It was fascinating to explore the history of the Russian Federation in a DW documentary from 2021 which discussed the tensions in the countries that ceded from the USSR/Russian Federation. But the most striking element was how retarded the progress of Russia has been under Putin, whose imperialistic ego has funnelled money into the army and the pockets of thousands of cronies. The country has generated huge wealth from its oil exports but that money has been stolen by Putin & co. How else could such country still have only one motorway? And so he distracts the duped population with a war which no body wants.
The war in Ukraine seemed foolish for Russia but it is now clear that it is not a war by Russia, but a war by a few greedy, ego-maniacal men. The war prompts us to eagerly scan the news everyday to see what respite from death and destruction of Ukraine might glimmer on the headlines. Sources are the usual international media outlets whose reputation is varied from Democracy Now, which tells it like it is (depressing!), through the “reputable” outlets like BBC, NYT, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, to the heavily biased channels like Fox “News”. The outlook is not optimistic.
OK, but what about the news that Russians are seeing in Russia? How about a quick look at outlets that serve Russians? A search led to this listing, near the top of which Pravda is seen. That name is familiar and is a mouthpiece for the Russian government and Putin. What does it have to say? Well, if you think Fox is flakey, Pravda is reminiscent of the “communist propaganda” of the cold war. Have a look at the screenshots below of their Russian website translated by Yandex. It reveals a powerful disinformation campaign, twisting news items that might leak from outside Russia into praise for Russia’s brutal, imperialistic invasion.
It is not to condone the behaviour of Europe, the US & co who are complicit in allowing Russia to steal from its people while burning the planet. Rather it demonstrates that the pyramids of power that we have allowed to grow have not given us stability, in exchange for our free thinking, but have fractured the relationships between people, normal people, who just want to eat, have a place to lay their head and pursue a social, engaging life in their communities. We are all blind to the bargain we have struck with illusory dreams (“everybody can be a king”) and can only break free when we admit our mistakes and change our minds and behaviour to share our world more naturally by dissolving the pyramids of power that enslave us all. Good luck humans. Good luck world.
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