Russia may no longer be the totalitarian society ruled by my great-grandfather Nikita Khrushchev six decades ago, but totalitarianism remains in its DNA. The Kremlin continues to invent its own reality, no matter how absurd or impossible it may be, and demands that people believe in it.
President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" in Russia in 2022 figures as peacemaking, much like war is peace in Orwell's Oceania 1984. The invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year caused no concern to Russia's urban middle class, which continued to have fun. as if it were 2004 - the year Putin's economic boom was at its height, thanks to oil and gas - as Russian tanks rolled into Chechnya.
It was difficult to watch the surreal false peace in Russia during the first 6 months of the invasion. While Ukraine - the homeland of most of my family and a land of extraordinary beauty - was bombed mercilessly, its capital besieged, and its citizens forced to flee their homes, either to find refuge abroad or to fight for their country, Russian citizens pretended nothing was happening.
The sanctions have affected the residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg to some extent. Imported goods disappeared from the shelves and many Western businesses left Russia. But Russian citizens still have enough of what they acquired in the decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The war is somewhere else for them. The violence going on in the neighborhood is too trivial, or perhaps too important, for them to think much about. Let Putin take care of it, as he takes care of everything. They see no evil, hear no evil, say nothing.
In order for people from the West not to feel superior, let's remember that Western societies slept through countless conflicts, crimes and indecencies committed at home and abroad in a similar consumerist stupor. Many voters in Western democracies are happy to make morally bankrupt bargains similar to the one in Russia with their leaders.
The majority of Americans did not resist it while Donald Trump lied, made racist and anti-Semitic statements, expanded his business and corrupted the Department of Justice. In the end, he was barely evicted from the White House. A House committee is investigating his involvement in the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.
But Trump has retained strong support from a large portion of Americans, including the leadership of the Republican Party. The reason is simple: he appointed three right-wing Supreme Court justices (overturning precedents, including a half-century-old decision to legalize abortion), deregulated legislation in the interests of business, and cut taxes for the rich.
And the British allowed former Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to be held accountable for the lucrative contracts the state made with his friends and for bypassing parliament when making important decisions. For many, the only thing that mattered was Brexit.
In Poland, the Law and Justice Party government of Jaroslav Kaczynski subjugated the judiciary and most of the media, while using generous subsidies to buy the support of rural and poor voters.
The transactional character of government is increasingly pronounced in Western societies - which are increasingly leaning towards authoritarianism. We cast our votes to advance the interests and values of our tribe, not for the benefit of our country or the world. In exchange for meeting the demands of the voters - financial, religious, ideological or some other - the leaders get our permission to trample the ethical norms and principles of democracy.
People like Trump and Putin understand the zeitgeist, pander to people's materialistic desires and fuel their fears. Trump has demonized Latin American immigrants, and Putin has used the existence of transgender and non-binary people as a justification for the war against Ukraine, which he claims is necessary to resist the "dictatorship of Western elites" who have renounced "Christian faith and traditional values."
Hatred of minorities is a powerful political weapon. After Joseph Goebbels, few have used it so effectively.
The big advantage of populists is that their deal with voters is fluid. If their political base falls under the influence of a new narrative or adopts a new ideological goal, they will simply change their position and claim that they were the first to advocate it. Anyone who points out this contradiction is a member of the "lying and corrupt media elite".
The war in Ukraine is a good example. At first, pro-Putin Trump loyalists — with the exception of some Fox News commentators like Tucker Carlson — were largely silent. Trump nevertheless announced that he opposes the Russian invasion, aware that most Americans consider it a barbaric act.
Today, Americans still praise the heroism of the Ukrainians, but they are no longer so willing to help them. Many Republicans are now saying that US aid to Ukraine is costing too much. Trump's slogan "America first" - which actually means "America only" - still has appeal.
It seems that the Russian middle class is finally waking up from its moral slumber regarding Ukraine, and it is because of the real threat of their sons, fathers and brothers being conscripted, not because of the suffering of Ukrainians. But that won't be much help if a large number of American Republicans withhold their support for Ukraine.
A social contract is an implicit agreement by all members of society to adhere to certain rules and norms in exchange for mutual benefit. But populists prefer a bargain based on exclusion and tribalism, which is why they choose Putin as their role model.
It may surprise some that Putin recognized the possibilities of this model of government, because he is no intellectual giant. Neither is Trump. Perhaps this is the most insidious aspect of the populist social contract many of us live under today: it is based not on deep ideas, but on fear, humiliation and alienation. It is the basis of every tyranny and the precondition of every war of conquest.
(Project Syndicate; Peščanik.net; translation: M. Jovanović)
Bonus video:
