Paul
Goble
Staunton, July 29 – A number of
events in recent days, Moscow commentator Igor Yakovenko says, suggest that the
Putin regime is now running “amok,” a state the American Psychiatric
Association defines as “an unprovoked episode of behavior which threatens
murder, bodily harm or destruction, after which come amnesia and exhaustion.”
In today’s “Yezhednevny zhurnal,”
Yakovenko notes that for a long time, many thought that this kind of behavior
was “characteristic only for Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia and was
produced by an excessive use of opium.” People there were said to run amok when
they faced “unbearable shame” (ej.ru/?a=note&id=28246).
“Considering the Malaysian origin of
this, one cannot exclude” the possibility, the commentator says, that what is
happening in Russia is in response to Moscow’s denial of any responsibility for
shooting down the Malaysian airliner a year ago. But it is important to
recognize, he says, that the Russian “amok” has certain specific
characteristics.
One recent episode is sufficient to
show that: Russia’s Navy Day was to be celebrated with the launch of a missile
to show Russia’s indestructible strength. But the rocket simply fizzled and
fell at the feet of those who launched it. This led to much black humor and
shows that “the Russian amok is not only senseless and ruthless but also
hilarious and provocative.”
Consistent with Uvarov’s trinity,
the Russian “amok” is Orthodox, autocratic, and popular, according to
Yakovenko, and he comments on each of these in turn. The Russian Orthodox “amok”
on public view this week: Patriarch Kirill’s statements on the 1000th
anniversary of the death of St. Vladimir and Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin’s
discourse on business and banking.
The patriarch outdid himself,
Yakovenko says. On the one hand, he declared that the anniversary of the death
of someone was a holiday, an innovation even for him. And on the other, he
asserted that “the church had never been as free as it now is.” He said
Russians should ignore those who say otherwise.
But Chaplin, who frequently speaks
for the patriarchate on important matters, went even further. He told a meeting
of the Russian Central Bank that banks shouldn’t charge interest and that
companies ought not to pursue profit, although he did not explain just what
either should do instead.
The “autocratic amok” was on
display, the commentator continues, at a meeting of young political leaders
with some of the country’s top officials. There seemed to be a competition
among the latter over who could say the most outrageous and absurd things at a
meeting called “The Territory of Meanings.”
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the head of
the LDPR, for example, “gave a master class in foreign policy by explaining
that because a war is going on in
Ukraine, [Russians] need to learn the lessons from the mistakes of previous
wars” and launch an attack on it before it has the opportunity to attack
Russia.
And “the popular amok” was on
display in the pages of “Komsomolskaya Pravda,” the Russian paper with the
largest print run and an outlet that “really not only forms but also reflects
and directs certain attitudes of a large part of the people,” according to
Yakovenko.
The paper reported the sad case of a
Russian “volunteer” who had fought in the Donbas only to return home and find
himself in financial difficulties because he could not get a job, a situation
that prompted some to suggest that Russians should send money to people like
him rather than to children or others who have suffered as a result of
government cutbacks.
It is quite possible, Yakovenko
suggests, that those engaged in such acts of “running amok” – and he provides
many others as well -- “do not understand that by promoting in Russia the
atmosphere of Orthodox-Autocratic-Popular amok, they are pushing the country
toward the self-destruction which is the inevitable end of such a state.”
No comments:
Post a Comment