logo

Kaa and hypnotized monkeys. Op-Ed by Victor Pelin


https://www.ipn.md/en/kaa-and-hypnotized-monkeys-op-ed-by-victor-pelin-7978_1088605.html

“The hybrid wars they trigger are aimed not only at occupying territories, but, primarily in the minds and perceptions of people, at justifying the crimes they plan. In such circumstances, if we do not become directly involved in the fight against aggression, minimum decency requires naming things – that war, aggression, hypocrisy etc. have been exactly what they are since world was created and are no way traditional values…
---


Lie and untruth became virtues...

Russia’s war against Ukraine has been felt more acutely. There is no doubt that the fate of the Republic of Moldova and not only depends on the further development of this war. Currently, no one knows how this adventure of Russia will end, but we all know that it won’t be as it earlier already. In such circumstances, uncertainty is the biggest burden. In the mist of this uncertainty, having clear attitudes and naming the witnessed events so as not to fully get lost is the only thing we can do.

As usual in any war, the truth is the main victim of this. Right before the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian armed forces, President Vladimir Putin and his company blurred our vigilance, assuring us that it was hysteria caused by the enemies of Russia. We now know with certitude that lying is a virtue for the administration of Russia, not a vice. This is the most conclusive example that should disarm all the supporters of the Russian aggression.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was preceded by its justification by President Putin, who justified his military moves by invoking Article 51 of the UN Carter on  the right to self-defense: Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. So, the attacker declared it was attacked. In a week of the start of the invasion, on March 2, 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted, by the votes of ¾ of its members, a Resolution against the invasion in Ukraine, which condemns Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.  

The profaning of the text of the UN Charter is not the only argument for justifying the aggression and the war that already claimed thousands of human lives. The supreme argument in the effort to hypnotize the supporters, as snake Kaa from The Jungle Book did, was to cite the Holy Bible: There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15.13). We lived the moment to see the Holy Bible and love being used to justify the war. So, thousands of people are killed out of love for them! Against the aforementioned, the editing of the explanatory dictionary in which the word war should be replaced with special operation seems to be an extraordinary, but risky idea – imprisonment for 15 years.

Traditional values and hypocrites

In the Republic of Moldova, there are approximately 20% of citizens who were hypnotized like monkeys by Kaa. These believe that not the aggressor that is clearly indicated in the UN Resolution is to blame for the war in Ukraine, but the attacked one. These are the results of propaganda. The supporters of the war waged by Russia on Ukraine claim that this is actually a war against the West and against the globalist world order established by the West, which undermines the traditional values. A large part of these believe that China is Russia’s ally in this anti-globalist war. The truth is China can be the main beneficiary of the war, but it is foolish to enlist China in the so-called anti-globalist war. We convinced ourselves of this not only once. This war, while the ex-President of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, raised the anti-globalist pennon, pleading for glocalization vs. globalization to please Putin, the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping publicly undertook to protect globalization and the freedom of trade, reiterating constantly: China is a strong supporter of globalization in the world because this is the future and continues to contributes to development. It is strange, but if Russia undertook to fight globalization, it chose the wrong enemy.  

If we refer to the traditional values that a series of political parties in the Republic of Moldova undertook to defend, we reach the conclusion that the protection of these disappeared from the agenda. Families are destroyed and thousands of people are killed in the war in Ukraine. This means the main traditional values are being attacked, while the self-styled defenders of these keep silent. Moreover, the co-called bastion of the traditional values – the Orthodox Church – avoided condemning the war. On the contrary, Patriarch Kirill looks for justification for this war even if a part of the clergy opposes him, risking to cause a scission among the faithful.

There is no doubt that philanthropy is a value for all the denominations. But we have to ascertain that charity in the Republic of Moldova is often a branch of the political business, a manifestation of hypocrisy. In time, before election campaigns, we all witnessed charitable acts, for example, of the Foundation “Form the Soul” or Edelweiss Foundation, but we now see that, together with the end of the political projects of Vlad Plahotniuc or Igor Dodon, the charity activities of these foundations also ended. We do not see any involvement in support of the Ukrainian refugees, even if they have the greatest occasion to distinguish themselves and promote the traditional values this way. The foundations affiliated with Ilan Shor are preoccupied more with the extension of the chain of social stores that make the respective voters faithful, not with the needs of refugees who cannot become voters.

Conclusions

The authoritarianism and exclusivism of the political leaders and elites currently show how dangerous these can be while slipping towards revanchism and revisionism. The hybrid wars they trigger are aimed not only at occupying territories, but, primarily in the minds and perceptions of people, at justifying the crimes they plan. In such circumstances, if we do not become directly involved in the fight against aggression, minimum decency requires naming things – that war, aggression, hypocrisy etc. have been exactly what they are since world was created and are no way traditional values.