I’m honestly surprised that the Moscow Times haven’t been banned in Russia.
The author makes a good point. That these things did not happen overnight. It has been a bit like boiling the frog, increasing the heat over time and now its reached the boiling point and bubbles appear.
On the other hand, I can understand the desire to distance oneself from these horrors. Somehow make a point that it is not done in your name.
However, I do wonder … if Ukraine would have fallen in three days and all the looting and raping and war crimes would have remained more under wraps – only rumors – would the same people have been cheering in nationalistic frenzy like all the “street dogs” as they were calling them. After all, checenya, georgia, syria, crimea were not the events that pushed them to leave Russia. It was Ukraine, first time the civilized world really reacted and started pushing back against Russian imperialistic ambitions.
I find it really quite startling that the media and politicians have largely avoided using the word fascist to describe Putin and his government. The fit might not be perfect by mid-20th century standards but its been an evolving ideology and Russia is arguably the poster child for modern fascism. The tactics have changed somewhat but the underlying ideological drivers remain the same.
The consequence of this reluctance is quite dangerous IMO as it leaves authoritarians, not just in Russia, free range to use words like “fascist” and “nazi” to label/demonise any group they feel like with little consequence.
3 comments
I’m honestly surprised that the Moscow Times haven’t been banned in Russia.
The author makes a good point. That these things did not happen overnight. It has been a bit like boiling the frog, increasing the heat over time and now its reached the boiling point and bubbles appear.
On the other hand, I can understand the desire to distance oneself from these horrors. Somehow make a point that it is not done in your name.
However, I do wonder … if Ukraine would have fallen in three days and all the looting and raping and war crimes would have remained more under wraps – only rumors – would the same people have been cheering in nationalistic frenzy like all the “street dogs” as they were calling them. After all, checenya, georgia, syria, crimea were not the events that pushed them to leave Russia. It was Ukraine, first time the civilized world really reacted and started pushing back against Russian imperialistic ambitions.
I find it really quite startling that the media and politicians have largely avoided using the word fascist to describe Putin and his government. The fit might not be perfect by mid-20th century standards but its been an evolving ideology and Russia is arguably the poster child for modern fascism. The tactics have changed somewhat but the underlying ideological drivers remain the same.
The consequence of this reluctance is quite dangerous IMO as it leaves authoritarians, not just in Russia, free range to use words like “fascist” and “nazi” to label/demonise any group they feel like with little consequence.