Human Rights Defenders

27 January 2022 

Aleksandr Podrabinek

Source: Vot-Tak.TV

The Russian Federation’s Ministry of Culture fell into line and stood at rigid attention. This was so that in the Kremlin – God forbid – they didn’t get the idea that the Ministry actually concerned itself with culture instead of working to strengthen authoritarianism. A few days ago, the Ministry of Culture put the ‘Fundamentals of the state policy for preservation and strengthening of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values’ on public display. This is an extremely stupid and laughable document. However, this is laughter with tears.

The question seems to be, who needs to strengthen “traditional spiritual and moral values” and why? Isn’t it up to each person individually, their family and, perhaps, those whom each particular person enlisted as their spiritual teacher? The answer, as it turns out, is no. This is a matter of state importance, a serious aspect of state policy, and officials with a special degree of responsibility should deal with this.

They are the ones who are dealing with it! Traditional values, in their opinion, serve to strengthen the sovereignty of Russia. This is especially important ‘in the face of a global crisis of values leading to humankind’s loss of traditional spiritual and moral reference points, as well as moral principles’.

A GUILTY CONSCIENCE NEEDS NO ACCUSER

Of course, you will laugh, but shameless thieves, corrupt officials and political crooks are invoking high moral principles. And this phenomenon is significant – people with ignoble motives like to talk about noble sentiments most of all. To them it seems that they are able to compensate for their own insignificance in this way.

Of course, they substantiate the pathos of their claims with political necessity. How else would they? They write: ‘traditional values are threatened by the activities of extremist and terrorist organizations, the actions of the United States and its allies, transnational corporations, and foreign non-profit organizations’.

Now is it clear what this is all about? It is necessary, under the guise of concern for morality, to protect the people from harmful foreign influence: ‘the ideological and psychological impact on the citizens of Russia leads to the instilling of a system of ideas and values that is alien to the Russian people and destructive to Russian society’.

They later call this bogeyman story ‘destructive ideology’ and, in the spirit of rabid Soviet agitators and propagandists, fight it enthusiastically, sparing no effort or their own reputation.

‘MORAL CODE OF THE BUILDER OF COMMUNISM’

But what a reputation! They openly write that ‘the spread of the destructive ideology involves the risk … of eroding confidence in state institutions, in particular in law enforcement agencies’. Here, the Ministry of Culture is simply acting as a sergeant faithfully looking up at their general.

The confrontation with ‘destructive ideology’ is the central idea of the document, which was faithfully whipped up by the Ministry of Culture. On this idea, like on a shaslik skewer, are strung together and jumbled up words about patriotism, rights and freedoms, citizenship, allegiance to the Fatherland, information security, mercy, historical memory, the priority of the spiritual over the material and the unity of the peoples of Russia. A remarkable, albeit inedible composition in which everyone can seek out their favourite ingredient.

It’s also worth noting that no one will do any searching. I remember that in Soviet times there was something similar: ‘the moral code of the builder of communism’.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE RUSSIAN CONSTITUTION 

The degrading Kremlin morons tried to give the Soviet system an appearance of decency and high moral principles. Of course, no one took this ‘Moral Code’ seriously, and many simply had a laugh over it

But then this idiocy at least corresponded to the constitutional norm regarding the leading role of the CPSU – the country was totalitarian and blatantly ideological.

Today, Article 13 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation states that ‘no ideology can be established as a state or compulsory ideology’. The Ministry of Culture’s initiative is just an attempt to give an ideological guise to the state policy of confrontation with the West. Of course, no Russian officials give a damn about the Constitution. All the more so when what we are talking about is the rushed justification of political repression and impending military aggression.

Translated by Tyler Langendorfer