Akela moved forward

Why Putin used a purely Soviet ritual

Frankly Soviet style: a large ritual (no, excuse me, industrial) complex, smiles blooming in the crowd of working people.

“What, comrades, do you live well?” Support the course of the party and government? asks Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev fervently.

- We live well, we live well! — workers laugh off.

The main thing is that it should not be in Moscow. People don't like Moscow. That is, he loves to live in it, but not like that. Here Gorky (in the sense of Nizhny Novgorod) is just what you need. I speak as a mother and as a woman. Here, by the way, the Israeli military turned up with the transfer of the capital to Jerusalem. And the insidious machinations of WADA against our biomaterial.

That is, everything is canon. The people did not find a place for themselves, they did not sleep at night. What if it doesn't come out? Who will protect us from demons, raise us from our knees, double our GDP? Oh, how will this unbearable expectation end...

There was such a son of a bitch from the "fifth column" by the name of Pushkin. He explained quite clearly:

What will end? It's no wonder to know.

The people will still howl and cry,

Boris will wince a little more,

Like a drunkard before a glass of wine,

And finally, by your grace

Accept the crown humbly agree ...

The people did not find a place for themselves, they did not sleep at night. What if it doesn't come out? Who will protect us from demons, raise us from our knees, double our GDP? Oh, how will this unbearable expectation end?

In general, in terms of continuity and stability, everything is in order. But there is (yes!) and one relatively fresh aspect. This is a servant. The servants, it is known, are good because they can read the unarticulated desires of the authorities and bring them to life. Despite his protests.

Tov. Stalin in December 1946 at a meeting with the compilers of his "Brief Biography" did not forget to ask about the planned circulation. The servant says: a million. He answered: so that no more than 500 thousand! There are no papers in the country. (And rightly so: where does paper come from in the country of victorious socialism? Paper needs wood. And in the USSR, forests, like oil in socialist Venezuela, are a chronic shortage). Here the servants boldly object to Comrade Stalin: you are not right, comrade. Stalin! There is paper in the country!

“Well, okay then,” he reluctantly agrees. - But not more than a million! See me...

That's what they decided on. In 1947, "Short Biography" was published in a circulation of 1 million copies (signed for publication on 01/16/47). And by the end of the year, another 3 million of the second edition were printed (signed for publication on 12/24/47). A total of 4 million. And what to do if the Soviet people are worried, they just can’t find a place for themselves. Who, if not the "Brief Biography" of the beloved leader, will fight back and defend?!

So, about servants. Its task is to read and embody. And our task, according to her behavior, is to monitor how far the leadership's roof has gone.

Judging by the trepidation with which the country was being prepared for a fateful event, she moved out thoroughly. For six months, the best people of the Fatherland suffered, literally could not eat: what if it doesn’t work ?! Suddenly a successor or some other rubbish? Or get sick. A hand on us, sinners, will wave. He will go to the Syrian desert to eat locusts ... Just like on pins and needles. In pharmacies, all sedatives were swept off the shelves - you probably noticed at the prices.

And finally, Mr. Peskov announces: get ready! Could happen any of the next few days. Here household and toilet soap have already been swept off the shelves: to wash your neck. We got ready and waited. In the morning they sent a young pioneer to scout - well, isn't it time yet ?! No, he replies, it's early. Not yet decided. Wait.

Such a ritual was not arranged for us (or rather, for him) either in 2000, or in 2004, or in 2012. And now, therefore, we decided that it was time. Ripened! Well, the servants, of course, know better

And only in the evening, when they gathered the workers with washed necks, in cute blue jackets / scarves with deer and the inscription GAZ, when they pulled up cameras and lights, when the Federal Security Service, which had been checking the plant for a week, gave the go-ahead, then, finally, it happened. Absolutely unexpected! And straight mountain from the shoulders, cold sweat from the forehead. The whole vast country from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok shuddered: glory to you, Lord! Drink up, bro.

Such a ritual was not arranged for us (or rather, for him) either in 2000, or in 2004, or in 2012. And now, therefore, we decided that it was time. Ripened! Well, the servants, of course, know better. I have to admit, the event went really well. First the Council of Bishops, then to the people. There is something purplish in this.

A little worried about something else. If the roof is already in the sky. If there are still six years ahead, the country is almost openly laughing, and he clearly does not realize that he is ridiculous. If there is a hybrid Afghanistan in Syria and a hybrid Moscow Olympiad in Korea. If the West again prevents us from pursuing a peaceful policy in hybrid Czechoslovakia and Poland (now they have shifted to Ukraine; the next station is Voronezh) ... That is, there is every reason to expect the imminent appearance of a hybrid “Little Land” (where L.I. Brezhnev personally broke the back of the fascist beast) . And the hybrid Virgin Land, where he personally laid the foundations of the Food Program.

This would be an even better option. That, former, roof went relatively peacefully towards the four gold stars on the chest and the collection of foreign cars. Tits-masiski, peaceful coexistence ... How cute and nice! The main thing is that it ended in a relatively bloodless collapse. That's good.

But who knows where this new roof will carry. Behind her there is no catastrophic experience of the Great War, which was behind any of the most lost Soviet chiefs. But there is an excess of frankly criminal plots. On what strategic wings will it fly? How far?

After all, no servants will hold.

* Political geographer, regular contributor to NT. The opinion of the author may not coincide with the opinion of the editors