A Slavland Chronicles Recap

I see the topics covered by this blog as cumulative - they build on each other. Now is as good a time as any to summarize the key points that we’ve covered in our 3 short months together.

First, we discussed the changes occurring within Russia. Liberal media projects were shut down, pro-Western oligarchs fled the country, import-substitution programs were implemented and the rhetoric of Russia vis a vis their “esteemed Western partners” was dramatically sharpened. I argued that this was a sign of the changes to come. Russia will have to continue the process of Sovereignization or risk losing to the West without firing a shot like the USSR did before it. I expressed high hopes and a fairly positive level of confidence that more such measures were on the way. This will, in time, lead to an improved situation within the country as Russia accelerates the process of its disentanglement and disillusion with the West.

I then tried to give a brief overview of politics in the East and the generational split in voting. In short, the split isn’t along Liberal v Conservative lines but between Soviet and anti-Soviet attitudes. As a result, Nationalist and Liberals make common cause against the Communists, and all of them are against Putin, who takes a nuanced stance on the USSR and its legacy. Russia has yet to reconcile with her past. A significant chunk of the population denies that anything bad happened in the Soviet Union and another part of the population wants to blame every single Russian for what happened in the USSR similarly to how ordinary Germans were blamed for what happened (or didn’t happen) during World War II. Neither the pro or anti-Soviet camps will clearly and accurately portray the Soviet Union as it actually was. The issues is still too emotionally charged.

Then, to explain what changes I wanted to see in Russia, I argued that there are only two meaningful choices for a country: Oligarchy and Authoritarianism. Liberal Democracy is just one form of oligarchy and all oligarchical forms of government have catastrophic effects on their captive population. Not only is oligarchy synonymous with Totalitarianism, but it is also expansionary and globalist in nature. Because of the unpopularity of oligarchy, the ruling classes constantly have to use terror, propaganda and the secret police on the population to maintain power. Then, because oligarchy weakens the host population over time, wars to eliminate authoritarian systems become a necessity for the survival and promulgation of the status quo. It is in this context that we should view the global oligarchies war on Russia and Putin from without and from within Russia.

In terms of concrete measures that I wanted to see implemented in Russia, I’ve argued for more power to be put into the hands of the military caste at the expense of the business caste. I argued that the values, incentives and structure of the military class are more in line with the interest of the nation. One point to consider: the military sinks or swims with their country. They can’t afford to poison and demoralize their own population, if only because they need to be able to field effective national armies against the enemy’s forces.

For the average person, this means less abuse from the elites and an elite that is more accountable for its decisions. Furthermore, Russia has historically always been a part of the authoritarian political tradition. Boris Yeltsin shouldn’t be able to throw a thousand + year history in the trash and then get away with it. There is no moral obligation to honor his legacy by preserving the structure of the government that he created.

We then delved into more abstract topics, like metaphysics.

I argued that all ideas in the material world are built on presuppositions about the higher realms. Bad metaphysical priors have bad trickle down effects on politics and the individual lives of people. Furthermore, I pointed out that most political ideologies are simply secular religions, replete with their own dogmas and reliant on faith without proof on the part of the masses. Dogma based approaches to faith and politics are all we have known for the better part of a millennium, and the results, in my view have been disastrous. I argued for a different approach to these things - a system based on Orthopraxy as opposed to Orthodoxy i.e., a best-practice based system, not a faith-based one. I often use the term “technology” interchangeably with “practice” resulting in me often talking about the technology of politics, religion and, eventually about science as well. Instead of spending time debating proper belief, we would be better served debating and building up our understanding of proper practices. In other words, instead of arguing about whether we should worship Thor or Jesus, we should consider whether the practice of worship makes any sense. We should compare prayer and meditation techniques. We should strive to know and experience not just believe. When we discuss politics, we shouldn’t get mired in theological discussions about rights and principles and values either, but about the actual science of politicking. Best practice is the best decider of outcomes in war, love, science, politics, economics and even spirituality, not best belief.

Finally, we began to dip our toes into an informal examination of sociology. Mostly this consisted of my remarks on, observations of and comparisons between modern Slavland and Western culture to see if there were any insights that we could glean. We spoke about the need to start addressing anti-social tendencies and start thinking about assabiyah-building best practices that could benefit the average person and rekindle our dying civilizations. The end goal of this exercise, or rather the point that I have been driving towards, is the need to fundamentally re-evaluate the core purpose of our society-building efforts. I’ve argued that the principles of personal liberty or equality are no good and need to be discarded in favor of a better first principle, namely strength, on both an individual and societal level.

A man who loves his close ones and hates war should finish off his opponents so that no new wars will be possible. - Suvorov

I think that there are still some more insights to be mined from the subjects that we have already begun discussing. But, no need to fear, soon enough we will move on to fresh green pastures and start talking about new topics. I do think we’ve covered a lot of ground together in a very short time and I am grateful for your support in the form of subscriptions, likes and thoughtful comments. So long as you guys keep showing me support, I’ll keep on writing and we can continue our discussion together.

- Rolo