kravietz 🦇 on Nostr: An interesting #Russia cultural reference: an opposition film critic and journalist ...
An interesting #Russia cultural reference: an opposition film critic and journalist Andrey Dolin describes how the new popular criminal TV series prepares Russians, especially the youth, for the new morality:
> What doubt is there that Putin is a shark? And that a shark's word is kept only when they give it to other sharks (and not even always that) but in no case you'd obliged to keep it to the suckers. And when we see how Putin and the leadership say one thing, and then a week later another, absolutely opposite thing — how can this be? But you can do it with suckers — this logic is instantly recognisable.
This is 100% gang logic and system of values: you keep your word to your equals, but you're not obliged to keep your word to subhumans. In terms of international relations, Putin likely considers leaders like Xi Jinping and Erdogan as as equals but EU or US leaders he likely considers weak, and thus "suckers". Ukraine and its leaders he likely doesn't consider humans at all (in the tribal sense), which explains why Russia didn't bother to fulfill even a tiny bit of Minsk Agreements. Same applies to Russian citizens, especially those begging authorities on their knees. Prigozhin he likely considered "shark", but killing your peer is a normal thing in these circles, if he threatens your interests.
The fact that the series is produced and gains popularity now is indicative. Putin to some extent rejected the idea of international law already in 2000's. The idea of formal law has been largely eroded inside Russia since 2010's and gradually turned into a repressive instrument that is applied at all its severity against "suckers", but not at all against those who belong to your circle.
It has been since replaced by fluid and highly contextual "ponyatya" (понятия; literally "concepts", but meaning "the rules"), which for example dictate what and who can be publicly criticized today in Russia. Misunderstanding of these "rules" is what got Girkin in jail, for example.
For the last decade Putin many times alluded for a new security architecture for Europe, but not in terms of a new international agreement, but a private deal ("сделка") between leaders powerful enough ("adults") to keep their word regardless of any formal agreements. That's once again transposition of the gang logic into the world of international relations.
And may sound tempting as a simple, clear, "black and white" solution... except half of the actual history of juvenile and organized crime in Russia is made of violent wars between "patsans" who decided not to keep their word this time. You don't want the same system on global level.
What Putin proposes is essentially return to some 14th century level of international relations. Not surprising, as many of his values seem to be idealized pictures of these times.
I had a bit of a struggle with the terminology: Dolin quotes the Russian 1990's criminal jargon used in the movie. I'm sure you can find suitable words even in jargon used in your town... but it will be meaningful only there. "Shark" and "sucker" therefore sound to me like the most intuitively understandable due to their biological associations.
Literally, the series title is "Boy's word. Blood on asphalt". But "boy" is a rather bland translation of the original word "patsan" (пацан), which in modern Russian is simply a synonym for young man. But it originates from Odessa criminal jargon, where it arrived from Yiddish "pots" (поц), literally meaning "penis". Which form also somehow found its way into English jargon as "putz".
The world, as seen by the series' main figures, is composed of "patsans" (real men) and "chushpans" ("чушпан"; those, who can be exploited and abused). The second word, originating from juvenile work camps in Siberia (SibLag) probably originates from some Middle Easter languages. It means someone who "doesn't know the life", in a tribal sense — a stranger, who doesn't know your rules and can be exploited.
Andrey Dolin: https://t.me/stranaua/135651
> What doubt is there that Putin is a shark? And that a shark's word is kept only when they give it to other sharks (and not even always that) but in no case you'd obliged to keep it to the suckers. And when we see how Putin and the leadership say one thing, and then a week later another, absolutely opposite thing — how can this be? But you can do it with suckers — this logic is instantly recognisable.
This is 100% gang logic and system of values: you keep your word to your equals, but you're not obliged to keep your word to subhumans. In terms of international relations, Putin likely considers leaders like Xi Jinping and Erdogan as as equals but EU or US leaders he likely considers weak, and thus "suckers". Ukraine and its leaders he likely doesn't consider humans at all (in the tribal sense), which explains why Russia didn't bother to fulfill even a tiny bit of Minsk Agreements. Same applies to Russian citizens, especially those begging authorities on their knees. Prigozhin he likely considered "shark", but killing your peer is a normal thing in these circles, if he threatens your interests.
The fact that the series is produced and gains popularity now is indicative. Putin to some extent rejected the idea of international law already in 2000's. The idea of formal law has been largely eroded inside Russia since 2010's and gradually turned into a repressive instrument that is applied at all its severity against "suckers", but not at all against those who belong to your circle.
It has been since replaced by fluid and highly contextual "ponyatya" (понятия; literally "concepts", but meaning "the rules"), which for example dictate what and who can be publicly criticized today in Russia. Misunderstanding of these "rules" is what got Girkin in jail, for example.
For the last decade Putin many times alluded for a new security architecture for Europe, but not in terms of a new international agreement, but a private deal ("сделка") between leaders powerful enough ("adults") to keep their word regardless of any formal agreements. That's once again transposition of the gang logic into the world of international relations.
And may sound tempting as a simple, clear, "black and white" solution... except half of the actual history of juvenile and organized crime in Russia is made of violent wars between "patsans" who decided not to keep their word this time. You don't want the same system on global level.
What Putin proposes is essentially return to some 14th century level of international relations. Not surprising, as many of his values seem to be idealized pictures of these times.
I had a bit of a struggle with the terminology: Dolin quotes the Russian 1990's criminal jargon used in the movie. I'm sure you can find suitable words even in jargon used in your town... but it will be meaningful only there. "Shark" and "sucker" therefore sound to me like the most intuitively understandable due to their biological associations.
Literally, the series title is "Boy's word. Blood on asphalt". But "boy" is a rather bland translation of the original word "patsan" (пацан), which in modern Russian is simply a synonym for young man. But it originates from Odessa criminal jargon, where it arrived from Yiddish "pots" (поц), literally meaning "penis". Which form also somehow found its way into English jargon as "putz".
The world, as seen by the series' main figures, is composed of "patsans" (real men) and "chushpans" ("чушпан"; those, who can be exploited and abused). The second word, originating from juvenile work camps in Siberia (SibLag) probably originates from some Middle Easter languages. It means someone who "doesn't know the life", in a tribal sense — a stranger, who doesn't know your rules and can be exploited.
Andrey Dolin: https://t.me/stranaua/135651