At a recent press conference, Putin was asked by an RT reporter whether the Western cancel culture and gender dogma would infiltrate Russia. He responded,
There must be some common sense. I uphold the traditional approach that a woman is a woman, a man is a man, a mother is a mother, and a father is a father. I hope our society has inner moral protection dictated by the traditional faiths in Russia. The strength and power of our thousand-year-old society lie in the fact that Russia was formed as a multi-ethnic and multi-faith state, and we have learnt to treat each other with respect. With respect. What does that mean? It means that we respect the foundations of our traditional spiritual culture. All the people of the Russian Federation—I want to stress “all”—have a certain inner moral protection against the obscurantism you mentioned. Let them do what they want over there.
I have set this video to play with English subtitles—If they don’t appear, use the square box to the left of the “gear” to enable them.
You know, my grandparents fled Russia/Ukraine in fear for their lives. I can honestly say that it has crossed my mind whether it might possibly be worth heading back the other way. Edward Snowden is protected there from the gentle ministrations of the US apparat & probably more free to speak in Moscow than he would be here (with some circumscribed constraints). I’m not saying it would be all roses there by any means. I think the mere propaganda value of of an american (sic) defecting there ensures a warm welcome and probably decent treatment.
However, any thoughts in that direction are short-circuited by recalling that while my body may emigrate, my savings may not - at least not without paying a confiscatory “exit tax” - oh, BTW, in order to renounce citizenship, one must undergo an exit interview. If one is an expatriate, this has been (conveniently, for the US government) impossible of late. You see, Covid has made such interviews “unsafe”, so no such interviews have been conducted since the plandemic began and none are planned for the indeterminate future.
I only wish there were some american (sic) leaders who spoke such simple truths as Putin is speaking here. Even those here who disagree with current gender dogmas tread very lightly.
My advice to today’s high school graduate is either:
(1) forget college and get apprenticed to a physical trade, if you want to stay in the US. It is said that, outside the DC Swamp, the average plumber earns more than the average lawyer. That is the way the world should be – and that divergence is only going to widen as the pigeons come home to roost.
(2) if you do go to college, get into the toughest STEM school you can. And then take a minor in either Russian or Chinese. Some would argue that Russian ladies tend to be prettier than Chinese ladies, but don’t let that influence your choice of language.
Out plumber sent his son to Perdue, where he achieved a degree in mechanical engineering. His son now works as a plumber in his father’s firm, making a LOT more money than he could as a ME.