While the Russian leadership may be energizing the morality of the people in these cases, I think they're doing so more as a matter of pragmatism than virtue.
The Soviet intelligence apparatus spent decades deliberately trying to undermine traditional morality and promote decadence in the west precisely because they knew it would rot the states from within, and they know enough to nip such movements in the bud. They're not so much promoting a healthy diet as they are simply preventing the ingestion of poison.
“The Soviet intelligence apparatus spent decades deliberately trying to undermine traditional morality and promote decadence in the west precisely because they knew it would rot the states from within, and they know enough to nip such movements in the bud. They’re not so much promoting a healthy diet as they are simply preventing the ingestion of poison.”
I said EXACTLY that to my oldest kid before reading what you wrote. I also pointed out that we had a 20 year head start over them, as they were still engrossed in Communism while our hippies (i.e., Baby Boomers) were setting the stage for this “anything goes” society. So they knew what things would look like in 20 years...and wanted NOTHING to do with it. But yes, they also sowed the seeds in the West. It’s now a given they they OWNED every cause to the left of Reagan...IT IS PROVEN from documents on both sides of the Atlantic. And, just as you say, they knew FULL WELL that this path to “Anything Goes” was a GREAT WAY to destroy an otherwise-cohesive society...and it nearly worked.
...but they had a bout of bad luck, as Reagan was elected - and he understood them, and then defeated them. But they came VERY, VERY, CLOSE to winning.
Today, we’re pretty much equals, but when one side is 90-10 against gay marriage, and the other is now something like 55-45 for it...things will not be pretty.