You Either Die a Hero or Live Long Enough to Become a Villain

For example, Michael Schumacher was sympathetic underdog in 90s, He constantly had worse car than competitors but was determined to beat them with skill despite handicap. Sometimes worked sometimes not, but it was always enjoyable to watch.

In 2000s however he gradually became so called "red baron", who gets free victories using team orders even when there is no any real competition from any other teams and championship is all but guaranteed.

In Belarus Alyaksandr Lukashenka clearly lived longer than he should have. If Luka left in 2005, he would now be remembered even more fondly than Kuchma in Ukraine.

Instead, he became a villain. A puppet of Kremlin who destroys future of young people of Belarus to desperately cling to his power like Gollum to his ring.

That is why there are term limits on presidency. To prevent them from becoming villains.

Why Stereotypes Russians Believe in Makes Putin Favor Dealing with Either Latvia Like or Belarus Like Countries

 

People and nations are complicated things, to make them easier to understand people simplify and dumb them down to one or few easy to understand and use stereotypes. 

Americans do this too. For example, they like to think that Mexicans are lazy, eat beans, have small curvy mustaches and wear ponchos and sombreros. Far not every Mexican match any of these stereotypes but they persist. They also provide colorful contrast with say Canadians, whom Americans like to see as very liberal and progressive. They also believe that you can get free healthcare the moment you cross the border. That is not true, but cartoons like Simpsons and Family Guy keep showing that over and over again.

Why they do it? Simple, colorful and contrasting stereotypes are entertaining and easy to remember. These stereotypes however do shape people's worldview, as some actually believe in them. As much as they are untrue, certain people do base their opinions and even decisions on them.

Fundamentally from a psychological point of view, all these stereotypes are reflection of America's own internal psyche and desires. Stereotypes about Canada reflect the country, progressive Americans wish the Unites States were. Stereotypes about Mexicans let, conservatives to think better about themselves and justify their own better quality of life compared to Mexicans. 

Truth is Mexicans are not poor because they are lazier than Americans but admitting that would shatter the conservative psyche and mindset, destroy they self-justification for being better off than Mexicans. Without it they will start thinking they did not earn or deserve the lifestyle they have. That will crush their psycho and ego. It is the same for admitting that poor are poor not because they are lazy, but due to back luck and poor hand in life. So, they do not admit that and stick to their stereotypes like their life depends on it, because psychologically it does.

In the same way admitting that Canada does not give healthcare to anyone who cross the border would shatter progressive people hopes and dreams about some charitable paradise on earth that loves everyone unconditionally.

Because of that both stereotypes persist to reinforce people's psyche, mentality and worldview.

It is the same with Russia. The country is also full of various stereotypes that many people believe or choose to believe to. Just like for the US, for Russians these stereotypes reinforce the psyche and justify their believes and actions. There are few who are able to accept the truth, but majority indulge themselves in delusions instead.

Putin does indulge these delusions. In fact, pretty much everything he done ever since he became president 25 years ago was pamper to these delusions. His actions do not make any sense in the Western countries because they do not share the same delusions as Russians do. Because of that countless people wrote countless books, essays and such, trying to understand reasons behind Putin's actions. It's like when you think that some obscure traditions from a primitive tribe, like putting bones in their noses a stupid and savage but at the same time would defend your own ones no matter how strange they are like for example circumcision for Jews and Muslims.

I wrote a series of articles about stereotypes that prevail in Russia. Here is one about Europe and you can search more on my blog. In this article I will cover two countries that fit these stereotypes best, Latvia and Belarus. Because they fit stereotypes best, Putin has much easier time dealing with them than with say Ukraine that falls somewhere between the stereotypes and because of that cause conflict of understanding in average Russian's mind.

Latvia

Publicly relationship between Latvia and Russia could not be worse. Russian government accuse Latvia of violating human rights of Russophone residents, closing Russian language schools and treating them as second-class citizens. Russia further accuse Latvia of being Nazi sympathizer, honoring SS veterans and holding public parades for them, plotting genocide of local Russophones and what not.

There is some limited truth to these claims, but official Russian opinion grossly exaggerates the situation. For example, there is indeed a special non-citizen status that many Russophones have and a special passport to denote it. However, those with non-citizen status can obtain full Latvian citizenship and more than a half of the Russophones did so already. 

However, this non-citizen status is symbolic, and Russian TV will not stop rave about how racist, Russophobe there Latvians are with their "Nazi apartheid" regime.

That does not prevent Russian government from equating this practice with South African apartheid and Nazi policies. Despite being so horribly oppressed, most Russophones prefer their life in Latvia even if they dislike certain policies of Latvian state. They do not want to leave Latvia and move to Russia instead, even if Russia willing to give them citizenship no questions asked.

Despite that Russian government persists with these rather groundless accusations. Why? Because this is expedient for propaganda. Many Russians tend to believe that West think of them being savage barbarians who can never be as civilized as proper Europeans are. People actually want to be in Europe but believe that Europe will not accept them as one of their own. Inferiority complex.

Putin strokes this inferiority complex for his personal needs: offended by such a scornful and humiliating rejection by Latvians on behalf of the entire Europe, upset and full of "righteous indignation" Russians will in turn their back on the West and rally behind Putin as their savior and protector. Nationalism and Putin's popularity will take a hike and his position on the top will be secure once more.

Because of that the worse Latvians treat their Russophone population, the better it is for Putin. 

If Latvians instead decided to befriend Russophones and bring them into Europe, then Russians would turn to Europe. They will begin to question Putin's anti-Western ways, and he will lose power; Anti-Western nationalists would lose ground for their hatred of Europe. 

Because friendship with the West would mean end of political and possibly even biological life for Putin, he is opposed to that. To stay in power Putin needs a Russophobe Western country constantly hurting Russian feelings in one of the other ways. Latvia and to some extend Estonia fulfils this role.

Latvians even "play the ball" with Putin and in turn accuse Russia of illegally invading and occupying them prior to WWII, blame them for human rights violations during Soviet times, accuse them of trying to erase Latvian language and culture, demand large reparations as compensation for the occupation as well as claiming Pytalovo (Petsamo) rayon of Pskov Oblast as rightful part of Latvia.

Latvian claims are substantiated, USSR did only/mostly bad things to Latvia, USSR deprived them of independence, send many Latvians to Siberia, flooded country with people from other parts of USSR and many more. It would be reasonable for Latvia to ask for a compensation or at least an apology. However, Russians prefer to look at it as if USSR did only/mostly good to Latvia and Latvia fails to be grateful enough for what USSR did for them.

Publicly Putin several times ridiculed these claims and absurd and preposterous and even infamously promised Latvians "ears of dead donkey" instead. Privately however he is happy that Latvians constantly stocking anti-Western sentiment in Russia but constantly hurting Russian people feelings and keep people loyal to him.

Because of that behind the doors relationship between Latvia and Russia are better than public ones. Rich Russians buy expensive properties in Riga, driving construction boom and injecting lots of money into Latvian otherwise dysfunctional economy. Latvians enrich themselves with laundering Russian money, sure they hate Russians as well, but not their money. Around half of Latvian economy is so opaquely named "unclassified transactions". They even hold annual Russian musical festival in Jurmala, just short drive away from Riga, for Rich Russians to enjoy, but away from general public, both Russophone and Latvian, who would be puzzled why two sworn enemies are hanging out in such a friendly manner.

In Russian psyche Latvia fulfils role of an evil and treacherous boogeyman who betrayed Russia like Judas betrayed Jesus. According to official Russian government interpretation of history USSR "saved" Latvia from genocide and extermination by Nazis and Latvia "thanked" Russia by siding with its enemies, treating Russians like second class citizens, and destroying Russian monuments of WWII while honoring people who collaborated with Nazis.

This boogeyman is just what Putin need to sell his anti-Western ideology to people. Without the boogeyman like that People would question if Europe and the West really as Russophobe as Putin claims they are, and Putin's rule will fall apart. 

Belarus

The other extreme of this spectrum is Belarus. Belarus actually borders Latvia and even looks much like Latvia or Lithuania, but average Russian perceive them as two polar opposites. If Latvia is Russophobe hateful Nazi snob, then Belarus is Russia's best and almost only friend and brother in this cold hateful Russophobe world.

Back in Soviet times Soviet government used to portray USSR as whole and Russian people in particular as heroes who save weak and downtrodden people of the world from imperialism, capitalism, exploitation, racism, abuse and what not. Socialist countries, including Soviet Socialist Republics were portrayed as such saved countries. USSR propaganda never stopped saying how greatly all these "liberated" nations are happy that USSR saved and protected them. Many were sold to this idea of being "valiant heroes of the world" and grew attached to it, priding themselves for being "the force of good, contributing to fairness and justice in the world".  Even some people outside of USSR got sold on this ideology and defected to USSR or spied for it, even if defectors to the West were much more numerous.

However, when USSR collapsed and Warsaw pact and even Soviet Socialist Republics became independent, many started openly criticizing USSR and call it occupier and oppressor. Many Russians got a psychological crisis of sorts. "Are we the bad guys, Hans?" Many could not believe it or accept it. They desperately wanted someone to refuse all these "groundless accusations" and reaffirm that they were good guys just as Soviet propaganda use to tell them.

Here where Belarus and Lukashenka came in. Back in 90s, when Russian questioned their role int the world Lukashenka helped to affirm Soviet propaganda. On Behalf of Belarus and its people, he assured Russians that they were indeed heroes USSR told them they were. His message was something like that: "Even if various ungrateful treacherous Baltics chose to forget what USSR did for them and now shit in Russia in exchange for dirty American money, Belarus is not like that. Belarus remembers what Russia did for it and will never betray Russia and will fight together with Russia against Americans and NATO to the bitter end."

That is awfully hypocritical of a country that pays for Russian gas 6 times less neighboring Lithuania. Greedy and cynical Lukashenka would not remain as loyal if gas was the same price as for Lithuania. 

However Russian psyche needed someone "friendly" like Belarus and Yeltsin embraced Lukashenka to deflect from himself some of the blame for "destroying USSR" and give people something to believe in. Putin kept this special treatment of Belarus, even if more sober heads would point out that this "loyal brother" would be completely useless in case war with NATO and subsidizing him cost budged a lot of money. Lending him Russian riot police from all over the country to suppress protestors against his continuous rule is also a hassle as they are needed in Russia to prevent Russian opposition from overthrowing Putin himself.

However emotional and political cost of abandoning this "loyal brother" is too high and so Lukashenka and Belarus continue their role as Russia most loyal puppet, while using this emotional sentiment to extract various material concessions from Russia.

From Russian psychological perspective Belarus is Russia's little brother that Russia must protect because Russia is not the kind of hero who abandons family to their fate. If Russia would abandon even Belarus, many people In Russia would face psychological crisis. A lot of Russian identity is built around this concept of being hero of the oppressed and being protective older brother for Ukraine and Belarus.

Conclusion

In Russian psyche Belarus is Russia little brother whom Russia protects. In contrast Latvia is an ungrateful swine who now shits on a hero who saved them from genocide by Nazis. It's simple and convenient with these two. Russian government knows how to handle either of them and mostly happy with the role each of them play in post-Soviet reality and in keeping Putin in power.

Dealing with these two extremes is much easier for Russian government than with something that falls in between these extremes. Because Latvia is too Russophobe for anyone pro-Western in Moscow to reasonably suggest that it's something Russia should imitate. Belarus in contrast is too authoritarian and anti-western for such pro-Western people, so they do not wish to imitate it. 

That is how Putin wants it to be. He does not want any countries to be democratic enough for Russian Liberals to imitate, yet at the same time not Russophobe enough for Russian patriots to hate with burning passion. 

There are two extremes and an uncanny valley in the middle. Unfortunately, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Moldova do fall into this uncanny valley. Because of that Putin wants each of them to move to one or the other extremes. Among them Ukraine has a peculiarly unique place in Russian psyche, I will cover it in a separate article.

Final Word

As much as many in the EU want to see Russia join the block as long as Putin is in power it is unlikely. He is too cunning and alert to simply let EU communicated to Russians directly and convince them they can easily join the EU and live in Moscow like in Milan. That will work if EU could actually reach to common Russians, but Putin is too vigilant to let EU's message reach common Russians. Because of that unless EU has a way to bypassing this deliberate information blockade, they should postpone Russia for the time being and instead focus on Eastern partnership instead.

Women and Flowers

 

There is a reason why flowers are one of the most common gifts men give to women. Men do this because they prefer their women to be like flowers. Even some cultures, like Ukrainian make women wear a lot of flowers in their head to make them look more floral. Japanese too like to decorate women with flowers on their kimonos. 

Flowers are soft, fragile, pretty, flexible, inanimate, silent, pretty and smell well. 

Flowers are pretty but completely helpless before people. You can bend them, trample them or rip them off and there is nothing they can do about it. They also stay on the same spot and unable to move anywhere, they have no choice but to be subject of forces beyond their control. Also, they are quiet and unable to talk, they are seen, not heard. They have nice colorful petals and nice smell too, very pleasant as decoration.

All these are qualities very desirable in a female. Women should be like flowers to be attractive. 

Save Children by Adopting Basic Income

I often hear from right wingers how much they want to save children and how they hate various woke thinks. However, it is their own fiscal conservatism and opposition to UBI that puts their own children in danger of wokism.

Automation rapidly eliminates every job there is in existence. Soon the only jobs that will still be available in future is sex entertainment, particularly the one aimed at crazy perverts who are willing to pay. Progressives simply prepare current generations of kids for that kind of future.

There is but one alternative to seeing your kids become transgender sex entertainers and that is UBI. 

Thus, rightwing parents have a choice between their children being freeloaders on UBI or being sex entertainment for the degenerates. I do not think it's a hard choice to make.

On Differences Russian Men and Western Men

One post on reddit about Russian men made me think about how different men from Russia compared to other men. The more I thought about it, the more I got convinced that a lot.

In a world where most of the time it is guy who struggles to get a girl while girls seem to have infinite options, Russian guys who avoid marriage like a plague seems like a strange exception. Other guys struggle to get anywhere with a girl who avoids commitment and keeps her options open. Russian guys instead dodge girls and marriages like their life depends on it while girls get out of their mind to figure out how to marry one. Why so different?

The answer lies in fundamental make up of society and demographic differences. In Western countries there are often more men and women and in Russia it's the other way around.

That root differences produces many other differences in societies, including even the fact that Western world is democratic, and Russia is autocratic. Male majority in the West makes sure society is governed democratically, female majority in Russia leads to strongman autocracy instead. It is not that Western men and democratic and Russian ones prefer strongman instead. Men in each of these societies prefer democracy, it is always women who prefer autocracy. Many Russian men migrating to the west or wanting to do so is the proof. Many Western women infatuated with Putin are also a proof.

Women vote in People like Putin and support people like Stalin. If only men could vote Grigory Yavlinsky would be president of Russia, no joke. If only women could vote in the West, then Nazis would rule again.

However, lets return to dating and relationship. In many, but not all, ways they also work like a mirror image of each other. Let's begin with the west.

In the West male majority sets standards of behavior and culture that make sense to a man. Freedom, respect for personal freedom, humanism, meritocracy and other Western values are enshrined in society only because men dominate these societies.

Young guys can easily accept these and most of the time have no problem fitting in. Women on the other hand are confused. What they are told right contradicts with their instinct. They respect rules but feel something is wrong. That is why they experience brain vs heart problem. That what leads towards dating problem, what society says is a good man is not what the girl herself thinks is. That is why she hesitates and delays marriage and relationship. Guys all want marriage and girls avoid it instead. Guys have to compete with each other and get out of their ways to win over a female.

Because culture in the West is set by men, then marriage terms are also made by man. They are terms men find meaningful and women not so much. Since men can find fulfilment in such marriage they pursue it. Since women cannot find fulfilment in it, they avoid it instead. Guys struggle to win her over and when they finally won, they kick back and relax, enjoying the ride with little effort. Sometimes that eventually leads to divorces as women got tired of housewife burden and decides to ditch it.

In the West women invent feminism, support socialism and do all sorts of stupid crazy shir because of how they could not accept the society they were born into.

Marriage and women are the only source of frustration to a western man. The rest of society works male way, and they are mostly happy. To avoid local problematic women, they sometimes marry foreign ones with varying results.

That sounds like a social and intergender problem. However, if things are reversed like in Russia, it gets even worse.

In Russia female majority influences culture and standards of behavior. Female love for a strongman leads to a lawless society where might makes right, violence glorified, and victims blamed for being weak. 

In Russia women think all of the above makes sense and take pride that Russia is not like the West. Most men however cannot look at this Eurasian BS sober and become alcoholics or drug addicts. Many want to emigrate to the West, those who can, do so. There are some men who are OK with that, but most of them are bullies with near zero brain.

Desired male traits from female bucket list are pushed as standards of male behavior. Men are supposed to be this and that and what not. Be strong, punch others in the face to show you are strongest, that too. Men are blamed for everything, expected to do and know near everything, fix anything and not complain about anything. Broad society tends to agree with women and blame men, so men cannot get any help or support outside of their male peer friends. That makes male friendship important.

Because of that women want marriage more than anything else. They see it as free ride for life and kick back and expect men to do everything after marriage. Men on the other hand do not want it at all. In Russian culture men have all to lose and nothing to gain in a relationship or marriage. Thus, most stay away from it. It is women, who have to get out of their way to somehow win him over. That is why Russian women look so stunning that people in the West think they are so good. They however do not understand the underlying problem that led to this situation.

Many of those who end up in a relationship, eventually leave it. Unlike the West where there is custody battles as men typically do not want to be separated from kids, in Russia men just disappear and kids often do not even know him. 

There are many single mothers in Russia, most kids are raised by single mothers. I know more families with single mothers than with both parents. Many of these single mothers work as teachers and even school principal of a school I graduated from is a single mother. 

Single mothers then pass on their personal values on kids, only further entrenching female values as standards of society. That in turn lead towards more men becoming alcoholics as they could not accept it. It's a downward spiral of death.

Men in Russia try to escape Russian society with everything they can. Emigration, protest, political activism, alcoholism, drugs, videogames, anime anything. That however remains largely unnoticed.

Some of these Russian high standards do rub of off them, so women often find Russian men interesting. However Russian men are permanently traumatized by Russian culture and will not enter relationship easily. They do not want any problems that relationship Russian way brings, so they are very selective with partners. Most pick partners based on 'not like a Russian women' criterion. Russian men prefer, kind, caring, naive, stupid and easy women, all qualities lacking in Russian society in general. That often leads to either Latin (dumb and wild) or Asian (Japanese) (humble and polite) preferences. 

 

What get noticed is that Russian women often seek foreign men. From a distance both look to each other as very desirable and eligible suitors. Western men are attracted to Russian women looks, Russian women like Western men money, quality of life and commitment to marriage. 

Only after marriage, Russian women realize that Western marriage is much less of a free ride for women. They complain about Western men in private to their Russian female friends as in the West they do not have society on their side. Westerners would not find Russian women expectations reasonable at all and would see her as unreasonable, so they stay quiet. Some divorce Western men (particularly Finnish men) and take kids to Russia, but most stay in these marriages for good.

Overall dissatisfaction with 'situation as it is' leads to all types of people, mentioned above to seek something different from a foreigner that seems have the traits locals lacking.

Asia can solve our problems because it produces humble women we so need.

Why an Anti-Natalist

A response to indented question: 

I'm new to this subreddit and was curious if you guys feel the way you do mostly from current affairs of the world and what you assume it will look like in the future (lots of suffering). If the world was going to be great one day, the utopia was to be guaranteed, would this change your view.

maybe,

if it does not cost you any money or effort, then there is no problem with filling the world with children

also, you can cuck some married couple and leave them to raise your kids for you

However, we have overpopulation that causes property shortages, rising prices and such, all of that because we have more people that society can comfortably sustain. It's simple really: say you have 10 kg cake and only 10 people to share it with, then each gets a 1 kg of cake. Increase number of people to 100 without increasing the cake size and now everyone gets 10 times less cake. I do not want to take any cuts to my cake entitlements just because some breeders want to keep popping out babies. Unfortunately, society keeps taking from me to feed the breeders. People should not be allowed to breed unless they can increase the cake size first.

We Were Heroes of the 90s

That may be surprising to many why I, who is from Russia, oppose Russia and its government and support Russian enemies. There are many reasons for that. 

One and the most obvious is the fact Putin's Eurasian oppression and censorship is obviously worse than European freedom and affluence. I want that freedom and affluence and support the side that provides it not the side who asks to "sacrifice for motherland".

There is also the fact that in Russian school and uni classmates treated me poorly and I want revenge.

However, there is another a more personal reason that few people know about. I was too young then, but my uncle and many friends of my family were successful businesspeople back in 90s. They build modern Russia out of broken bankrupt rubble that CPSU left behind at the end of their rule over USSR. They did not it for free and out of patriotism but out of desire for prosperity. Back in 90s we made a lot of money, had expensive homes, cars, 5 star vacations and enjoyed life to the fullest. I miss that a lot.

That all came to an end when Putin and his gang came to power. Putin stole businesses, jailed or drove into exile many of the people who build the 90s. People I knew personally were not as public as Gusinskiy, Khodorkovsky or Berezovskiy, but that affected us as well. We lost a lot of wealth and status. I also lost contact with many of the best people from those times. Wealth that we build in 90s was stolen from us by a dwarf exKGB thief.

Despite being nothing more than a exKGB thief, Putin labelled many of my relatives and friends "bandits of the 90s" and brainwashed the country and the world into hating us. How he is reaping benefits and taking credit for what people like my uncle and family friends did in 90s as we are scattered and suppressed. Many of us are literally dead like Berezovskiy.

I do want revenge against exKGB dwarf and his KGB bandits for destroying my life and depriving me of my birthright wealth and status. 

I still ponder over my own parents' role in all that. It puzzles me to no end that they do not hate exKGB dwarf and do not want revenge on him. Why did they not keep contact with the best of our friends? Were they KGB agents or KGB infiltrators/stooges? Did KGB killed them and replaced them with lookalikes? These are all mysteries I cannot find answers to.