When you observe the political scene in the media and especially in the internet, you can see hundreds of organizations – governmental and non-governmental – foundations, agendas, institutes and what not, affiliated with the United Nations or the United States or the European Union, all of which are intent on imposing, spreading, defending human rights and are obsessed with combating discrimination because of – and here we have the mantra of race, religion, nationality and sex or – in modern parlance – gender. Here are some questions that I would gladly like someone to answer.

ONE. Why are those activists not satisfied with the rule of law? The rule of law protects anybody against being mugged, accosted, assaulted, robbed, cheated and the like. Why do they need to have all that mantra of a crime being committed because of race, religion, nationality and gender? This string of words is repeated in each website of the mentioned organizations so frequently that it makes you puke all over yourself. Why the heck should it matter whether I accost someone because of his skin colour or because of her looks or his clothes or her tattoos? It is the act of accosting, mugging, cheating, assaulting that should be judged and punished not the motivation, not the feelings, for goodness sake! Should I be punished less severely if I mug a victim because of his tattoos and more severely when I mug him because of his religion? I just don’t get it.

Imagine I accost a woman in the street for which by law I deserve to be punished. Why should it interest the judge whether I accosted the woman because she was black or yellow, or because she was a Muslim or an atheist? I just don’t get it, do you? It is our human right or – still better – biological, psychological nature that we do not like some people because of their behaviour or looks or convictions. You can do nothing about it so long as you deal with normal human beings. You can only restrict their actions, not feelings, opinions, convictions. 

TWO. Why this insistence on anti-discrimination laws when it comes to employment, membership, immigration and the like? Why should anybody want to impose himself on a group of people where he is not liked? Where do these people who want to impose themselves on others have their dignity? Why should I want to demand that I be accepted by people whose set of values, beliefs, opinions, mode of behaviour is drastically opposed to those of mine? Why should I even think of reeducating people in a country to which I immigrate with my extended family, why should I have the cheek to force myself upon them and accuse them of inhospitality if they do not accept me? Once again, where is my dignity, uh? I just don’t get it, really. Continue reading →

There was a time when people thought history was about the deeds of heroes: leaders, fighters, kings and queens. Then came the time when people thought that history was driven by economy: the concept of historical materialism was born. Today historians are becoming to realize that history is all about biology – humans are biological entities after all – and though economy i.e. the exchange of goods and services still plays a very important role, it by far does not explain human behaviour fully. Man is made up of body and psyche (old terminology: soul, which is the translation of the Greek psyche). We are all by necessity participants of the market, we all in order to survive need to offer something to others to receive the goods and services that we need. Still, we do not all seek to enrich ourselves in a limitless way. Jimmy wants to make airplane models, Cathy spends her time doing the gardening, George prefers to go fishing while Laura likes travel above all. They all need money to pursue their hobbies or interests, yet they do not need millions. They are driven by their passions and these are born in their psyche. Keith wants to paint landscapes, Fiona wishes to try out different kinds of cuisine, Mark will play the guitar while Lucy wants to impress her watchers with her skill as a dancer. These are psychological needs that demand – after the bodily needs are (even partly) satisfied – that they be fulfilled.

Human psychology seeks meaning. Man needs to have meaning in life or else he feels unhappy. Amassing fortune may be one of the manifestations of meaning, but man being man, it is not the only manifestation and even if one is possessed by it, once he has money, he wants to spend it also on things that have nothing whatsoever to do with his material wellbeing. He wants to impress others with his goodness, greatness, magnanimity, ideas and the like. Look at the billionaires: they all have foundations, they all support causes, they all make use of their money other than satisfying their material needs. Such is the function of human psyche. Once well-fed, warm and safe, an animal will lie and sleep. Once well-fed, warm and safe, a human will spring into action.

These are obvious things.

Now, which is the greatest of goals that a human may pursue? It is to be admired, loved and followed by the largest possible number of other humans. How can you be loved, admired and followed by the largest number of other men and women? Performing a hit song or being a popular actor are some of the solutions, but then even the most popular hit or movie is not popular with everyone and not for a long time. People have different, changeable preferences. Besides, you need to be an artistically gifted person. There are, however, things that all humans appreciate: their own lives. Thus, if you can cast yourself in the role of the saviour of humanity, of human lives collectively, you have made it. Everybody will follow, admire and love you with a gratitude unsurpassed by anything. Also those who will follow humanity’s saviour will feel that they have meaning in life. They will be able to back in the splendour of the saviour and participate in the grand project.

Such is – as already said – human psyche and it is human psyche that ultimately makes humans act.  Continue reading →

The Russian roster that will be taking part in the Tokyo Olympic Games in a few days time have been banned from wearing any signs of their national identity, including the state’s coat-of-arms, the anthem and the very name Russia or Russian. This is – as is well known to those who are interested in international sports events – a punishment for the apparent state-sponsored doping that was conducted especially during the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee imposed the ban, acting on evidence of the investigation carried out by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which allegedly proved the conscious participation of the Kremlin in this criminal activity.

Grigory Rodchenkov, who at a time worked as the director of the Anti-Doping Centre, Russia’s laboratory accredited to WADA, proved to be key in the whole affair in that he defected to the West and became – a popular term – a whistle-blower. His depositions exposed Russia as a state that wanted to improve its international prestige by hook or by crook. No need to add that Moscow denied the accusations and appealed against them. The ban on Russia to take part in or host major sports events remained in force though its term was shortened. 

No investigation, especially on the part of independent journalists – there are such a lot of them nowadays! – makes sense. It may be that the charges are substantiated, it may be that they are substantiated partly, it may be that they are not. All the affair may have been staged or not, who can tell? We do not have access to all the data from all parts and institutions involved and never will, which is why – as said above – no investigation makes sense. Rather, let us list the things that are there for all to see.

[1] The story recounted by Grigory Rodchenkov was used in the 2017 documentary “Icarus”, which received the 2018 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature;

[2] Grigory Rodchenkov also wrote the book entitled “How I Brought Down Russia’s Secret Doping Empire”, which in 2020 duly received the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award;

[3] the Russian powerful national anthem will not be heard during the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, nor will the watchers see Russian national flags nor hear or read words Russia or Russian.

On the international scene only a Russia stripped of its Russianness is persona grata. 

The logo the Russian sportsmen will be recognised by in Tokyo

An editor-in-chief of an influential scientific journal has received a text about wolves with the following introductory definition:

The wolf is a large predator or a carnivore i.e. it feeds on hoofed animals but also on rodents and insectivores. It is native to Europe, Asia and North America. The wolf lives in families in which the alpha male and alpha female are the most important. Wolves mark their territory by scent and howling. 

My goodness, he thought. It runs foul of all our guidelines! So he replied – politely – to the author:

We would like very much to publish your text. Sadly, what you have submitted is in violation of our community guidelines. As soon as you make your text conform to them, we will be more than willing to accept it. Find attached the guidelines. With best regards.

The author opened the guidelines and began reading.

Well, Just You Wait! (Russian: Ну, погоди!) Soviet cartoon.

Our community guidelines lay emphasis on inclusive language and aim at avoiding terms that establish hierarchy, terms that discriminate against any species of animals, that are prejudiced against their biological roles, words that might incite hatred or be perceived as judgemental. We sincerely hope that you not only understand our policy but also wholeheartedly identify with it. Continue reading →

It is very often a small step, a small decision and the course of history runs in a different direction. If the past has anything to offer, it is – among other things – a series of social experiments that have been conducted and yielded particular results. Admittedly, we cannot repeat a historical experiment in a laboratory, factoring in the same circumstances. That’s why history is not – strictly speaking – referred to as one of the sciences. Yet, historical experiments are performed and it would be unwise not to learn a lesson from them.

Before World War One both Imperial Germany and Imperial Russia had a number of political movements or parties. One of the most pronounced were the social-democratic parties. True, whereas in Germany social-democrats could act openly, in Russia it was usually not the case. Social democrats – like today’s environmentalists, proponents of Third World immigration to white man’s countries and activists of homosexual movements – sought to uproot the political system, cost it what it may. They saw nothing positive in the world they lived in: all they wanted to do was to destroy it and transform it. No picturesque towns located in picturesque landscapes could ever make them reconsider: they believed that the world was rotten and it needed revamping.

Like their modern political counterparts – the said environmental, homosexual and pro-immigration movements – social democrats were internationalists (in today’s parlour: globalists), anti-nationalist (or, better: anti-patriotic) and they wanted to protect and elevate the downtrodden, the unhappy, the exploited as they were used to defining the poorer sections of society. They saw exploitation and injustice everywhere. They recruited gifted writers who produced novels and stories that described societal ills, thus fuelling general discontent. They had followers among the young and the intellectuals, among people who not being talented enough to assert themselves in a branch of economy, science or agriculture, strove to assert themselves as saviours of humanity, as saviours of the poor and the needy and the downtrodden. Isn’t such a goal noble? 

Rosa Luxemburg – Leon Trotsky

In both cases – among German and Russian social democrats – there were followers of moderate or extreme views. Some members wanted a rather evolutionary change through parliamentary action, through propaganda and the like; others demanded that something be done soon or else. They only believed in violence and enforced changes. They justified the atrocities of the French Revolution of 1789 and the Commune of Paris of 1871. Anything that was believed to hasten the establishment of a new, social order, was welcome. No wonder then, that both the German and the Russian social democrats gradually underwent internal splits. With the collapse of the German and Russian Empires in the aftermath of the First World War, social democrats were voted into took power in Germany. Pretty much the same occurred in Russia: true, it was not the social-democratic party that took the power but socialists-revolutionaries, whose political agenda was close to that promoted by social democrats. That was the time when Germany and Russia stood at the political crossroads. Continue reading →

“THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. Life on Earth is in crisis. Our climate is changing faster than scientists predicted and the stakes are high. Biodiversity loss. Crop failure. Social and ecological collapse. Mass extinction. We are running out of time, and our governments have failed to act. Extinction Rebellion was formed to fix this.” This catastrophic prediction assails the reader when we visits https://rebellion.global. Up to the 20th century such ghastly, disturbing and bleak visions were conjured up by individuals who the modern man is inclined to call religious fanatics, religious fundamentalists or – more scientifically – mentally deranged. It is the proverbial Middle Ages that were fraught with itinerant preachers who would scare their listeners out of their wits, who would call on them to repent and put their life to rights or else. It is by no means different nowadays. Present-day moralizers have merely changed the religion. It is no longer imaginary hell – spiritual death – but extinction of all life; it is no longer eternal salvation but comfortable existence here and now; it is no longer Satan and his devils but technology and governments; it is no longer God and his angels but humanity in its many manifestations like “ethnicity, race, class, gender, gender identity, gender presentation, sexuality, age, income, ability, education, appearance, immigration status, belief or non-belief and activist experience” (the usual string of words); it is no longer moral sin but pollution of the environment; no longer virtuous life but life dedicated to ecology; no longer God’s wrath but nature’s wrath; no longer the Mother of God but Mother Earth.

The 21st century crusaders – operating in 75 countries and forming 568 local groups that are present at Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube – demand aggressively that governments:

1. TELL THE TRUTH i.e. declare a climate and ecological emergency;

2. ACT NOW i.e. halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025; and

3. GO BEYOND POLITICS i.e. create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

Whoop-de-doo! Net zero greenhouse gas emissions in just four years’ time! Climate and ecological justice! What does the latter mean? An equal spread of precipitation and temperature across the globe? Wow!  Continue reading →