It won't take long to animalize ourselves: why do people project on their neighbors the claims to the authorities

An extremely interesting tendency in the state of mind of Russian citizens was noted in his publication by philosopher and publicist Mikhail Nemtsev:

“William Saroyan has a story about how a group of schoolchildren in California, having learned that a war with the Germans had started (it was the First World War), felt that they needed to do something, somehow help their country. But what could they do, schoolchildren, they are not even taken into the army yet, and it was unbearable. They went to a nearby street, to their classmate, an ethnic German - from a German émigré family - and severely beat him. Because they loved the Motherland and wanted to help her. I often recall this story, looking at how they express their anger in social networks and settle scores not with those who caused this anger, to whom it has accumulated ... but with those with whom it is possible - with the same people in social networks. For example, there is no way to get through to Putin, to Sobyanin, or even to people employed in the "mad printer" - but you can reach someone on Facebook who seems to be somehow minimally connected with them.

Therefore, people living in Moscow are insulted for Sobyanin, HSE employees are openly hated by their colleagues from other universities for the work of the HSE Institute of Education, and so on; and all Russians taken together are hated by the Russians (not to mention the Ukrainians) for Putin, the annexation of Crimea, etc.

Yesterday one intellectual respected by me (it doesn't matter who exactly) scolded me almost for collaboration, and pointed out my moral blindness - as I understand it, primarily because I (sometimes) work at RANEPA, and he hates Rector Mau, and he hates the examinations that are done there. The point is, I think, that there is no way to express Rector Mau in person, or at least directly write to him what he thinks of him; and I have. Therefore, he virtually told me exactly everything that can be said to that "non-human who advises Putin", writes anti-popular laws and gives instructions to Channel 1 TV. At the same time, I think, if he despises me so much for working at RANEPA, and we are literally people of almost the same circle, - what would he say if I worked at the FSB Academy? ... - it seems like there is nowhere to excite emotions, well, within the censorship vocabulary - but people from the FSB Academy are not available for Facebook squabbles.

We have something to say to officials from the Kremlin and below, but there is no opportunity to express it to them. A suitable addressee turns up - and here we show decisiveness, adherence to principles, and courage, although this is not an official from the Kremlin, but a neighbor.

And I think that once said - it is remembered, words have performative power - and therefore, once calling a neighbor a Vlasov for receiving him a Presidential grant laboratory, or a Washington whore for, say, a telephone commentary for Voice of America, or spineless Putin bedding for - (it's scary to think for what, say, for an unenthusiastic opinion about ...) - we, out of simple self-respect, will not give up our words (in principle, never), and we will find arguments why otherwise it is not possible to treat such a thing, sorry for this word, to a person.

For example, here Arkady Babchenko is clearly going crazy with hatred of Putinism in Kiev, but since Putin does not read his blog, but are read by those to whom Babchenko once spoke at rallies in Moscow (and who made him a media star) - he is their and calls them different names, which are usually called creatures on the lower rungs of the evolutionary ladder. Remaining tragically incomprehensible to them ... - this is how (if we talk about the latest Moscow strife) the navalists are tougher towards anti-navalists than towards Putinists; simply because they no longer meet with the Putinists to exchange views.

So, the most important thing: not being an optimist, I believe that there will be more "such". Anger and disappointment (in everything in general, both in oneself and in the country) are accumulating, but there is still no one to express it - there is no way to reach it. It is necessary to take some measures in advance for oneself (I say to myself), in order to avoid desecration, or something...

Yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day, there is a reason to remember that of those who killed their neighbors - Jews, at least some of them sincerely (yes, I think, quite sincerely) took revenge on this world capital for the Great Depression..."