Oleg Belyakov. See Moscow

See Moscow and die. From what he saw
(Joke of Western investors)

Oleg Belyakov

Publication date: March 19, 2001

Why do you need this crying sorrow?
What do you need these poor people?
Eternal holiday quickly running
Life doesn't let you wake up.

N.A. Nekrasov, "Reflections at the front entrance"

Not long ago, the Western press was amused by the Russian leadership’s plans to “promote” its own country abroad a little, which were voiced by Mikhail Lesin.

Here is a task that could become a worthy test of the skills <...> of the magicians of the advertising business <...> : correct the image of Russia. Or more precisely, not all of Russia, but its bad reputation in the USA and other Western countries .

Actually, the mockery of our foreign “well-wishers” boiled down to a single thought about the natural pigmentation of a black dog and the chances of washing it. However, taking this as an axiom, they, without noticing it themselves, only strengthen the suspicion that they have very strong stereotypes in their minds about this very image.

In the ecstasy of his own exposure, the Russian minister is pointed out that in his advertising he will probably not talk about Chechnya, the mafia and suppressed freedom of speech - which means he will be lying, “and we already know what it really is like for you.”

Marcus Warren of the Daily Telegraph condescendingly informs his readers: “So as not to bore you too much, we will no longer mention the shameless lies about the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine, the freezing residents of the Far East, the Chekist past of President Putin or the persecution of Russia’s largest independent media empire on the part of the Prosecutor General's Office. No, we have not forgotten about all this; it has simply become too trivial to point out these problems... Instead, I want to give some advice to Lesin and his colleagues " .

The author’s confession about “boring” readers with horror stories about Russia, which “has become too trivial ,” sounds, of course, very appropriate, since something can be turned into trivial just by constant repetitions. Actually, Lesin was hinting at this: they say, guys, maybe at least a little and not only about this? That is, naturally, it is not the Western media that are to blame for all these problems that ruin the lives of both the average Russian and the leadership of his country. (Although, with their active anti-advertising in the circles of potential investors, the “local” media does not make our life easier either.) But there is a feeling of some kind of injustice when extremes dominate in the assessment of an entire country. Moreover, they dominate the most impregnable of the world monopolies - information.

Well, we would start recommending that the British conduct an advertising campaign under the slogan: “Invest in the livestock industry of Great Britain - the country of foot-and-mouth disease and spongiform encephalitis!” - they would rightly consider our advice to be nonsense. Meanwhile, it is precisely according to this scheme that we are recommended to inform the world community about our own country - otherwise, we will be deprived of speech altogether, as at a party meeting in the old days.

However, the above does not mean that I categorically approve of Mr. Lesin’s demarche. Moreover, I consider it, to put it mildly, not entirely reasonable. And not because there is no need to work to improve the country’s image abroad - in fact, everyone is doing this, some better, some worse. But no one talks about it out loud - that's the trick. If you have announced in advance that you are starting a propaganda campaign, then from that moment on any positive information that leaks behind the Iron Curtain will be considered not a sign of an improvement in the situation in the country, but part of the “state PR.” That is, objectively, the result may be worse than if you did the same thing, but in silence.

But it’s not just the machinations of the bad Western media. Their attitude towards us as an incurable pathology is explained not so much by clinical Russophobia (except for some) and gloating towards the enemy defeated in the Cold War, but by their usual snobbery and arrogance towards those who cannot cope with their own problems.

Being practical people, they value first of all the economic successes of the country, even if it is ideologically not quite “corresponding” or traditionally does not belong to Western civilization. Take the current situation with China - by flooding world markets with cheap products, he greatly annoyed the West, but for the same he also gained respect as a successful businessman. And, for example, in the 30s, when in the intervals between mass executions the Soviet Union slightly built and implemented all sorts of GOELRO, so that now the same RAO Chubais of Russia would have something to dispose of, the pragmatic Western press, habitually pouring water on the Bolsheviks, nevertheless often did not skimp on her enthusiasm for the pace of general construction. G. Wells, impressed by what he saw in the USSR, passionately argued to Stalin in a conversation on July 23, 1934 that communist propaganda makes a mistake by emphasizing the class struggle, etc., instead of pointing out the obvious, in his opinion, advantages socialist economy: "... in modern conditions , when the dominant system is collapsing anyway, and is already decomposing, it would be necessary to place emphasis not on insurrection, but on efficiency, on competence, on productivity . "

And yet, it seems that the Western media would not be able to paint such a gloomy picture of what is happening in Russia if it were not for the constant feeding from the depths of the bearer of a negative image. With a pleasure close to masochism, we paint the ugliness of the Motherland in such rich colors that they would never be born in the unmysterious Western soul. (True, this masochism is sometimes very specific: it seems that he is personally dissatisfied with the Kremlin, but calls for the whole country to be flogged for this; obviously, this is a legacy of Soviet power: we even want to indulge in perversions collectively.) In this regard, I recommend looking at the following quotes (I apologize in advance for the abundance of them) through the eyes of a person thinking about where to invest his hard-earned money.

While the president and the government timidly talk about some signs of economic improvement in the country, their voices are drowned in the apocalyptic assessments of those who are not included in the power structures (purely statistically, even with a swelling state apparatus, these are still the majority). “We are afloat only thanks to oil and gas. Actually, there is no economy. <...> This is not an economy. This is a paper boat on the waves of the economic ocean ” (K. Borovoy). True, in circles close to the government they will tell you approximately the same thing: “Russia’s misfortune lies in its monstrous wealth - oil, metals, gas, etc. ” (A. Illarionov). And these riches do not save: “Oil, gas, non-ferrous metals were distributed to predators for free, for half a percent. We were left without our own property. Russia cannot live like this. ” . (A. Solzhenitsyn).

And who is to blame for this? The leader of one of the largest parliamentary factions will explain to you: “Today the most naive citizen, gorged on the fly agaric of liberal propaganda, associates his troubles with the government, which has given all <...> the people's wealth to a handful of shameless schemers and businessmen who rob the people of bread, warmth, textbooks, medicines. Like insatiable rodents, they gnaw at Russia, <...> leaving the army without weapons, the worker without earnings, the scientist without a laboratory, a dying country without a future " (G. Zyuganov). Actually, in my opinion, the country’s parliament has always been in some way involved in the notorious “power”, moreover, even in the form of one of its branches. And therefore, when part of the government scolds the government, is this again the corrupting influence of Sacher-Masoch?

But, a propos about power - it gets the most. Entirely and by name, left, right, above, below. “We proceed from the idea that petty, degenerate bandits are in power ” (A. Babitsky). Many others who have been given the opportunity to convey their word to the broad masses of the public agree with the disgraced journalist: “The power elite today smells <...> of the stench of the cultivator , whose members came to power in order to grab more for themselves and their brethren” ( V. Cherepkov). If you think that this is not entirely about “himself , ” because faith in the “good king” is ineradicable even by decades of collectivism, then you are mistaken - the one who is popularly elected gets, perhaps, the most. "Putin said that if the destruction of the USSR is evil, then the person <...> who occupies the highest government position and does nothing to restore the USSR is a slave, a lackey!" (V. Anpilov).

If I were an outside observer, I would somehow feel uneasy when I find out that a huge country has such a bad leader: “I’ll tell you who Putin is, I have a mature definition of Mr. Putin: “KGB Mowgli.” <...> For the first time in many decades, if not centuries, we received such a person as president . <...> This means that the nation has degraded to an almost obscene, indecent level" (A. Cherkizov).

The president's biggest admirer in journalistic circles looks, as always, at the root: the problem is not so much how bad the leader is, but in the nation itself, in the unworthy people. “And the people are “silent.” <...> The Russian is accustomed to obeying, and not fighting for his rights. The Russian people are not accustomed to solving the simplest issues, from which, in essence, democracy grows. <...> And so such a person, not accustomed to caring about the simplest everyday problems, resolves global and national issues once every four years. <...> The habit of lack of freedom is still so great, and the meaning of freedom is still so poorly understood that it is even easier for us to become a tyrant." ( General newspaper ).

Indeed, it’s simply terrifying when you imagine that such a people are actually given such a great achievement of democracy as general elections. And this is a people who, judging by the statements of their best sons, need great ideals of freedom, like Oblomov needs an organizer. A natural conclusion suggests itself - on democracy, like on matches, it should be written in the brightest letters: “Don’t give it to children and Russians!” “Why did many make such a choice - according to the principle “this one is better, but we’ll give our vote to the boss”? Probably due to mental laziness and even inveterate immorality ” (G. Yavlinsky).

That is why our deeply immoral people, having read “Crime and Punishment,” crush old women’s heads with axes and commit other outrageous abominations, such as electing Putin as president. And vile individuals are always ready to use this for their own purposes, as foreign newspapers report to their readers: “Vladimir Putin won the war by taking advantage of the most disgusting racist instincts of the Russian people and exterminating thousands of civilians under the banner of revenge for murders allegedly committed by fanatical fundamentalists of this unfortunate region" ( El Pais ). But, since the fighting in Chechnya has not yet ended, one can imagine how much longer the “disgusting racist instincts of the Russian people” will continue to rage .

But, in fact, the people are not so ugly - they just have a hard time, they are freezing, they are upset by the lack of edible results of the reforms, they are also very tired of the continuous “black stuff” in the news: “I’m telling you that I’m dying, I’m getting sick, I'm moved by your news, and you tell me about the rating and what I can turn off <...> . I, who was banned and cut out, would have cut you out entirely with my own hand. I don’t have so much contempt for my own people as a viewer and reader met" (M. Zhvanetsky).

And where should the poor people go? You are looking for justice or at least some kind of law enforcement, but no - “in the police , detained citizens are beaten , tortured, raped and subjected to psychological pressure in other, no less cruel, ways . ” Maybe, like in the old days, go to church, because it should console and warm the suffering? But at the threshold of the temple, again, they will pour out a tub of truth for you: “Our priests have been orphaned by the poverty of their minds; the naked Sahara desert is in their heads <...> . Unloving obscurantists - that’s who our chief priests really are . ” And in general: “the Russian Orthodox Church <...> for the most part are former GB agents, informers and sex workers ” (of course - A. Cherkizov).

And after all this, what do you order the Western media to write? They write, and our “political masochists” readily pour out their sore points into the tape recorders they provide. However, I don’t even know whether this is their fault or a misfortune or another manifestation of the “mysterious Russian soul.” to scold life, the country and ourselves “Or maybe it has become fashionable ?” .

But then Mr. Lesin should focus not so much on correcting the image of Russia in the Western media, but on establishing basic order in the souls and minds of his compatriots. Yes, it is not an easy task to instill self-respect in a masochist if the source of his pleasure, by definition, lies in self-torture. But how else can you force others to respect you if you yourself are unable to talk about your bitter fate without anguish and lamentation, all you know is to call on others to have compassion, or even to aggravate your suffering with public international flogging. Otherwise, who is to blame if the general assessment is adequate to our self-esteem. And the assessment is quite fitting: “If not for the military power of Moscow , Russia would have been explained what it is: an underdeveloped society, barely out of the Middle Ages, controlled by a vicious and incompetent kleptocracy and having a significance in the history of mankind that is little more significant than a typical failed African state" . Everything would be so - only in Africa there are no such depressing frosts...