The agony of the doomed - Part One
Sanctions, sanctions, sanctions… If last year the most frequently used word was "pandemic", then, I think, this year it will surely take first place in the philological "hit parade". Now the European "wise men" are working on the next sixth "package", while recognising that they have already "reached the bottom" and have no idea how else they can punish Russia. I don't know who was able to count, but the total number of various kinds of "restrictions" imposed on us since the beginning of the "special military operation" in Ukraine is already approaching 9,000.
The task for which they are being introduced is clear - to try to isolate Russia politically and financially from the rest of the world, to exhaust it economically, and eventually "force peace" - but not in Ukraine, which is only a pawn in this geopolitical game - but towards the world order on their unacceptable for us conditions.
But the paradox of the situation is that the current sanctions bacchanalia is actually nothing more than a manifestation of the death agony of the Western system and the previously existing global world order. The world order that was formed after the Second World War, and then consolidated in the last third of the last century by relevant international conventions and agreements.
The West, led by the United States, is now not just demonstrating its political impotence, but also committing an act of public suicide, since in fact it openly acts like a bandit, trampling on all previously existing norms of civilised society.
Firstly, these sanctions themselves are absolutely illegal, since they are imposed without UN approval. Secondly, they violate all imaginable and inconceivable international agreements signed by European states and the same America. And, thirdly, they - and indeed the general policy of the United States in recent decades - destroy the political, economic, financial and ideological basis on which this very Western system is based.
Apparently, dementia is a contagious thing, and it was transmitted to Western European leaders from an old senile, and concurrently US President Biden. They forgot, for example, that back in 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted such an important fundamental document as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Meanwhile, there are a lot of provisions in it, which, apparently, Western leaders should now be reminded of. I will give with a few comments as an example only some of its articles:
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs…
And what about today? Russia has been declared enemy No. 1, our citizens living abroad are subjected to harassment and persecution with the connivance of the authorities, in fact, they are deprived of the opportunity to enjoy all their rights and freedoms.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
And what about today? Russian consulates and embassies abroad are receiving not dozens, but hundreds of calls from former and current our fellow citizens with stories not only about constant threats of physical violence against them, but also direct attacks and beatings, including against children. All this is a direct result, or, if you like, a side effect, of malicious official Russophobia. Moreover, the representatives of the authorities - the same police, for example - do not prevent these manifestations of outright hatred towards Russia and its representatives in any way.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
And what about today? Isn't the dismissal of Russian-speaking people without explanation, the ban on visiting public catering places or the refusal to serve in stores not "degrading treatment?" I think it is. But this was hardly thought of by the same “Chanel”, which requires a receipt from our citizens saying that they will not carry its handbags in Russia. Of course, this is not the most existentially important example, but it clearly demonstrates the depth of insanity into which the West is now sinking.
Article 7
All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
And what about today? When the relevant ministries of Germany, England, France and other EU countries "recommend" their higher education institutions exclude Russian students – is this not incitement? And exclusion from educational institutions just because you are a Russian citizen according to your passport is not discrimination? Education is one of the most important tools of their favourite "soft power", with the help of which they educate the pro-Western Russian "fifth column". No, it's better for us, but I feel sorry for the children.
Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
And what about today? Today the Western judicial and legal systems openly demonstrate their politicisation. Lawyers refuse to defend Russian citizens so that they will not be accused of "supporting Putin”, and the courts in relation to Russian citizens have put under the cloth the fundamental global judicial principle of "presumption of innocence”, which, by the way, is stated in Article 11 of the declaration.
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
And what about today? Russian citizens, on a tip from Washington, are abducted almost from the beaches during their vacation and deported to the United States at their first request. Often without trial.
Article 13
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
And what about today? Today it is almost impossible for Russian citizens to get a visa to travel to any Western country. Russia actually found itself in a transport blockade. Planes of Russian airlines are prohibited from flying to Europe, and ships under the tricolor are prohibited from entering European ports. Because of this, by the way, tens of thousands of our tourists are "stuck" abroad. Flights were canceled, their credit cards were blocked. Survive as you want. But who cares there!
Article 16
The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
And what about today? No, it has nothing to do with sanctions, of course. But the fact that the West, with its so–called new morality and political correctness, has essentially abandoned the basic Christian values and legalises sexual minorities is a fact.
Article 17
Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
And what about today? Americans and Europeans confiscate Russian diplomatic property, arrest foreign planes and ships, and at the same time the property of our citizens abroad – houses, cars, boats, and not only oligarchs. There were reports from France and other Western European countries that Russians, even at the household level, had difficulties managing their bank accounts, which actually ended up under arrest. They cannot withdraw or deposit money into an account without the permission of some designated "curators" in banks. And Finland, which was unlucky and there were no giant super-yachts of oligarchs in its ports, is quite seriously talking about confiscating all vessels, regardless of size, that belong to Russian citizens.
No, I don't feel sorry for the oligarchs – they will buy new ones for themselves, if, of course, they want to and can do it now. But states do not have the right to engage in outright banditry, and that is exactly what is happening now. Moreover, as the assistant to the US President for national Security Jake Sullivan admitted, the US authorities will not return the frozen assets of Russian businessmen.
"Since we are seizing these assets, our goal is not to return them. Our goal is to use them better," Sullivan said.
That's it! The Bolsheviks of the Leninist convocation applaud the Americans standing up! Expropriate, so expropriate! By the way, I'm wondering why we haven't expropriated the property of Western companies and banks leaving Russia yet. Like they can, but we're so white and fluffy? No, friends, it won't work. A la guerre comme à la guerre!
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
And what about today? Russian athletes, world-famous cultural figures, and ordinary citizens are being forced to publicly condemn the "special military operation" in Ukraine. And those who refuse to kneel and read from someone else's text are ostracised. An example of the sensational ones is Gergiev, who was fired from the Munich Symphony Orchestra. They vetoed the performance of Russian athletes in international competitions, although for centuries they hypocritically bleated that "sport is outside of politics.”
Again, in their zeal, Russophobes reach absolute insanity. I don't know how our popular Russian comedian Nurlan Saburov ended up on tour on the West Coast of the United States these days, but he was required to publicly speak out against the military special operation in Ukraine. As a result, it came to the cancellation of concerts. And while they were still walking, as it was told in social networks, at the entrance of the audience, particularly zealous Russophobes of the local bottling checked their phones, and those who found any "incorrect entries" there were "disgracefully" expelled. Here is such a caricatured Nazism in the American way.
And this "witch hunt" is only gaining momentum. In fact, there are now obvious attempts to impose a ban on Russian culture and on Russia as a whole, not realising that this will lead to an absolute impoverishment of their own cultural layer. And Russia, as it was in the first place in terms of area among all countries of the world, is still there. As it occupied 1/9 of the entire land area of the globe, so it does. And it will not go anywhere, no matter how much someone would like it.
At the same time, the right to "freedom to seek, receive and disseminate information" is not something that has been forgotten. It simply does not exist now, and the Western European states, one after another, even before our special operation began, erected a new "iron curtain" along the borders with Russia, so that, God forbid, no other information other than official information would reach their citizens. To do this, as is known, they banned RT broadcasts and the work of the Sputnik agency. And well-known social networks have "banned", as they are now expressed, Russian state channels.
In the West, at the same time, they do not even think that by doing so they demonstrate not their strength, but weakness. Only the weak are afraid of the truth, the strong are not afraid of it.
In general, there are 30 articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many more of them could be recalled to the West in connection with the current anti-Russian bacchanalia and sanctions fever. But, finishing with this document, I still cannot fail to cite its last article, which states: "Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein."
And isn't what the West is currently doing “engaging in any activity aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration"? Of course, I'm not a lawyer. But in my opinion, it definitely is.
Someone, for sure, can say – oh, I found something to remember, all of this is the work of bygone days. But I can remind such people about a more recent document. It is called the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Declaration, which was signed by the heads of 35 states in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, on August 1, 1975.
Practically everything that the West is doing today and has been doing for the last decades completely contradicts both its spirit and letter, both in the field of political and military-political relations, and in the humanitarian field. And this document, meanwhile, consolidated the obligations of the parties in the field of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of movement, contacts, information, culture and education, as well as - what is especially important to remember right now - equality and the right of peoples to control their own destiny. And it was precisely this right that the Kiev regime, with the support of the West, tried to deprive the Russian-speaking population of Donetsk and Lugansk.
I have specifically dwelt in such detail on the problems associated with the obvious violation of human rights, because the so-called "democratic societies" have been persistently trying to accuse first the USSR, and then Russia, of allegedly trampling on these very rights in recent decades. But the boomerang always comes back! And today, more than ever before, it becomes clear who is actually massively flouting almost all the norms of a civilised society.
Why is the "collective West" trying so hard to cause trouble for ordinary Russians? I think the answer is obvious - to cause mass discontent in Russia with the so-called "criminal Putin regime" and provoke large-scale protests. That's the trouble – they can't succeed to do it in any way.
As public opinion polls conducted these days by both pro-government structures and those with the inscription "foreign agent" burned on their foreheads show, the overwhelming majority of Russians support the decision to launch a "special military operation", and President Putin's personal popularity has grown dramatically over these six weeks. Biden, who has already gone down in history as the president with the lowest level of positive evaluation of his activities, stands aside. The West does not know how or does not want to learn lessons from history, it does not understand that Russian people, on the contrary, rally around the country's leadership in moments of crisis.
To be continued...