The "scoop" of the postmodern era

This summer, in the largest US newspaper, Washington Post has been published by several articles on how unceremoniously they poison American diplomats in Russia. A rich arsenal is used: penetration into the house at night, rearrangement of furniture, intentionally turned on the light, creating a feeling of uncertainty in the apartment. One diplomat even said that an uninvited guest defeated his carpet. The children of the former ambassador of Michael McFol, were reported even at school, to the US military attachment in Moscow, and completely broke into the house and killed his dog, and there are no cases of pierced automings and other “trifles” at all.

A similar picture is also observed in my native Yekaterinburg. The favorite occupation of the "public informers" in the capital of the Urals is the "exposure of the American and British spies", moreover, the spies are announced, without exception, foreigners are declared, by the will of fate and official duties, who come to the city. Without hiding their suspicious awareness, the “bloggers” post information on the upcoming visits and the schedule of diplomats’s meetings in advance, about which, by the way, nothing was reported publicly before, and then with a victorious view, they put on public photographs from a closed meeting of foreigners with a couple of local political scientists and even video recording of confidential conversations.

All the wildest things that have been manifested in Russia in recent years: an undeclared war with neighbors, aggressive lying propaganda, a chaotic choice of "point" repression-in fact, the laws of the reality show, which the whole country observes with interest. In fact, in Soviet times there was the fifth KGB Directorate, which was engaged in the struggle against "ideological sabotage", that is, with dissenters. In his arsenal there was enough vile and petty methods: initiating street brawls, tossing false evidence, blackmail and threats, not to mention punitive psychiatry. The reasons for such actions were the most insignificant, up to reading prohibited fiction or compilation of leaflets, which differed a little from today's "likes" in social networks.

But one important difference between the day of today still existed: in Soviet times, all this activity was called, in general, its name: the struggle for ideology, that is, against any freedom and criticism of Soviet postulates. And people were judged in most cases precisely on “ideological” articles: “slander” for the Soviet system or for “anti -Soviet” activities. But in the Late Union, as a rule, they did not risk calling this "struggle against terrorism" or espionage.

Along with the fifth department, which, as they say, had a low reputation in the KGB itself, there was still a real counterintelligence, whose employees understood that foreign spies had never held the posts of ambassador or consul in the history of special services. For all the love of misinformation, they did not write illiterate letters on behalf of the CIA in English and did not call it a “secret special operation”, the results of which became accessible to readers of propaganda sites. And sometimes they caught real spies, who met with rebichent officers, with the designers of secret research institutes, and not with political scientists, who, in fact, are supposed to participate in the political life of the region. Now, the “exposure of the spy network” is even called the meeting of the consul with the mayor of the very city where his consulate has the misfortune.

Meanness is called valor, and war is called the world, but this also fits into the logic of a reality show

Even in gloomy times of stagnation, specialists in "ideological sabotage" did not claim the title of fighters with terrorism. Now, both in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB in the fight against terrorism and extremism (including "extremism" in quotation marks) is engaged in the same unit. Let us recall how in cases with the editor -in -chief of the "New Region" Alexander Shchetinin , and Ekaterina Vologzheninova , after recognizing their network publications by extremist, the bank accounts of both were blocked for "support of terrorism." It turns out that it is precisely people who are designed to protect citizens from militants of the Islamic State terrorist organization prohibited in Russia, who are dealing with housewives on social networks.

So, last spring, at the largest Ural Ural Portal , the whole article was dedicated to how Yekaterina Vologzheninova, who sentenced to anti-war posts on the VKontakte social networks, wrote a new post closed from outsiders on her page, this time in support of Nadezhda Savchenko. "And on March 5, Catherine posted in her account a photo of Nadezhda Savchenko with a message inscribed on her from the Ukrainian pilot" I do not get angry I do not build up ... ". The same picture was made in the photo cover of the Vologzheninova page. Four comments, likes and antilacs were noted, the public was noted Articles.

So, practice shows that people who consider likes, antilayics and reposts under innocent posts on the page of an ordinary housewife are not able to fight with real terrorists. Let us recall how a woman with a cut off her head in her hands walked around Moscow and the police did not dare to detain her. Probably, this is all you need to know about the Russian potential for the fight against terror.

In a word, just as “Dom-2” is a farm parody of true love and deep feelings, the fight against likes replaces the struggle against terrorism, feces to carpets in the apartments of diplomats-counterintelligence, and waving a motorist-a fighter for the “Russian world” and spiritual crossbreaks. Strength is called valor, and war is called the world, but this also fits into the logic of a reality show in which hysterics and intrigues are called suffering, and animal instincts with relations. The laws of an absurd show are fully consistent with television propaganda, where “crucified boys” coexist with “urinotherapy” of Malakhov and dull shows in the style of “let's get married”. And according to the same laws, in fact, the foreign and domestic policy of Russia develops - the external effect and game in Supreme Power is placed above the elementary instincts of the country's survival.

Therefore, the ideological cheers-patriots and sincere supporters of the “Russian world” should not be surprised that along with the pathos of leaders about the fight against “Ukrainian fascism” and “the feat of their ancestors”, young men in the form of the Wehrmacht will dance on their screens, children of the main “defenders of sovereignty” will hardly speak in Russian, and the “patriotic majority” will joyfully go to rest. to Turkey. These are the laws of the genre of pop show: brightness, entertainment, vulgarity, depreciation of words and feelings, glamor, lack of real values. Postmodern entertainment should not be called to rush with grenades under the tank, and if it calls for this, then the price of such words is equal to the value of admission to love in "House-2"-just a tribute to the script.

The real problem is that all of Russia has become a hostage to the genre. Thousands of lives, the well -being of people, the future of the country, and in addition - many with ease of impaired words, meanings, values and moral standards, are sacrificed to the illusory show, for the restoration of the true meaning of which they can leave for decades.

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