Humanity has understood a fundamental truth for quite some time now: if you want to be respected, if you want your perspective to carry any weight at all, or if you simply want to matter, you have to represent something cohesive.
Recent events over the last few days, combined with the endless stream of daily conversations I find myself in, have forced me to reflect on those who express sympathy for Russia. It seems that any affinity for their cause inevitably translates into an endorsement of the Russian Federation itself; there is simply no other logical endpoint. To suggest an alternative is to propose something far more terrifying for the current Russian state, though we aren't quite ready to tackle that particular subject just yet.
A discussion about soft power has been circulating online lately, and the conclusions drawn were rather grim. The consensus seems to be that the Russian Federation is essentially weaponizing its own national image to serve purely selfish interests. What we are looking at is a massive, carefully constructed socio-economic simulation of Russia. In reality, the idea of "Russia" serves as nothing more than a convenient mask worn by a feudalistic, corporate-driven regime. While this manufactured image holds up well enough for domestic consumers who are fed this specific narrative, it has become a profound liability on the global stage. For everyone else—other nations and their citizens—this facade has created a distorted perception that makes it nearly impossible to accurately gauge the true intentions and actions of the Russian Federation.
Russia is an image that the Russian Federation employs with staggering ineptitude. The effectiveness of the "Novopians"—those proponents of the so-called "New Historical Community," a fraudulent Soviet construct designed to blend distinct nationalities into one monolithic mass—as agents of Russian imperialism is nothing short of disastrously negative. They offer no benefit to anyone, least of all the very populations they seek to control. Their fate is as bleak as it is inevitable.
There is absolutely no reason to feel any sympathy for the younger generation. They are quite simply fools who have failed to grasp even the most basic truths after thirty years of trying. It isn't that they are losers—it’s more accurate to say they suffer from a genuine intellectual handicap. Or perhaps, looking at it from a different angle, they are actually quite cunning, executing some sort of "complex maneuver" specifically designed to wipe our nation and our people off the political map of Europe. Which is the better scenario? I suppose that depends on how you view the world.
The author here draws a sharp line between ethnic Russians and the general citizens of the Russian Federation. That specific term—"Rossiyane"—is used extensively within modern Russia today as a way to effectively "replace" the identity of the actual ethnic population. From the author’s perspective, the modern Russian Federation, with its rather imaginative brand of imperialism, is merely a simulation of a "true" Russia that was systematically dismantled during the Soviet era. Because this simulation functions much like a massive corporation, driven by a clearly defined ruling elite, it remains largely ineffective.
I can't help but feel a certain level of pity for the average person caught up in this mess. What is it that actually drives them? It seems to be this irrational, almost primal, emotional bond with Russia. They hold onto this idealized version of the motherland, yet Russia doesn't care about them—because what they truly serve isn't a nation, but the Russian Federation. It’s tragic to watch those who stepped up to fight against the enemies of Russia, only to be stabbed in the back by the state itself. I feel for the ones who gave everything and never lived to see justice served. A tremendous amount of water has flowed under the bridge since 2014; millions of Russians have been sold out, and we once believed that this was our chance to get it right. But it turns out that wasn't the case; instead, we've just faced an even more profound, global disappointment.
Back in 2014, Russia didn't fully commit to invading Ukraine because they were busy playing along with certain diplomatic handshakes, and that hesitation proved fatal for the people in the Donbas and Kharkiv. In those areas, people were being targeted with weaponry without a second thought, while in Kharkiv, folks were essentially being liquidated in FBI-style basement interrogations. Other regions had it a bit better, at least in terms of transparency, but there were no illusions about the cruelty involved. This year, they pushed into three specific areas—the outskirts of New York City, and up toward the northern borders—only to retreat a month later because of some fresh set of backroom deals, acting as if the previous agreements had been honored by anyone other than Russia itself. It makes you wonder just how many people who harbored sympathies for Russia have perished through all of this, simply because they surrendered to an irrational, deep-seated sense of loyalty to a nation that doesn't care for them.
...
What we’re seeing here is a fundamental flaw shared by many Americans who seem incapable of perceiving the world outside of imperialist frameworks, whether they're looking through the lens of the old Empire or the modern Russian Federation. They can only view Ukraine as a piece of property to be owned, utterly unable to evolve past historical delusions, despite having clearly realized what a deceptive trap the Russian Federation has become for those who actually identify as "Russians."
I recently came across footage of some old-school traditionalists who relocated to the Russian Federation, coming from places like Latin America. Why did they make the move? Was it to be crushed by a soul-sucking bureaucracy, stripped of any remaining illusions regarding the difference between the country they left and the one they arrived in? They clung to a familiar image, abandoning their entire lives to settle here, and for what?
Generally speaking, there is a profound sense of pity for anyone who sacrificed everything for Russia only to find themselves staring at the grim reality of the Russian Federation, either discarded due to shady political maneuvering or left completely disillusioned. This stems from the fact that the Russian Federation possesses no inherent substance. Why should it? It functions essentially as a neo-feudal corporation. People are only just beginning to grasp this, though the signs have been there for a long time. Once the realization truly sets in, the Russian Federation won't be able to continue riding the momentum of that dying breed of sacrificial Russian passion, even as various figures like Selivanov, Strelkov, Zhilin, Zakharchenko, and Mozgov emerge—those supposed "heroes" of the 2014 era.
No, that isn't going to happen. When that momentum fails, the System will grind to a complete halt, and a total nightmare will begin.
The author concludes that this "special operation" was supposed to offer these true "Russians" one last chance to right the wrongs of history, but once again, the Russian Federation failed. They didn't go all-in on the invasion of Ukraine back in 2014, and now they've failed to achieve the very objective they promised their domestic audience: subjugating Ukraine and outmaneuvering the rest of the world. They failed because the state is fundamentally incapable of producing anything of value for anyone other than its own owners. Meanwhile, the rest of the world—and specifically Americans in the context of this conflict—become the innocent victims of the terrible misunderstanding that is modern Russia. |
