There are some interesting things happening in Russia at the moment, as it seems that one of their most extreme military commandeers, is staging some kind of coup, or at least, threatening to. It is the head of the Wagner group, who have come known for executing people using a sledgehammer and posting about it online. Suffice to say, they aren't likely the kinds of people you'd want as your neighbor.
But I think wars bring out the worst in us, or are perhaps, the culmination of the worst of us. They are the antithesis of what a healthy society looks like, but are they a representation of all of us?
While we all play a part, wars are the games of the elite, the power hungry, the people who are able to manipulate a population in some way into giving the decision making power, then extracting value to invest into acts of war. As I have posited before, if a government had to ask for handouts from a persons wallet to finance going to war, there would be no wars.
The average person just wants to live a decent life, with some opportunity, some leisure, a sense that things are going to be okay for them, their children and their world. For most of us, our dreams are relatively simple, a little security, a little pleasure, and something we can call our own.
I am no expert on what is going on in Russia, but after visiting about a decade ago I got the sense that what I say holds true. And, after talking with some of my Russian friends who live here (there is a selection bias), they agree. Regardless of what the government does, there can be a vast difference between the nation, and the population.
I find this interesting to consider, because in a hypothetical world where we could snap our fingers and the government would change in an instant into something quite different, would we accept it? For example, due to history, Finns have a lot of prejudice toward Russians because of a war eighty years ago - but most have never spoken to a Russian, let alone visited the country.
Is the prejudice valid?
Stepping away from the geopolitical arena for a bit, if we think back to our school years, we would likely have people in our lives that we didn't like - for example, the bully. Imagining that person might even bring up that feeling of resentment, but what are we resenting? A child - someone that we may not have seen for three decades, someone who we didn't really know even then. We had no understanding of their home conditions and we have no insight into what they have experienced and done since. Are they still the same person, acting in the same way as they did?
If you met them today, what do you expect to find, and what will you find?
Over the last year and a half of the war in Ukraine, one of the things that has annoyed me is how the politics of it have been pushed through all kinds of areas, for example, sports. The other thing is that there is an expectation that if the Russian people were actually against the war, they'd speak out and rebel. That is the position of people who are privileged, people who don't fear for their lives, or the lives of their families.
Perhaps, is comes down to experience.
We are products of our environment, right?
So, if we grow up in a culture that leads by well-earned fear, where those deemed dissidents are disappeared quite openly, would we speak up against the rulers? I suspect not. It doesn't mean we like being ruled, but humans search for security and when feeling powerless, are very unlikely to stage a rebellion. It isn't until the pain and suffering is so great, that a revolution becomes a possibility - and even then, it is only a a slim chance.
If this is a coup and it is successful, Putin might be ousted, but is the Russian state in peaceful hands? Not at all. Another dictator, another violent person looking to maximize power and control, and minimize the chance of losing it. But sadly, this is human nature, and while we tend not to be as violent or extreme, we all hold this position in our life.
We want security.
Putin wants it too.
We want it for our family, our homes, our belongs, our reputations - but people like Putin have taken control of so much, "own" so much, believe they are entitled to so much, that they have to become more and more extreme in order to protect it, to keep their position. And as they say, the best defense is an offense, right?
Under the right conditions, we are all terrible people, all tyrants, dictators and extremists, it is just that the vast majority never get to apply the worst of ourselves at scale. Instead, we are subjected to those who do, those who were able to get into a position of such control, that they are able to influence everything we do too, making us victims. However, in an alternate reality, a counterfactual world, it might have been us at the helm, guiding the ship of our nation into war.
Is that hard to believe?
We all have far more in common with each other than we have as difference, but because we focus on the differences and overweigh the value of them, it doesn't seem the case. But, there are outliers too, people who have the tendencies and desires to be their worst. Maybe it happens in degrees like childhood abuse, or perhaps it was predestined, but they seem to always be present.
Violence seems guaranteed from humanity.
And if true, we are going to never have security, we are always going to have to protect ourselves. But, if we think about that school bully, when we meet them decades later, is there a chance that our views will change, can we be friends, is complete forgiveness possible?
And this is something to reflect on - what do we require in order to forgive someone?
Will we ever truly let something go?
I am doubtful.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
These images are a few from a trip to St Petersburg in 2014.
Weirdly, other than Tokyo, it is the safest I have ever felt travelling and the people we came across were helpful and friendly wherever we went. I have no idea what it is like now, but it was interesting to note how different it was to everything I had been told up until that point. A handful of days isn't enough evidence to extrapolate to a country, but it was an experience.
