As far as I know, Ksenia Sobchak is very much about the reaction of the Ukrainians in her words. This suggests that even intelligent people in Russia do not understand what is and what is not the Russians talk about Ukraine. Why is this happening, I have my own version.
The fact that Russian society from top to bottom, from unknown people to media persons, according to their inner nature is racist. I wrote a lot about it, while still living in Russia. That even the representatives of the liberal intelligentsia skips words like “my Tajik janitor”, “the Moldovans-tilers”, “worker” — completely some with Nazi taint the word in relation to foreign nationals who work in Russia.
Quite normal — at least in private conversations, is how they think the word is “crest”. Such seemingly everyday things natural in the evaluation of representatives of other Nations. In Russian public culture is the norm to treat the other peoples as the smaller brothers. And, of course, is most clearly expressed this attitude to the Ukrainians.
Even if the Russians, for example, are against Putin, even if the Ukrainian support Maidan, their, many, literally bursting with desire to tell Ukrainians how they should behave, what to do, how to live.
Many times I have encountered such situations, when they met with the Russians, Democrats, who for Ukraine, who come to Ukraine, but for some reason some don’t want to hear about what is happening in this country, do not want to understand this, to understand it. It never takes three minutes, as these people begin to say, “You’re not doing it wrong you should have been here. We have all this already. Now we will tell you how to.”
That is, despite all the progressive and democratic character of many people, unfortunately, the majority of Russians of liberal views here is patronizing, in fact, implicitly racist attitude to the Ukrainians. It’s big trouble. Because you can’t relate to anyone — neither Ukrainians, nor the Africans, nor the Lithuanians, nor the Tajiks.
I think that the racist complex is exacerbated by the Russians due to the fact that they feel the hopelessness, the inability to change the situation in their country. This gave rise to envy to the Ukrainians three years ago, who were able to their obscene power to remove. A man comes out of psychological envy in two different ways. One way is to achieve what has made it to the other person you envy. Another way is to disavow in their eyes the success of another person, call them worthless, wrong. In connection with impossibility to repeat the experience of the Ukrainian struggle for freedom the Russians compensate for this yourself stories about what they (Ukrainians — ed. ed.) did not work, not work that they are doing everything wrong.
That is, in the psychological basis of this phenomenon is based on two things — old domestic Imperial racism against other peoples, the Ukrainians in particular. And the second is envy and lack of implementation in the Russian Federation.
I’m not talking in General about Moscow, Russians and even not all liberals. In Russia are enough people who think like me, understand the situation, think, how in Ukraine, fully support us. I lot of people know, but these people are mostly not public.
Unfortunately, the biggest problem in Russia is public people who are forced to make because of their position any public position. That’s where all the trouble, because they have to think one thing, say another. In the end, self-censorship, doublethink causes that lie penetrates into the public sphere, becomes part of the picture of the world. Well, like we all know… the Ukraine and, of course, suffering, but… It is very difficult splits, a public figure sucks. The man himself is gradually convinced that he was right that he still has the right to tell Ukrainians how to live. To feel more as its within Russian society, since it is all the more scary. They never admit it, but it happens.
Still, I think, a very important thing is the lack of education many people who have been in Russia in the last twenty years public. They do not feel the face. In private conversations people can joke, chat, whatever to behave, but in the public field the Russians need to think whether they have the moral right at the time of the attack their country to Ukraine in principle to give any lenient assessing Ukraine, even if their criticism of something might look justified.
