Posted on 08/01/2005 11:57:11 AM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
It's 7:30 on a Saturday morning in July. On the scenic shores of Lake Seliger, about 360 kilometers northwest of Moscow in the Tver region, some 3,000 young Russians are emerging sleepily from their tents underneath tall birch trees, summoned to morning assembly and exercises by the booming strains of the Russian national anthem. Camp Seliger offers its teenage denizens hiking, swimming, sports, and cookouts. But this camp has a twist. It is run by a new political youth movement called Nashi ("Our Own" in Russian). Its purpose, along with outdoor summer fun, is to build up patriotic fervor in young people through a series of lectures and seminars.
Nashi was born earlier this year as the Kremlin's answer to Ukraine's Orange Revolution, in which thousands took to the streets to back pro-Western opposition leader -- now President -- Viktor Yushchenko. The Kremlin fears that the revolutionary bug may be contagious, which is why it has openly backed Nashi's creation. Not since the days of the Komsomol, the Soviet-era youth movement, have Russia's leaders lavished so much attention on the nation's young people. "Your task is to physically resist any attempts to carry out an unconstitutional coup," guest of honor Gleb Pavlovsky, a well-known political consultant who advises Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, told enthralled campers. They are also instructed to stay vigilant against manipulations from the West. On display at the camp are political drawings by Nashi activists, eerily reminiscent of Soviet propaganda cartoons. One depicts fat-lipped characters in suits bearing instructions from the U.S. government to "sell out Russia." Asked if the U.S. was a threat to Russia, camper Dasha Ninova, an 18-year-old public-relations student from Kaluga, in western Russia, answered: "The U.S. is a country that wants power over other countries."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
One would have thought they would have avoided something that close to "Nazi".
So is the the Boy Scouts or is it more like the Hitler Youth?
Nashis? How appropriate.
I see. So after WWII, it was the US that forcibly seized Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, East Germany, Kaliningrad, etc.
Morons. Nashis.
"Nashi" is just a word. And I don't think we should worry about some sort of Russian nationalist renaissance, because it will only have a beneficial impact on a geopolitical level. Patriotism in Russia includes a strong support and endorsement of Orthodox Christian ideals, which in turn will ensure that we can count on the Russians in our global fight against the Jihadists. Last but not least, the patriotism esposued by Putin is rather mild and not virulent like the garbage a la Russian Unity Front or Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party.
Your task is to physically resist any attempts to carry out an unconstitutional coup," guest of honor Gleb Pavlovsky, a well-known political consultant who advises Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, told enthralled campers. They are also instructed to stay vigilant against manipulations from the West.
This doesn't sound like the boy scouts to me.
Can you say Brown Shirts?
Let's not rush with simple analogies here. Russian pan-slavists have been badmouthing the West for ages, but they were never our enemies - unlike the Soviets. What's wrong with some suspicion anyway? It's just a matter of time before they completely realize that the enemy wears a turban and reads the Qu'ran.
Joe,
Give the Ruskis some time.
They want our support against Chechnya, but they oppose us in our fight everywhere else in the world. They join their voice with China in calling for our "rollback" from central asia. They are helping Iran develop nukes. They are selling weapons to Syria. We don't have a single enemy they don't support. They are not our friends. At all.
Joe,
That will change. I don't consider the Ruskis our allies or friends at all, but they are hardly our enemies. And when it comes to central Asia: well, with the excpetion of Kazakhstan, that's Muslim hinterland anyway.
I knew a lot of comments refrering to Hitler Youth would be posted about this article. I'd give it little more time before I say if it's good or bad. The left has done all it can to extinguish a sense of patriotism at the school age level. The older American generation has it in their bones, the under 50 crowd has it through self education (if they have it at all). I am 47 and didn't have to go to Vietnam (or even register for the draft for that matter). I do feel military service gives the person a sense of discipline and purpose---an opportunity to get one's sh#t together if you take advantage of it. When I was younger I would be a little put off by blatant exhibitions of patriotism feeling it was too sentimental. Today, I feel very patriotic (though not of the God, mom and apple pie variety) What we have here in the United States is very special and unique and worthy of great pride (warts and all). We have a way of life that is worth fighting and dying for---even though there are many things in our society that a critical finger can be pointed at.
Russia is a country that has been totally turned on it's head, and the average person is in a worse position than under communism. If Russians can re-inculcate a sense of patriotism in their youth (and among adults too) without it desintegrating into some maniacal world dominating, Jew hating tsunami...I say let it happen.
"I see. So after WWII, it was the US that forcibly seized Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, East Germany, Kaliningrad, etc.
Morons. Nashis."
It's just kind of funny that the former soviet brain-washers dont realize that the Internet has now destroyed any real chance of mass propoganda and influence, like in the days of the iron curtain.
So now we have the Putin Youth?
All the MORE reason we need a presence there.
You sound as if you are willing to to fight a defensive war on muslim terrorists, like maybe containment will work or something.
Hello?
Well, it looks like SOMEBODY has been reading DU lately.
Uh-huh! No you didn't! Focus on Iraq and Afghanistan. Finish the job, transfer authority to prepared local forces and then tackle a new threat. In any case, Russia barks but won't do anything about American influencing Uzbekhistan, Tadjikistan, etc. And as for appeasing the Jihadists, I say: First bombs, then questions.
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