In captivity of templates

Already many times, Russian opposition and Western analysts indicated that in the power in Russia there is actually a "Chekist clan" - immigrants from the former KGB who gained access to the country's main resources. In one of his recent articles, Ukrainian journalist Vitaliy Portnikov noted that in the light of the last revelations of Alexei Navalny and the "report of the Spanish prosecutors", the connection of the "old" Russian security forces with the mafia also became obvious.

“The mafia group appeared in Spain back in 1996, that is, three years before the appearance of Vladimir Putin in Russian politics. Meanwhile, among those who were connected with its representatives are almost all famous people from the Putin’s environment, the so -called“ cooperative ”of the lake and generally from the“ Middle Circle, ”says Portnikov.

"At one time, one of the high -ranking Chekists with a sigh told me that after the liquidation of the CPSU, natives of the KGB, convinced that now that the party has" evaporated ", all the power and all financial flows belong only to them, are faced with the powerful pressure of the criminal world. Now we can state that the Chekists did not fight the criminal world as they fought for years They preferred to become part of this criminal world, because the main goals of the Chekists and criminals - power and money - completely coincided, ”the publicist states.

Today, they prefer not to talk about the spike between crime and the KGB in Russia, although even supporters of the current government will not deny that after the resignation of Yeltsin it was the “Chekists” who were able to monopolize both resources and positions in Russia. It is paradoxical that against this background of rampant crime, banditry, anecdotal "new Russians", mafia showdowns and all other unsightly realities of the "dashing 90s" are still associated with reforms, democracy and the West in the minds of the layman. At the same time, the new facts illustrate more better: the most cramped in the 1990s not young reformers were connected with crime, but people from the Soviet KGB, who is today idealized by the Kremlin propaganda. At the same time, the West itself was not at all happy with such a symbiosis: the Western countries not only did not control the process of criminalization of elites in Russia, but they themselves suffered from it.

In the USA, in recent years, books (both artistic and documentary) have often been published, describing the Russian thieves in law that have gained the appearance of respectability laundered the funds in European and American banks, and at the same time, even then, in the pre -Putin era, built an agent network whose large -scale exposure was followed only in recent years. Moreover, the actions of these agents were directed primarily against the West itself, which simultaneously discredited and corrupt its main institutions. And the fact that these people acted under democratic and pro -Western slogans did not at all prevent them from accumulating their strength in anticipation of the revenge that we are observing today.

Nevertheless, with the help of propaganda, it was possible to ensure that most Russians have stable ideas about the connection of crime with reforms, reforms with democracy, democracy with the West, and the West itself - exclusively with the CIA. And therefore, many sincere patriots sacredly believe that it is the “CIA agents” to rob Russia, although, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, the KGB agents were engaged in this. It is this false association that is largely explained by the panic of Russians before the “return to the 90s” and their hatred to the West.

The best that Kremlin propaganda succeeded, which, perhaps, forms its basis, is the suggestion of false associations, stereotypes and templates, which the Russian government then skillfully uses. The suggestible associations are so strong that in many ways their influence, it seems to me, explains the noticeable number of Putin's supporters even in the Russian diaspora in the United States. The weak traditions of the development of civil society and “horizontal” ties led to the fact that many Russians have chosen to unite abroad around organizations created by the Kremlin, in fact, affiliated with Russian consulates and representative offices.

One of the reasons for this kind of association was the fact that the attitude to emigrants as traitors of the Motherland has been inspired in Russia in the last decade with almost any stubbornness, as in Soviet times: "He left - it means betrayed." This installation settles in the subconscious of people so deeply that it gives rise to a completely illogical feeling of guilt. As a result, for many Russians - with the exception of, of course, those who deliberately embarked on the path of dissent - awareness of their conflict with the state is a rather traumatic factor.

In many ways, therefore, any forms of association imposed by the Kremlin, such people perceive with joy. Participation in the life of such organizations for them becomes an official restoration of communication with the former homeland, the basis for the belief that now no one can call them traitors. The internal dilemma is allowed, such people have the opportunity to use the benefits of America and at the same time feel that they are “forgiven” by Russia, that is, calmly sit on two chairs. At the same time, few people even think that this dilemma itself was created artificially, that if it were not for the efforts of the Russian state so beloved by them, it would not, in principle, would not have arisen.

It is impossible to depend on the templates - neither in the direction, because only one who does not give in to manipulations wins.

Not only supporters of the current government, but also its opponents, are captured by the Kremlin, but also its opponents. I already wrote that many in the opposition movement succumbed to artificial division into "liberals" and "patriots", without even trying to defend the meaning of the word "patriotism". And another stereotype seductive for the opposition is that the opposition is always, everywhere and in everything unfairly persecuted.

I myself have lived in Russia all my life until March 2014 and spent the last years before emigration in an opposition environment. I know very well how hard it is to constantly be in an atmosphere of persecution and slander. In such a situation, there is always a temptation of a special feeling of its innocence, caused by not personal merits, but only by the meanness and treachery of the other side. In fact, what is the point of changing something in their activities, correcting old mistakes, looking for new approaches, if you are slandered anyway, deceive mud, discredit and destroy everything that has been created for so long? So, leading the opposition to this thought is one of the tasks that the authorities set for itself. However, the fact that the criticism of the opposition in our country is most often engaged in mediocre people, slanderers and propagandists (we recall the recent example of the infamous Lesya Ryabtseva ) should not cross out the need for criticism as such.

Moreover, the consciousness of the victim, which is often manifested by Russian oppositionists (of course, often under the influence of objective reasons) - is damaged, does not add constructiveness in the struggle, but only confirms the templates that are repeatedly broadcast by numerous propagandists. What can really harm the current regime is a break in templates.

Protesting truckers, on which it is difficult to hang the stigma of "liberals" or "Grants", but who nevertheless went out to defend their rights. The military who refuse to go to a foreign country and kill other people's citizens. Police officers who refuse to disperse protesters. People who do not repeat the usual phrases and do not have worked out reactions, even if these reactions help them find a sense of psychological comfort. Those who do not come to terms with the role of persecuted, even if they are persecuted in fact. It is impossible to depend on the templates - neither in the direction, because only one who does not give in to manipulations wins.

Ksenia Kirillova - a journalist, a former correspondent of Novaya Gazeta (Yekaterinburg), lives in the United States