Russian society appears to be collapsing under the weight of increasing global sanctions thanks to the warmongering antics of their unhinged despot, Vlad Outin. And now, the best bit of advice the country’s government mouthpieces can give its citizens who have gone without creature comforts like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and antibiotics is this: Be more like North Korea.
As North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un tours Russia in his bullet-proof luxury train, dining on fine cheeses and champagne, human mouthpieces for Putin’s regime like Sergey Mikheyev are encouraging the lower and middle classes to embrace the Spartan-esque lifestyle of their neighbors to the north.
“Yes, life in North Korea is no picnic. But it isn’t as bad as Americans portray it… American sanctions are scary only to those who have been on their hook to begin with,” Mikheyev ranted while guesting on State TV pundit Vladimir Solovyov’s show. “What can you forbid to North Koreans? To drink Coca-Cola? They don’t have it anyway! To watch Hollywood movies? They don’t have them anyway! You’ll turn off their Internet? They don’t have it anyway! You won’t import iPhones? They don’t have them anyway! You will forbid them to travel to Europe and America? They aren’t traveling anyway! There is no way to get to them.”
Suffering without basic necessities like the internet just to prove a point sounds more like the negotiation tactics of a teenager rather than a global superpower but, according to fellow Putin supporter Sergey Karnaukhov, staying home, eating gruel, and reading Tolstoy is the kind of traditional lifestyle Russia needs to get back to.
“When hedonism, riches and enjoyment became a way of life for the entire population, we saw how these people quickly digested themselves! Nothing was left! The social state was gone! The guidelines and values were gone,” Karnaukhov said, referring to the collapse of the Soviet Union. According to him, Russians need to cast off Western privileges like eating out at restaurants, clubbing, and golfing in order to reconnect with their communist roots.
“Turns out, there are different values and a different lifestyle. North Korea preserved them and even increased them. It means we can rely on them! We can go there, look at their life and see that what we’ve considered to be valuable in our country isn’t valuable at all. It’s a way to destruction. It’s a road to nowhere. You can’t live this way. Our people are deteriorating,” Karnaukhov claimed. “We’ve dissolved our identity in hedonism and leisure. Russia no longer exists! That’s what we have achieved. But now is our chance.”
(Via The Daily Beast)