[evgeniysharapov]

I am Russian living in the US, but what I can gather from conversations with my college acquaintances and family that is still living there - there's plenty of Russians who are appalled and against and can rationalize what devastation this war is for Russia, not even taking Ukraine into account, where humanitarian catastrophe is obvious. All those reasons are obvious to any person living outside of Russia and, as I said, to some Russian people. But here lies the problem, these are things that are rational. Most of the "deep" Russian populace may seem irrational now. Here are some of the thoughts they express:

- closing and isolating from West is a good thing - no bad influence and we will keep things, s.a. modernism, liberalism, libertine behavior, e.g. homosexuality and transgenderism away.

- closing foreign markets will boost Russian production and development by keeping all the resources and investments inside and protecting domestic market from unfair competition (e.g. agro subsidies)

- closing travel and foreign countries and markets will keep people inside and by extension will EQUALIZE everyone. Essentially, now there's no rich and poor and everyone is sort of equally poor. Remember, that few folks, s.a. oligarchs, various celebs with their conspicuous consumption are eternal target of people's hate.

- There's no freedom and liberty, all west are hypocrites and they always wanted to subjugate us via harsh force or through soft force. Note, that the western (btw, Australia and New Zealand are considered western in this paradigm) governments forcing vaccinations/masks/lockdowns are used against western governments claim that they are for freedom and liberty.

[52-6F-62]

Current events aside, those pillars read as if they’re entirely derived from a philosophy based on fear.

It’s pitiable.

Also I find it rather odd, because having studied Russian literature when I was younger I always got a sense that the Russian people had earned enlightenment and a resilient, if sometimes morose, philosophy that sees life as fundamentally good, but filled with challenges introduced by those who lack such a grounded perception. An inextinguishable light persisting against imposing darkness.

This whole of current events and current outlooks I’m hearing about sounds nothing like that. It’s all darkness.

[evgeniysharapov]

All that still might be true, but there are a lot of instilled/inculcated principles or "rules of life" if you will. They might seem contradictory but those principles/rules fire up in certain situations differently. Hence there's no manual that one may read and follow, but rather it requires "to live" to gain that "lived experience" that would make applying those rules subconscious. One example of such rule, which I do have, by nature of growing up until my twenties in Russia is - "do not be a victim". Under no circumstance be a victim. Always turn lemon into a lemonade and make sure no one saw you being a weak/victim. There are different ways of doing it, but in light of recent events I see that this plays quite a lot. It's endurance and resilience and repeating like mantra, that these sanctions, this confrontation, as painful as they are, are to our benefits and we will better them.

[52-6F-62]

I see and agree with your distillation, but I disagree with regard to the current principle. The current reactionary stance is playing right into victimhood.

“The west has done this to us”, “the west is corrupting us with homosexuality and libertine behaviour”, and so on.

It’s a declaration that one (or ones nation/identity) has been wronged directly rather than remain dignified immovable force battered by waves of circumstance.

Hence the violent backlash.

Not to say anyone who feels battered by circumstance should just let it happen, but perhaps if the reaction is to lock down, restrict freedoms, imprison their compatriots for asking questions and bomb their neighbour’s residential villages into dust then I rather think they’ve lost the dignified plot.

[perilunar]

> btw, Australia and New Zealand are considered western in this paradigm

Australia and New Zealand are definitely part of 'the West' by any reasonable definition.