SovokMindset.exe
Russia is teetering on the brink of falling into a defensive SovokMindset.exe pattern of behavior as a result of the pressure being brought to bear on the country by the war. We ought to be praying that this effort peters out and Russia moves on to better ideas instead of resurrecting the old.
**
The Russian Duma came out recently with a daring plan to defend the youth from toxic, anti-Russian, anti-traditional messaging coming from Western media. It involves promoting love and kindness and Soviet-era cartoon characters.
Now THAT’S some 5D Chess right there. They’re bringing out the big guns. This is what Russia has been holding back in its fight against the Anglo-Fascist-Norman-Swiss Guard-Dominican-Secular Humanist-Nazis!
TASS:
The image of Cheburashka from the film of the same name, released in Russia in 2022, is an example of the ideology of goodness that needs to be promoted among children against the backdrop of confronting Western values from the cartoon "Pinocchio". This was stated at a meeting with students of the Southern Federal University in Rostov-on-Don, a member of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption Biysultan Khamzaev.
"There is a battle of ideologies going on in the world - cynicism against humanism, good against evil. "Cheburashka" is a good, kind movie, this is our Russian ideology of goodness. This is our ideology about how to work with children and what to propagate to them.<.. .> On the one hand, we have "Cheburashka" - a cool, kind image. On the other hand, "Pinocchio", which also came out in 2022. There they have a fairy - a black transgender. It's ugly in propaganda, it's a children's movie! Propaganda of these quasi-values breaks into the children's format," Khamzaev answered the question of on the basis of what it is necessary to form a children's ideology and educate patriotism.
He explained that in the West, LGBT values are being promoted among children as a norm and standard. "This is the strongest front on which the state must not only work, but win," the deputy stressed.
Cheburashka was, in its own time, a cartoon used to promote Communist values. Literally. It was watched on repeat by the Pioneers, a Communist equivalent to Boy Scouts or Hitler Youth.
He is also, apparently, referred to as “A Soviet Beast of Unknown Origins”.
Less well known, even among those who grew up with these cartoons on something of a perpetual loop, is that the series’ creative team was made up almost entirely of Yiddish-speaking Jews who had lost their families and homes in the genocidal campaigns during WWII. The director Roman Kachanov typifies the classic refugee background of many of the Jewish men that he drew into the project. Kachanov was born in a poor Jewish neighborhood in the city of Smolensk and pursued boxing in the cultural atmosphere of Smolensk’s Labor Zionist Movement before his father and sister were murdered point-blank at an execution site near Smolensk as Jews. Cheburashka’s puppet designer, Lev Shvartsman, raised in the Zionist youth culture of Minsk, changed his name to “Israel” after the 1967 War despite official hostility toward the Jewish state. Kachanov recruited Teodor Bunimovich, a photojournalist who recorded many frontline documentaries of Nazi atrocities in Belarus, as his cameraman. The series’ operator Iosif Golomb not only spoke fluent Yiddish but his father was an avid collector of Hasidic music and contributed much to the Yiddish musical lexicon. To what degree the film crews’ status as Jews affected the trajectories of their artistic careers is largely a matter of speculation, but it stands to reason that the myriad rejections that they characterized Cheburashka as enduring as a consequence of his “unknown origins” resonated on a personal level.
Jewish artistic works from the Soviet Union are typically thought of as “underground,” and made their way to the West via smugglers and defectors. Yet, as this animated series demonstrates, despite systematic anti-Semitism and narrow dogmatism, a lively and active Jewish culture developed in the centralized animation studio Soyuzmultfilm—the largest animation studio in all of Eastern Europe—right in the middle of Moscow. The embedding of Jewish material into the series by its Jewish creators calls into question the narrative that Jewish self-expression was wholly suppressed in Soviet popular culture.
...
The studio’s in-house editing body called the Artistic Council immediately flagged the film’s strange social undertones. Why, asked members of the Council, is it necessary for Crocodile Gena and ‘an unknown beast to science’ to answer the question of national belonging? Both the Artistic Council and the Ministry of Cinematography, known as Goskino, questioned Cheburashka’s uber-Pioneer activism in light of his status as a persona non grata, a disenfranchised foreigner, and especially in light of his individualistic methods of building a community center and organizing support without official orders or any documentation.
…
Ivanov-Vano astutely picked up on the ways that the film expressed a particular Jewish experience, as the Jewish creative team doubled semiotic systems in ways that enabled them to displace their own ethnic backgrounds on their puppets to express personally significant themes within the preexisting language of Soviet culture. Yet despite the apprehensions of the Artistic Council, the series was released nearly intact.
…
If the Cheburashka series has gone down in history as the most quintessential example of Soviet children’s media, it was the product of a Jewish team that drew upon their personal experiences of life as members of a species of unknown origins.
He also literally shows up in Russia via a suitcase from Israel. Lol. Lmao even.
Funny enough, the old social engineering programing seems traditional and downright reactionary half a century later. Also Cheburashka is comfortable and familiar and fuzzy and non-offensive. Sovoks, who are basically big, bald babies throw tantrums when they don’t get what they want, so the Ministry of Culture finances neo-Sovok culture to keep them happy and sucking on their thumbs. The choice is binary: either fund Sovok nostalgia trips or Western-style soap operas, reality TV shows, cop shows, and other, more virulent forms of mind slop.
Frankly, they ought to just pump out Sonic sequels.
It would be a better use of their time and resources.
The only good Russian films to have ever been made were Brother, Brother 2 and War. They were all made on a shoestring budget without the help of the cultural ministry and War was also banned for a time in Russia for depicting Chechens negatively. They were wildly popular. Naturally, the government busies itself subsidizes an entire parasitical class of “culture-makers” who make modern art garbage that offends the sensibilities of the average Russian with money taken from the Russian taxpayer. It would be better for Russian culture if the artificial state-subsidized fake culture died and the cultural nomenklatura left to fend for themselves on the free market.
All this talk about fake culture reminds me of the podcast I recently recorded with John Carter.
I talk about how Russian peasant culture was invented by the Soviets. You should check it out.
**
I have been remiss in not watching the court clown Vladimir Soloviev or his show in recent weeks. Actually it has been more than a month since I last checked in. I was not any worse for it. But a commenter alerted me to a recent performance that he gave in which he affirmed Ukraine’s national identity and shot down a guest on his show who tried to argue that Ukraine and Russia were one nation on ethnic grounds.
Naturally, the reason why Soloviev has a hard time with the the use of ethnic terms and categories to classify Ukraine as being part of Russia is on account of him, technically, not being Russian himself.
His father was a lawyer, as the euphemism goes.
As a result, just like Cheburashka, he feels himself not-quite Russian. And that means that he has to deconstruct the identity of Russians if he is to feel less foreign in Russia himself. If you want to watch the sickening performance, you can watch it in Russian here. This is paid for by the Russian taxpayer, mind you. And his arguments and the arguments of the others on stage who supported his view are pernicious and heard often in Russia, unfortunately.
These are the two remaining non-Liberal positions vis-a-vis Ukraine in Russia today:
Sovok-normies think that the Ukrainian SSR is a separate state within the framework of the large cozy USSR and that Ukrainians are part of the family of peoples of the USSR. For them, also, Dagestanis and Russians are part of one multinational Russian people. But Ukrainians are definitely a separate and completely different nation. Also, Ukrainians are Nazi-Banderists to boot. Therefore, anti-Soviet and the black sheep of the family. Never mind that the Nazis imprisoned Bandera for being too ridiculous and massacring innocent Poles.
In contrast, patriot-nationalists think that Ukraine and Russia are one people united by blood and slavic culture - one nation divided artificially by the Communists.
The difference is subtle, but people have gone to war for far less.
**
Another notable sovok moment came up recently.
Meet Alexander Sladkov, a famous war reporter and a living, leering, lower-lip-protruding example of the Homo Soveticus.
Can I get a physiognomy check?
He was left slack-jawed and speechless when co-leader and co-founder of Rusich Alexey Milchakov told him that the people fighting for Russia are all nationalists and that there are no Liberals in the trenches of Donbass. No seriously, Sladkov is one of those types who talks about finding Nazis in his underpants all the time. So it was hard for him to know what to say to Milchakov when him and his men are war heroes and fighting for Russia. Sladkov would have loved to condemn them for being unabashedly pro-Russian and therefore Nazis. But he couldn’t. Even though Milchakov literally was a self-proclaimed Nazi back in the day and fought for Russia in the Donbass. Lol.
Me, I don’t particularly like Nazis, because the social stigma attached to the label and the aesthetic only attract people who are, for one reason or another, profoundly alienated from society. These types are not the kind of people you want in your populist movement in a large capacity because of their uncanny ability to put others off. Also, they tend to be broken in some way and I have no time or energy for putting up with freaks.
Regardless, Milchakov is also absolutely correct in his analysis of the situation - the Liberals are all in Georgia, Turkey, Israel and so on. And the sovoks are also much older. So, it is the patriot-nationalists who are fighting on the frontlines for Russia now. Milchakov also says that Azov and the others aren’t true nationalists because their identity is built on being anti-Russia. Ukrainians are Russians so their ideology makes no sense. Azov and the other pro-Ukraine Nazis are traitors to their own people.
Sladkov had no reply to any of this and just kind of looked baffled. Here is what one of my more astute podcast subscribers had to say on him:
проблема в том, что сладков это такой "голос поколения", не в плане того, что он ведет людей, а в том, что это отражение взглядов огромного количества людей, в том числе тех, кто у власти
the problem is that sweet is such a "voice of the generation", not in terms of the fact that he leads people, but that this is a reflection of the views of a huge number of people, including those in power
The Russian nationalist position makes the most sense. It is straight-forward, powerful and does not need to rely on some kind of tangled theory of dialectics or abstract concepts like post-Nuremberg norms and conventions or whatever. The average person and the intelligent person both see the merits of the nationalist position. Midwits, however, do not. A perennial quality of theirs that always sets them up against the masses below them and their intellectual superiors above them. It also makes them the ideal enforcers of tyrannical ideologies - clever enough to take joy in crushing the peasants, but not smart enough to wonder why they are allowed to do so.
Sadly, Milchakov may or may not have eaten a puppy once.
Therefore, despite him saying things I could nod my head along to, his actions do not inspire much confidence. It is funny though to see him butt heads with Sovoks like Sladkov.
One of them is going to have to eat the other, eventually.
**
Right now, in Russia, the only two real popular blocs left in the country among the peasantry are the sovoks and the younger generation of patriot-nationalists. Despite the fact that the Russian state is forced to lean so heavily on nationalists to fight this disastrous war that they got themselves fouled up in, they continue to hold their noses and try to promote the old sovok line of thinking instead instead of, Yahweh forbid, leaning into Russian nationalism.
As the situation stands, the sovoks are winning.
Case in point, they’re going to ban vape:
A complete ban on the sale of vapes in Russia, including for adults, is needed, as well as the fight against counterfeit products on the market, State Duma deputy Yana Lantratova (A Just Russia - For Truth) told RIA Novosti.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on Wednesday instructed the relevant committees of the lower house of parliament to make proposals for a possible ban on vapes due to their growing popularity among minors. The day before, a source in the Duma told RIA Novosti about a meeting on Wednesday of the heads of the State Duma committees on health protection, education and youth policy in a closed format on the topic of banning vapes. A number of deputies and experts are also in favor of banning the sale of electronic cigarettes in the country. Rospotrebnadzor on Thursday conceptually supported the initiative.
You know, that’s really where I draw the line.
You can shove Cheburashka down our throats, you can send young men to die for a situation that you should have never allowed to have gotten so fucked up in the first place, you can tsk tsk your finger at nationalism, but now you’ve done gone come for my vape as well?
Fuck. You.
And it’s no wonder that Russia is losing this war!
The Chad Ukrainians are wacked out on meth and basically unstoppable super-soldiers.
Meanwhile, the Virgin Russians can’t even get higher than 30mg of nicotine vape oil and soon won’t be able to get anything except cigarettes. No soldier for that matter can be expected to win without gamer fuel in the form of energy drinks, nicotine or Adderall in their system.
But they have Cheburashka, Soloviev and Sladkov in their corner, I guess.
That counts for something, right?
As Dmitry Puchkov (a.k.a. Goblin), a popular media figure in Russia, a self made man with well over 2 million subscribers on YouTube before his channel was demolished last summer by Google for his unapologetic pro-Russian position keeps on saying: "USSR hater is always a russophobe". I don't agree with this guy on everything, but here he nailed it.
USSR was a complex system that stood on its own culturally, economically, industrially and scientifically. Just in civil aviation alone there were 5 competing brands of airplanes and helicopters - Tupolev, Yakovlev, Antonov, Ilyushin and Mikoyan.
Today's Russia, let alone Ukraine, where civilization has vanished rapidly, is a mere shadow of a former giant. The country is not able to produce a single civilian aircraft using locally manufactured components. Sukhoi Super Jet (SSJ-100) is just a hack job 80% made of Airbus parts. And now, because of sanctions, they are experiencing significant production issues. MC-21 despite the promises to have first planes supplied to the airline industry by 2023 just can't get off the ground and required Putin's recent personal intervention by publicly scolding responsible vice-premier Manturov for ongoing delays. It's not a fact that Putin's involvement is going to help as his orders are often ignored by the cabinet.
This just one example, civilian aviation, but this applies to every complex manufacturing industry, except for pumping oil and gas as well as atomic energy industry that is currently one of the most advanced in the world including newly built sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor BN-800, capable of creating a perpetual wasteless cycle in spending and generating new nuclear fuel.
What is interesting, during these times of heightened russophobia in the West, attacks on Soviet legacy were renewed with a vengeance. Talking recently to my much younger sister, born in Ukraine in mid eighties and raised there, she now, since the start of the war, lives in Austria. She suddenly started telling me how much her generation hates USSR. I tried to explain to her, but look at Ukraine - everything that matters that your country has, from being the biggest and potentially the richest country in Europe, the remnants of the industry, the infrastructure, up to the magnificent buildings that your government occupies in the center of Kiev - everything was built or is legacy of the USSR. So you don't have to love it, but at least you have to respect what your ancestors did. I was just wasting my breath... She is ethnic Russian, btw, that hates everything Russian. So coming back to Puchkov - "USSR hater is always a russophobe".
December 30th 2022 was a 100 year anniversary of the country that is no more. Special poll was conducted by the Russian state polling agency WCIOM. According to the poll majority of Russians look at USSR in a positive way, e.g. there was more positive in that country than negative they say. Though a lesser percentage sees return to USSR as possible. This is just another bit in understanding the real Russia and not the one depicted by the Western propaganda where even people that try to be objective have absorbed the cliches with mother's milk, as it seems.
Dont know if he ate it but it's true that Milchakov killed a puppy and filmed it when he was a young neo-nazi. Neither neo-nazism or killing puppies are acceptable but Milchakovs work on behalf of Russia since than expunges his sins imo.
As for the movies you haven't watched лучше в аду? Genuinely really good one about the Wagner guys. I wasnt expecting much but was impressed.
1. All the Wagner guys in the movie are Russian, no Chakkas or Mongols included.
2 the movie is mostly tactical porn but it illustrates counter battery battle, how important drones are, and how at the command level the war is like playing chess. It just gives a very good birds eye view of all the moving parts on the battlefield in Ukraine.
3. The Ukrainians are totally given their due. They are portrayed as just as competent and brave as the Russians. There are even close combat scenes where you cant tell them and the Wagner guys apart.
4. The ending hits hard in the feels and Im kinda suprised it got past the censors. Spoiler:
At the end of the film literally everyone is dead except 2 Wagner guys. Than we find out that regardless of completing their mission no break through was achieved. So identical blood baths will happen everyday for the foreseeable future.
Would recommend if you have the free time.
Personally the absolutely worst thing with the Sovoks is its like they take the absolute worst aspects of the Soviet era and keep them and dump what might be useful. I didn't know Cheburashkas creators were kikes but im not surprised given how weird and ugly the character is. And of course that's what the Sovoks would push, not Livci, not Captain Rungel, but that Jewish mouse who I think must be a product of Chernobyl.
Stalin for the sake of self preservation actually did open the Russian nationalism box to the extent that his life depended on it. The current Sovoks apparently think thats not necessary despite being sure there are Nazis everywhere. Likewise Stalin opened factories, shot people built infastructure, and mobilized society to the extent that his life depended on it. The current Sovoks don't insist on any of that either apparently.
My intent there is not to rehabilitate the USSR but just to point out that when its very existence was actually threatened the leadership of the USSR acted very differently than the leadership of the RF. But the Sovoks arent drawing any conclusions from that other than more Cheburashka. Useless people.