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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   2741 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 1, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Day of the Oprichnik

At first the book doesn't even resemble typical Sorokin's prose, lulls you with its now obviously prophetic story and then the centipede scene bludgeons you from behind like a stealthy mugger.

Meanwhile me, recognizing that scene like an old friend. "That's it! That's where the Space Marine meme is from!"

The discussion spurred me to read the book. If that's what all Sorokin is like, I ought to check out some of his other work.

Yeah, I knew nothing about it, the author, or anything. Just showed up in a list of recommended Russian literature.

Apparently Russia also has a hyperventilating liberal class shouting "THIS BOOK IS LITERALLY JUST LIKE RUSSIA IS TODAY!" Which seems... unlikely. I know it's not great, but yeah.

It's not literally that, but consider that it was written in 2006, right in the middle of the first, pro-Western phase of Putin's rule. The whole idea of Russia isolating itself from the West, reinventing itself as a junior partner of China and adopting an explicitly reactionary internal policy sounded about as plausible as the plot of The Day After Tomorrow back then.

Superficial people were misled by the Chinese efforts at pretending they're going to liberalize. Anyone with a more suspicious mind and some real interest in China would have understood that's a lie.

2006 was when Politkovskaya’s murder happened, and at least in Finland that was widely considered a sign that things were developing to an adverse direction. Of course even before that it was common to speculate on far-right/left forces taking over in Russia, and Putin was considered at least lightly authoritarian.

Politkovskaya's murder went relatively unnoticed here, since her favourite topic wasn't exactly popular with the general public. "Chechens killing other Chechens? Finally some good news!"

So what happened? Where did it all go wrong? Was Putin not invited to the slumber parties?

Depends on which Kremlinologist you ask. If you ask the man himself, like Tucker did, it all went wrong when Wolfowitz proposed his unilateralist doctrine.

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