Posted on 01/12/2022 3:54:53 PM PST by Its All Over Except ...
Russia's New 'Conservative' Ideology To Counter Liberalism
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Wonder what Bernie Sanders would say to this.
Renowned Russian academic Sergey Karaganov describes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the latest October Valdai Forum[1] as the “first major and strong call for reinventing Russian ideology for Russia and the world.”[2] Indeed, Putin’s speech can be viewed as an ideological manifesto that tries to put Russia back in the center of the world’s political map.
Karaganov, who has been the Kremlin’s advisor on foreign policy for twelve years, explains that for many years the economy was the central factor for countries and societies (”it is the economy, stupid”). However, history proves something else. “Yes, people are driven by economic interests, but when they are partially satisfied, when at the bare minimum no one starves, they turn to other interests like security, national pride, ideological views, cultural stereotypes and needs - that is, phenomena and values of a higher order,” Karaganov states.[3]
For this reason, Putin believes that if Russia manages to shape a new ideology, it could have the same attractive power that it had under the Soviet Union with Communism, despite its shrinking economy. However, since Communism failed, Putin needs new values and ideas to counter the West.
‘The Conservative Views We Hold Are An Optimistic Conservatism’
According to Karaganov, the West, after dominating the economy, politics, ideology, and culture for five hundred years, finds itself in ideological decline. “All powers, if they want to be great, must have a set of ideas leading forward. When these ideas were lost, great powers ceased to be great or simply disintegrated. This happened to Rome. This happened in the 17th century to Spain. This happened to the Soviet Union when we lost the communist idea that led us. It was false, but it was there. This happened to the great European powers, which got tired and abandoned their ideas in favor of a pan-European one that pushed them forward for some time. But it has run [out] of steam now, too. And they have started to crumble,” Karaganov opines.[4]
Furthermore, according to Putin, liberalism has failed and the new progressive liberal ideas pushed forward by the West show only a loss of values and identity. Hence, to counter the liberal elite in the West, Putin suggests for Russia to become the beacon of conservatism and traditionalism. “The conservative views we hold are an optimistic conservatism,” Putin affirmed at the Valdai Forum.
Putin further states that values are a “a unique product of cultural and historical development of any nation.” For this reason, the West should not promote in other countries values and ideas that stand in contrast with the local culture and tradition. “The social and cultural shocks that are taking place in the United States and Western Europe are none of our business; we are keeping out of this,” Putin said.
In his speech-manifesto, Putin listed point by point the ideas in the West that he challenges. In a way, in his speech, Putin tries to outline what Russian anti-liberal philosopher Alexander Dugin calls the “Fourth Political Theory.” Dugin classifies three political theories in order of appearance that characterized the 20th century: liberalism (the first theory), communism (the second theory), and fascism (the third theory). Fascism emerged later than the other major political theories and disappeared before them. The alliance between liberalism and communism, in combination with Adolf Hitler’s geopolitical miscalculations, were responsible for the demise of fascism. Fascism’s disappearance cleared the battlefield for the first and the second political theories, whose Cold War duel created a bipolar world that lasted nearly half-a-century. The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union signaled the victory of liberalism over communism. Thus, by the end of the 20th century, liberalism remained the only theory standing.
However, liberalism itself has become increasingly decadent. “Today’s liberalism is so rotten within that it’s easy enough to throw out now, because it itself has recognized progress, freedom, and development to be absolute fictions. Liberalism has recognized that it is a kind of particular totalitarian approach. Behind all these ideas of liberation, freedom, equality, individualism, etc., stands none other than the will to power,” Dugin explains. Therefore, to avoid backsliding into communism and fascism, Dugin suggests that a Fourth Political Theory is needed, based on the rejection of post-modernism, the post-industrial society, liberal thought realized in practice, and globalism. Hence, one of the first steps towards a Fourth Political Theory is the “global rehabilitation of tradition.”[5]
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More there.
Today’s Democrats, too commie for Putin.
Love it.
Putin saw Communism first-hand and knows it was a failed system.
But of course, for one who had ambition in the former Soviet Union, you had to play the game to advance. If the Czar was still in charge, Putin would have served the Czar.
One thing we can all agree upon: no Bolshevism. Bolsheviks tore up Russia and made a mess. Idiots.
“Wonder what Bernie Sanders would say to this”.
Sanders knows it’s true so he would deny it. The Left can’t survive without lies, deceit and ignorant sheep. The truth is their greatest enemy.
Unfortunately, the Czars were not much better for Russia. At the time of The Revolution, Russia was still mostly consisting of poor peasantry. Had the Mensheviks held onto power over the Bolsheviks and developed Russia into more of a Western-Style country, maybe Russia would have been spared a lot of grief.
Idk if he will put Russia back in the center of the world’s political map, and his aggressive foreign policy won’t end well if he keeps it up; but other than that Putin seems to be the only leader that understands the importance of culture in sustaining a national identity.
In contrast, the anti-American forces at large today even within our government, are focusing intensively on destroying our unique American culture; because they know, that’s how you can bring a people down.
The ironic thing is western leftism is a parody social version of communism injected into the west by the soviet union to weaken it. Now its grown out of control and coming back to bite them (and us) in the rear
Putin knows his history. He knows it was the witless, “progressive” urban upper middle classes and academics who gave the Bolsheviks critical support in their seizure of power. Once in power they liquidated there former acolytes and ushered in eighty five years of sheer misery in Russia. History is repeating here in America.
Menshevism isn’t a palatable substitute to Bolshevism; neither were or are palatable.
Bolsheviks also never come to power without help from the Germans.
The Mensheviks were far too weak, and not willing to do whatever it took to vanquish the Bolshevik threat. Kind of like our Republican Party against the Democrats.
Russia does not suffer from our national birth defect of imported African slavery and the resultant misplaced collective guilt mentality and decades of corrections. That, and the lack of free, fair, transparent, and open elections means he need to pander to any demographic. It also signals his lack of remorse for past genocides of 3.5 million Ukrainians.
*need NOT
That’s true, but they still believed in the tyranny of the proletariat while involved working with the elite and industrialists. You still end up with cebtral planning with the Mensheviks makimg sure they are the elite.
Oddly, Putin is correct on this.
Oh, there's plenty of slavery in Russian history.
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