I told myself it was beneath my dignity to arrest a man for pilfering firewood. But nothing ordered by the party is beneath the dignity of any man, and the party was right: One man desperate for a bit of fuel is pathetic. Five million people desperate for fuel will destroy a city. That was the first time I ever saw my brother. But I knew him. And I knew that I would disobey the party. Perhaps it was the tie of blood between us, but I doubt it. We were only half tied anyway, and brothers will betray a brother. Indeed, as a policeman, I would say, get hold of a man’s brother and you’re halfway home. Nor was it admiration for a better man than me. I did admire him, but I didn’t think he was a better man. Besides, I’ve executed better men than me with a small pistol.
-Yevgraf Zhivago
That soliloquy by the commissar summarized the trajedy of Russia. That man managed to justify in his mind all the murders of the “ better men” and lesser men he killed. Dostoevsky predicted in the 19th century that such men would come to power in Russia and Russian culture would crumble. Can only hope that Trump if nothing else can educate Americans that they too are susceptible to such men.