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| Unfortunately, I failed to identify the author of this awesome drawing. Found it on Facebook. |
I could not possibly find any better illustration for the Russian offensive of stupefying lies and lies and lies in 2014, for the entire year so much tinted by the fears and anticipation of what else Russia’s oil-dollar-puking regime would undertake to kick the modern civilisation. And I could not find any better image that would fit this text bit.
This is my translation of a fragment of Vladimir Pastukhov’s article Syndrome of Unplugged Consciousness published on BBC Russian section here.
Lies become both a prevailing mindset and a social method. It is naïve and romantic to blame state propaganda for stupefying and corrupting the population. We often confuse the cause with the consequence. Today, while an unstoppable demand for lies is emerging on one pole of the Russian public life, the other pole is naturally increasing a mass production of lies.
Unfortunately, any neo-educationalist initiative—aimed at “opening the people’s eyes” to flaw and diseases of Russian life—is doomed in these circumstances. The everyman’s eyelids are sealed. He does not want to look around. The only subject that may a strong enough power to break through the vacuum is anti-corruption propaganda. However, not because the Russian soul would be deeply disgusted with corruption. An anti-corruption message makes him envious. It is not that much corruption that annoys people. It is the result of it that agitates them. Anti-corruption propaganda produces, unfortunately, no moral benefit. Nor does it stimulates personal integrity.
A constant presence of large masses of people with “unplugged” consciousness has been making an impact throughout the Russian history. This presence impedes the emergence of a non-conformist trend, and, therefore, inhibits a smooth evolution. The state of affairs in Russia very often reaches a point, when interference from outside, be it a war, an economic disaster or alike, takes place. This forcefully changes the matrix and causes mass-scale awakening, which, quoting renowned Russian literary scholar Dmitri Likhachev, seems even more disgusting than mass-scale delusion. Russia has apparently again reached the peak of conformism and is beginning a journey toward “mass-scale awakening.