WATCH NEXT in this series: How a Kremlin coup could topple Putin th-cam.com/video/sDX5mu81hJ0/w-d-xo.html The REAL reason Putin might start a nuclear war th-cam.com/video/Jyni1VYT_hI/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/rzja-LOqUd8/w-d-xo.html The TERRIFYING TRUTH behind Putin's Ukraine invasion The REAL Reason Putin is invading Ukraine th-cam.com/video/ZwU13-4SakE/w-d-xo.html
'It looks like he's bombing his own people' ... exactly my thoughts, if he's willing to do that to his own people or at least very similar people culturally what is that guy prepared to do to people who have little to do with his own domestic culture.
@@GeorgiaDawgAthens Not at all. Schadenfreude is not malicious. It's more like "serves them right" in case that sentiment is actually deserved. Furthermore, it's passive in nature. You feel Schadenfreude when something happens to someone, most often without you being involved.
People should remember that for fascism and the fascist, cruelty is often the point. The fascists are the spiritually weakest among us, and I don't mean in a religious sense. They are the relics of a more primitive state of mankind, and the enemies of any successful and flourishing civilization. What is sad, is that a good portion of people, maybe even up to 30%, are inherently drawn to fascism and would be incredibly dangerous for the rest if allowed to gain power. They are the enemy of humankind, because their ideological vision is based on always finding new enemies to destroy. They don't understand cooperation, empathy, they do not care for building great systems that benefit humankind and the world, they only understand power through destruction. This is the greatest flaw in their ideological vision, because they will start with destroying one group, and if successful, be forced to move on to the other group, and then the other, and another, until they are forced to turn on themselves and destroy each other. They bring about the downfall of everybody eventually. This constant destruction and cruelty only fuels them more. That is how the weak-minded operate, fueled by their compulsive fetish for violence and misery. They should have no place in a civilized society.
Dude, exactly. I didn't take the "Putin is fascist" that seriously until i heard him say those specific words. But after that, anyone still denying it has to be in complete cognitive dissonance.
The whole video is an explanation of what the fascism is, and a mediocre at that, since in the end he boils it all down to "if they have "the enemy" then it's fascism. And I am pretty sure there is not a single nation that it DOESN'T apply to. Not to mention that, apart from citations in the beggining, nothing particular is said about Russia. If you are claiming that you are explaning, then explain it. The video barely touches specifically on why Russia is a fascist country. Many things I agree on like that Russian citizens aren't behaving like citizens, but.... He didn't really say much to comment on.
Finally, a political analyst who is actually literate in political theory. Trying to find one on TH-cam who isn’t a rock-stupid shock jockey or a grifter is like dying of thirst in the desert.
Clearly because you're totally able to discern them. I don't understand why you yourself isn't explaining things instead of looking for a channel. You're such a genius.
A growing number of Russian analysts, in Russia and abroad, have taken to calling Vladimir Putin's regime "fascist." And they don't use the term casually or as a form of opprobrium. They mean that Putin's Russia genuinely resembles Mussolini's Italy or Hitler's Germany. One of the most recent examples was Mikhail Iampolski. According to the Russian-born NYU professor, "the appeal of quasi-fascist discourse was predictable" as the Russian economy tanked. Moscow rejects "[a]nything that could be seen as a sign of weakness or femininity," including liberalism and homosexuality, and then projects these qualities onto the enemy. Consequently, "Ukrainians are systematically accused of fascism, while Russian fascism is displaced by a false idealization of one's own image." In March, Moscow commentator Yevgeni Ikhlov charged Putin with introducing a "left fascism" that, while "anti-market and quasi-collectivist," is "fascism because it is a form of a militant and most primitive philistinism." In January 2015, Andrei Zubov, fired from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations for opposing Putin's Ukraine policies, argued that Russia's President was building "a corporate state of a fascist type packaged in Soviet ideology, the ideology of Stalinism," resulting in a Russia that closely resembles Italian fascism with its "nationalism and union with the church." Moscow-based analyst Aleksei Shiropaiev claimed that Russia was moving toward fascism "at a galloping pace." Russian fascism "has become a FACT," "mass Russian consciousness remains absolutely imperialist and chauvinist," and most Russians have "ACCEPTED fascination and are ready to agree to even massive political repressions." But are the analysts right? The evidence is compelling. Fascist regimes have charismatic dictators with hyper-masculine personality cults. These regimes generally evince a hyper-nationalist ethos, a cult of violence, mass mobilization of youth, high levels of repression, powerful propaganda machines, and imperialist projects. Fascist regimes are hugely popular-usually because the charismatic leader appeals to broad sectors of the population. Putin and his Russia fit the bill perfectly. In calling Putin's Russia fascist, Russian critics have proven to be far bolder than their non-Russian counterparts in the West, who remain wary about the F-word. Some Westerners genuinely believe that Putin's brand of dictatorship differs from past fascist regimes. They often locate the differences in the historical conditions that gave rise to Hitler, Mussolini, and Putin, and not in the actual characteristics of their regimes. But doing so confuses the origins of similar things with their essential features. No one would say that America is not democratic because the origins of American democracy lay in revolution and not, as with Britain, in historical evolution. But many Westerners fear the implications of calling a spade a spade. If Putin's Russia is fascist, then it is comparable to Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy and, thus, certifiably evil. And that means that calls for understanding Putin amount to calls for understanding evil. So it's better to pretend that Russia isn't fascist. Hence the popularity of abstruse designations like managed democracy and sovereign democracy or terms-such as Putinism-that only state the obvious. A similar conceptual change is likely to take place with fascism. As the chorus of Russian voices using the F-word grows, Western policymakers who insist that we should listen to Putin and understand his point of view will have no choice but to listen to and understand his critics. Calling Putin's system fascist will mark a conceptual breakthrough in Western attitudes-and perhaps policies-toward Russia. Viewing his state as evil does not necessitate rattling sabers. Soft power and diplomacy will remain no less important than hard power. But the conceptual shift would recognize that Putin and his regime are the problem, and that the problem will go away only when he and his regime go away. In a word, there are no quick fixes to the Putin problem. The West is in for a long, hard slog involving economic and military support for Ukraine and its neighbors, the containment of Russian imperialism, and support for anti-fascist elements within Russia. The good news is that, now as then, democracy will win. According to the famous historian Norman Davies, fascism, like communism, Putinisem, Nazissem , fascist ect ect can be defined by the following features: * A pseudo-scientific conceptual basis (the believe of Russian 3rd Rom ) * A utopian goal (the Russiki Mir and Russians domains of a new Russian world ) * A structure of a party-state (the restructure of the USSR borders centralized power into the hands of the kremlin under one leader Mr PUTIN himself ) * An autocratic leadership that demands complete devotion (Putinisem ideology ) * Pervasive use of terror to prevent and eradicate dissent ( Going after to destroy /neutralize anyone and/or anything national within Russia and internationally out side of Russia East Ukraine , SyrIa Chechnya, Moldova , Georgia, ect ect ) * Extensive and complex bureaucracy ( Using tax office in a selective way to take out personal opponents of Putins Regime and putting control to manhandle the and banking and business community ) * State propaganda and censorship (RT-News ect ect and othe KREMLIN controlled media using force and pressure turning them into mouthpieces for Putins regimes own agenda ) * Martial culture and aesthetics of force (The state and Russian belief in ethnic Russian superiority and of Russian historical culture) * Purposely induced fear of the ever-present external enemy (use state service like FSB, GRU , media to intimidate and scare ppl. about the dangers from the west like NATO , US ect ect ) * Mentality of hate and intolerance (Anti other ethnic groups likeUkrainians, Muslims, Tatars , Kazakhstanis and others ect ect ) * Economic and mental collectivism (Putin has vast control over the gas and oil sectors and uses it as a political tool ) * Militarism (Rebuilding and promoting and using Military to attack and subdue the people like in the caucasus Chechnya ect ect ) * Messianism (Putin the half naked hours reading and bear wrestling superman is definitely believed by Russians to be a type of messiah, who acts as a savior, redeemer or liberator of a group of people. * Contempt for liberal democracy and values (Putins regime is anti LGBT.anti democracy Anti free press Anti free expression of art just look at-PussyRiot-and- Anna Politkovskaya ect ect ) * Moral nihilism ( is the meta-ethical view that nothing is intrinsically moral or immoral take a look how Russia lies about invading other nations and killing civilians and support of terrorism, and then turn AROUND and say that it was to defend the good and freedoms of Russia there it acted in its selfdefense becouse of external pressure for outside force gave them no other choice ) Clearly all of those are also characteristics of the Putin regime. Today in Russia, President Putin has the unquestionable control over Parliament, Government, courts, media and the most profitable sectors of the country's economy. So, we have every reason to declare that modern Russia is in fact, an authoritarian fascist state with the genuine fascist elements, most prominently - the oppressive nature, the militarization of society, strict control over the mass media and complete disregard to human life
@@zeuso.1947 The concept of a “far left” that is opposed to a “far right” is false. The systems placed on the two ends of that spectrum, including socialism, fascism, and Nazism, are all rooted in communism. And all of them share beliefs in core communist concepts, including state collectivism, planned economies, and class struggle. All of them were merely different interpretations of Marxism, and played heavily in global politics just after World War I, at a time when the ideas of Karl Marx failed to materialize and communists had gone back to the drawing board. Before we get into the history of these divergent systems, however, we first need to understand the rift between socialism and communism. Socialism was described in Marx’s theory of the five stages of civilization. After he helped frame the concept of “capitalism” as a society in which people are able to trade freely, he proposed that after capitalism would come the stage of “socialism,” followed by “communism.” Socialism was the stage that Vladimir Lenin described as the “state-capitalist monopoly,” in which a dictatorship has seized control of all means of production. The idea was that a communist regime would use the absolute power of the socialist “dictatorship of the proletariat” to destroy all values, all religion, all institutions, and all traditions-which would theoretically lead to the communist “utopia.” In other words, socialism is the political system, and communism is the ideological goal. This is why followers of communism argue that “true communism” has never been achieved. The system has thus far failed to utterly destroy human morals and beliefs, although it has taken the lives of more than 100 million people over the last 100 years. “Before the Russian Revolution of 1917, ‘socialism’ and ‘communism’ were synonyms,” this was stated by Bryan Caplan an associate professor of economics at George Mason University, states in the chapter on communism in “The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.” “Both socialism’ and ‘communism referred to economic systems in which the government owns the means of production,” Caplan states. “The two terms diverged in meaning largely as a result of the political theory and practice of Vladimir Lenin.” Of course, the failings of Marx’s predictions is also what gave rise to the many interpretations of communism that emerged following World War I. These included Leninism, fascism, and Nazism. As the world boiled in the turmoil that led to World War I between 1914 and 1918, many communists looked to the words of Marx, who in the 1848 “Communist Manifesto” said, “Workers of the world, unite.” Yet, the workers of the world did not unite-at least not how Marx envisioned it. Instead of rallying behind communism, they largely rallied behind their respective kings, government, nations and countries. (their own nations national interest if you will ) and In addition, the livelihood of workers became better under capitalism, as opposed to Marx’s predictions that it would become worse. Then, when the communist revolution did happen, it did not happen in the “late-stage capitalist” societies which at the time were Britain and Germany, (nations doing well ) but instead in Russia a nation doing very badly economy at the time. And instead of the Bolshevik Revolution being the “proletariat” against the “bourgeoisie,” as Marx predicted, it was the military and intelligentsia against the feudal Russian tsarist system. The series of events largely disproved Marx’s predictions, and it sent communists of the time back to the drawing board, as was noted by bestselling author Dinesh D’Souza in his book “The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left.” After Lenin, the next communist revisionist to take the world stage was Benito Mussolini, (yes Mussolini was a marxist communist before he started Fascism ) who took from World War I the lesson that nationalism was more uniting than the idea of a worker’s revolution. He thus revised Marxism into his new system of fascism, using the collectivist principle of “fasci,” which refers to a bundle of sticks reinforcing the handle of an ax. Mussolini explained his concept in his 1928 autobiography, in which he states, “The citizen in the Fascist State is no longer a selfish individual who has the anti-social right of rebelling against any law of the Collectivity.” (sounds just like marxism becouse it is.. it is a Collectivity centralization of power and the means of production ) According to “Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime” by Richard Pipes, “No prominent European socialist before World War I resembled Lenin more closely than Benito Mussolini. Like Lenin, he headed the anti -revisionist wing of the country’s Socialist Party; like him, he believed that the worker was not by nature a revolutionary and had to be prodded to radical action by an intellectual elite.” Then soon after, Adolph Hitler emerged with his re-branded socialist system under the banner of “national socialism.” (German: Nationalsozialismus), more commonly known as Nazism (/ˈnɑːtsiɪzəm, ˈnæt-/), is the ideology and practices associated with the Nazi Party-officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP)) Taking advantage of the fact that the German people had been divided by new national borders established by the armistice, Hitler used identity politics (like the left still do today ) to rally his followers. The policies of the Nazi Party followed the communist model, and the 25-point program included universal free health care and education, nationalization of large corporations and trusts, government control of banking and credit, the splitting of large landholdings into smaller units, and similar policies. In addition, “Mussolini and Hitler both identified socialism as the core of the fascist and Nazi Weltanschauung [way of life]. Mussolini was the leading figure of Italian revolutionary socialism and never relinquished his allegiance to it. Hitler’s party defined itself as championing ‘national socialism.'” ( National Socialist German Workers' Party ) Like all other communist ideologues, Hitler was also viciously opposed to the traditional capitalist system. Just as Lenin blamed wealthy farmers, and Mao Zedong blamed landlords, Hitler transferred blame to a single group of people-the Jews. As “Nazi anti-Semitism grew out of Hitler’s hatred for capitalism. Hitler draws a crucial distinction between productive capitalism, which he can abide, and finance capitalism, which he associates with the Jews.” (and therefore he is disliking of what he called the international jewish bankers ) The conflict that later took place between the various systems during World War II was not a battle of opposite ideologies, but instead a fight over which interpretation of communism would prevail. According to “The Road to Serfdom” by F.A. Hayek, “The conflict between the fascist or national-socialist and the older socialist parties must indeed very largely be regarded as the kind of conflict which is bound to arise between rival socialist factions.” We can thank historical revisionism and plenty of mental gymnastics for the current narrative that socialism is somehow separate from Nazism and fascism and, even more so, the belief that these concepts are somehow divorced from their communist origins. We can attributes this narrative shift to what Sigmund Freud called “transference,” based on his idea that people who commit terrible acts often transfer blame onto others, accusing others, including their victims, of being what they, themselves, are.
I was waiting for Chechnia and Georgia to be mentioned, thank you for that. Those were the first steps of pootlers imperialistic expansion, which got no significant reaction from Western democracies, and now we have the results.
It is so strange looking in at a country that suffered so horribly at the hands of fascists and communists alike and inflicted suffering and imperialism on others slide over the years into the very thing they fought to destroy.
@@jimjonsen1591 I do see a single difference between the authoritarian far left and the authoritarian far right, and it is all about hating the immutable characteristics of human beings, in other words explicit racism. Which also means someone can change their opinion about that one thing ("group X is not bad merely because of their culture, but because of their genetics") and instantly go from one extreme to the so-called 'other' extreme.
I grew up in the beggining of this millenium in a distant Russian village. When I was a kid, I loved books on history. I always deemed myself living on the outskirts of a great empire that collapsed, sort of like a Roman boy who was living 50 years or so after Rome fell. This video just reminded me of that.
It's profound to me to hear this and try to imagine this feeling. Sometimes I expect to see my own country that way, but I always just accept it looking a little worse for wear, fraying at the seams perhaps in some places, and say it's me that fails to see it as the same country I left, not that the country has changed or simply fallen. But maybe liberal democracies are just empires which periodically collapse into themselves when the public is sufficiently disgusted and votes for the devil, in some form or another. Then perhaps a cultural revolution of some kind before we dust ourselves off and claim to be number one again. I'm not even certain any longer, that autocratic government forms are necessarily more harmful than democratic ones in the long term sense, nor that they are more vulnerable to having a terrible leader take charge because well. Ahem... 2016 party conventions and elections in the US? A clear example where in some sense, party politics (both major parties) restricted voter liberty to such an extent that it really wasn't represented at all. Both major candidates were regardless of merit of either, shoe-horned into the nomination in one sense or another, through an entirely non-democratic process (in the Republican convention case, caucus votes were ignored and shadow caucus votes completely forbidden, among other serious irregularities in procedure by which the Republican candidate was elected, in the democratic case it appears more a question of an elite simply picking a candidate outright and channeling all support into that candidate.) Perhaps that's something I can look back on and see as "fallen." The idea that while a country mucks with the government of other nations will-ye-nil-ye, its own political processes should be transparent and pristine. Now I know that this was pure fantasy all along even though I sometimes found myself ready to believe it if only for a little while. I should have known - in four consecutive elections someone (an agent of a political party) denounced me as "perhaps not a real citizen" stripping me of my right to vote until I could prove otherwise. Disenfranchisement, is the common name for this practice, and it is generally something you learn about the day before you planned to vote, with a court hearing planned for some difficult hour (7:15AM Tuesday morning in a major district courthouse in a major metropolitan area? You should expect to wait a very, very long time to see a judge.... you may be there all day.) This is how I personally lost all alignment with my country. It became evident that successive governments of both parties didn't want me as citizen, so I left.
@@cemacmillan I can't say yes or no to your theory that some autocratic forms are equally or less harmful than liberal democratic ones. I just know, that my government is a very vicious one, and cannot be altered unless completely toppled. I can understand why you left your country, but I don't know whether there's another one, with a better system than yours. Probably yes. Wherever you look, there's a mess. I'm sorry to hear that you felt left out by the two parties. By the way, why aren't there more? I believe that people in your country don't just strictly fit into a red or a blue box. I also left my country when I realized that people like me are only going to be persecuted and punished for not hailing the great leader. In my country loving your country means loving its leader. If, god forbid, you ask for protection, you're going to be punished even more. I once spent three days in detention because I dared to complain about police brutality. There's a 99% chance you will lose in a court. If you register a political party, you'll be threatened and your office will be constantly vandalized. So I left, because I cannot tolerate this anymore. And after this war started and I saw everyone slowly turning into fascists just out of conformity, I realized I never am going back.
@@nekogato8990 Yes. I don't meant to compare my own disenfranchisement to your experience or that of anyone who is has state violence, or the menace of same pointed at them in an imminent way. There are horrors in this world which I know only from testimonials, but I know they are real. Indeed, 2016 did make a lot of people further consider the implications of blue/red. Unfortunately this happened during a social chill, when voices critical of that election were being told STFU and get back into the streets working the blocks, so it doesn't happen again. Later events (Jan 6) and very a very unusual judiciary composition will probably ensure that nothing whatsoever comes of it. Even if certain individuals are successfully punished and stripped of political rights, the last few elections there are signs of what is now possible against a field of popular will so polarized by largely meaningless identity politics. I'm thinking of something T. Adorno says about "mass media", then an emerging concept for most people, being the "Wurlitzer of the state." He meant presumably for the old organ's characteristic of imitating other instrument sounds and creating the illusion of the orchestra (my opinion.) Here we are all equalized to some degree by media ownership and control. Sometimes we are lucky and have variety of information sources due to alignment of these sources with popular will and or the state. Other times, we have to puzzle through what might be propaganda or destabilization and disinformation from any party in the conflict, for reasons we cannot even fathom. :( I'm glad to hear you have found some sort of sanctuary in exile as well.
What I hate is how clearly stupid or insane people are allowed to have power. Why do men in office let these people through like Trump and Hitler? One was declared insane by all tests and stupid by his best general. And Trump has a legacy of failing businesses and not holding his end of agreements while not knowing why the US has troops stationed at the Korean border or even knew what a union was even after Merkel tried to explain it to him 11 times. How would anyone ever vouch or encourage such a man to have any authority?
Your videos are by far the best explanations I have come across regarding Putin and Ukraine, so insightful (albeit quite anxiety inducing, but then again we live in extraordinarily anxious times). You putting in that deep bass sound when you highlight a main point is a really nice touch.
I edited this too quickly and one of the background sounds turned out to be very grating! I do think that our aim is not anxiety but a kind of informed discomfort. Thanks so much for your kind words.
@@VladVexler I noticed the excellence of your background music before I learned you are a musician. Don’t worry, the only grating noise came from Vladimir Putin’s horrible statements. And I agree with David OMalley.
@@stavokg thanks so much - as a musician I confess my preference would be to not have any music at all. But I don’t make my videos for myself and I know it helps most people with processing the words!
One more thing I feel should be mentioned here is the unifying theme of all fascist sub-ideologies around the world: Obsession with an imaginary past golden age. The original fascists in Italy wanted to restore the Roman Empire, the nazis wanted to get Germany back to the heights of the German Empire under the Kaiser and beyond, Islamofascists want to bring back the caliphate and Putin seeks to bring back what he views as the glory days of Russia under the USSR and the Russian Empire. I would argue that is also the reason why there are so many subtypes of fascism, at least one for each country. Everyone has a different idea of an imaginary past golden age and how to 'restore' it.
Marvellous comment. Putin is drowning in magical thinking about the past and ethical nostalgia. We will explore this at some point by looking at one of his heroes, perhaps Tsar Alex III
To me this video under stated the fascist nature of this authoritarian regime which is tipping into totalitarianism. Dugin explains "a special Russian truth that you must accept", his philosophy allows shaping your own reality giving it a cover of intellectual pretension. Ignoring objective truth and replacing it with prejudices or convenient lies permits unconstrained unchallengeable absolute authority. Russia's statements don't even try to appear truthful, an academic uses the phrase implausible deniability. The fixed unfair elections, poisoning, murder of political opponents is another trait. When the constitution forced giving up being president he ran the Kremlin as PM
The problem I have with you, me dear Vlad, is that you are so bloody well read, intelligent, logical and such a breath of fresh air in the world of dumbed down political journalism and ignorance at what is the real truth, that I can't stop at one video and find myself binging on and on to the next video in your series! You are truly amazing! A voice everyone needs to hear.🧠👌
dude, he is a sicko. Pouring shit from his empty head on the whole culture of Russia, and not providing any proof. Listen closely to his words, there is ONLY his own perception being told, no facts. Nothing real about neither Russia nor Putin - just ordinary western propaganda’s shit from a schizo with a childhood trauma
“ Z …. stands for ….. the joy of doing bad things …… “ that statement hit home. I just found your channel yesterday. fascinating content and critique. keep up the good work !
so what is USA bad symbole "the joy of doing bad things" like in 100+ countries they invaded to change government and make them FREE and like serbia which they bombed, somalia, afghanistan, iraq, lybia me continue? i didnt even counted central american and corbian countries they invaded for FREEDOM! i
I traveled in Russia in the immediate aftermath of the Soviet collapse, and can say, without doubt, that memories of WW 2 are fresh, deep, and everywhere. Each small city had a monument with as many (or more) names etched into stone as our Vietnam Memorial in Washington. And there are hundreds of these. It was (and possibly still is) easy to get into a hot argument with a Russian over how "Roosevelt bled the Soviet Union by delaying D Day." Russians of all ages appeared to feel these things in their souls. The other thing they feel, instinctively, is fear. Fear of denunciation. Fear of being cut off from the possibility of a normal life. Fear of authority, whether authority was competent to even know of their existence (and in Siberia, it wasn't). People still felt that fear, and let it rule them in ways quite unfamiliar to a westerner, especially an American. Pointed questions aimed in my direction by a minor official in uniform could often be answered with "It is not necessary for you to know." You could see them silently weighing whether I was more trouble than I was worth. No prison has enough guards on hand to stop a concerted uprising by the prisoners. That, I am sorry to say, is how Russia seems to me now: a self-policing ideological prison. And now, thanks to Putin, this self-policing prison has become the newest, largest North Korean-style pariah state the world has ever seen.
I would like to have that D-Day conversation with a crusty old bastard. Russia was bled dry because Stalin purged any officer with modern ideas about waging warfare in 1939. And America doesn't send tanks into battle after giving the gunner 3 practice rounds at a range and the driver knows how to put the tank into forward or reverse...but nothing else.
We all have that in Europe. I was sat with my daughter having a coffee on a street in Bath, Somerset and we discussed the shrapnel scars on the building opposite us; WW2 is never far away here.
Although my Russian experience is much less than yours and happened only in Moscow, I concur with with your comments as far as my experience allows. There's a monument to the Unknown Soldier immediately outside the Kremlin wall. A long, low wall is inscribed with names. The enormity became apparent when I understood that these are the names of cities and towns lost, not individual soldiers. Conversation at meals with a mix of Russian and Ukrainian clients was largely about their various families' experiences in WWII. I saw the ghost of May Day and the build-up toward Victory Day, but left just beforehand. I stayed in an ex-KGB hotel with staff from the Soviet era. I received a dressing-down from a patriotic older woman when I hauled out a roll of $US to pay my bill - she said, "This is Russia, you pay in rubles!" I respected her for that, so I hauled out a bigger roll of rubles. I very much admired the people I met, from the guy selling camera film to the ladies selling tickets in the metro to the Turkish construction people. I regret what is happening now and hope that things change for the benefit of the people. The only thing that nobody talks about is the pervasive corruption - i.e., demands for bribes - in government circles, from the policemen at the traffic stop to the military supplying helicopter services to my ex-father-in-law, a mining engineer to the people who administer programs in the government.
A shame! That's why the 2% targeting of "pointillistic fascism". target just a small percent, making an example of anyone who dares to dissent and the rest will fall in line.
Putin's reference to traitors as "flies"is identical to the language broadcast by Hutu radio and television stations prior to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
I would also disagree with the idea that Putin wasn't originally fascist. From his first entry into politics, he has always been enamored and obsessed by the past, and he never learned to think of the peoples of eastern Europe as anything but human resources that belong to the Russian state.
Putin understands the resource side of Realpolitik, but overlooked political willpower. To think that Kyiv/Kiev would welcome the Russian Army as liberators is still laughable in hindsight.
Exactly. Fascist propaghanda in russian media started exactly when putin came to power. Just it was growing slowly to the current level. Also his first agressive war was in 2008 against Georgia, which the west tends to forget very often.
I don't buy this Western "emotional" propaganda. I am smart enough to see through it and understand there is something much deeper going on. It looked like different wars were going on due to hatred of Russians and Slavs in general. So it wasn't just about Russia liberating the East and South of Ukraine. This is the collective west USING AND ABUSING UKRAINE. Instead of pushing for peace and negotiations like normal people would they push for destruction.
Superb video sir. Informative, articulate & fascinating insight. Sounds like Putin after 20 years is suffering from a sort of political battle fatigue.
I was going to talk about that - but didn't want to make the video too long. Fatigue is one of the things going on. He's exhausted but unable to even contemplate leaving.
@@VladVexler I doubt that Putin wants to be a Czar... Since Czardom involves being a God Given Ruler & A ancestry that dates back to the Romanov dynasty...( He wasn't born of Czarist blood) When I mentioned the Cold War,I was reffering to Communism & the Communist Government of the USSR ....this is where Putin came from... and what he's trying to reconstruct by returning countries such as The Ukraine, Poland ,Czech republic etc to being satellites of the state
I love your channel. You give the smartest and most indepth analysis of the russian Ukraine situation and the inner workings of the Kremlin and putin of any media outlet I've seen so far
Thanks so much! It’s a bit of a gap I’m afraid - the day to day war coverage is truly excellent. But analysis of the Kremlin in English is rarely adequate.
@@VladVexler right! I appreciate the fact that you speak Russian fluently and have had first hand experience living in Russia and the USSR. Where are you residing now if I may ask? I hope not stuck in Russia or the Ukraine during these dire times! Stay safe and thanks for your great content, I share them whenever you post a video :)
really appreciate your content and that you're trying to contextualize Russian imperialism while being of Russian descent yourself. Greetings from a Polish citizen who has always thought that Russia has such a huge potential but at the same time such a terrrible political culture, the post-Soviet political elites are on constant (albeit delusional) power trip
I don't buy this Western "emotional" propaganda. I am smart enough to see through it and understand there is something much deeper going on. It looked like different wars were going on due to hatred of Russians and Slavs in general. So it wasn't just about Russia liberating the East and South of Ukraine. This is the collective west USING AND ABUSING UKRAINE. Instead of pushing for peace and negotiations like normal people would they push for destruction.
finally! someone who actually understands what is happening here. So tired of hearing western "experts" who claim to understand and are eager to do some explanation, and yet having only surface level knowledge on the subject. Thank you for the video!
your almost psychic insight and well articulated knowledge has me riveted, in my opinion you are a very good speaker and easy to listen to and understand. able to convey very a complex situation with a dedication and passion rarely seen. im very coy about who i subscribe to but you have become one of them. i look forward to more of your analysis on this putrid butchering excuse for a human being.
I began seeing the Z symbol, black leather on a white circle, enclosed in a red rectangle. I realized that it looked exactly like half of a swastika. And then I was terrified.
Your explanation of this form of pointilistic fascism is appreciated. Modern centralized governements are overwhelmed by information and simply can't punish all the 'bad guys'. Understanding that disposition is important because even with everyone's data, there isn't enough prison cells or bullets.
Apart from the points you've made directly, you've got me thinking about pointillistic fascism and the highly focussed, precision planning involved in murdering people in other countries, eg the Novichok poisoning in the UK. In the nature of the fascism, could we be seeing a methodological strand of 'development' for an ex KGB officer in political power?
I think we we are seeing is a move from pointillistic authoritarianism to pointillistic neo-totalitarianism. It will be bitty like before, but now the repression will be of a different order. This is a very fast moving situation- the regime will try to somehow twist and turn its way through the sanctions calamity. It's a nearly impossible task. But it will try. As it does that it knows it can't repress the population too much or too little.
@@kkpenney444 What? This moron has more definitions for fascism than a cat has lives. Everything can be fascist if you don't actually have a definition for it.
@@renstein8210 Lol, cancel culture has been around since the days of Elvis Presley, when elderly busy bodies tried to ban rock n roll. Long before that, even. It's nothing new and it's always going to be around in a society with freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Only difference is that nowadays they have access to social media, so its much more intense and much more coordinated, and can often verge on harassment/bullying. Letter writing campaigns cant compete with social media. I do think cancel culture is bad, especially when it comes to perceived immorality in movies and comedians and music and violent video games etc, but it's a part of life. It's only dangerous when they start making laws that restrict freedom of speech. But right now, it's NOTHING like Putins government lol.
Thanks Vlad, just found your channel and subscribed. The ideas and actions associated with fascism are ancient: Imperial Rome was a fascist 'state'. No surprise that modern fascism originated in Rome under Mussolini. Other expert commentators state Russia is just a continuation of the Mongol Golden Horde. Hence the savage animal behaviour of Russian soldiers. Russian culture seems to be medieval in mindset. In other words, pathological, unfortunately.
@@VladVexler Thanks Vlad. I'm now watching your interview with Dr. John Campbell on 28 Feb, 2022. I had previously been watching Dr. Campbell during the height of the plague. Cheers!
Please don't overdo it. In war there are always soldiers with "savage behaviour". In 2004, for example, photographs that caused a big scandal were found. In the Iraq war, US soldiers sexually humiliated prisoners of war and took photos of them. And one only has to look at what else has happened. I am not trying to defend anyone, especially Putin. But we must not generalise. And to say that Russian culture is pathological is extremely offensive. I prefer to think that you are the ignorant one; you know nothing about them and you judge them as such.
The "Z" is indeed the swastika. No question. You are absolutely right, absolutely spot on in stating that there is a joy and a delight in doing evil and the "Z" symbolises this.
@@nobbynobbs8182 Nice one Nobby. It is interesting though to see how self-consciously Putin flirts with Nazism and pretends that there are Nazis in Ukraine and that he is shocked about it. I suspect he admires Hitler far more than we will ever know. He is probably belatedly trying to reverse engineer Nazism by doing all the same stuff but from east to west instead of west to east.
@@richardcory5024 it's even more perverse when you learn that Putins regime has been sponsoring far right political parties in western democracies for years. If something needs to be de-nazified it's the Kremlin
@@nobbynobbs8182 I have long thought that. The Gremlin's propaganda about Nazism is classic deflection and distraction. Putin wants notoriety. He wants people to fear him. He will probably never equal Stalin in that regard unless he unleashes a nuclear weapon, but the interesting thing about the Russian population is that the worse you treat them (Stalin being a case in point) the more they worship you. Putin probably knows this and wants to be remembered as Putin The Terrible as much as Putin The Great.
I don't think the selection of the "Z" was as arbitrary as most people seem to think. I stumbled across some archived film sometimes ago of Russian tanks and trucks entering kiev in WW II with the "Z" painted on them. The people were cheering their arrival. Back then, it probably was just a marking identifying an army group; but, it seems they were intentionally invoking that symbolism that has roots in fighting the real nazi in kiev. The documentary is on youtube somewhere, but I have not been able to find it again. It was just a few seconds, in a much longer documentary.
I don't buy this Western "emotional" propaganda. I am smart enough to see through it and understand there is something much deeper going on. It looked like different wars were going on due to hatred of Russians and Slavs in general. So it wasn't just about Russia liberating the East and South of Ukraine. This is the collective west USING AND ABUSING UKRAINE. Instead of pushing for peace and negotiations like normal people would they push for destruction.
I would like to heavily disagree with your point that “the repressions in Russia are minor”. There are no news outlets left that can be repressesed, people who talk about politics in any alternative key get put into jail or let to escape overseas. One blogger is just scratching the surface of the police state.
One thing I found very telling was when the EU instituted it's latest round of sanctions against Russia, Putin ordered the government to dream up counter measures. I thought to myself that if this was America the Congress would have already had the response ready, or a couple of different responses ready to go! The different political actors in Congress would have worked independently as soon as the war started. In Russia Putin had to order this personally before anyone acted. I have to say it really made me wonder if anyone actually thinks about policy anymore apart from Putin himself, he must be mentally exhausted by now.
The people currently in Russian politics came there not to make policies, but to make money for themselves and to make some impression of work being done. And that's not a bug, but a feature of Putin's HR strategy. When you move everyone that express opposing opinions of the table, in the end you are left with only those who don't have their own opinions, and are ready to execute anything you say in order to keep their chairs and cash flows
I dont agree, how can you prepare the response in advance? There was too much uncertainty. The West imposed sanctions , but we all know how they started to lift them afterwards. So I dont see any value preparing countermeasures in advance. Actually, Russia didnt impose any severe sanctions, it is open for trade. So again, thinking of that in advance was pointless for Russia.
I've only just found your channel Vlad. This is an amazing break down, Subscribed and keen for more. It's often very hard to find great content with a more academic approach amongst all the clickbait & arm chair experts.
Welcome on board! This is the fourth of my post war break downs. I wish they weren’t needed. I wrap the videos a little bit like candy, but inside I serve green vegetables.
The Z takes me back to reading the Belgian artist Hergè's 'TinTin' comics in my youth. There is one comic book where TinTin helps take down a fascist regime using 'Z' as its symbol. A fine piece of art, and well worth reading.
@@VladVexler I've been watching all your compelling video's this weekend and experiencing the same sense of truth and complex physiological realties, being voiced and explained, as I did whilst watching all Adam Curtis's film documentaries. Will watch them all again to better absorb the content.
Less then a minute in and I need to thank you, and subscribed. I rarely have these conversations with people because of what you just described. Too often they are only interested in labelling things they don't like with a single piece of terminology, as if to say 'these are all equally bad.' It turns some very powerful political concepts into nothing but hollow insults... and what use is that in any conversation?
Not only is that of no use, it makes it harder, in general, to have those deeper discussions. ...If I say something is fascism, it's because I read up on what fascism is, and can provide a source for that. People who use it incorrectly make that look illegitimate.
Thank you Vlad! The symbolic Z is dark, not even a Cyrillic letter, BUT indeed, a literal skewed half of a swastika, although reverse chirality. I read some have been calling it a zwastika. 07:15 Russian propaganda and the symbol Z
About the Z thing. In public places (like subway, bus stations) they use this like "Zа наших" (= for our people), "Zа детей, Zа Донбасс" (=for kids, for Donbass). So, mostly it is still presented to public like the fight for smth good, for saving people that are under the alleged threat. This is done by officials/subway administration etc. In the video there was a moment with this Z letter on someone's door. That is another context: that's to threat oppositioners. There it is used more agressively, closer to the way you described it. This is done by unknown people and officials, police do not take responsibility for that. And people who watch propaganda often do not even know about this cases, so stil for them Z is more about saving people etc. Nevertheless, worth mentioning, it is a very rare case when you can see Z in Moscow or Saint-Petersrburg outside public places, where it was put by officials. That is, unfortunately, very different in some regions, especially, from which they are more people in army.
It is difficult to analyse fascism in general and Putin's regime in particular because of their disregard for the representational/referential function of language. Putin and his clique, like fascists and communists before them, use language solely as a tool of persuasion to achieve certain political aim rather than describing things as they really are. They treat propaganda as a weapon and use it to such a degree that they themselves start to believe it and then make decisions which seem absurd to external observers. Western leaders often insist on talking to Russians but Russians have no problem with saying one thing and doing the opposite. This phenomenon was described by Klemperer in "Lingua Tertii Imperii" and Orwell in "1984" and his essays. Russians who lived under communism are well acquainted with the disconnection between the world and its official representation.
In the end, us russians know how to break ourselves from the fashisht 'novoyaz' grip - and not just 'russians', but every ethnic group in Russia. Most of us know quit good that government rhetoric is merely a tool, and perfectly capable of seeing beoynd it and ridicule it. It was shown quit well by Benedict Sarnov in "Our soviet novoyz". The real problem is the lack of the very resources and institutions to act against the government AND the fear of another war that would be started by the West. Vlad is incorrect in just one thing - not ALL institutions were leveled after USSR collapsed. KGB-FSB was largely intact and it had only confused russians, who had no knowledge of how a democratic country should work, to deal with. And it was quite easy to convince masses about hostile NATO intentions, cause, well... NATO did everything to help Putin paint it so. So at this point many russians, tatars, chechens, ingushs etc will stand by Putin and PRETENT to believe the propaganda just in fear of West.
@@robinpage2730 to be fair, even scientists believed RBMK reactors physically cant explode by design. my favorite line from the show is "The official position of the state is that global nuclear catastrophe is not possible in the Soviet Union." this is the MO of hard communism - reality (both current events and historical) needs to be brought in line with ideology.
@@guguigugu exactly. I say this as a Socialist myself, for all their talk of "scientific socialism", they were as unscientific as it gets. If it were truly scientific, ideology would constantly strive to bring itself in line with reality. Reality is the enemy of all dictatorship.
I am so glad you started by wanting to define the labels that are used in this war. Fascist, Nazi, racist are all meaningless labels that people use as a means of denigrating others, or as a means to describe others; so " the government in Kiev is controlled by Nazis" , is totally meaningless. The logic of what you say is so much clearer than that of the pundits we get in London or Washington, especially as most of them do not speak Russian. Keep up the great work Vlad.
Brillant analysis as always. So sad, so disillusioning, but still very very insightful. Somehow understanding this complex and amorpheus Russian situation, makes it less frightening. Or does it?
Few thousands people forcefully moved to Russian cities from Mariupol this week. Same as my ancestors during the WW2 in Hungary … you are missing that point, in WW2, Nazis forcefully moved people as well.
I would never have equated Trump with Facism!? A nationalism associated with "Make America Great Again" perhaps. Who can deny a people with a need/want to improve their lot?
I appreciate your dislike of using the term fascist to refer to anything except that which used the term for itself: the Italian Fascist party. My recollection is that the Nazis themselves did not refer to themselves as fascists, though Hitler's influence into the evolution of Nazism was very much influenced by Mussolini's successful Fascist party in Italy. In my opinion the value of calling various emergent forms of totalitarianism, or despotism "facsist" as if it is a sufficiently generalized term is overshadowed by the costs of all the erroneous baggage which gets brought along with it. English is a rich language and there are plenty of other languages to borrow from. I argue we should stop being so stingy with these rich vocabularies at our disposal. The Ukrainian propaganda folks have apparently explored the creation of a new term "Ruscist," but this I fear threatens to be too obscure. Why don't we just call the Putin regime what it is: a murderous, ethno-supremacist, irredentist dictatorship, or simply an autocracy for short.
Man, frankly, it s not Putin' Gone Fascist it's russian people gone fascist. If you a russian and you against major russian politics than you an exception (from Moldova)
Mr. Vexler, I have to watch your videos in small bunches. I become too anxious for more than that. Living alone as I do, and being elderly, I've discovered in these fraught times that I can't handle life, anymore. I don't mean I'm suicidal, I only mean I must ration my fear-handling powers. I must have at least some left for the few years ahead.
Please do self protect and go gently. The last two videos on the channel are less dark, and contain love and hope. I have been covering broad philosophical and prolifically questions around the war and I am sorry that this has been confronting content.
Before the war I adored watching western video essays on different philosophical themes. After the begging of the war I could only watch the videos of our political commentators from the opposition about the war. But now I found out this channel and can watch my favourite kind of content about the only theme that seems important to me now. Thank you a lot, it sounds strange, but this channel brings me back the feeling of normality from my previous life 😹
To have five different definitions of fascism hardly seems useful to me. Otherwise thought provoking. When does the escalation of oppression become a problem for those who thought they could get by just keeping their heads down? How will they react? And how weak is the regime?
Worst part of the video but it was still great. There simply is sub-types of Facism. An example: A Type of Authoritarianism is Totalitarianism. The latter can't exist without the former.
Another excellent video! I hadn't realised he was practically quoting Adolf Hitler & I haven't heard anyone else bring this point to light. Thank You 👌
It's the third time I've listened to this video, I'm very intrigued by the concept of pointillistic fascism but I struggle to understand it. In fact, observing modern Russia from the outside, I tend to see in it all the characteristics of classical political totalitarianism (considering that for me fascism and communism are two branches of the same Eghelian tree): the transformation of the individual into a cell of the collective body ( class, nation, ethnicity) moved by a general will (Rousseau). But this new totalitarianism is also very postmodern because it replaces the old atheism with a vague spiritualism (I could say new age) in which the old Christian orthodoxy _ always bowing to political power _ is mixed with some theosophy based on the cult of race (Ukrainians are racially Russian who must return Russians). Yes, I believe that in Putin's philosophy there is at least a part of Dugin's philosophy. But maybe I'm wrong so I would like to understand. Mr. Vlad, did you by any chance write an article on this pointillistic fascism? And May I ask you what you fino about the link between Putin and Dugin? Thai you.
As European citicens we must agree in one thing, and it is that we can not let Putin get away with this. No matter the cost. The sooner we can help Ukraine to end this war the better. The alternative is that no one is safe Fascism got no place in Europe so could our leaders please step it up a bit with weapon deliverys to Ukraine.
Just came across your video. Thanks for your explanation. I have empirically worked out this my self but didn't have the background or words to explan the parallels that seemed so obvious to me. I have a questions though. Why do so many on the left of politics feel the need to justify, or become apologists for putins crimes still. He is so far right he is fascist. I see extreme left activist and extreme right activists throwing there ignorance and suport behind putin it like they are blind. Is it as simple as dont bit the hand that feeds you. Are has putin been able to play both sides
Dude, you got me when you explained the semantic transformation of the letter Z into a swastika. There is another sign that we should include in the magic binoculars that can easily transform into a swastika, and that is the NUMBER 7. God save us from this transformation, when the 4 horsemen of the 7 knights will unite into a multiplier and in the union of the sum, into an algoritmus of ones and zeros will lead to the tyranny of humanity. Waiting for more profound analyses from the spheres and levels of symbolism. May the Almighty be with us, brother!
This is a good analysis. But you fail to mention how religion plays a role in the Russian psyche, and how the Putin regime exploits this to his advantage, both as a basis for Nationalism, and as a recruitment tool for assembling his army. I don't believe that any assessment of Nationalism or Totalitarianism can draw honest conclusions without acknowledging the role that religion plays in manipulating a population. Religion so often gets a free pass because recognition of the evil that can be achieved through religious identity might offend some people's sensibilities. Or there might be a perception that religion plays a role to some degree, but it is far overshadowed by other social and political factors. I think that this view is naive and incorrect. Religion as a tool of the state is one of the most powerful weapons in a dictator's toolkit. And that applies here as well. We must never, ever forget the atrocities that are committed in the name of religion, or at minimum, with a sense of religious moral duty. "If you can make people believe absurdities, you can get them to commit atrocities."
Thank you Vlad for the informational discomfort. Glad that I found your videos. When the food shelves gape empty in the Russian stores by summer and unemployment is at its peak the Russian population will probably rise up against the regime. It will not be out of solidarity with the population of Ukrain. The need for basic survival will drive the passive, non political and fearful population to uprising when they have nothing else to loose. The problem is that Putin probably will by then escalate and attack a Nato bordering country and a world war starts. I am aware and see the patterns of the escalation. Just hope I am wrong...
interesting, I came to similar conclusions to those in these videos, starting with a comment from a Russian linguist who was studying Spanish. She touched on the problem of infinitives and the verbs "ser" and "estar" (be) in Russian. russians cannot be (ser), let alone be in peace (estar "en paz"), nor they can' imagine let ti be. with these shortcomings, fascism or any totalitarian system is an imperative of the limitations of its language, after a systemic analysis.
I've considered parallels to Hitler for some time now, the concepts of lebensraum for an Aryan civilisation played out in the annexation of land where 'ethnic Germans' lived (Anschluss, Sudetenland etc) - the pretext that these ethnic Germans were being marginalised or victimised - This is mirrored with Putin's ideology of Pan-Slavism, that there is no genuine Ukrainian nation state, that its peoples are Russian and ought to be part of a greater Russia. The pretexts are very similar; the accusation that ethnic Russians are being persecuted, oppressed or directly attacked, the solution being recognition then annexation by force. Of course, as you alluded to, there are more direct parallels with Hitlers ideologies, however, it's also evident that Putin retains a deep anger concerning the loss of land when the Soviet Union collapsed, that he wants it back (even though historically (prior to the USSR), it was never Russian land anyway). A latter day imperialism so to speak.
Yeah, but the authoritative comparation goes even further if we keep in mind the annexation of Poland by Germany and Soviet Union, with the exact same pretext. Tbh is a shame that so many people prefer turning a blind eye, instead of looking at this awful regime and see what is actually doing :b
@@thewizardcat9934 I agree and the overwhelming irony is Putin's declaration of 'de-Nazification' in Ukraine when Russia is behaving like Nazi Germany, even adopting the symbol 'Z' which in effect, is a latter day Swastika.
I am not a philosopher or deep thinker, and although I am no expert I am interested in Russia and Ukraine and the current situation, but this speech exactly this one is what makes me think of Putin as a fascist (of course add to this the imperialism, cult to leader, belicism, the slogan "Russia has no borders"... However, it is not necessary to compare somebody to Hitler or a Nazis to claim that someone is a fascits, because Nazi germany had an extra "evil" component which is the ethnic cleansing, Putin proposes a social cleansing (which is fascist enough) so all Russians have the Same thought ideology and spirit
Pleasure. We in the west don't take enough care to understand what it means to be a citizen. And what citizenship is as a form of belonging. This gets lot in extreme identity politics.
When someone said "Russia" i have never ever seen picturesque landscapes. I've seen holodomor, i've seen soviet "liberators" in 1945 wearing several watches on each arm. I've seen brutal invasion of Hungary in 1956 and i've seen asians on tanks near Charles' bridge in 1968 Prague, who were pointing at Prague Castle, shouting "Reichstag". Pictoresque landscapes my ass. Russia is its people first.
Yeah, after watching and going backwards in time 5 videos I traveled six month in the past and can say, yes Putin can do mobilisation. 😂 So we have also the historic faschism…now play the song „history is repeating“ Propellerheads and Shirley Bassey? I think You know what I mean ;) But I really would like to hear a answer on the question: What helps ending the war faster and destabilizing Putin and Russia: Letting all Russian men fleeing from recruitment over the border, or closing the borders and hope this leads to a boiling over in Russia? I am really curious about Your point of view on this. Greez from Germany by somebody that grew up behind romanian iron curtain.
Best analysis I've seen so far of the situation. Subbed. I largely agree with a lot of what you said. Two exceptions: 1. I see little material difference between fascism and communism. I think this is why they hated each other so much, they were so similar. 2. Nazi genocide was limited to minorities, the largest group being the Jews (6 million), if you exclude the Russians gentile civilians (12-16 million) targeted by Einsatzgruppen and Wehrmacht actions and the treatment of Russian POWs (3 million). Putin is threatening thermonuclear war which could result in hundreds of millions of lives lost, if not billions.
Fascist has a very definite meaning. But it has now been diluted to mean totalitarian. Vlad does point out that Putin really isn't THAT fascist. Remember Marx said, "accuse your opponents of what you are doing." Remember that when you hear Fascism bandied about here in America.
As always very interesting. Congratulations on everything you do here. If Ilyn is not the ultimate guide of Putin's world view how deep is the influence of Alexandr Dugin in it? Love to ear your insights into this.
Nah, he was still LARP-ing here. Packing all the fascist crap you can remember in one speech --- what could possibly be more hilarious? But with the benefit of hindsight, we know consequences will start to get to him.
I would say Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin is acting more like Imperial Japan than Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy. Since Putin is an ultranationalist somewhat of a militerist and still has to answer to the oligarchs in some degree. But of course Imperial Japan was somewhat of a Fascist country as well. Though they were more of a military dictatorship. Which Putin can do in Russia. Basically he's a mix of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan.
Yes, Putin’s regime is fascist, but the definition of fascism is “national syndicalism with the philosophy of actualism” e.i. Socialism based on nationality, a national state. TIK does a great research on this topic in his videos. And this is what you call a historical definition of fascism. Every other symptoms of fascism like mass mobilization etc. are irrelevant for the definition of fascism. If we see a person that promotes state control, especially in the field of economy, powerful leader and has nationalistic rhetoric, you know that this person is fascist even if he doesn’t call himself this way. In Russia we see deep state interference in the market, the main sources of income for Russia are state controlled (oil and gas), which means that Russia has socialism, BUT Putin’s recent speeches are what made this socialism into fascism
Thank you Vlad for a wonderful introduction to the mess we are in! I just got Vlad's videos. Why we do not hear more of him? and sooner? With the increasing violence seen in our country, many of us feel the urgency to common sense and uncover the veil imposed by the media and politicians. I pledge to pass these videos to my network but feel it may not be enough.
The problem is... you wouldn't know if Putin'd kill Jews in concentration camps. You see... we have got to know these crimes after the WW2 not before. It's possible that Putin doing unbelievable crimes, if invading Ukraine is not enough already for one.
WATCH NEXT in this series:
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The REAL reason Putin might start a nuclear war
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Good super early morning from Singapore.... Hope you are alright.
Thank you, Vlad.
'It looks like he's bombing his own people' ... exactly my thoughts, if he's willing to do that to his own people or at least very similar people culturally what is that guy prepared to do to people who have little to do with his own domestic culture.
Stop posting about putin... Talk about this th-cam.com/video/qA29_IzBnGQ/w-d-xo.html you bastard!!!!
What about the Oligarchy distrust of Putin ?
Could this be the beginning of a internal struggle as well ?
"This symbol stands for the joy of doing bad things."
You encapsulated the Russian z so perfectly.
@ Paola Grando
From your comment, the German word *schadenfreude* comes to mind.
Yes indeed, I had exactly the same thoughts about Vladolf Putler's invading orcs and ZZZombie bots overflowing many so comment sections
Gleeful SadiZm
@@GeorgiaDawgAthens Not at all. Schadenfreude is not malicious. It's more like "serves them right" in case that sentiment is actually deserved. Furthermore, it's passive in nature. You feel Schadenfreude when something happens to someone, most often without you being involved.
People should remember that for fascism and the fascist, cruelty is often the point. The fascists are the spiritually weakest among us, and I don't mean in a religious sense. They are the relics of a more primitive state of mankind, and the enemies of any successful and flourishing civilization.
What is sad, is that a good portion of people, maybe even up to 30%, are inherently drawn to fascism and would be incredibly dangerous for the rest if allowed to gain power.
They are the enemy of humankind, because their ideological vision is based on always finding new enemies to destroy. They don't understand cooperation, empathy, they do not care for building great systems that benefit humankind and the world, they only understand power through destruction. This is the greatest flaw in their ideological vision, because they will start with destroying one group, and if successful, be forced to move on to the other group, and then the other, and another, until they are forced to turn on themselves and destroy each other. They bring about the downfall of everybody eventually. This constant destruction and cruelty only fuels them more. That is how the weak-minded operate, fueled by their compulsive fetish for violence and misery. They should have no place in a civilized society.
Dude, exactly. I didn't take the "Putin is fascist" that seriously until i heard him say those specific words. But after that, anyone still denying it has to be in complete cognitive dissonance.
He is reformatting the state from authoritarianism toward totalitarian features, we need to see how far this goes.
I agree. After this speech, the Fascist bent in Putin became obvious, undeniable, a matter for explanation rather than speculation.
Shut up liberal if you didn't force your ideals and threaten russia
Agreed/ A person who denies this reality is being either disingenuous or naiive.
The whole video is an explanation of what the fascism is, and a mediocre at that, since in the end he boils it all down to "if they have "the enemy" then it's fascism. And I am pretty sure there is not a single nation that it DOESN'T apply to.
Not to mention that, apart from citations in the beggining, nothing particular is said about Russia. If you are claiming that you are explaning, then explain it. The video barely touches specifically on why Russia is a fascist country.
Many things I agree on like that Russian citizens aren't behaving like citizens, but.... He didn't really say much to comment on.
Finally, a political analyst who is actually literate in political theory.
Trying to find one on TH-cam who isn’t a rock-stupid shock jockey or a grifter is like dying of thirst in the desert.
Thank you
Golden
Clearly because you're totally able to discern them. I don't understand why you yourself isn't explaining things instead of looking for a channel. You're such a genius.
@@suprememasteroftheuniverse Ok bro
Damn spot on analogy 😁🤣
A growing number of Russian analysts, in Russia and abroad, have taken to calling Vladimir Putin's regime "fascist." And they don't use the term casually or as a form of opprobrium. They mean that Putin's Russia genuinely resembles Mussolini's Italy or Hitler's Germany.
One of the most recent examples was Mikhail Iampolski. According to the Russian-born NYU professor, "the appeal of quasi-fascist discourse was predictable" as the Russian economy tanked. Moscow rejects "[a]nything that could be seen as a sign of weakness or femininity," including liberalism and homosexuality, and then projects these qualities onto the enemy. Consequently, "Ukrainians are systematically accused of fascism, while Russian fascism is displaced by a false idealization of one's own image."
In March, Moscow commentator Yevgeni Ikhlov charged Putin with introducing a "left fascism" that, while "anti-market and quasi-collectivist," is "fascism because it is a form of a militant and most primitive philistinism." In January 2015, Andrei Zubov, fired from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations for opposing Putin's Ukraine policies, argued that Russia's President was building "a corporate state of a fascist type packaged in Soviet ideology, the ideology of Stalinism," resulting in a Russia that closely resembles Italian fascism with its "nationalism and union with the church." Moscow-based analyst Aleksei Shiropaiev claimed that Russia was moving toward fascism "at a galloping pace." Russian fascism "has become a FACT," "mass Russian consciousness remains absolutely imperialist and chauvinist," and most Russians have "ACCEPTED fascination and are ready to agree to even massive political repressions."
But are the analysts right? The evidence is compelling. Fascist regimes have charismatic dictators with hyper-masculine personality cults. These regimes generally evince a hyper-nationalist ethos, a cult of violence, mass mobilization of youth, high levels of repression, powerful propaganda machines, and imperialist projects. Fascist regimes are hugely popular-usually because the charismatic leader appeals to broad sectors of the population. Putin and his Russia fit the bill perfectly.
In calling Putin's Russia fascist, Russian critics have proven to be far bolder than their non-Russian counterparts in the West, who remain wary about the F-word. Some Westerners genuinely believe that Putin's brand of dictatorship differs from past fascist regimes. They often locate the differences in the historical conditions that gave rise to Hitler, Mussolini, and Putin, and not in the actual characteristics of their regimes. But doing so confuses the origins of similar things with their essential features. No one would say that America is not democratic because the origins of American democracy lay in revolution and not, as with Britain, in historical evolution.
But many Westerners fear the implications of calling a spade a spade. If Putin's Russia is fascist, then it is comparable to Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy and, thus, certifiably evil. And that means that calls for understanding Putin amount to calls for understanding evil. So it's better to pretend that Russia isn't fascist. Hence the popularity of abstruse designations like managed democracy and sovereign democracy or terms-such as Putinism-that only state the obvious.
A similar conceptual change is likely to take place with fascism. As the chorus of Russian voices using the F-word grows, Western policymakers who insist that we should listen to Putin and understand his point of view will have no choice but to listen to and understand his critics.
Calling Putin's system fascist will mark a conceptual breakthrough in Western attitudes-and perhaps policies-toward Russia. Viewing his state as evil does not necessitate rattling sabers.
Soft power and diplomacy will remain no less important than hard power.
But the conceptual shift would recognize that Putin and his regime are the problem, and that the problem will go away only when he and his regime go away. In a word, there are no quick fixes to the Putin problem. The West is in for a long, hard slog involving economic and military support for Ukraine and its neighbors, the containment of Russian imperialism, and support for anti-fascist elements within Russia. The good news is that, now as then, democracy will win.
According to the famous historian Norman Davies, fascism, like communism, Putinisem, Nazissem , fascist ect ect can be defined by the following features:
* A pseudo-scientific conceptual basis (the believe of Russian 3rd Rom )
* A utopian goal (the Russiki Mir and Russians domains of a new Russian world )
* A structure of a party-state (the restructure of the USSR borders centralized power into the hands of the kremlin under one leader Mr PUTIN himself )
* An autocratic leadership that demands complete devotion (Putinisem ideology )
* Pervasive use of terror to prevent and eradicate dissent ( Going after to destroy /neutralize anyone and/or anything national within Russia and internationally out side of Russia East Ukraine , SyrIa Chechnya, Moldova , Georgia, ect ect )
* Extensive and complex bureaucracy ( Using tax office in a selective way to take out personal opponents of Putins Regime and putting control to manhandle the and banking and business community )
* State propaganda and censorship (RT-News ect ect and othe KREMLIN controlled media using force and pressure turning them into mouthpieces for Putins regimes own agenda )
* Martial culture and aesthetics of force (The state and Russian belief in ethnic Russian superiority and of Russian historical culture)
* Purposely induced fear of the ever-present external enemy (use state service like FSB, GRU , media to intimidate and scare ppl. about the dangers from the west like NATO , US ect ect )
* Mentality of hate and intolerance (Anti other ethnic groups likeUkrainians, Muslims, Tatars , Kazakhstanis and others ect ect )
* Economic and mental collectivism (Putin has vast control over the gas and oil sectors and uses it as a political tool )
* Militarism (Rebuilding and promoting and using Military to attack and subdue the people like in the caucasus Chechnya ect ect )
* Messianism (Putin the half naked hours reading and bear wrestling superman is definitely believed by Russians to be a type of messiah, who acts as a savior, redeemer or liberator of a group of people.
* Contempt for liberal democracy and values (Putins regime is anti LGBT.anti democracy Anti free press Anti free expression of art just look at-PussyRiot-and- Anna Politkovskaya ect ect )
* Moral nihilism ( is the meta-ethical view that nothing is intrinsically moral or immoral take a look how Russia lies about invading other nations and killing civilians and support of terrorism, and then turn AROUND and say that it was to defend the good and freedoms of Russia there it acted in its selfdefense becouse of external pressure for outside force gave them no other choice )
Clearly all of those are also characteristics of the Putin regime. Today in Russia, President Putin has the unquestionable control over Parliament, Government, courts, media and the most profitable sectors of the country's economy.
So, we have every reason to declare that modern Russia is in fact, an authoritarian fascist state with the genuine fascist elements, most prominently - the oppressive nature, the militarization of society, strict control over the mass media and complete disregard to human life
And, as always, fascism comes from the authoritarian LEFT; not the right.
@@zeuso.1947 The concept of a “far left” that is opposed to a “far right” is false.
The systems placed on the two ends of that spectrum, including socialism, fascism, and Nazism, are all rooted in communism. And all of them share beliefs in core communist concepts, including state collectivism, planned economies, and class struggle.
All of them were merely different interpretations of Marxism, and played heavily in global politics just after World War I, at a time when the ideas of Karl Marx failed to materialize and communists had gone back to the drawing board.
Before we get into the history of these divergent systems, however, we first need to understand the rift between socialism and communism.
Socialism was described in Marx’s theory of the five stages of civilization.
After he helped frame the concept of “capitalism” as a society in which people are able to trade freely, he proposed that after capitalism would come the stage of “socialism,” followed by “communism.”
Socialism was the stage that Vladimir Lenin described as the “state-capitalist monopoly,” in which a dictatorship has seized control of all means of production.
The idea was that a communist regime would use the absolute power of the socialist “dictatorship of the proletariat” to destroy all values, all religion, all institutions, and all traditions-which would theoretically lead to the communist “utopia.”
In other words, socialism is the political system, and communism is the ideological goal.
This is why followers of communism argue that “true communism” has never been achieved. The system has thus far failed to utterly destroy human morals and beliefs, although it has taken the lives of more than 100 million people over the last 100 years.
“Before the Russian Revolution of 1917, ‘socialism’ and ‘communism’ were synonyms,” this was stated by Bryan Caplan an associate professor of economics at George Mason University, states in the chapter on communism in “The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.”
“Both socialism’ and ‘communism referred to economic systems in which the government owns the means of production,” Caplan states. “The two terms diverged in meaning largely as a result of the political theory and practice of Vladimir Lenin.”
Of course, the failings of Marx’s predictions is also what gave rise to the many interpretations of communism that emerged following World War I. These included Leninism, fascism, and Nazism.
As the world boiled in the turmoil that led to World War I between 1914 and 1918, many communists looked to the words of Marx, who in the 1848 “Communist Manifesto” said, “Workers of the world, unite.”
Yet, the workers of the world did not unite-at least not how Marx envisioned it. Instead of rallying behind communism, they largely rallied behind their respective kings, government, nations and countries. (their own nations national interest if you will ) and In addition, the livelihood of workers became better under capitalism, as opposed to Marx’s predictions that it would become worse. Then, when the communist revolution did happen, it did not happen in the “late-stage capitalist” societies which at the time were Britain and Germany, (nations doing well ) but instead in Russia a nation doing very badly economy at the time.
And instead of the Bolshevik Revolution being the “proletariat” against the “bourgeoisie,” as Marx predicted, it was the military and intelligentsia against the feudal Russian tsarist system.
The series of events largely disproved Marx’s predictions, and it sent communists of the time back to the drawing board, as was noted by bestselling author Dinesh D’Souza in his book “The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left.”
After Lenin, the next communist revisionist to take the world stage was Benito Mussolini, (yes Mussolini was a marxist communist before he started Fascism ) who took from World War I the lesson that nationalism was more uniting than the idea of a worker’s revolution. He thus revised Marxism into his new system of fascism, using the collectivist principle of “fasci,” which refers to a bundle of sticks reinforcing the handle of an ax.
Mussolini explained his concept in his 1928 autobiography, in which he states, “The citizen in the Fascist State is no longer a selfish individual who has the anti-social right of rebelling against any law of the Collectivity.”
(sounds just like marxism becouse it is.. it is a Collectivity centralization of power and the means of production )
According to “Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime” by Richard Pipes, “No prominent European socialist before World War I resembled Lenin more closely than Benito Mussolini. Like Lenin, he headed the anti -revisionist wing of the country’s Socialist Party; like him, he believed that the worker was not by nature a revolutionary and had to be prodded to radical action by an intellectual elite.”
Then soon after, Adolph Hitler emerged with his re-branded socialist system under the banner of “national socialism.” (German: Nationalsozialismus), more commonly known as Nazism (/ˈnɑːtsiɪzəm, ˈnæt-/), is the ideology and practices associated with the Nazi Party-officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP))
Taking advantage of the fact that the German people had been divided by new national borders established by the armistice, Hitler used identity politics (like the left still do today ) to rally his followers.
The policies of the Nazi Party followed the communist model, and the 25-point program included universal free health care and education, nationalization of large corporations and trusts, government control of banking and credit, the splitting of large landholdings into smaller units, and similar policies.
In addition, “Mussolini and Hitler both identified socialism as the core of the fascist and Nazi Weltanschauung [way of life].
Mussolini was the leading figure of Italian revolutionary socialism and never relinquished his allegiance to it. Hitler’s party defined itself as championing ‘national socialism.'” ( National Socialist German Workers' Party )
Like all other communist ideologues, Hitler was also viciously opposed to the traditional capitalist system. Just as Lenin blamed wealthy farmers, and Mao Zedong blamed landlords, Hitler transferred blame to a single group of people-the Jews.
As “Nazi anti-Semitism grew out of Hitler’s hatred for capitalism. Hitler draws a crucial distinction between productive capitalism, which he can abide, and finance capitalism, which he associates with the Jews.” (and therefore he is disliking of what he called the international jewish bankers )
The conflict that later took place between the various systems during World War II was not a battle of opposite ideologies, but instead a fight over which interpretation of communism would prevail.
According to “The Road to Serfdom” by F.A. Hayek, “The conflict between the fascist or national-socialist and the older socialist parties must indeed very largely be regarded as the kind of conflict which is bound to arise between rival socialist factions.”
We can thank historical revisionism and plenty of mental gymnastics for the current narrative that socialism is somehow separate from Nazism and fascism and, even more so, the belief that these concepts are somehow divorced from their communist origins.
We can attributes this narrative shift to what Sigmund Freud called “transference,” based on his idea that people who commit terrible acts often transfer blame onto others, accusing others, including their victims, of being what they, themselves, are.
I was waiting for Chechnia and Georgia to be mentioned, thank you for that. Those were the first steps of pootlers imperialistic expansion, which got no significant reaction from Western democracies, and now we have the results.
It is so strange looking in at a country that suffered so horribly at the hands of fascists and communists alike and inflicted suffering and imperialism on others slide over the years into the very thing they fought to destroy.
@@jimjonsen1591 I do see a single difference between the authoritarian far left and the authoritarian far right, and it is all about hating the immutable characteristics of human beings, in other words explicit racism. Which also means someone can change their opinion about that one thing ("group X is not bad merely because of their culture, but because of their genetics") and instantly go from one extreme to the so-called 'other' extreme.
I grew up in the beggining of this millenium in a distant Russian village. When I was a kid, I loved books on history. I always deemed myself living on the outskirts of a great empire that collapsed, sort of like a Roman boy who was living 50 years or so after Rome fell. This video just reminded me of that.
. . . well, Russia hasn't fallen yet completely (like Germany in 1945), but unfortunately it is on best (worst) way to do so . . .
It's profound to me to hear this and try to imagine this feeling. Sometimes I expect to see my own country that way, but I always just accept it looking a little worse for wear, fraying at the seams perhaps in some places, and say it's me that fails to see it as the same country I left, not that the country has changed or simply fallen.
But maybe liberal democracies are just empires which periodically collapse into themselves when the public is sufficiently disgusted and votes for the devil, in some form or another. Then perhaps a cultural revolution of some kind before we dust ourselves off and claim to be number one again.
I'm not even certain any longer, that autocratic government forms are necessarily more harmful than democratic ones in the long term sense, nor that they are more vulnerable to having a terrible leader take charge because well. Ahem... 2016 party conventions and elections in the US? A clear example where in some sense, party politics (both major parties) restricted voter liberty to such an extent that it really wasn't represented at all. Both major candidates were regardless of merit of either, shoe-horned into the nomination in one sense or another, through an entirely non-democratic process (in the Republican convention case, caucus votes were ignored and shadow caucus votes completely forbidden, among other serious irregularities in procedure by which the Republican candidate was elected, in the democratic case it appears more a question of an elite simply picking a candidate outright and channeling all support into that candidate.)
Perhaps that's something I can look back on and see as "fallen." The idea that while a country mucks with the government of other nations will-ye-nil-ye, its own political processes should be transparent and pristine. Now I know that this was pure fantasy all along even though I sometimes found myself ready to believe it if only for a little while. I should have known - in four consecutive elections someone (an agent of a political party) denounced me as "perhaps not a real citizen" stripping me of my right to vote until I could prove otherwise. Disenfranchisement, is the common name for this practice, and it is generally something you learn about the day before you planned to vote, with a court hearing planned for some difficult hour (7:15AM Tuesday morning in a major district courthouse in a major metropolitan area? You should expect to wait a very, very long time to see a judge.... you may be there all day.)
This is how I personally lost all alignment with my country. It became evident that successive governments of both parties didn't want me as citizen, so I left.
@@cemacmillan I can't say yes or no to your theory that some autocratic forms are equally or less harmful than liberal democratic ones. I just know, that my government is a very vicious one, and cannot be altered unless completely toppled. I can understand why you left your country, but I don't know whether there's another one, with a better system than yours. Probably yes. Wherever you look, there's a mess. I'm sorry to hear that you felt left out by the two parties. By the way, why aren't there more? I believe that people in your country don't just strictly fit into a red or a blue box. I also left my country when I realized that people like me are only going to be persecuted and punished for not hailing the great leader. In my country loving your country means loving its leader. If, god forbid, you ask for protection, you're going to be punished even more. I once spent three days in detention because I dared to complain about police brutality. There's a 99% chance you will lose in a court. If you register a political party, you'll be threatened and your office will be constantly vandalized. So I left, because I cannot tolerate this anymore. And after this war started and I saw everyone slowly turning into fascists just out of conformity, I realized I never am going back.
@@nekogato8990 Yes. I don't meant to compare my own disenfranchisement to your experience or that of anyone who is has state violence, or the menace of same pointed at them in an imminent way.
There are horrors in this world which I know only from testimonials, but I know they are real.
Indeed, 2016 did make a lot of people further consider the implications of blue/red. Unfortunately this happened during a social chill, when voices critical of that election were being told STFU and get back into the streets working the blocks, so it doesn't happen again.
Later events (Jan 6) and very a very unusual judiciary composition will probably ensure that nothing whatsoever comes of it. Even if certain individuals are successfully punished and stripped of political rights, the last few elections there are signs of what is now possible against a field of popular will so polarized by largely meaningless identity politics.
I'm thinking of something T. Adorno says about "mass media", then an emerging concept for most people, being the "Wurlitzer of the state." He meant presumably for the old organ's characteristic of imitating other instrument sounds and creating the illusion of the orchestra (my opinion.)
Here we are all equalized to some degree by media ownership and control. Sometimes we are lucky and have variety of information sources due to alignment of these sources with popular will and or the state. Other times, we have to puzzle through what might be propaganda or destabilization and disinformation from any party in the conflict, for reasons we cannot even fathom. :(
I'm glad to hear you have found some sort of sanctuary in exile as well.
@@carmenschumann826 in my opinion, it’s a walking corpse already. The quality is, what will come out of it.
That a single man going mad might compromise a whole nation is one of the biggest weaknesses of authoritarian regimes.
The whole world!
He s compromising the whole world.
What I hate is how clearly stupid or insane people are allowed to have power.
Why do men in office let these people through like Trump and Hitler? One was declared insane by all tests and stupid by his best general. And Trump has a legacy of failing businesses and not holding his end of agreements while not knowing why the US has troops stationed at the Korean border or even knew what a union was even after Merkel tried to explain it to him 11 times.
How would anyone ever vouch or encourage such a man to have any authority?
It's not just one man, I'd say. There's a group behind Putin ready to take charge. It didn't start, and doesn't end with Putin.
Your videos are by far the best explanations I have come across regarding Putin and Ukraine, so insightful (albeit quite anxiety inducing, but then again we live in extraordinarily anxious times). You putting in that deep bass sound when you highlight a main point is a really nice touch.
I edited this too quickly and one of the background sounds turned out to be very grating! I do think that our aim is not anxiety but a kind of informed discomfort. Thanks so much for your kind words.
@@VladVexler I noticed the excellence of your background music before I learned you are a musician. Don’t worry, the only grating noise came from Vladimir Putin’s horrible statements. And I agree with David OMalley.
@@stavokg thanks so much - as a musician I confess my preference would be to not have any music at all. But I don’t make my videos for myself and I know it helps most people with processing the words!
Agreed 100%
It’s a bunch of dribble.
It’s no different than America doing nothing about Bush or Obama.
This guys accent isn’t even real
One more thing I feel should be mentioned here is the unifying theme of all fascist sub-ideologies around the world: Obsession with an imaginary past golden age.
The original fascists in Italy wanted to restore the Roman Empire, the nazis wanted to get Germany back to the heights of the German Empire under the Kaiser and beyond, Islamofascists want to bring back the caliphate and Putin seeks to bring back what he views as the glory days of Russia under the USSR and the Russian Empire.
I would argue that is also the reason why there are so many subtypes of fascism, at least one for each country. Everyone has a different idea of an imaginary past golden age and how to 'restore' it.
Marvellous comment. Putin is drowning in magical thinking about the past and ethical nostalgia. We will explore this at some point by looking at one of his heroes, perhaps Tsar Alex III
American fascists want a golden era too, one where only whites could vote and everybody else is either a servant or dead.
To me this video under stated the fascist nature of this authoritarian regime which is tipping into totalitarianism.
Dugin explains "a special Russian truth that you must accept", his philosophy allows shaping your own reality giving it a cover of intellectual pretension.
Ignoring objective truth and replacing it with prejudices or convenient lies permits unconstrained unchallengeable absolute authority. Russia's statements don't even try to appear truthful, an academic uses the phrase implausible deniability.
The fixed unfair elections, poisoning, murder of political opponents is another trait. When the constitution forced giving up being president he ran the Kremlin as PM
@@RobBCactive that’s a good comment thank you
@@VladVexler leader cult .. that's another the strongman to defend Russia. It requires new enemies after the Chechens
The problem I have with you, me dear Vlad, is that you are so bloody well read, intelligent, logical and such a breath of fresh air in the world of dumbed down political journalism and ignorance at what is the real truth, that I can't stop at one video and find myself binging on and on to the next video in your series! You are truly amazing! A voice everyone needs to hear.🧠👌
Same thing 100% . Finally I've found an English speaking channel, which I can refer to in countless internet-discussions.
dude, he is a sicko. Pouring shit from his empty head on the whole culture of Russia, and not providing any proof. Listen closely to his words, there is ONLY his own perception being told, no facts.
Nothing real about neither Russia nor Putin - just ordinary western propaganda’s shit from a schizo with a childhood trauma
It's... quite sexy, even.
. . . still there are new people attracted to this most intelligent presentation of information and analysis . . .
I just got him in my feed a couple of days ago and I am bingeing like mad. I have found intelligent life in the TH-cam universe!
“ Z …. stands for ….. the joy of doing bad things …… “ that statement hit home. I just found your channel yesterday. fascinating content and critique. keep up the good work !
so what is USA bad symbole "the joy of doing bad things" like in 100+ countries they invaded to change government and make them FREE and like serbia which they bombed, somalia, afghanistan, iraq, lybia me continue? i didnt even counted central american and corbian countries they invaded for FREEDOM! i
I traveled in Russia in the immediate aftermath of the Soviet collapse, and can say, without doubt, that memories of WW 2 are fresh, deep, and everywhere. Each small city had a monument with as many (or more) names etched into stone as our Vietnam Memorial in Washington. And there are hundreds of these. It was (and possibly still is) easy to get into a hot argument with a Russian over how "Roosevelt bled the Soviet Union by delaying D Day." Russians of all ages appeared to feel these things in their souls.
The other thing they feel, instinctively, is fear. Fear of denunciation. Fear of being cut off from the possibility of a normal life. Fear of authority, whether authority was competent to even know of their existence (and in Siberia, it wasn't). People still felt that fear, and let it rule them in ways quite unfamiliar to a westerner, especially an American. Pointed questions aimed in my direction by a minor official in uniform could often be answered with "It is not necessary for you to know." You could see them silently weighing whether I was more trouble than I was worth.
No prison has enough guards on hand to stop a concerted uprising by the prisoners. That, I am sorry to say, is how Russia seems to me now: a self-policing ideological prison.
And now, thanks to Putin, this self-policing prison has become the newest, largest North Korean-style pariah state the world has ever seen.
I would like to have that D-Day conversation with a crusty old bastard. Russia was bled dry because Stalin purged any officer with modern ideas about waging warfare in 1939.
And America doesn't send tanks into battle after giving the gunner 3 practice rounds at a range and the driver knows how to put the tank into forward or reverse...but nothing else.
We all have that in Europe. I was sat with my daughter having a coffee on a street in Bath, Somerset and we discussed the shrapnel scars on the building opposite us; WW2 is never far away here.
Although my Russian experience is much less than yours and happened only in Moscow, I concur with with your comments as far as my experience allows. There's a monument to the Unknown Soldier immediately outside the Kremlin wall. A long, low wall is inscribed with names. The enormity became apparent when I understood that these are the names of cities and towns lost, not individual soldiers. Conversation at meals with a mix of Russian and Ukrainian clients was largely about their various families' experiences in WWII. I saw the ghost of May Day and the build-up toward Victory Day, but left just beforehand. I stayed in an ex-KGB hotel with staff from the Soviet era. I received a dressing-down from a patriotic older woman when I hauled out a roll of $US to pay my bill - she said, "This is Russia, you pay in rubles!" I respected her for that, so I hauled out a bigger roll of rubles. I very much admired the people I met, from the guy selling camera film to the ladies selling tickets in the metro to the Turkish construction people. I regret what is happening now and hope that things change for the benefit of the people. The only thing that nobody talks about is the pervasive corruption - i.e., demands for bribes - in government circles, from the policemen at the traffic stop to the military supplying helicopter services to my ex-father-in-law, a mining engineer to the people who administer programs in the government.
A shame! That's why the 2% targeting of "pointillistic fascism". target just a small percent, making an example of anyone who dares to dissent and the rest will fall in line.
@@rexwave4624 thank you, this is a wonderful comment!
Your videos are so thought provoking for me. I'm learning so much I never thought much about. Thank you.
It’s my pleasure!!
Putin's reference to traitors as "flies"is identical to the language broadcast by Hutu radio and television stations prior to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
Vlad you cannot imagine how much respect I have for your work.
I am very grateful!
I would also disagree with the idea that Putin wasn't originally fascist. From his first entry into politics, he has always been enamored and obsessed by the past, and he never learned to think of the peoples of eastern Europe as anything but human resources that belong to the Russian state.
I fear that this character is constitutionally psychopath and/or sociopath from very early in his development.
Putin understands the resource side of Realpolitik, but overlooked political willpower. To think that Kyiv/Kiev would welcome the Russian Army as liberators is still laughable in hindsight.
Exactly. Fascist propaghanda in russian media started exactly when putin came to power. Just it was growing slowly to the current level. Also his first agressive war was in 2008 against Georgia, which the west tends to forget very often.
@Bojan Koturanovic ok, continue consuming ruzzian shit if you want.
I don't buy this Western "emotional" propaganda. I am smart enough to see through it and understand there is something much deeper going on. It looked like different wars were going on due to hatred of Russians and Slavs in general. So it wasn't just about Russia liberating the East and South of Ukraine. This is the collective west USING AND ABUSING UKRAINE. Instead of pushing for peace and negotiations like normal people would they push for destruction.
Superb video sir. Informative, articulate & fascinating insight. Sounds like Putin after 20 years is suffering from a sort of political battle fatigue.
I was going to talk about that - but didn't want to make the video too long. Fatigue is one of the things going on. He's exhausted but unable to even contemplate leaving.
Putin also is a paranoid delusional who is living in the past of the Cold War
@@juliereminiec4937 more tsarist imperialism than Cold War
@@VladVexler I doubt that Putin wants to be a Czar...
Since Czardom involves being a God Given Ruler & A ancestry that dates back to the Romanov dynasty...( He wasn't born of Czarist blood)
When I mentioned the Cold War,I was reffering to Communism & the Communist Government of the USSR ....this is where Putin came from... and what he's trying to reconstruct by returning countries such as The Ukraine, Poland ,Czech republic etc to being satellites of the state
I love your channel. You give the smartest and most indepth analysis of the russian Ukraine situation and the inner workings of the Kremlin and putin of any media outlet I've seen so far
Thanks so much! It’s a bit of a gap I’m afraid - the day to day war coverage is truly excellent. But analysis of the Kremlin in English is rarely adequate.
@@VladVexler right! I appreciate the fact that you speak Russian fluently and have had first hand experience living in Russia and the USSR.
Where are you residing now if I may ask? I hope not stuck in Russia or the Ukraine during these dire times! Stay safe and thanks for your great content, I share them whenever you post a video :)
@@ga1actic_muffin I am in London U.K.! Have been between U.K. and Australia since the 1990s
Well. In that Case, you never saw a halfway desent anlasys of Politics. But what did I expect?
really appreciate your content and that you're trying to contextualize Russian imperialism while being of Russian descent yourself. Greetings from a Polish citizen who has always thought that Russia has such a huge potential but at the same time such a terrrible political culture, the post-Soviet political elites are on constant (albeit delusional) power trip
Love Russia ♥♥♥
Lool you're from poland
@@iactas7892 decent country
pozdrowienia z irlandii
I don't buy this Western "emotional" propaganda. I am smart enough to see through it and understand there is something much deeper going on. It looked like different wars were going on due to hatred of Russians and Slavs in general. So it wasn't just about Russia liberating the East and South of Ukraine. This is the collective west USING AND ABUSING UKRAINE. Instead of pushing for peace and negotiations like normal people would they push for destruction.
finally! someone who actually understands what is happening here. So tired of hearing western "experts" who claim to understand and are eager to do some explanation, and yet having only surface level knowledge on the subject. Thank you for the video!
6:04 Exactly! They even never use word "граждане" (citizens), but "население" (population) instead.
your almost psychic insight and well articulated knowledge has me riveted, in my opinion you are a very good speaker and easy to listen to and understand. able to convey very a complex situation with a dedication and passion rarely seen. im very coy about who i subscribe to but you have become one of them. i look forward to more of your analysis on this putrid butchering excuse for a human being.
I'm sorry and thanks
Well said I agree....I'm hooked!
@@zenkat19 Katrina thank you!
Ah. Dehumenizing. A trick as old as time.
I began seeing the Z symbol, black leather on a white circle, enclosed in a red rectangle. I realized that it looked exactly like half of a swastika. And then I was terrified.
I’m here to support. Thank you so much for sharing the Truth!♥️🇺🇸👍
Thank you Cindy!
and he (Vlad I) has gone worse since..
Your explanation of this form of pointilistic fascism is appreciated. Modern centralized governements are overwhelmed by information and simply can't punish all the 'bad guys'. Understanding that disposition is important because even with everyone's data, there isn't enough prison cells or bullets.
China says: Hold my beer.
There's billions of bullets.
Apart from the points you've made directly, you've got me thinking about pointillistic fascism and the highly focussed, precision planning involved in murdering people in other countries, eg the Novichok poisoning in the UK. In the nature of the fascism, could we be seeing a methodological strand of 'development' for an ex KGB officer in political power?
I think we we are seeing is a move from pointillistic authoritarianism to pointillistic neo-totalitarianism. It will be bitty like before, but now the repression will be of a different order. This is a very fast moving situation- the regime will try to somehow twist and turn its way through the sanctions calamity. It's a nearly impossible task. But it will try. As it does that it knows it can't repress the population too much or too little.
@@VladVexler So, what you are saying is the your "pointillistic fascism" is essentially called "cancel culture" in the west. Roughly speaking.
@@renstein8210 oh, ffs. grow up.
@@kkpenney444 What? This moron has more definitions for fascism than a cat has lives. Everything can be fascist if you don't actually have a definition for it.
@@renstein8210 Lol, cancel culture has been around since the days of Elvis Presley, when elderly busy bodies tried to ban rock n roll. Long before that, even. It's nothing new and it's always going to be around in a society with freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Only difference is that nowadays they have access to social media, so its much more intense and much more coordinated, and can often verge on harassment/bullying. Letter writing campaigns cant compete with social media. I do think cancel culture is bad, especially when it comes to perceived immorality in movies and comedians and music and violent video games etc, but it's a part of life. It's only dangerous when they start making laws that restrict freedom of speech. But right now, it's NOTHING like Putins government lol.
Thank you Vlad for your continued assessment of the truth! It's like hearing everything in real time!
Pleasure
Thanks Vlad, just found your channel and subscribed. The ideas and actions associated with fascism are ancient: Imperial Rome was a fascist 'state'. No surprise that modern fascism originated in Rome under Mussolini. Other expert commentators state Russia is just a continuation of the Mongol Golden Horde. Hence the savage animal behaviour of Russian soldiers. Russian culture seems to be medieval in mindset. In other words, pathological, unfortunately.
Welcome Paul.
@@VladVexler Thanks Vlad. I'm now watching your interview with Dr. John Campbell on 28 Feb, 2022. I had previously been watching Dr. Campbell during the height of the plague. Cheers!
@@paulh2468 my interview with Mallen Baker is actually better, despite it having only a few views.
Please don't overdo it. In war there are always soldiers with "savage behaviour". In 2004, for example, photographs that caused a big scandal were found. In the Iraq war, US soldiers sexually humiliated prisoners of war and took photos of them. And one only has to look at what else has happened. I am not trying to defend anyone, especially Putin. But we must not generalise. And to say that Russian culture is pathological is extremely offensive. I prefer to think that you are the ignorant one; you know nothing about them and you judge them as such.
@@mano4053 Russian culture is pathological does not mean Russian people are inherently pathological, you twisted the meaning of the comment
The "Z" is indeed the swastika. No question. You are absolutely right, absolutely spot on in stating that there is a joy and a delight in doing evil and the "Z" symbolises this.
Z is half a swastika. The other half got stolen by it's notoriously corrupt regime
@@nobbynobbs8182 Nice one Nobby. It is interesting though to see how self-consciously Putin flirts with Nazism and pretends that there are Nazis in Ukraine and that he is shocked about it. I suspect he admires Hitler far more than we will ever know. He is probably belatedly trying to reverse engineer Nazism by doing all the same stuff but from east to west instead of west to east.
@@richardcory5024 it's even more perverse when you learn that Putins regime has been sponsoring far right political parties in western democracies for years. If something needs to be de-nazified it's the Kremlin
@@nobbynobbs8182 I have long thought that. The Gremlin's propaganda about Nazism is classic deflection and distraction. Putin wants notoriety. He wants people to fear him. He will probably never equal Stalin in that regard unless he unleashes a nuclear weapon, but the interesting thing about the Russian population is that the worse you treat them (Stalin being a case in point) the more they worship you. Putin probably knows this and wants to be remembered as Putin The Terrible as much as Putin The Great.
I don't think the selection of the "Z" was as arbitrary as most people seem to think. I stumbled across some archived film sometimes ago of Russian tanks and trucks entering kiev in WW II with the "Z" painted on them. The people were cheering their arrival. Back then, it probably was just a marking identifying an army group; but, it seems they were intentionally invoking that symbolism that has roots in fighting the real nazi in kiev. The documentary is on youtube somewhere, but I have not been able to find it again. It was just a few seconds, in a much longer documentary.
Great video! As a media professor, I appreciate your expertise and cogent analyses. Thank you for this series.
Thank yous so much for your comment, this was of course a little cartoonish and brief.
I don't buy this Western "emotional" propaganda. I am smart enough to see through it and understand there is something much deeper going on. It looked like different wars were going on due to hatred of Russians and Slavs in general. So it wasn't just about Russia liberating the East and South of Ukraine. This is the collective west USING AND ABUSING UKRAINE. Instead of pushing for peace and negotiations like normal people would they push for destruction.
I would like to heavily disagree with your point that “the repressions in Russia are minor”. There are no news outlets left that can be repressesed, people who talk about politics in any alternative key get put into jail or let to escape overseas. One blogger is just scratching the surface of the police state.
then don't say hes getting more fascist if you have trouble with that, say hes getting more based haha
PS: I'm just kidding lol
based
When I was a kid, I heard an old guy say "the only good Russian, is a dead Russian".
I was shocked.
But im starting to understand
Now on day 290 of Putin's catastrophic "7 days special very limited -war- military operation" in Ukraine we see your words hold true.
One thing I found very telling was when the EU instituted it's latest round of sanctions against Russia, Putin ordered the government to dream up counter measures. I thought to myself that if this was America the Congress would have already had the response ready, or a couple of different responses ready to go! The different political actors in Congress would have worked independently as soon as the war started. In Russia Putin had to order this personally before anyone acted. I have to say it really made me wonder if anyone actually thinks about policy anymore apart from Putin himself, he must be mentally exhausted by now.
The people currently in Russian politics came there not to make policies, but to make money for themselves and to make some impression of work being done. And that's not a bug, but a feature of Putin's HR strategy. When you move everyone that express opposing opinions of the table, in the end you are left with only those who don't have their own opinions, and are ready to execute anything you say in order to keep their chairs and cash flows
I dont agree, how can you prepare the response in advance? There was too much uncertainty. The West imposed sanctions , but we all know how they started to lift them afterwards. So I dont see any value preparing countermeasures in advance. Actually, Russia didnt impose any severe sanctions, it is open for trade. So again, thinking of that in advance was pointless for Russia.
I've only just found your channel Vlad. This is an amazing break down, Subscribed and keen for more. It's often very hard to find great content with a more academic approach amongst all the clickbait & arm chair experts.
Welcome on board! This is the fourth of my post war break downs. I wish they weren’t needed. I wrap the videos a little bit like candy, but inside I serve green vegetables.
same, just came across his videos today
@@crivsmum4820 great to have you - new video up today!
The Z takes me back to reading the Belgian artist Hergè's 'TinTin' comics in my youth. There is one comic book where TinTin helps take down a fascist regime using 'Z' as its symbol. A fine piece of art, and well worth reading.
I stopped the video after 3 and a half mins because you are just soooooooo close to the camera. 😕
Suddenly, everything about this war and our world, has been clarified by this mans extremely brilliant mind and analysis.
Thank you!
@@VladVexler I've been watching all your compelling video's this weekend and experiencing the same sense of truth and complex physiological realties, being voiced and explained, as I did whilst watching all Adam Curtis's film documentaries. Will watch them all again to better absorb the content.
Less then a minute in and I need to thank you, and subscribed.
I rarely have these conversations with people because of what you just described. Too often they are only interested in labelling things they don't like with a single piece of terminology, as if to say 'these are all equally bad.' It turns some very powerful political concepts into nothing but hollow insults... and what use is that in any conversation?
Not only is that of no use, it makes it harder, in general, to have those deeper discussions.
...If I say something is fascism, it's because I read up on what fascism is, and can provide a source for that.
People who use it incorrectly make that look illegitimate.
It's so good to hear this from the perspective of someone who grew up in the Soviet Union.
Thank you, if ‘good’ is the right word
Thank you Vlad! The symbolic Z is dark, not even a Cyrillic letter, BUT indeed, a literal skewed half of a swastika, although reverse chirality. I read some have been calling it a zwastika.
07:15 Russian propaganda and the symbol Z
About the Z thing. In public places (like subway, bus stations) they use this like "Zа наших" (= for our people), "Zа детей, Zа Донбасс" (=for kids, for Donbass). So, mostly it is still presented to public like the fight for smth good, for saving people that are under the alleged threat. This is done by officials/subway administration etc.
In the video there was a moment with this Z letter on someone's door. That is another context: that's to threat oppositioners. There it is used more agressively, closer to the way you described it. This is done by unknown people and officials, police do not take responsibility for that. And people who watch propaganda often do not even know about this cases, so stil for them Z is more about saving people etc.
Nevertheless, worth mentioning, it is a very rare case when you can see Z in Moscow or Saint-Petersrburg outside public places, where it was put by officials. That is, unfortunately, very different in some regions, especially, from which they are more people in army.
Hitler referred to Jews as cockroaches. Putin referred to dissidents as flies/insects.
It is difficult to analyse fascism in general and Putin's regime in particular because of their disregard for the representational/referential function of language. Putin and his clique, like fascists and communists before them, use language solely as a tool of persuasion to achieve certain political aim rather than describing things as they really are. They treat propaganda as a weapon and use it to such a degree that they themselves start to believe it and then make decisions which seem absurd to external observers. Western leaders often insist on talking to Russians but Russians have no problem with saying one thing and doing the opposite. This phenomenon was described by Klemperer in "Lingua Tertii Imperii" and Orwell in "1984" and his essays. Russians who lived under communism are well acquainted with the disconnection between the world and its official representation.
Exactly this. Remember the lines in Chernobyl: "RBMK Reactors don't explode." "How does an RBMK reactor explode, comrade?"
In the end, us russians know how to break ourselves from the fashisht 'novoyaz' grip - and not just 'russians', but every ethnic group in Russia. Most of us know quit good that government rhetoric is merely a tool, and perfectly capable of seeing beoynd it and ridicule it. It was shown quit well by Benedict Sarnov in "Our soviet novoyz".
The real problem is the lack of the very resources and institutions to act against the government AND the fear of another war that would be started by the West. Vlad is incorrect in just one thing - not ALL institutions were leveled after USSR collapsed. KGB-FSB was largely intact and it had only confused russians, who had no knowledge of how a democratic country should work, to deal with. And it was quite easy to convince masses about hostile NATO intentions, cause, well... NATO did everything to help Putin paint it so. So at this point many russians, tatars, chechens, ingushs etc will stand by Putin and PRETENT to believe the propaganda just in fear of West.
@@robinpage2730 to be fair, even scientists believed RBMK reactors physically cant explode by design.
my favorite line from the show is "The official position of the state is that global nuclear catastrophe is not possible in the Soviet Union." this is the MO of hard communism - reality (both current events and historical) needs to be brought in line with ideology.
@@guguigugu exactly. I say this as a Socialist myself, for all their talk of "scientific socialism", they were as unscientific as it gets. If it were truly scientific, ideology would constantly strive to bring itself in line with reality. Reality is the enemy of all dictatorship.
I am so glad you started by wanting to define the labels that are used in this war. Fascist, Nazi, racist are all meaningless labels that people use as a means of denigrating others, or as a means to describe others; so " the government in Kiev is controlled by Nazis" , is totally meaningless. The logic of what you say is so much clearer than that of the pundits we get in London or Washington, especially as most of them do not speak Russian. Keep up the great work Vlad.
Brillant analysis as always. So sad, so disillusioning, but still very very insightful. Somehow understanding this complex and amorpheus Russian situation, makes it less frightening. Or does it?
Seeing is always better than not seeing!
"Putin is not going to do some genocide" hmmm that didn't age well
this channel is if Jake Tran but actually good
Few thousands people forcefully moved to Russian cities from Mariupol this week. Same as my ancestors during the WW2 in Hungary … you are missing that point, in WW2, Nazis forcefully moved people as well.
I’ve been very concerned about this. No words.
And steal kids too
As scary as some of this is I’m grateful to get much more informed about it all thanks to you vlad ! Stay safe love 🇬🇧
Love back from east London!
That’s the best description that I have ever seen yet of Putin and what he is doing. Thank you Vlad.
He is an incredibly dangerous man.
My pleasure.
I would never have equated Trump with Facism!? A nationalism associated with "Make America Great Again" perhaps. Who can deny a people with a need/want to improve their lot?
I appreciate your dislike of using the term fascist to refer to anything except that which used the term for itself: the Italian Fascist party. My recollection is that the Nazis themselves did not refer to themselves as fascists, though Hitler's influence into the evolution of Nazism was very much influenced by Mussolini's successful Fascist party in Italy. In my opinion the value of calling various emergent forms of totalitarianism, or despotism "facsist" as if it is a sufficiently generalized term is overshadowed by the costs of all the erroneous baggage which gets brought along with it.
English is a rich language and there are plenty of other languages to borrow from. I argue we should stop being so stingy with these rich vocabularies at our disposal.
The Ukrainian propaganda folks have apparently explored the creation of a new term "Ruscist," but this I fear threatens to be too obscure.
Why don't we just call the Putin regime what it is: a murderous, ethno-supremacist, irredentist dictatorship, or simply an autocracy for short.
I would call it authoritarianism not fascism.
Man, frankly, it s not Putin' Gone Fascist it's russian people gone fascist. If you a russian and you against major russian politics than you an exception (from Moldova)
Such an amazing intellectual you are, Vlad. Thank you for this very stimulating discussion.
Utter pleasure and thank you so so much for a lovely compliment!
Mr. Vexler, I have to watch your videos in small bunches. I become too anxious for more than that. Living alone as I do, and being elderly, I've discovered in these fraught times that I can't handle life, anymore. I don't mean I'm suicidal, I only mean I must ration my fear-handling powers. I must have at least some left for the few years ahead.
Please do self protect and go gently. The last two videos on the channel are less dark, and contain love and hope. I have been covering broad philosophical and prolifically questions around the war and I am sorry that this has been confronting content.
Crazy to re-watch this on the brink of a second mobilization and in the midst of a genocide against Ukrainians 😅
Wow Vlad, I love these videos, you make some great points.
You need to make more!
MORE :D
Thanks so much!!
Before the war I adored watching western video essays on different philosophical themes. After the begging of the war I could only watch the videos of our political commentators from the opposition about the war. But now I found out this channel and can watch my favourite kind of content about the only theme that seems important to me now. Thank you a lot, it sounds strange, but this channel brings me back the feeling of normality from my previous life 😹
To have five different definitions of fascism hardly seems useful to me. Otherwise thought provoking. When does the escalation of oppression become a problem for those who thought they could get by just keeping their heads down? How will they react? And how weak is the regime?
Worst part of the video but it was still great. There simply is sub-types of Facism.
An example: A Type of Authoritarianism is Totalitarianism. The latter can't exist without the former.
"Hitler is Germany, just as Germany is Hitler." "Putin is Russia, just as Russia is Putin."
ZeLenSkiYy wEnt FasCisT nOt PutIn, PuTin Is GrEaT
Thank you so much, Mr. Vexler!
Thank you!!!
Another excellent video! I hadn't realised he was practically quoting Adolf Hitler & I haven't heard anyone else bring this point to light.
Thank You 👌
Sorry for the shit show
@@VladVexler No need for apologies, it was inevitable.
It's the third time I've listened to this video, I'm very intrigued by the concept of pointillistic fascism but I struggle to understand it. In fact, observing modern Russia from the outside, I tend to see in it all the characteristics of classical political totalitarianism (considering that for me fascism and communism are two branches of the same Eghelian tree): the transformation of the individual into a cell of the collective body ( class, nation, ethnicity) moved by a general will (Rousseau). But this new totalitarianism is also very postmodern because it replaces the old atheism with a vague spiritualism (I could say new age) in which the old Christian orthodoxy _ always bowing to political power _ is mixed with some theosophy based on the cult of race (Ukrainians are racially Russian who must return Russians). Yes, I believe that in Putin's philosophy there is at least a part of Dugin's philosophy. But maybe I'm wrong so I would like to understand.
Mr. Vlad, did you by any chance write an article on this pointillistic fascism? And May I ask you what you fino about the link between Putin and Dugin? Thai you.
As European citicens we must agree in one thing, and it is that we can not let Putin get away with this. No matter the cost. The sooner we can help Ukraine to end this war the better. The alternative is that no one is safe Fascism got no place in Europe so could our leaders please step it up a bit with weapon deliverys to Ukraine.
So "real historical fascism" it is, very striking watching this 5 months on
Just came across your video. Thanks for your explanation. I have empirically worked out this my self but didn't have the background or words to explan the parallels that seemed so obvious to me.
I have a questions though. Why do so many on the left of politics feel the need to justify, or become apologists for putins crimes still. He is so far right he is fascist. I see extreme left activist and extreme right activists throwing there ignorance and suport behind putin it like they are blind. Is it as simple as dont bit the hand that feeds you. Are has putin been able to play both sides
So incredibly grateful for these insightful video explanations. Helps me understand the complexity of it all that I honestly never imagined existed.
I am so grateful to you for your time and attention!
I really wish more people could watch your videos they are really interesting and informative. Thanks for posting
Thank you so much! Feel free to spread the news!
Dude, you got me when you explained the semantic transformation of the letter Z into a swastika. There is another sign that we should include in the magic binoculars that can easily transform into a swastika, and that is the NUMBER 7. God save us from this transformation, when the 4 horsemen of the 7 knights will unite into a multiplier and in the union of the sum, into an algoritmus of ones and zeros will lead to the tyranny of humanity.
Waiting for more profound analyses from the spheres and levels of symbolism. May the Almighty be with us, brother!
This is a good analysis. But you fail to mention how religion plays a role in the Russian psyche, and how the Putin regime exploits this to his advantage, both as a basis for Nationalism, and as a recruitment tool for assembling his army.
I don't believe that any assessment of Nationalism or Totalitarianism can draw honest conclusions without acknowledging the role that religion plays in manipulating a population.
Religion so often gets a free pass because recognition of the evil that can be achieved through religious identity might offend some people's sensibilities.
Or there might be a perception that religion plays a role to some degree, but it is far overshadowed by other social and political factors.
I think that this view is naive and incorrect. Religion as a tool of the state is one of the most powerful weapons in a dictator's toolkit. And that applies here as well.
We must never, ever forget the atrocities that are committed in the name of religion, or at minimum, with a sense of religious moral duty.
"If you can make people believe absurdities, you can get them to commit atrocities."
Thank you Vlad for the informational discomfort. Glad that I found your videos. When the food shelves gape empty in the Russian stores by summer and unemployment is at its peak the Russian population will probably rise up against the regime. It will not be out of solidarity with the population of Ukrain. The need for basic survival will drive the passive, non political and fearful population to uprising when they have nothing else to loose. The problem is that Putin probably will by then escalate and attack a Nato bordering country and a world war starts. I am aware and see the patterns of the escalation. Just hope I am wrong...
he is just foolong the world saying a nuclear war will happen. his nukes are as unworthy as his military and weapons. so no need to fear.
I don't think the FSB or military elite will allow Putin to intentionally cause World War 3 with a NATO country.
The person capable to hack and destroy remotely the entire Russian Nuclear Warheads, step ahead.
very astute observation and i fear you are correct
interesting, I came to similar conclusions to those in these videos, starting with a comment from a Russian linguist who was studying Spanish.
She touched on the problem of infinitives and the verbs "ser" and "estar" (be) in Russian.
russians cannot be (ser), let alone be in peace (estar "en paz"), nor they can' imagine let ti be.
with these shortcomings, fascism or any totalitarian system is an imperative of the limitations of its language, after a systemic analysis.
Thank you, Vlad. I found this truly interesting. You are so insightful and valued.
Lovely you thank you so much!
I've considered parallels to Hitler for some time now, the concepts of lebensraum for an Aryan civilisation played out in the annexation of land where 'ethnic Germans' lived (Anschluss, Sudetenland etc) - the pretext that these ethnic Germans were being marginalised or victimised - This is mirrored with Putin's ideology of Pan-Slavism, that there is no genuine Ukrainian nation state, that its peoples are Russian and ought to be part of a greater Russia. The pretexts are very similar; the accusation that ethnic Russians are being persecuted, oppressed or directly attacked, the solution being recognition then annexation by force.
Of course, as you alluded to, there are more direct parallels with Hitlers ideologies, however, it's also evident that Putin retains a deep anger concerning the loss of land when the Soviet Union collapsed, that he wants it back (even though historically (prior to the USSR), it was never Russian land anyway). A latter day imperialism so to speak.
Yeah, but the authoritative comparation goes even further if we keep in mind the annexation of Poland by Germany and Soviet Union, with the exact same pretext. Tbh is a shame that so many people prefer turning a blind eye, instead of looking at this awful regime and see what is actually doing :b
@@thewizardcat9934 I agree and the overwhelming irony is Putin's declaration of 'de-Nazification' in Ukraine when Russia is behaving like Nazi Germany, even adopting the symbol 'Z' which in effect, is a latter day Swastika.
I am not a philosopher or deep thinker, and although I am no expert I am interested in Russia and Ukraine and the current situation, but this speech exactly this one is what makes me think of Putin as a fascist (of course add to this the imperialism, cult to leader, belicism, the slogan "Russia has no borders"... However, it is not necessary to compare somebody to Hitler or a Nazis to claim that someone is a fascits, because Nazi germany had an extra "evil" component which is the ethnic cleansing, Putin proposes a social cleansing (which is fascist enough) so all Russians have the Same thought ideology and spirit
Vlad is my go-to source of detailed and accurate commentary on Russia. Very enlightening. World leaders should be watching this.
I really appreciate you. Thank you.
you mean that world-leaders are like ... 'fedora-hat-tippers' a la toi?
The distinction between citizenship and population is striking. This makes so much sense. Thanks for illuminating our thoughts in dark times.
Pleasure. We in the west don't take enough care to understand what it means to be a citizen. And what citizenship is as a form of belonging. This gets lot in extreme identity politics.
Good morning Vlad, great to see you agian. ✌💜⭐
Hello Jason how are you going?
When someone said "Russia" i have never ever seen picturesque landscapes. I've seen holodomor, i've seen soviet "liberators" in 1945 wearing several watches on each arm. I've seen brutal invasion of Hungary in 1956 and i've seen asians on tanks near Charles' bridge in 1968 Prague, who were pointing at Prague Castle, shouting "Reichstag". Pictoresque landscapes my ass. Russia is its people first.
Orwell wrote about Putin in the novel 1984.
All of this just makes me feel bad for the Russians(and Ukranians obv). Like imagine your country gradually becoming this day by day.
Very sad
More than 70% of russians supports war and their fascist regime, so don't feel bad for them
Very good analysis vlad
Thank you!
Great channel, really insightful.
Thank you for coming and leaving a comment!
@@VladVexler found you by accident and surprised you don’t have 10 times the following. Really objective interesting commentary
@@Jay-nq2jl thanks so much! Feel free to spread the news!
Your mind is such a gift, thanks for sharing with us.
Yeah, after watching and going backwards in time 5 videos I traveled six month in the past and can say, yes Putin can do mobilisation. 😂 So we have also the historic faschism…now play the song „history is repeating“ Propellerheads and Shirley Bassey? I think You know what I mean ;)
But I really would like to hear a answer on the question:
What helps ending the war faster and destabilizing Putin and Russia:
Letting all Russian men fleeing from recruitment over the border, or closing the borders and hope this leads to a boiling over in Russia?
I am really curious about Your point of view on this.
Greez from Germany by somebody that grew up behind romanian iron curtain.
Best analysis I've seen so far of the situation. Subbed. I largely agree with a lot of what you said. Two exceptions:
1. I see little material difference between fascism and communism. I think this is why they hated each other so much, they were so similar.
2. Nazi genocide was limited to minorities, the largest group being the Jews (6 million), if you exclude the Russians gentile civilians (12-16 million) targeted by Einsatzgruppen and Wehrmacht actions and the treatment of Russian POWs (3 million). Putin is threatening thermonuclear war which could result in hundreds of millions of lives lost, if not billions.
Fascist has a very definite meaning. But it has now been diluted to mean totalitarian. Vlad does point out that Putin really isn't THAT fascist. Remember Marx said, "accuse your opponents of what you are doing." Remember that when you hear Fascism bandied about here in America.
As always very interesting. Congratulations on everything you do here. If Ilyn is not the ultimate guide of Putin's world view how deep is the influence of Alexandr Dugin in it? Love to ear your insights into this.
So many Dugin questions! get about ten emails a week about Dugin! I promise to do little breakdown on the Clips channel in the near future.
Nah, he was still LARP-ing here. Packing all the fascist crap you can remember in one speech --- what could possibly be more hilarious?
But with the benefit of hindsight, we know consequences will start to get to him.
I would say Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin is acting more like Imperial Japan than Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy. Since Putin is an ultranationalist somewhat of a militerist and still has to answer to the oligarchs in some degree. But of course Imperial Japan was somewhat of a Fascist country as well. Though they were more of a military dictatorship. Which Putin can do in Russia. Basically he's a mix of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan.
Amazing video which explains so much. Thankyou Vlad. It looks like the Russian people have awful times ahead.
Awful times ahead. They haven't realised it yet.
I have thought about that but had the Russians ever good times?
@@drunkenphilosoph8532 It doesn't look like it since some people have said it has always been run on mafia doctrines.
Yes, Putin’s regime is fascist, but the definition of fascism is “national syndicalism with the philosophy of actualism” e.i. Socialism based on nationality, a national state.
TIK does a great research on this topic in his videos.
And this is what you call a historical definition of fascism. Every other symptoms of fascism like mass mobilization etc. are irrelevant for the definition of fascism. If we see a person that promotes state control, especially in the field of economy, powerful leader and has nationalistic rhetoric, you know that this person is fascist even if he doesn’t call himself this way.
In Russia we see deep state interference in the market, the main sources of income for Russia are state controlled (oil and gas), which means that Russia has socialism, BUT Putin’s recent speeches are what made this socialism into fascism
Thank you Vlad for a wonderful introduction to the mess we are in!
I just got Vlad's videos. Why we do not hear more of him? and sooner? With the increasing violence seen in our country, many of us feel the urgency to common sense and uncover the veil imposed by the media and politicians. I pledge to pass these videos to my network but feel it may not be enough.
The problem is... you wouldn't know if Putin'd kill Jews in concentration camps. You see... we have got to know these crimes after the WW2 not before. It's possible that Putin doing unbelievable crimes, if invading Ukraine is not enough already for one.