"In my view, there is Western, European civilization. And there is Russia. Russia has no civilization of its own, it is a shadow of European civilization. All institutions, all ways of life of European civilization are reflected in Russia as a dark shadow. The positive is turned into the negative. Instead of a free press there are lies, instead of Christian churches there is a church that is part of the state, part of the FSB secret service and which legitimizes the regime's ideology."
- Ukrainian philosophy professor Vakhtang Kebuladze
Kebuladze made this statement via Focus yesterday. I sat and pondered over it a good bit.
Since WW II.....there's been a huge attempt by Russians to sell the nation as modern and comparable to Europe. US and European companies even came in to sell products, services, and brand-names. What you can say over the past month.....that when the Soviet Union 'died' in 1991.....it just changed the name and tried to appear western....when they weren't western.
Russia today? I would make the statement that it's a blend of old-Czar-Russia and the Soviet Union....with a 'layer' of Nationalist Socialism on the top.
The only objective on the mind of Putin at present....whatever the cost (even if it were 25,000 young men and half the tank inventory of Russia)....is the utter destruction of the Ukraine.
It's an odd world that we live in....never contemplating that WW III was inches away. All of those bunkers that were built in the 1950s/1960s.....mostly all torn down since 1990, with people believing European wars were ended.
If Putin were to go away tomorrow? The new reality is that you can't really change the new perception....it's going to be around for a whole generation.
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