Looking for stuff to translate for Global Voices is getting more and more difficult: too often, I start feeling dirty after just a few minutes of browsing through Russian LJs.
One guy is shutting down his journal because the Russian segment of LJ is now owned by the "kikes." Another is asking on whose side you'd be fighting if you lived during WWII - and gets 1,192 responses. And one of the most popular searches now is on the upcoming Russian March.
I'm so tired of reading through other people's hatred.
And Putin, he seems to be courting this militant segment of the electorate, tries to be more like them and, possibly, lure them away from their leaders, the competitors. And it shouldn't bother him that what he's doing doesn't look nice to most people outside Russia: they aren't his target audience.
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I've translated a selection from Natasha Raslambekova's war diaries for Global Voices - here.
More power to you, Veronica. I certainly wouldn't want to do it, so I'm impressed that you keep it up.
ReplyDeleteBy playing to that hateful skinhead anger within Russia, Putin seems to be postponing its eventual rise into a real political group. At least, that is the only logical reason I can come up with for Kremlin behavior. Of course, if it were any other, more passive political movement - would the Kremlin also seek the same solution? Or would they squash or distance themselves from a more passive political movement?
ReplyDeleteIn the long run, Putin's behavior towards these groups might only embolden them and fuel their growth. Often I think Putin is just trying to hold Russia together ans it is pulled in many directions by its many divergent interests. Other Russian presidents will have to deal with the consequences of his inactions on several issues in the future.
Mithgol is not just "one guy". In fact, he's so famous that there's an illness named after him - mithgoliosis :-).
ReplyDeleteneeka,
ReplyDeleteknow that this just illustrates how important your voice is to us who don't live in that area of the world.
the voices we do hear are the crazy extremists you are mentioning. having sane, informed commentary like yours from a rational individual is rare and valuable indeed.
(consider this a follow up to your earlier "is anybody reading this" post)
; )