massive backlash in Russia when people realised that they once again were had when the western consultants flooded the country and wiped all savings from bank accounts by urging currency denomination while making millions. It’s just another cycle of “Russia is the best” / “Russia is the worst” cycle that happens in the country with frightening regularity. I love it how people who now lament Trump’s actions and cry that they do not support him were adamant that Russians were supposed to just throw Putin out. It’s frankly exhausting to hear how terrible all Russians and Russia are as I can assure you, Russians heard it all before, again and again, and at some point you stop believing that if you were born Russian you are a particularly heinous creature.
Russia as a state did a lot of terrible things, there’s no denying it. It’s also not unique in trying to rewrite the history, unfortunately. I just don’t think that the narrative “Russia bad and always been bad” is helpful or even interesting (it’s definitely not new).
Furthermore, you're upset because your feelings got hurt. I'm upset because Russia is killing my friends in Ukraine and the Trump administration is becoming complicit in this. Our grievances are not the same.
Considering how many right-wing morons are buying into Trump's rhetoric and Ukraine’s fate is directly linked to this, yeah, reminding people is necessary.
You’re like a parody of the people I wrote about. Absolute victim “the world hates me because I’m Russian” complex. Are you incapable of any sort of self-reflection?
Isn’t it funny how you came to this conclusion without knowing anything about me, talk about self awareness. Look, you’re doing a BIG BRAVE thing by condemning Russia and I’m a caricature who conveniently proves your point. I’m pretty sure I’d be wasting my time pointing out that many Russians are aware of its terrible history (and it was taught in school, you’re just not aware of it - it’s just details anyway, right?) and have tried to change what’s happening in the country as it doesn’t fit into your narrative. Not everything is an excuse or justification. But yeah let’s just say Russia bad, Russians bad, you awesome. And it’s me who lacks self awareness.
Yura was good, but I really think Karen Karagulian, the older of the two Armenians, should have been the one nominated for Best Supporting Actor. He was the best part of the movie.
Your page is quickly become one of my favorites on this site
Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate that.
I think sometimes you just have to acknowledge that a task is beneath you. Obviously I can’t speak for every single tard-pilled hick in the comments sections on Facebook, but I work with a good deal of them at the ol’ steel mill. Most of them can’t locate the Pacific Ocean on a map, and any free time they have to remedy this problem is instead spent online shopping or watching YouTube videos of people dick-flipping their four wheelers. Stanning for Russia is just a part of their identity costume, not the result of any intellectual heavy lifting.
We truly are cooked as a people.
I have to confess that I couldn't finish reading due to time constraints, but I'll catch up later.
I think I know which Korean author you mean. I had already expressed my astonishment as to why you have to visit Russia in these times.
I was born in Moscow in 1978 and lived there until 1991. My sisters, nephews and nieces and their children still live there. And yet I would never have dreamed of travelling to Moscow in these times.
Many people don't understand when you say that you hate Russia. However, this is often not even about Russians as a nation, but about the state itself, which is deeply rotten from within. Human life has never been worth anything in Russia. The country has been a cult of death for centuries.
I neither want to love nor approve of such a country.
Yeah exactly. Russophobia is such a cheap jab to lob at people, it just plays into Putin's imperialistic playbook. Many of my best friends are Russian, and they definitely hate Russia for all the obvious and mentioned reasons.
Russia as a system has produced habituated cruelty, normalized violence, and a kind of everyday nihilism. I have to keep reminding myself that the people aren't born horrible. They're shaped by centuries of imperial logic that tells them survival justifies anything. Probably a bit about the cold too, ha. When your national myth is suffering and your winters are -30, warmth—literal or emotional—becomes optional.
Thank you for reading
Agreed that Russia sucks, not sure what the point is of pointing this out, as they aren't changing or going anywhere, at least in the near future, but I guess it's worth pointing out for the clueless people who are not yet aware of this fact.
Considering changing US policy has direct consequences not just on Ukraine, but the rest of the world, I think Trump cozying up to Putin is a great time to remind people of how terrible Russia is.
“Useful idiots” is the right term for the left- and now right-wing apologists. Russia has cultivated them for a long time, they know how to play on Western weaknesses (not only ideological — let’s not forget money, like how US businesspeople went to Stalin’s USSR during the famines and built the factories without which Soviet modernization would have taken much longer).
Two other things…
One, my friend from the North Caucasus (a Russian citizen) recently met a few Russians (also Russian citizens) who did not know that his home region of Dagestan was part of Russia or what/where it was at all. And that isn’t even the first time that happened.
Two, I was listening to a Russian podcast recently and the host was referencing the scene from Brat where Danil is holding a cowering American at gunpoint and mockingly lecturing him—could you imagine the damage to the Russian self-image if the same scene had been in a Hollywood movie but reversed? It is axiomatic in Russia that Hollywood always depicts Russia in a bad light (as if only and especially Russia, and as if Russia is beyond all critical or negative depictions).
Lastly, Richard Pipes laid out the sources of Russian expansionism pretty well in his day, and nothing has changed or ever will.
Another telling aspect about the scene in Brat 2 you mentioned is Danila’s famous quote “в чем сила? Сила в правде” “in what is power? Power is on truth” suggesting Russia is strong because it represents truth whereas the US represents money. Give me a break.
To be fair, Balabanov was probably trying to make it seem ridiculous, showing there is actually only power in power, but that hasn’t stopped Russians from repeating that line to make themselves feel better
I've always wondered what Balabanov’s intent was. Did he want audiences to like Danila and see in him the heroic epitome of Russian Soul, or was it masterful satire depicting a racist bumpkin who knows nothing about the world and takes no issue shooting his way out of problems, or is it a bit of both?
Is the name of the above book, "Extermination Alone will Keep them Silent" or is that the chapter name? I have a really bad habit of buying interesting sounding books while fully knowing I have no time to read them.
The name of the book is Let Our Fame be Great. It's about the various peoples of the Caucasus and their history.
Thanks, David. Happy to add another 500+ page book to the list. And I wonder why I can't get through more books in a year!
My pleasure to be a part of your dilemma.
This is a great read.
Your anger is very understandable.
Thank you for reading and the validation. Often people see anger as an issue that requires management or therapy, but I think in many cases to be angry is simply to be human.
As I've increasingly come to learn over the years, there's plenty about Russia that if you were not angry about it, something would be wrong with you.
Exactly
This was very educational. I knew about the Soviet era atrocities but knew nothing of the circassians. Thanks for the illumination on the subject. This is a very complicated, nuanced and emotionally charged subject. A subject that your clearly know much about. I hesitate to comment because I could be accused of being out of my depth, and that would not be an entirely unfair charge. I could comment reams about this post. Much of it very much agree with and sympathize with. I take few exceptions. One might be that Ukraine is in a struggle for self determination. Ukraine is in a struggle to figure out what global hegemony it will live under. Will they get raped and become a vassal state of the West or the East. You also mentioned the Winter War between the Finns and Russia. A war where Finland was invaded by Russia. Finland fighting under constant promise of Western support in the form of manpower (they were already getting material and volunteers) that never came, extended likely for the purposes of just forestalling and weakening the Russians while the West could use the time to refit and rearm. Sound familiar? Those buffer states aren’t used as a expendable, consumable buffer state by Russia but by the West as well.
Thanks for reading. You bring up a lot of valid points. Regarding the Circassians, it's an ugly part of history almost unrecognized by the entire world. Resources for learning the language are extremely scarce.
I thank you for sharing that. I will look into it. I’ve just briefly read about their association with Islam. I think another thing that has to be taken into consideration here is Russias very valid concern of being invaded by some amalgam or multinational Western power block. People forget that Nazi Germany was very much a multinational force of conglomerated states and allied with participatory states. There were Romanian and Spanish troops on the Eastern front, and many countries contributed to the SS, a very multinational cadre of Dutch, Finnish, Lithuanian, French (short of an exhaustive list). It now has a multinational force on its door step comprised of lands once occupied by the Germans. Because this is an alliance of the willing as opposed to occupation (and I would even debate that assertion) and since this encirclement has taken place over many decades as apposed to the sudden, aggressive “lightning” fashion employed by the Germans during WW2, does this make it any less threatening? Is an encirclement conducted by dead sprint and sheer initiative or by poise and slow calculation any less threatening upon comparison with one another? Add to that your mentioning Azov. Though you are right in your assertion that they do not represent the average Ukrainian, have you read anything about Operation Gladio and the role of Reinhard Gehlen and gahlenorg. Employing Italian fascists and Adwehr and SS troops as stay behind networks in Europe/Eastern Europe. Also to agitate/provide false flag events in Europe and even as far as South America to dissuade, frustrate, hamper, frame up the Soviets (which needed no help in the realm of smearing their reputation). I know a few things about small arms and at the beginning of the war in Ukraine there were many Ukrainian soldiers using WW2 era German weapons that seemed to fresh out of cosmoline (in some instances with some upgrades such as apparatus for firing at night and modern optical sights). Why did these weapons proliferate to the extent that they did at the beginning of the war? They’ve been there since 1945 in the form of Gladio stocks along with the multigenerational Nazis to use them. I’m in no way running interference for the Russians, Ukrainians or anyone else but simply mentioning things that you may not have considered. If Germany itself could not be completely denazified by occupation forces, how thoroughly were the sympathetic states in the balkans and Eastern Europe denatzified? I think we have a very simplistic view of war as Americans. There are “gray zone” rear echelon actions, influence operations, preparing the battlefield, economic machinations that are all part of modern war and they in no way resemble the costly, attritional open warfare on a battlefield that gets so much publicity. I’m reading a book by Herman Giskes called North Pole Calling London about the Dutch underground/British SOE conducting “war” with radios as the primary and exclusive “war implement”. War is a very big iceberg, with much of it being underwater, obscured from view for all but the most discerning and educated eyes. Kinetic operations are but the small crest above water my friend.
Wonderful, and channeling your rage like this worked great! Doen’t need an ounce of editing. Raw, and I hope your old friends get a chance to read this. Loved it 🫶
Thanks for reading mate. I took Palpatine's advice with this one and let the rage flow through me.
Dew it*
Do it
Great work 🔥 thank you for the support and understanding ♥️
Thank you for reading, friend.
Are we thinking about the same dickead in Ohio?
It’s always that dickhead in Ohio, isn’t it?
Like the post, and tbh I’m not well versed in Russian or Ukrainian history, so it was really informative. However I would just like to raise one point in that I do think that when leftists ‘sympathise’ with Russia, it’s mostly from a it’s not black/white stand point.
Like it’s less about justifying Russians invasion, but more so about rejecting the narrative that Russia is the ‘baddie’ and inherently evil, and Ukrainian as the ‘goodie’ and we should love and unequivocally support them.
I don’t support Russia by any means but this narrative only serves the west, and paints the war into something that it literally isn’t. And I don’t think your post disputes this (I think) but I personally haven’t come across many tankies supporting Russians invasion into Ukraine, (online maybe a different story they should touch some grass) and if you have friends like that maybe stop being friends with them lmao cause they sound pretty childish.
Hopefully you live in a better environment. I live in Kazakhstan, so currently I don’t run into tankies at al, but in the small California town I’m from, they are plentiful. Also, fans of the so called “dirtbag left” podcasts such as Chapo Trap House (which I mostly like) and academics like Norm Finkelstein (again, I mostly like him) are almost exclusively tankies. Norm is great to watch in debates and his stance on Israel is great, but he has the most braindead takes on Russia, and therefore so do most who listen to him.
I see, I’m from a small town in West Yorkshire, so hanging an Ukraine flag in the centre of town and welcoming Ukraine refugees is the only really acceptable political action and commentary lmao.
So it makes sense why our experiences differ a bit.
I want to see your anti-Anora rant next!!
But I liked Anora!!
I grew up in Russia (Siberia to be precise) and I’m not sure why you think there were never textbooks about what happened during Soviet times etc - in fact, Russia went through perestroika and glasnost when the West was seen as a pinnacle of democracy and there was a great gnashing of teeth and renouncement of all the bad things Russia and the USSR did. “Take as much sovereignty as you want” Yeltsin famously said to the former USSR states. There was massive backlash in Russia when people realised that they once again were had when the western consultants flooded the country and wiped all savings from bank accounts by urging currency denomination while making millions. It’s just another cycle of “Russia is the best” / “Russia is the worst” cycle that happens in the country with frightening regularity. I love it how people who now lament Trump’s actions and cry that they do not support him were adamant that Russians were supposed to just throw Putin out. It’s frankly exhausting to hear how terrible all Russians and Russia are as I can assure you, Russians heard it all before, again and again, and at some point you stop believing that if you were born Russian you are a particularly heinous creature.
Cry about it. Besides gamers, Russians are the most oppressed people on Earth.
I tried crying but believe it or not, it didn’t stop the war.
Russia has never had any agency in its history, it always merely reacts to the actions of rapacious outsiders.
Russian Soul <3
Russia as a state did a lot of terrible things, there’s no denying it. It’s also not unique in trying to rewrite the history, unfortunately. I just don’t think that the narrative “Russia bad and always been bad” is helpful or even interesting (it’s definitely not new).
Furthermore, you're upset because your feelings got hurt. I'm upset because Russia is killing my friends in Ukraine and the Trump administration is becoming complicit in this. Our grievances are not the same.
Considering how many right-wing morons are buying into Trump's rhetoric and Ukraine’s fate is directly linked to this, yeah, reminding people is necessary.
OK well let’s just throw another sarcastic comment into the mix, that will help stop all the bad people AND make you feel better about yourself.
You’re like a parody of the people I wrote about. Absolute victim “the world hates me because I’m Russian” complex. Are you incapable of any sort of self-reflection?
Isn’t it funny how you came to this conclusion without knowing anything about me, talk about self awareness. Look, you’re doing a BIG BRAVE thing by condemning Russia and I’m a caricature who conveniently proves your point. I’m pretty sure I’d be wasting my time pointing out that many Russians are aware of its terrible history (and it was taught in school, you’re just not aware of it - it’s just details anyway, right?) and have tried to change what’s happening in the country as it doesn’t fit into your narrative. Not everything is an excuse or justification. But yeah let’s just say Russia bad, Russians bad, you awesome. And it’s me who lacks self awareness.
Do keep responding, you're giving me a lot of material.
Your mastery of reverse psychology is effectively making me plan my holiday to Crimea. I'll be sure to vote for you as Travel Agent of the Year.
'White Lotus' on my list for this month.
Yura Borisov, from 'Anora’, is one of my favoruites. Loved him in the less commercial ‘Compartment No.6’.
Yura was good, but I really think Karen Karagulian, the older of the two Armenians, should have been the one nominated for Best Supporting Actor. He was the best part of the movie.