Bad heredity: why whistleblowing is back in fashion in Russia

Ivan Zubov

It's no secret that the number of denunciations has sharply increased in Russia: reports about this appear in the media and social networks with unenviable regularity.

Here is one of the latest published at the end of last week: in the Arkhangelsk region, a student Olesya Krivtsova was arrested and two criminal cases were opened against her because of posts in social networks. And her classmates "ratted" on her…

In general, it has long been proven that one of the most lasting consequences of totalitarianism in any country is a decrease in the level of people's trust in each other. Espionage, mass denunciations, censorship, the dominance of the security forces in power, constant checks, passes everywhere, vigilant watchmen, endless fences and so on. This insurance tax is very expensive and is treated for a long time and difficult.

But the most important thing is that the level of trust is directly proportional to the standard of living. According to the results of one of the latest studies, Sweden is the leader in the level of human-to-human trust in Europe. 63% trust each other there. For comparison, in Russia, this figure was only 25% before the start of the special operation, and now, quite obviously, it is much lower.

A curious example on this topic is given by journalists from the famous satirical site Panorama: in 2019, we wrote about the application "My Denunciation" – they say, knock directly from the phone. It seemed absurd at the time.

And now, in 2023, we are looking at what requests people come to Panorama from Yandex, and we see that many have heard about this program somewhere and want to download it..."

The wonderful poet Igor Guberman also responded to this eternal Russian problem:

"Pavlik Morozov's grandchildren were born everywhere without him. And our contemporaries are knocking - one for all and all for one..."The most terrible thing happens when children are engaged in denunciations and they knock on their parents.

This wild practice was brought up in the Soviet school during Stalin's times, and judging by numerous testimonies, it is being resumed in the Russian school. Network analyst Sergey Lukin knows firsthand what it is. His own mother once passed through the "denunciation school":

"My grandfather served in a minor party job. When the great terror began - the so-called time when the bloody wheel rolled through the party, the family lived in Kolpashevo, the infamous Kolpashevsky yar. Grandfather asked for a remote village even beyond the Narym down the Ob. Upon arrival, I went to the only competent, able to write a denunciation - a paramedic. They agreed that they would not denounce each other. So the family survived the great terror. The second problem was a terrible, never-ending hunger to the death of a mustachioed man. Saved potatoes, berries, nuts and most importantly - fish. The commies fucked up the Ob much later. There were plenty of fish. After work, my grandfather sat down in the oblosok (a small dugout boat) and went to check the nets and in storms, too. There was fish all summer, ice fishing began in winter and woodpiles were laid in the barn from burbot.

In general, the family survived thanks to grandfather. In 1944, my late mother was born. Then the terror subsided, and the family moved to Parabel. At the age of 6, my mother went to school, she could already read from her older brother and was very smart. After all, fish provides the brain with fats well, and the constant knitting of nets develops fine motor skills. Together, it launches intelligence completely unwittingly.

But the intellect was fed in the Stalinist school with disgusting filth, fairy tales about Pavlik Morozov, and other abominations. The main thing was that they were forced to follow their parents and hand them over to the authorities. Mom realized that Grandpa was fishing secretly and didn't pay taxes on it. The fish in the river belonged to the state property, and catching and feeding the family - to the theft of state property. The size of the theft is a bath every day or every other day. For this they were supposed to be shot and there were such cases all the time. My mother, having become a pioneer, gathered in the militia. Every time she went out at the next attempt over the threshold, an unknown force stopped her - her body was numb and she could not move her legs. This went on for quite a long time.

A year later, the mustachioed one died. The topic is closed. My late mother recounted this incident with horror in her eyes. She spent the rest of her life imagining an option in which her legs would not be numb. She was unbearably ashamed that she could have betrayed her father, who idolized her. So, the best Soviet education poisoned her life forever. There was no place near her parents' graves, so I buried her near her sisters. Her soul was at rest. Now the same thing is poisoning the lives of our children and grandchildren again... It's time to stop this disgusting practice..."