The Sound of Shoes on the UN Platform — Why Is This Sound So Pleasant?
Igor Nikolaichuk: Only a political resolution to establish "Soviet 2.0" can end this game of "external enemies and partners"
Author: Andrey Zakharchenko
Commentator:
Igor Nikolaichuk
Anti-Russian fervor is intensifying. Not only are the words of individual American, European, and Asian officials becoming more extreme, but even the statements of leaders of various countries have become openly out of control.
The image of "barbaric Russians" is being rapidly and powerfully constructed, and it must be admitted that the effect is quite good. Because all kinds of propaganda channels are constantly slandering us — jokes, cartoons about barbarians, history textbooks that completely position Russians as "evil conquerors," movies that portray Russia as a place for social scum, foreign media news that reports our lives only from a negative angle, etc.
Thus arises the question: where is our propaganda and counter-propaganda? Besides the declarations of our diplomatic missions, similar to Leopold's cat — "Gentlemen, let's get along well" — what else can the state use to counter this "ninth wave" of anti-Russian attacks?
Ordinary Russians miss the sound of our shoes clacking on the UN platform, the thrilling maneuver of our special forces in the Atlantic sky, and the promise to make all enemies and haters see "Mother Kuzma."
What is the department that inherited the functions of the Soviet Central Propaganda Department doing? Why is the Russian film industry not making any contribution in this regard? Why has Moscow's "soft power" become not a force, but a "laughing stock of weakness"?
If "war should look like war" (and hybrid wars should also have their own methods), why can't we fire all existing propaganda "tongues" at the enemy? Is it because there are no such "tongues"? Or is someone prohibiting us from using them?
"First of all, the so-called Western collective dedicated to targeting Russia and carefully crafted anti-Russian propaganda machine does not exist at all in principle," said Igor Nikolaichuk, an independent expert on information security and information warfare, in an interview with SP.
"Foreign people, even the ruling elites, generally do not care about what is happening in Russia or how we live. Therefore, there is actually no sacred and inviolable anti-Russian sentiment abroad. The statement that there is a 'propaganda machine' fully targeting us is just something said by our own propaganda agencies."
SP: This leads to a reasonable question: What is the purpose of doing this?
"First of all, it is to carry out strategic publicity to the domestic public in order to unite the people under the background of external threats and unjustly damaged national interests."
It should be noted that this has always been done in principle. For example, during the Russo-Japanese War, there were cartoons everywhere in the Russian Empire showing "brave Cossacks" cutting down "yellow monkeys" left and right.
However, within a few years after the defeat in that war, for example, we quickly reconciled with the Japanese, such as providing more favorable conditions for them to study in our universities.
Incidentally, during World War I, the Japanese were on Russia's side. You see, this is the fickle nature of world capitalism.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, the "Red Soviet" project, which defeated the "Nazi" plan in the Great Patriotic War and aimed to reform the world, exited the historical stage. The whole world returned to capitalism, more precisely, to a consumer society. Unfortunately, in this society, Russia was like the "firstborn son" who sold his red regime for a bowl of bean soup.
This happened during Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin's time, who exchanged almost all of Russia's resources at that time for Western loans to prevent the country from falling into another bloody chaos and widespread famine.
He even prepared to hand over the Southern Kuril Islands to Japan, but the Security Council convinced him that this would lead to large-scale protests in the Far East, so it didn't happen.
However, by selling national interests at that time, we got a country in the early 21st century where governors of various regions were more or less firmly controlled by the federal center through various means.
The result is that our country seems to be fine — everyone is living well, has some private property, and has mortgages, but no one wants to have children because it would take up money and time for enjoying life. Moreover, the president's approval rating is as high as 80%, even higher than Stalin's.
Our government clearly knows this, so they timely increased pensions for retirees who miss the Soviet era, and hinted to young people deemed "not mature enough" by political advisors that mortgage loan support will be provided. At the same time, all relatively active "oppositionists" in this group are labeled as foreign agents.
This is essentially the basic rule of propaganda in the world's consumer society: everything is for keeping power. For this, a sacred enemy image is needed, an enemy that supposedly doesn't like Russia because we are "different."
SP: Why do you say "supposedly"?
"Because in general, the masses are not ready to bravely sacrifice themselves for God, the Tsar, and the Fatherland, although there will always be a certain percentage of people willing to make personal sacrifices, as seen now in the special military action zone."
The last large-scale heroism appeared during the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet period. Because the social system at that time was completely different from modern Russia.
SP: What is the current social system like?
"At that time, defending the country was the top priority, which was the ideology of that era. Now, we have no ideology at all. So when something happens, everyone first thinks about protecting their property. Of course, some people will protect the property of certain oligarchs. But in this case, the public will not stand in front of machine guns, which is a completely different matter."
There is a kind of society, and there is a corresponding kind of propaganda. That is why our main propagandists say things like "Hold on, European lice pigs." There has never been a situation in Russian history where we used this kind of language to refer to our geopolitical opponents. In short, the form of propaganda is completely consistent with our social system.
SP: Is there any possibility of adjusting our society to make our propaganda "effective" again?
"We cannot form a normal national ideology, although it has long been said that we need it. But who would do this when all the 'towers' in the Kremlin — whether liberal, right-wing, left-wing, or other factions — have actually been knocked down?"
Therefore, all our propaganda focuses only on creating the image of an external enemy in order to gather national strength around power. However, it should be noted that this is still in line with our national interest.
SP: Specifically, where is the national interest reflected?
"It lies in the fact that Russia must not disintegrate. Since our government pursues this interest, the means of achieving it is not that important."
However, ordinary Russians may be angry at the sudden change in the government's rhetoric toward a certain geopolitical opponent. For example, yesterday, during Biden's time, Americans were our enemies, and today, under Trump, we suddenly became "strategic partners," with Elon Musk's father even praising Moscow and Russian borscht.
Now, Europeans have suddenly become the culprits of all our misfortunes, the soulless villains, and the revival of Nazism. Every three or four months, the criticism shifts direction. Yesterday, Macron was the enemy, and today, he had a two-hour phone call with our president. To be honest, I don't know how Kiselev and Solovyev haven't gone crazy from this constant inconsistency.
This chaotic situation will continue indefinitely. In my opinion, only a political resolution to establish "Soviet 2.0" or a comprehensive shift to a relevant national model (including everything from the market, ideology, and future vision) can end this. Until then, everyone will continue playing this game in the chaotic international relations system.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7523553176692277823/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author. Please express your opinion below using the 【up/down】 buttons.