Posted on 01/20/2016 12:33:52 PM PST by Thistooshallpass9
To celebrate the New Year, the Russian government gave hundreds of high-ranking officials a special gift: a 400-page book of âpropheticâ quotes by President Vladimir Putin.
The book, titled Words That Change the World, includes 19 of the most important speeches and interviews Putin has given during the last 12 years. Hundreds of short, tweetable passages are bolded in the text.
Anton Volodin, who spearheaded the bookâs publication, said Putinâs words are valuable to Russian leaders largely because they tend to be prophetic: âWe noticed that everything Putin says, to varying degrees, comes true,â he said. âIn this book, we have traced his words and confirmed this idea. Putinâs words can be described as prophetic.â
After Putinâs deputy chief of staff saw a copy of the book, he deemed it a must-read for all Russian officials.
He snapped up all 1,500 copies of the initial print run and distributed them to officials across the nation as New Yearâs gifts. They were sent along with a letter saying the book should be viewed as a guide to the Kremlinâs âvalues and guiding principles.â
Another print run is scheduled for later this month, which will make the book available to the public for $11 per copy. Plans are in the works for Chinese and English translations.
The distribution of this book has sobering implications because it follows a pattern set by several of historyâs darkest dictatorships.
THE SOVIET SCRIPTURES
During the days of the Soviet Union, government officials and the general public were encouraged to be well acquainted with Vladimir Leninâs Collected Works.
These books instructed readers on how to think about everything from military science and industry to agriculture and the role of young people in Soviet society.
From 1918 to 1974, the Soviets published a total of 465,714,000 copies of Collected Works, often revising the content to conform to the partyâs ever evolving policies. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia says the books âaided greatly in the partyâs theoretical work and in the propagation of Marxism-Leninism.â
MAO'S MANUAL
Then there was Mao Tse-Tungâs so-called Little Red Book. During Chinaâs Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, it was virtually mandatory for all Chinese people to own and constantly carry a copy of this book laying out all of Chairman Maoâs ideologies. Researches say that only the Holy Bible has sold more copies than Maoâs book.
The trouble is that Maoâs communist ideologies ended up killing 65 to 75 million people. That makes him the man responsible for more murders than any other person in history. And historians agree that his Little Red Book played a major role in advancing his lethal ideas among the Chinese populace.
THE FüHRERâS FOLIOS
And donât forget Mein Kampf, which Adolf Hitler wrote while imprisoned before he become Germanyâs chancellor. This book laid out Hitlerâs plan for Germany, by naming Jews as âracially inferiorâ and saying they threatened the âracially superior Aryans.â
During Hitlerâs reign, a copy of the book was given to every soldier and newlywed couple in Germany. Sales of the book also made Hitler a wealthy man. By the end of World War ii, well over 10 million copies had been sold or distributed in Germany alone.
Historians agree that the widespread dissemination of Mein Kampf helped Hitler win Germans over to his cause, and gave traction to his diabolical ideas.
QADHAFI'S COPY
More recently, Libyaâs late Muammar Qadhafi published the eccentric Green Book. Sometimes described as a âhow-toâ manual for dictators, the book set out Qadhafiâs philosophies on everything from the dangers of political parties to the importance of breastfeeding. From its first publication in 1975 until Qadhafi was killed in 2011, the book was required reading for all Libyans.
Abdul Majid, an English teacher in the capital, said the work helped Qadhafi maintain his iron grip on Libya to the detriment of the country: âThe Green Book was a disaster for Libya. It led the country to its current miserable state.â
NIYAZOV'S NONSENSE
Finally, we come to Turkmenistanâs late and unlamented dictator Saparmurat Niyazov. From 1985 until his death in 2006, Niyazov ruled Turkmenistan with a personality cult that put Josef Stalinâs to shame. In 2004, he published The Book of the Soul, which combined his religious instruction with revisionist Turkmenian history and plenty of forays into politics and philosophy.
Niyazov said The Book of the Soul was holy writ, on par with the Koran. With his heavily repressive state security apparatus, he made it mandatory reading at every level of elementary and collegiate educationâoften to the exclusion of subjects such as math and science. Niyazov even had questions about his book added to job interview scripts, civil service tests and the national driversâ license exam.
Niyazov also had a copy of The Book of the Soul jettisoned out the airlock of a Russian space shuttle so that he could tell the Turkmen people he had âconquered outer space.â In 2006, Niyazov said he had made a deal with God to guarantee that anyone who read the book three times would automatically go to heaven.
BACK ON EARTH
The decision to publish and distribute the new book of Vladimir Putinâs quotes follows a pattern set by several of historyâs darkest and most bizarre dictatorships.
Authoritarian rulers often portray themselves as the supreme source of wisdom for their nations. They believe that by demonstrating their wisdom, they can validate their absolute power. For many, writing booksâand requiring subordinates to view them as sacred textsâhas proven a successful way of accomplishing this goal.
Itâs unlikely that the new book of Vladimir Putinâs quotes will be used to prove that he is king of outer space or to justify genocide. But if history is a reliable indication, the book could prove to be a tool that helps him indoctrinate his countrymen, silence his opposition, and tighten his grip on power.
I talked to a lady who received one of those copies and she said they were all told to read it. At the time I didn't think to ask whether Hillary was going to give a pop quiz.
My dear friend Lil(RIP) was a missionary to Turkmenistan during Niyazov’s reign. She told me about a statue of him, made of gold, that turned on a pivot so the sun always shone on its face. It was on a pedestal surrounded by huge fountains in a land where water was scarce.
The women didn’t have to wear full burkas (unlike their neighbors in Afghanistan), but the muzzie garb was still voluminous enough to smuggle in lots of Bibles!
Lil was my best and dearest friend, and I took her to Hawaii with me in 2013, where she suffered a massive aneurysm and died in my arms. In an open helicopter. Over an erupting volcano. God gave her a spectacular exit to a spectacular life, and I got to be a part of it.
(Just a side story to the article, but mentioning Niyazov brought it out)
The question is WHY.
Wow, that is an astounding and moving story. Thank you for sharing that.
Speaking of dark dicktators, what’s obama up to today?
It was a rough two weeks, dealing with the authorities in HI, as her Next-of-Kin couldn’t be located, so I had to make all the “decisions” for her. The Lord was with me the whole time though.
If Nazis are mentioned, Radio Glenn Beck is involved. He lovers the Nazis. Hopefully it’s not an obsession.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.