Russia: Savior of the decadent West?

[D]

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/322690-russia-savior-decadent-west/

"Russia: Savior of the decadent West?

Sam Gerrans is an English writer, translator, support counselor and activist. He
also has professional backgrounds in media, strategic communications and
technology. He is driven by commitment to ultimate meaning, and focused on
authentic approaches to revelation and realpolitik. He is the founder of
Quranite.com - where the Qur'an is explored on the basis of reason rather than
tradition - and offers both individual language training and personal support
and counseling online at SkypeTalking.com.

Published time: 19 Nov, 2015 10:37

(c) Ben Nelms / Reuters

As entire demographic segments across the West wake up to the fact that their
governments are heavily influenced by outside interests, many are looking to
Russia - and Putin in particular - to pull the fat out of the fire. But is this
realistic?

If you hear the same story enough times you end up thinking there is no other.

We are programmed all through our lives to expect a particular narrative: There
are good guys and bad guys. Bad things may happen - even to the good guys - but
at the last moment, the cavalry will come riding over the hill and all will be
well again.

Read more
(c) Carlo Allegri'
America is a bomb waiting to explode'
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/318986-america-bomb-society-crisis/

The US has squandered what moral capital and good will it had and is now openly
regarded as the good guy gone bad by most the world. This has left a good-guy
vacuum in the minds of many. And, increasingly, Russia is being regarded in that
role - at least by some.
The thesis gaining ground is that Russia is the last bastion of goodness and
virtue.

From Brother Nathanael, a Jewish American convert to Orthodox Christianity, to
the American site Veterans Today praise for both Russia and Putin is copious and
frequent.

But is it justified?

One point now cited in this regard is that Putin has manned up to deal with
ISIS, unlike the US.

It is true that Russia has stepped up to the plate on this one. However, we
should not forget that Russia did nothing but posture on Afghanistan, Iraq I,
Iraq II and Libya. It is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. It could
have vetoed any one of these wars.

Russia's veto would not have stopped NATO, of course. But it would have deprived
it of the fig leaf of legitimacy.

But Russia chose not to do that.

Now Russia has drawn a line in the sand and is bombing ISIS - a composite of
Western assets, mercenaries and deceived and culturally damaged adventurers. But
this is because it knows that these forces will be turned on Russia, an
eventuality which - if one is to believe anything one reads anymore - the UK's
Independent reports may soon be the case.

And Russia - which is now entirely encircled by NATO bases - does not want to
lose its only access to the Mediterranean via the sea port at Tartus, Syria.

A Kh-555 air-launched cruise missile is launched by a Tupolev Tu-160 supersonic
strategic bomber of the Russian Aerospace Forces to strike the Islamic State
infrastructure facilities in Syria. (c) Ministry of defence of the Russian
Federation / Sputnik

The Economist quotes Georgy Mirsky of Moscow's Higher School of Economics who
explains Russia's support for Assad as arising less with Syria per se, than with
the West. Mirsky sees the Kremlin watching the Arab Spring in horror, and
interpreting those uprisings against authoritarian leaders as American
conspiracies.

While Putin harbors no particular personal affection for Mr. Assad, the Syrian
leader has become a symbol of resisting "color revolutions" and attempts at
"regime change". Having backed Assad thus far, allowing him to fall now would
mean that Putin is "retreating under American pressure, which is the one thing
he cannot do."

This analysis presupposes that Russia is a powder keg waiting to explode and
oust Putin. That is a long way from my perception, or that of Western analysts.
Putin is phenomenally popular within Russia.

There is also no question that Western money was behind the so-called color
revolutions, a point conceded - at least in the case of Ukraine - even by the
Guardian.

Russia is also trying to create and maintain a credible coalition to act as a
counterpoise to US exceptionalism and hubris. And that is not possible if all
your friends have been taken out.

West's attack on morality and ethics

A second point attributed to Russia by supporters is that it is a bulwark
against collapsing moral standards in the West. They point often to the fact
that Russia refuses to allow so-called Gay Pride marches on its territory as
indicative of its moral high ground.

Russia's position is simply that homosexuality not be promoted among the young.
That stance is overwhelmingly supported within Russia and would have been the
norm in the West only a few years ago.

Despite hysterical accusations of persecution of homosexuals in Russia such as
that reported by the BBC the fact is that homosexuals in Russia are free to do
as they please so long as it does not impact the society around them.

People dance during the annual NYC Gay Pride parade in New York City June 28,
2015. (c) Eric Thayer / Reuters

Russian policy is not to eradicate homosexuals from the face of Mother Russia.
It is to be guided by the sensibilities of the 99 percent of Russians who are
not homosexual and do not wish homosexuality to be foisted on those who have yet
to reach the age of reason. That is all.

Those who choose to see Russia as enforcing a moral purity now lacking in the
West would be disabused by even a few days in any of the country's major
population centers. Sexual license in all possible combinations and
configurations is widespread, and the use of drugs and alcohol rampant.

Russia the Savior?

Much is made by some in the West of Russia's Christian heritage. We often see
Putin hobnobbing with the Patriarch and attending church, for example.

Russian Orthodoxy is a cultural artifact for many more Russians than it is a
center of a vibrant faith. It is a political engine. And, lest we forget: Putin
is a politician. He has a population to keep happy.

Almost all Russians will claim to be Christian. Most wear a cross. Some attend
church. Almost none know anything about the Bible. Even fewer base their lives
on it. That's the reality.

My son grew up in Russia. At one point he rather fell under the influence of a
black-clad Rasputineque character who informed my son - the one I raised, fed
and educated - that he was now his 'spiritual son'.

I called a meeting with this individual with my son present in which I left the
bearded priest in no doubt that until such time as my son could explain to me
the canon of the faith he had signed up for and reasons for so doing the
'adoption' was off.

Later conversations with my son revealed that part of the impetus for this
cultic episode was the fact that he was the only boy in his class who did not
wear a cross. I explained that the children in his class knew less about
Christianity than I know about flower arranging.

Nevertheless, I bought him a Bible, gave him some basic instruction and had him
learn The Lord's Prayer (Russian: Otche Nashe) by heart.

I was somewhat vindicated some months later when he related to me that the
teacher had asked the class who knew the Lord's Prayer. He, of course, was the
only one.

(c) Sergey Pyatakov / Sputnik

A further common assumption I see in certain types of conservative, English-
language social media is that Putin is a lone hero, a man standing against the
evils of the international bankers and a righter of wrongs.

It is no easier to discover who owns the Russian Central Bank than it is who
owns the US Federal Reserve. However, one should understand is that Russia's
version was founded in the post-Soviet space of 1990 - a time when Russian laws
were simply handed down to the country by US NGOs.

State Duma Deputy Yevgeny Fyodorov told Pravda how the mechanism works: "In
order to let the Central Bank issue rubles in Russia, so that we could go to
stores to spend them, the Central Bank needs to buy US dollars first." He
continues: "In other words, Russia is not even a ruble country de jure. Russia
is a dollar country."

This is the reality now. It has been the reality since 1990. You may draw your
own conclusions.

Putin is certainly a clever man and a superlative strategist. He is calculating
and decisive. And - despite what his Western fan base may think - these are not
the traits of a superhero.

Putin is neither a martyr nor a reckless man. He may not want to leave the
spotlight right now, but he will want to one day, and when he does he will need
an exit.

He knows how the civilized Democratic countries operate. He saw how they treated
Saddam and Milosevic. Putin is a realist.

People at Putin's level of the game don't think in terms of goodies and baddies.
They play a difficult game - and in some cases play it exceptionally well. But
they remain cognizant of realistic outcomes and are not blinded by sentiment or
wishful thinking.

It's time the rest of us did likewise.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of
the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT." [end quote]