Stockholm syndrome

Is it possible that Stockholm Syndrome spread to an entire country? For the first time, this concept was introduced by journalist Niels Beyerot in 1973, describing the condition in which there are people captured hostage. Later, the term began to be used in the description of relations in the family, but what if its potential coverage is wider than it seems?

More recently, Alexei Navalny once again escaped imprisonment, having received a conditional term. But for him and his family, this was not a relief - Navalny's brother Oleg received 3.5 years in a colony. The days before the verdict were sentenced to the information confrontation between the authorities and the opposition: some wanted to convince society of the need for a sentence, others were preparing to gather forces to apply a counterattack. The authorities did not go to an open force conflict on the eve of the New Year, it may be to protect the fellow citizens from the "festive" riots in Manezhnaya Square and sympathy for the political convicted person; As you know, this feeling is easily excited in the average Russian. The verdict did not have a tragedy either for Russian society or the opposition, but the blow was inflicted in the very heart of Navalny. The authorities committed a low, disgusting act, taking his opponent hostage.

Such a measure as taking hostages was distributed in the Middle Ages by monarchs-tyrants, it was welcomed in the Caucasus. No wonder Ramzan Kadyrov promised to punish the families of terrorists after the December attack on Grozny. Protecting the head of Ichkeria at his press conference, Vladimir Putin shared the belief that relatives of terrorists usually know about their field of activity, actually calling these relatives the accomplices of crimes.

The President showed: an attempt to limit his power is equivalent to the commission. And for this the president is ready to take revenge

When we are dealing with the hostage of relatives of terrorists, some hot heads can talk about the right to take the blood for blood. But why can the opposition be avenge? For a different point of view, for an open disagreement with the authorities, for the desire to change the country's policy, for the desire to change power? Having condemned the brother of Navalny, the court - according to Putin's philosophy - equalized the terrorists and the opposition. In other words, the state apparatus declared its right to apply terror methods to achieve political goals.

It turns out that taking hostages becomes the norm for our state: first Chechnya, then Moscow ... Is it all Russia? If Putin has a relationship to this (what few doubts), then the president showed: an attempt to limit his power is equivalent to the commission of the attack. And for this the president is ready to take revenge. But is normal democracy not a restriction of the executive branch, not an attempt to affirm the power of society in the country? The power of society and the power of an individual are interconnected - if one is added, then the other will necessarily decrease.

An attempt to take the relatives of those who want changes is ultimately an attempt to take the country's future hostage. However, entering into a political struggle, its participants should not be faced with a choice between their loved ones and their beliefs! Vladimir Putin from year to year inspires everyone that in our country he has no equal. The top of generosity for the system opposition is permission to criticize everyone except him. And Putin is a person whose name cannot be called, a person who knows answers to all questions, a person who is able to win any elections in Russia. And after all, everyone believes it! Who, if not Putin? Can someone better protect Russia from evil Ukraine, ready to break the Russians into parts? Can someone better with Putin to resist the dominance of the United States? Can someone better stop NATO? Or can someone better adopt a law prohibiting the adoption of abandoned Russian children? Or avenge the friends of the oligarchs by imposing sanctions on suppliers on a national basis? Or to indulge in the multibillion -dollar loans of Russian companies of the same friends who are able to bring down the ruble in one day by making people twice poorer? Can Russia survive without such a person? We all know that this is impossible. Yes, he is an imperfect president, yes, he usurped power, yes, he is not fair, but the rest are even worse ...

Russians seek stability so much that they are not able to resist. Their desire to distance himself from power resembles the strategy of the loser of an animal who has substituted his neck under the jaw of the enemy and frozen in anticipation of the death sentence, which may be canceled from mercy. It is only necessary to tolerate a little, and everything will work out - the main thing is not to move so that the powerful jaw does not close.

Russia was under the rule of the "Stockholm syndrome." The country believes in its kidnapper, but does not believe in his strength. This protective-conscious traumatic connection connected Russian society, which lives in the past and is afraid of the future.

Anatoly Kanyukov-St. Petersburg politician, Social Democrat