Translated material
Bunker nonsense
Deputies, security forces, ministers, and even the President of Russia are increasingly turning to the theories of a conspiracy to explain the events. And what is the worst thing - they themselves believe in them
There are many conspiracy theories in Russia, in which people believe in: for example, according to the VTsIOM survey, in 2020, 66% of Russians believed in the theory of the dangers of GMOs, 60% in the theory of the existence of an organization that rewrites the history of Russia, and 54% - in the existence of a group of persons seeking to destroy traditional values. After the outbreak of war, these theories were increasingly voicing Russian politicians - for example, Nikolai Patrushev, discussing the theory of the “golden billion”. The New Gazeta Europe has collected five recent crazy theories and asked the anthropologist and author of the telegram channel “(NOT) Entertaining Anthropology” to Alexander Arkhipov to explain where they come from and why people believe in them.
Alexandra Arkhipov
Anthropologist and author of the telegram channel "(NOT) Entertaining Anthropology"
- Conspirological theory is a set of representations according to which a small secret group of conspirators affects the daily life of people. And this very small group of conspirators in some strange ways controls the life of a large number of people. These creatures affect everything that happens, and everything obeys the hidden planes of these creatures.
In Russia and the countries of the post -Soviet space, anti -globalist, anti -colonial theories are quite widespread. According to these theories, Russia is a territory that they try to turn into a colony of the United States or “West”. Such theories are a certain language of speaking about their own sovereignty. Among other things, they greatly simplify all explanations and make difficult and very affordable. In this sense, conspirology always defeats science, because when there is scientific and analytical explanations, you have to think a lot about them, and total conspiracy creates a simple explanation of everything that happens in the world.
During the war, the theory of conspiracy spread wider for this reason - they explain everything. The question now is not even whether people believe in them or do not believe, just with the help of theories you can explain what is happening. I measured: the incredible number of likes and comments at the posts about the biolaboratory around Russia. This means that people are terribly actively starting to discuss this, scary terribly, comment on posts and so on. Such theories are clearly very excited.
Patrushev and the theory of "golden billion"
“The style of the Anglo -Saxons has not changed for centuries. So today they continue to dictate their conditions to the world, boorishly tracing the sovereign rights of states. Covering their actions with words about the struggle for human rights, freedom and democracy, they actually realize the “golden billion” doctrine, suggesting that a limited number of people can flourish in this world. The destiny of the rest, as they believe, bend their backs in the name of their goal, ” - so in an interview with the newspaper“ Arguments and Facts ”, the Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said . Throughout the conversation with journalists, one of the politicians close to Vladimir Putin continued to talk about the global conspiracy, whose beneficiaries are the Anglo-Saxons and a “bunch of magnates with Wall Street”.
“This theory suggests that the West wants to exterminate everyone and leave only the golden billion people who will live on Earth, and the rest should die. Therefore, the West allegedly does everything so that those who do not belong to the golden billion are extinct - some conspirators in the government in the collective West are engaged in this. Such a theory arose in Russia and spreads mainly in the post -Soviet territories, ” says researcher Alexander Arkhipova.
The theory of "Golden Billion" is one of the most popular conspiracy theories in Russia. The term “golden billion” in Russia was widely popular in Russia in the 90s, today supporters of this conspiracy theory claim that there is a world conspiracy of rich countries against the poor, so as not to share resources and money with them. The existence of the designed doctrine of the "golden billion" has not been confirmed .
However, the interpretation of the theory of the “golden billion” Nikolai Patrushev is not yet the most crazy, says Arkhipova.
The politician, State Duma deputy and organizer of the so-called national liberation movement (NOD) Evgeny Fedorov hold more radical views within the same theory.
In his opinion, Russia is a colony of the United States, and Russian officials are guided by instructions from the world government. “We are automatically in a state of operational dependence, in the common people called a colony. The struggle for sovereignty is not the direction where you need to wait for great victories and at once, ”he said back in 2012.
“NOD are supporters of a completely crazy narrow version of the theory of“ golden billion ”. In 2019, when I talked with them, for example, they believed that the Americans already captured us, that they were managing all, and the only one who was not captured by them was Putin, who needs to help free from the Americans. After all, the Americans captured everything, including - attention - Channel One, says Arkhipova. - And the American government of Russia is sitting in the "glass" on the Belarusian. In this theory, it is very important to understand that Russia is allegedly chosen as a potential colony of the West. Moreover, I want to note that in the Soviet Union such theories were not popular. This is the specifics of the latest time. "
Medvedev and Kadyrov against Satan
After February 24, many Russian politicians began to declare that in Ukraine there was not just a war, but a struggle against Lucifer himself. Former President Dmitry Medvedev wrote about this in one of the first posts in the telegram channel created shortly before that, and the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov told about this participants in the educational marathon “Knowledge”, which was visited by Ilon Musk in 2021.
“The goal is to stop the Supreme Lord of Hell, no matter what name he uses - Satan, Lucifer or Iblis. For his goal is destruction. Our goal is life. His weapon is an intricate lie, ”this is what Medvedev explained to the attack on Ukraine.
Alexandra Arkhipov, however, does not consider such statements by the manifestation of faith in the theory of conspiracy - according to her, this is more like a religious metaphor. “Now there is a race of ideological excuses, in which all the time you need to increase bets and explain why we are fighting. It is clear that the fight against Satan is one of these explanations, they resort to it very often. There is nothing special about this, because Satanic panic are well known: unfortunately, in the 20th century they were also amazed at the territories of the USA, Canada, and UK. This is a very popular thing in the English -language Protestant world, which stands on the idea of cleanliness and constant struggle with Satan, ”the researcher explains. -People in their everyday life explain some things and changes in the theory of conspiracy, but I have not yet heard that people in their lives explain something to Satan, if this is not a religious community. However, I have a feeling, I even see this process that we have a birth of a new civil religion with all these military temples, Hitler’s cap, Patriarch Kirill, who speaks of the front and other things. Civil religion is a separate phenomenon that is not related to the fight against Satan, which Medvedev is talking about. ”
Regional problems explained by the "Dalles Plan"
In November 2022, the deputy chairman of the City Council of Novosibirsk Yevgeny Yakovenko criticized the representative of the opposition Svetlana Kaversin at the Flag of Novosibirsk on the table during the deputy session. He considered that Caversin was implementing the Dulles Plan, placing him on the table during the meeting.
The “Dulles plan” is called a conspiracy theory, according to which the United States compiled a doctrine with a list of actions that led to the collapse of the USSR, and later directed against Russia. The compiler of the plan, according to this theory, is the head of the CIA Allen Dulles, who held this post in the 50s. One of the methods that are used to implement the Dulles plan was propaganda aimed at the “moral decomposition of the population of the USSR”.
Arkhipova notes that this theory and in general the theory of conspiracy are often used to explain the causes of problems among Russian officials. “[This happens when] to go into any other explanations is difficult when it requires any numbers and explanations. And the most important thing is that in such explanations it is necessary to plead guilty, and in the case of the “Dulles plan” there is a convenient and understandable enemy. In a sense, there is always conspiracyology, but it is simply very bad that it has now become the language of the political statement that any official - from the ordinary mayor to the top of political power in Russia - will definitely explain everything that is happening, ” says Arkhipova.
In 2021, after the meeting, at which the statistics of divorces in the Stavropol Territory were voiced, the deputy of the Duma Alexander Vorozhko said that he intended to fight the Dalles Plan, which could cause a large number of divorces. He also stated that it was necessary to “tear off the bosoks” to opponents of family values, and for applying for divorce, if the couple has children, send the parent to correctional labor. However, none of this was introduced into the regional policy of the Stavropol Territory.
Mental wars
The statements of some politicians about the “mental wars” allegedly conducted against Russia are similar to the theory of the “Dulles Plan”. For example, even before the start of the war, the adviser to the Minister of Defense of Russia Andrei Ilnitsky, who was born in Lviv, stated that this is “a new type of war - the destruction of self -awareness, a change in the mental, civilizational basis of the enemy society”.
“In the mental war, the information space is totally filled with“ alien ”content and traditions, disorienting people, shifting the priorities of development and civilizational foundations of society. Using AI technologies, public consciousness is carried out both at the level of meaning and at the level of emotions, the impact on the mind and the subconscious is carried out. Russian cultures, traditions, beliefs and worldview of people are the main prize of a mental war against us, ”RIA Novosti quotes Ilnitsky.
From time to time, many officials, including Vladimir Putin, who constantly mention the “parent No. 1 and No. 2”, speaking of the allegedly changed ideas about the family abroad, are expressed about imposing “alien Western values” from time to time.
The so -called "mental war" bothers regional deputies. In November 2022, a member of the Chelyabinsk Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly on Information Policy, Margarita Pavlova said at a meeting that "Western countries led by the United States are implementing a new type of military operation in relation to Belarus and Russia." “[Mental War] has already been expanded for a long time. And if you analyze the whole history of our state, then it is fading or gaining a new round. And it seems to us that they do not work with our consciousness. In fact, they work and quite actively. And, first of all, in order to change the nature of our consciousness in order to win the minds of our youth, our children, ”the deputy said worriedly.
According to Alexandra Arkhipova, this theory can also be attributed to the group of anti -colonial. “If there is a trend that some omnipotent Western people specially do it to turn us into a colony, then this is really anti-colonial theory. I note that this also includes thoughts about LGBT, that this is all a special project of the West, so that we in Russia stop breed, also includes the theory that the Americans supposedly supply the blood of infected with AIDS for transfusion, ”she explains. - But this anti -colonial theory is aimed at the fact that not Russia, but Ukraine, will become the future colony. And this is a good explanation why the war is needed - so that the Americans do not capture Ukrainians. ”
Section of Ukraine
One of the most understandable theories of the conspiracy Alexander Arkhipov called the theory about the possible section of Ukraine. It has been regularly voiced by the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin since the beginning of the war.
In his opinion, Poland intends to annex the Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk region, as well as most of the Ternopil region of Ukraine. The first time he announced this in April, then repeated his guesses in November. In May, Dmitry Medvedev spoke about Poland’s desire to take part of Ukraine, and by the end of the year Vladimir Putin began to talk about this.
“According to the calculations of the Polish administration, preventive consolidation in the west of Ukraine with a high degree of probability will lead to the split of the country. At the same time, Warsaw will essentially receive under the administration of the territory, which will include “Polish peacekeepers,” the head of the SVR Gazeta.ru quotes the head of the SVR.
“If you wanted to rank [the theory of conspiracy] according to the degree, as they say, madness, then this one could be placed at the very bottom of the list. Firstly, this is just the same Dulles plan that there are some external forces that are trying to share Russia. Secondly, it looks like quasi-historical-we all know how the USSR and Germany shared Poland, for example. In this sense, the theory of [the section of Ukraine] is a projection of the historical past on us, in which supernatural forces are not involved, ”summarizes Arkhipov.