Over 100 years ago, Russia became core of USSR and the pioneer of international struggle for workers’ liberation, poverty lifting, enlightenment, scientific progress and propagation of socialism and communism.
Now – in my humble and maybe biased by liberal propaganda view – Russia is one of the most reactionary, conservative, backward-looking, clerical country. Please excuse me posting some liberal, imperialist shit here, but seems that Kremlin officially admits going far-right: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/kremlin-finally-puts-together-ideology
Speaking locally, there seems to be evidence that Polish far-right party PiS (Law and Justice) is backed by Kremlin as well as the extremely influential priest, Tadeusz Rydzyk, founder and director of the ultra-catholic, conservative Radio Maryja station has/had ties with Polish and Russian security services before the end of People’s Republic of Poland and USSR (sic!). I have some generally available videos, but in Polish, sadly.
Could you tell me how far this is true? If so, what purpose had the late communist states and today’s Russia in spreading far-right propaganda? WTF went wrong?
I’m going to disagree here. While there are right wing elements in Russia and there is a lot of nationalist sentiment, it’s also a fact that communism is still very popular. Polls consistently show that most people see USSR in a positive light, and many people consider the Soviet system to be generally correct. KPRF has a lot of support which appears to be growing. It might not be perfect, but it’s certainly not a far right party.
For example, here’s a recent poll from Russia:
And here’s another poll showing that most people think the Soviet economic system was more correct
Russia is also increasingly falling into China’s orbit and it doesn’t escape people in Russia that going back to a socialist system would result in similar benefits that people in China are currently enjoying.
Considering that, do you think it’s possible for Russia to have successful reforms into social democracy or socialism? I don’t see a revolution on the table.
It’s hard to say to be honest. I don’t think there’s any revolutionary potential either right now. However, I do think that reforms that bring Russia ever closer to Chinese model are indeed likely. In fact, we’ve already seen some of this happen out of necessity after the start of the war. There’s a lot more state control over business now, and state owned enterprise is playing an increasingly central role in the economy.
Also worth noting that a full on counter revolution wasn’t required for transition to capitalism. So, perhaps we will see a similar shift back towards an explicitly socialist system. There is going to be a power vacuum after Putin is gone, and that will be an opportunity for change. I don’t think we’ll be seeing any drastic changes until that time.
I’m not very knowledgeable about either country, but I’m not sure if there’s any benefit in the Russian state having better control of businesses and the economy, if the workers have no control over the state. Maybe it’ll be more efficient, but I don’t see how that efficiency will be directed at people’s needs.
And I hope Putin only dies/retires after NATO is no longer a threat. There’s no country Westerners want to destroy and dismantle as much as Russia, and a shaky transition might be too much.
I think that having an economy organized in this way lowers the barrier for the transition. For example, if the capitalists were overthrown politically, then it just becomes a matter of democratizing state owned workplaces without having to wrestle them away from the oligarchs first. And agree that the best chance to break NATO would be if the current leadership finishes what they started. This is the primary contradiction in the world right now.
KPRF expects a center-left shift in Putin’s politics as Putin has said that capitalism is dead. But so far he hasn’t spoken of an alternative. https://tass.com/economy/1352463
“Everyone says that the existing model of capitalism, which the basis of social structure in the overwhelming majority of countries, has run its course,” the head of state said, speaking on Thursday at a meeting of the Valdai International Club.
According to him, this model can no longer offer a way out of the “snarl of increasingly tangled contradictions.”
“Everywhere, even in the richest countries and regions, the uneven distribution of material wealth leads to aggravating inequality,” the head of state added.
SR (“21st-century socialist” party, 3rd largest party in the Duma) believe that Putin is the only “socialist” in Russia’s leadership (because thanks to him their social laws and initiatives have been accepted) and they support him electorally to reduce the influence of United Russia which also backs him. At the same time, they are also looking to unite with KPRF.
https://www.rbc.ru/politics/25/12/2017/5a40bc719a79470d6296e296?from=newsfeed
KPRF expects a center-left shift in Putin’s politics
Okay, I am manifesting this so hard right now!
That is all true, and it is somewhat uplifting. However, there is a long way for Russia to be a communist country, also many people can be just nostalgic about their youth, as well as many people may remember USSR as the late one, where many of ideals of the original Bolsheviks were compromised. Some of them just miss «the strong nation», not the Bolsheviks’ ideals of creating a just workers’ society and propagating it to the whole World. Without clear and not-too-pragmatic socialist leadership, they see a shadow of a shadow. I think KPRF is exactly in this flavour – the flavour of late USSR. But with no serious alternatives, their popularity gives me joy as well.
For sure, there is a long way back to communism, and the path is not at all clear right now. KPRF definitely leaves a lot to be desired, but I do think keeping the idea alive is important. In the end, if Russia manages to find its way back to the light then whatever form communism takes in Russia will be rooted in the current conditions and contradictions. USSR mostly acts as an ideal to inspire people, and as long as this ideal is popular then there is hope.
I’m not aware how true this is for Russia, but Orthodox Christianity has been entrenched in Russia for centuries. 70 years of communism was not enough to dislodge it. This plays a major role in the way the political winds are blowing to the right, not just in Russia, but all across Eastern Europe. Orthodox Christian churches are very prone to fascist rhetoric and extremely conservative. From the medieval ages, Orthodox churches have managed to weave themselves together with national/cultural identity in their areas, to such a degree, that they are considered one and the same nowadays. In most Eastern European countries, you will find Orthodox high-ranking priests behind far right parties, conservative movements and racist/anti-immigrant actions.
There’s a lot of diffusion of ideology happenning across all Orthodox churches, so I assume this due to what’s going on where I leave.
Orthodoxy is also very prone to conspiracy theories, especially those coming from the right in the West. Such as Harry Potter is a real witch handbook, Pokemon are evil, hollow earth and lizardpeople conspiracies, etc. Anything that reinforces the belief that the devil is alive and actively seeking to control the world.
Catholicism had exact same role in the catholic socialist countries. Both churches served as capitalist 5th column in each and every socialist state, restitution of capitalism was in their interest.
This makes sense and I also learn something about the Orthodox churches. Thank you comrade. I think Polish catholic church is similar in extremism, racism, xenophobia, etc. and it is also very tightly tied with the far-right «PiS» party and ultra-right «Suwerenna Polska» small party. They all also believe in conspiracy theories – such that the Smoleńsk Tu-154M catastrophe was actually an assassination, while this particular theory was legitimized by highest politicians of PiS, who ruled as long ago as last December…
It always seems to be religion at the end of the day. Same reason why queer people are basically illegal in some Afrikan countries.
Nothing fools people more as religion.
Orthodoxy is also very prone to conspiracy theories, […] Such as Harry Potter is a real witch handbook, […]
I would argue that this propensity for conspiracy theories extends beyond just Orthodox Christianity. At the very least it exists just as strong or even stronger in Evangelical circles, especially in the US, and i would not be surprised to find it in other very conservative religious denominations as well.
This is not surprising and it seems to be something inherent to (fundamentalist) religion that leaves you more vulnerable to other irrational beliefs. At the risk of sounding like a reddit atheist, i have often thought that it would not be inaccurate to characterize religion - or more specifically the belief in god(s) or the supernatural - as the world’s oldest conspiracy theory.
Agreed. I’m not saying the contrary. Just that these conspiracy theories are really prevalent among Orthodox Christians to the extend where they become the norm. Where I’m from we have politicians who publish books about them that become best sellers.
Religious studies are a mandatory course in schools in my country for all years. The teachers/priests would often present such conspiracy theories (or anecdotes about possession and witchcraft) to us from a very early age. And of course with all this paranoia, they pepper racism, right-wing nationalism, antocommunism and jingoism. This attitude permeates other courses too, particularly language and literature. I’ve heard similar stories from Russians, Ukrainians and Serbs.
We have a big fascist problem currently, and it’s largely people my age who perpetrate it, influenced by what they were taught at school, in church and, as a consequence, at home too.
One thing is certainly not true, namely the allegation that PiS is “backed by the Kremlin”. Up until the last election Poland was governed by the PiS party and from the very beginning of the conflict in Ukraine they were one of the biggest supporters of Ukraine in Europe. Without Poland acting as a weapons delivery hub to Ukraine, NATO could never have sustained their Nazi proxy army. PiS pursued an extremely anti-Russia policy, which is not surprising as some of its highest ranking members are personally deeply russophobic.
So you cannot make this blanket statement that Russia backs the European far right, in fact some of the far right parties in eastern Europe are very anti-Russia. Now maybe the situation is reversed in western Europe but so far we have only seen one of them come to power, namely in Italy, and it turned out they were just as pro-NATO and anti-Russia as the liberals.
The situation with Russia is a lot more complicated than the liberal western media makes it seem. There is only one word which fully encapsulates the mess that is today’s Russia and that is: contractions. There are a lot of contradictions in Russia’s culture, its economic system, its government, etc. It has very pronounced reactionary elements, which you have mentioned and which other comrades have explained quite well, but it also has remnants of the old Soviet culture and system.
Because just as Marx said socialist societies would be imprinted for a while with characteristics of the old bourgeois society, so a bourgeois society that is built on the destruction of socialism will retain some imprints. The peculiar thing in Russia’s case as opposed to other eastern European former socialist states which have liberalized more thoroughly, in Russia restoration of the bourgeois system was never fully completed, and in my opinion cannot be completed under present circumstances even though the liberals (including Putin) who have ruled Russia since the 1990s have tried very hard to do so.
Russia is stuck for now in a sort of limbo of an unfinished counter-revolution, partly because of the internal dynamics of Russian society itself and partly due to the renewed hostility of the West toward Russia since around 2008 which has frozen the liberalization process.
Russia is stuck for now in a sort of limbo of an unfinished counter-revolution, partly because of the internal dynamics of Russian society itself and partly due to the renewed hostility of the West toward Russia since around 2008 which has frozen the liberalization process.
It looks like this, I am just afraid that when the times will go hard, then Russia will turn fully into nationalism, chauvinism, etc.
One thing is certainly not true, namely the allegation that PiS is “backed by the Kremlin”. Up until the last election Poland was governed by the PiS party and from the very beginning of the conflict in Ukraine they were one of the biggest supporters of Ukraine in Europe. highest ranking members are personally deeply russophobic.
Superficially, it seems like this. But I am somewhat suspicious. The government of PiS seemed extremely russophobic (what spy says he likes the country of the employer?) but still they imported enormous amount of fuels from Russia, e.g.: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/polish-senator-russian-coal-still-flowing-into-poland/ Undoubtedly, the support for Ukraine was enormous, but at some point abruptly stopped. Maybe they were pushed by US at some point to support or they wanted to balance between these two powers, like Orban. When they sold Lotos, a big oil company, they bought petrol stations in Hungary, and the stations were literally Lukoil, and they use Russian oil to be sold there. They are also other circumstantial evidences of ties between Russia and PiS: https://www.veridica.ro/en/acf/the-russian-connection-in-poland
Like you said, all this matter is nuanced, and additionally obscured by propaganda from all sides. I just feel confused, so oversimplifications are possible.
The government of PiS seemed extremely russophobic (what spy says he likes the country of the employer?) but still they imported enormous amount of fuels from Russia
The same could be said of any Euro country, the only difference being that unlike the Germans and other “better” Europeans who fully toed the anti-Russia line (and then knowingly bought their Russian fuels through middlemen like India) Poland acted with some sense of reality and business sense, because they weren’t fully economically suicidal.
The whole “Russia is to blame for all right-wing politics in the west” nonsense is absolutely, 100% tired and at least 99% stinking horseshit if you ask me. Whatever contribution Russia has given is just a drop of water the ocean compared to the already historically massive, well-funded, and deeply engaged right-wing political movements of the US and other Anglophone nations, of western and southern Europe, and of eastern Europe (much of whose right-wing parties are vehemently Russophobic in ways nearing the derangement of Ukraine). And similarly, it is but a drop of water in the ocean compared to the US’ meddling to promote these ideologies, both in recent years, and for many decades prior, and even well before the Soviets collapsed.
Does Russia have fun pouring a little fuel on the fire in the west? Probably (mainly in the recent decade if so), but the impact is miniscule compared to what already existed, and compared to the extensive and interconnected support, by various different western countries, NGOs, and corporations (many of them even liberals- for instance, Victor Orban is literally one of the graduates of a Soros scholarship), to cook up the most repugnant chuds. That hardly makes them an “international exporter of fascism” or anything (I’d argue they’re the opposite by and large, though that is more due to circumstance than anything else) and- while I don’t quite condone it, I can hardly blame them for doing so, for shits and giggles if nothing else- one lone Russian amidst a sea of western participants at the NRA, or mingling with the GOP, PiS, AFD, or what-have-you, and you have liberal tantrums and accusations aplenty, hell, even if Russia did nothing, the accusation of “Russian interference” (and Chinese) would be paraded around as part of the western “liberal/so-called-left’s” series of increasingly deranged reichstag fires.
Well, I admit that – for example – the far-right propaganda of Radio Maryja in Poland, backed by Russia or not, fall in a fertile ground – racism, antisemitism, clericalism were there since a long time before. One thing that I am «angry» on the People’s Republic of Poland is that they not eradicate religion and clericalism from Poland, as did the communist government in Czechoslovakia.
i thought the piss party was as anti russia as you can get
Yup, though that level of russophobia is representative for most of Polish political mainstream and quite average considering all public spaces (which is, especially internet, full of literal nazi rhetorics agains Russians).
Any allegiations of PiS being supported by Russia are most likely just Polish versions of russiagate, it’s a country where politicians of all parties are accusing eachother with straight faces of being “communists”, “socialists”, “Kremlin agents” and so on, while all of them really being Washington marionettes.
Outwardly, but that is primarily rhetoric. They are closely economically aligned. They’re not allies by any measure, but the party want to maintain economic and resource connections with Russia, as opposed to other liberal parties.
Edit: Patriotic education is supported by the communist party, self-hating Russians are too common. Textbooks made by George Soros for years have been teaching kids to hate the country. Students burn their passports, 1/3 students want to leave the country. Putin only change this in 2023 when abandoned by the west. Russian, and Soviet history will no longer be villainised. Russia is nothing like the Western portrayal of it, Z flags and Russian jingoism are far far more common in Serbia than in Russia. Compare Djokovic’s fans to the anti-war Medvedev, Rublev etc.
As Meduza has previously reported, this course was invented by the Russian authorities after the beginning of the full-scale war to explain to students “where Russia is going.” Meduza sources close to the Kremlin have pointed out that this “ideological” course is essentially a direct equivalent of the “scientific communism” taught in Soviet-era universities.
Russia being far right:
Zhirinovsky was the leader of the most right wing faction in the Russian duma and the 2nd political party in the Soviet Union (Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union) before he died in 2022 and I would only describe him as centre-right, he supported the August coup by Soviet hardliners against Gorbachev. The real right-wing, Russian monarchists, were against this.
Putin has transformed the country from what it was in 1999, taking back a lot of power.
The communist party is the largest one in the world that’s not in power. Representing 10-20% of the population, they’ve only become stronger as the country recognizes China’s success.
Lots of far-right parties/groups are banned, not just nazi ones, imperial ones too.
On LGBT he said that they should be able to represent themselves. This is the opposite of what a far-right person would have said. He said this when asked by a Serb weather being LGBT is mandatory for winning western competitions.
But I’ll tell you something unexpected. They too – these topics and these people – have the right to win, show and tell, because this is also part of society. This is also what people live by. It’s bad if they just win all sorts of competitions, that’s of no use.
I believe if China can deal with Israel, then Russia should be allowed to find whatever allies they want. PIS isn’t committing genocide.
This says that it is not so bad – but still Russia cannot be called a communist country nor going in that direction. With using conservative rhetorics, references to tradition, history and religion, it – at least officially – presents itself as a far right country. Look at their coat of arms – it even looks like a tsarist one. Many – if not most – of European conservatives think of Russia as of «the last bastion of Christianity and European civilization». Far right scums like Le Pen was very supportive for Putin. You know there is much more. For me all such things looks plainly reactionary.
Russia should be allowed to find whatever allies they want
Russia is not only allowed, but it has means to enforce it. I am rather concerned that ideologically, morally and mentally Russia is far, far inferior to the early USSR. And this trend affects other countries of the Eastern Block. I live in Poland, which is divided by liberals and ultra-catholic far-rights, most probably backed by Kremlin. The country is literally divided – I can not talk with my father, since he belongs to PiS supporters and acts like a member of a sect. This is not a country I want to live in.
Many – if not most – of European conservatives think of Russia as of «the last bastion of Christianity and European civilization». Far right scums like Le Pen was very supportive for Putin.
For exactly the same reason why some fascists support China or DPRK - they believe into all the western propaganda about these countries and their “atrocities” and like them
I am rather concerned that ideologically, morally and mentally Russia is far, far inferior to the early USSR.
It is, but considering how the rest fallen it’s still like the poster about the “olbrzym i zapluty karzeł reakcji” only the giant is far smaller.
Oh I recall the poster
A comment to the edited part:
Meduza sources close to the Kremlin have pointed out that this “ideological” course is essentially a direct equivalent of the “scientific communism” taught in Soviet-era universities.
Official ideological line may be very different to the actually followed. About the Soviet history: yes, it’s fight against nazism should be proclaimed and praised, as well as great social and scientific achievements of the whole USSR and allied countries. But when patriotism turns into nationalism, it should be despised. «The working men have no country.» True socialists – while enforced to act within some existing country – know that the goal is to lift all national, racial, sexual and other barriers and put the idea of the nation into a trash.
“Our secret weapon is nationalism. To have nationhood, which is a sign of maturity, is greater than any weapons in the world.” - Uncle Ho (Chi Minh)
Unfortunately comrade, I need to disagree. Nationalism is not inherently and automatically bad. Yes, rightist nationalism is bad and should be stomped out, but when a people’s nationhood, that is, their identity as a people, is being actively suppressed by imperial forces, then nationalism is important and necessary to save the cultural artefacts those people hold dear.
I’ll refer you to comrade Luna Oi for a far superior, more nuanced interpretation than I can provide:
We will disagree here comrade. While nationalism may offer short-term advantages (maybe justified during a war), it is almost a referencing to some basic, tribal instincts, so it cannot be considered as a long-term goal for a rational, conscious, healthy communist society. I believe this is one of causes of slowly rotting of USSR.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
To add to the other really good comments, to me the drift to far right is the result of shock therapy policies of the 90s.
The generations that comprised the original Bolsheviks were some of the most “progressive” leaders in the history of Russia and made their stamp on the culture of the country being ‘far left’ (I don’t really care for both terms). Once the country was in the hands of later generations from the 60s onwards up until the collapse, right-wing sentiments became the main opposition that as the economic situation got worse that culminated in what we saw in the 90s. Now the right is the ruling class of Russia, with the left in the opposition.
I have the same impression comrade and I deeply regret this drift to the right. It destroyed one of the noblest endeavours in human history (the USSR), but maybe far more damage has been done by slandering and depreciating the idea of communism and by giving the fuel to liberal and right-wing propaganda. Short-term, pragmatic benefits of the right drift ended with long-term disaster. This is how right-wingers and liberals think. I hope that I do not sound as an ultra, I just admire ideas of the original Bolsheviks and wish to preserve them uncompromised.
Edit: it almost makes me cry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwaXhTGEhIk
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
I hate that the Orthodox Church has regained much influence in the government (it is like a recurrent cancer that can’t be eradicated), and is indoctrinating a new generation in backwards, ignorant anti-science, conservative nonsense. I despair for those young Russians growing up now who have not experienced Communist education, and have little hope of a new Revolution. There also seems to be a few conservative religious American families moving to Russia for the supposed “traditional values” - such as in this Substack by Friar Joe (and I can’t read through all his nonsense without exploding in rage) - and he exemplifies this awful ignorance.
I can imagine - last 8 years in Poland we had some catholic indoctrination, fortunately it gave almost opposite effect - many kids resign from religion lessons. Sadly, liberal propaganda is overwhelming and so common that regular people even do not notice it ☹️