Literature vs Media: Journalists vs Novelists

Can 19th century Russian fiction shed light on what’s happening in Russia and Ukraine right now? In this video, I will compare how the media explains the situation and see if literature has a better understanding of the situation. I will pit a KZreadr journalist, Johnny Harris against two giants of Russian Literature, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky as to who can explain the situation better, dead novelists or a lazy journalist? Facts or fiction? And which is which?
Here is Johnny Harris's video: • The REAL Reason Putin ...
If you enjoy my content, feel free to support the channel on my Ko-fi page: ko-fi.com/fictionbeast
🕔Time Stamps🕔
00:00 Intro
01:36 Lazy journalism (Johnny Harris)
07:16 Tolstoy's theory of history
11:44 Dostoevsky on Russian psyche
14:37 Russian character
17:58 Russia today
20:30 conclusion
Music:
We Are Here by Declan DP / declandp
Licensing Agreement: declandp.info/music-licensing
Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_we-are-here
Music promoted by Audio Library • We Are Here - Declan D...
#russiaukraine
#russianliterature
#johnnyharris
#readtheworld

Пікірлер: 314

  • @Fiction_Beast
    @Fiction_Beast Жыл бұрын

    The aim of this video is to educate people about Tolstoy and Dostoevsky and their writings. Johnny Harris's video is used a premise in how certain media outlets paint a complex and nuanced situation with a black/white brush or solely focus on one individual, while ignoring the rest. So my attempt is to broaden the conversation by introducing these two literary giants, their nuanced views and how they viewed wars, societies and the individual and Russia of course. My own personal opinion is somewhere in the middle (but also irrelevant). I think everyone has the right to be morally outraged at the suffering of innocent people, but my video is merely trying to understand the situation from a literary, philosophical and psychological lens and specifically through the writings of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, both whom I have talked about a lot on this channel. Morality is about what's right or wrong but reality is what really happens. Two different things. This video was produced two days before the actual war began so it does appear a bit cruel not to include the suffering of the ordinary Ukrainians. That's a fair crticism. My aim was to look a bit deeper to understand the situation. It's in no way trying to claim to have cracked the code, but just another piece of the jigsaw. It was not my aim to justify the war whatsoever. Simply seeing things from a different angle. Those defending Harris, should watch this video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/dqmhksSqh8nPd9o.html Do all media outlets lie? the answer is NO. Do most media companies have a financial therefore political agenda to not tell the whole truth? Of course. the money has to come from somewhere. Again watch the video on Harris's money sources (above). What's wrong with the media in general? They train us to ignore nuance. You're either with us or against us mentality. Also the media cycle tends to be short, only 14 days. After that they find another story to get us outraged about. Literature goes much, much deeper. Are wars morally justified? NO, but unfortunately reality is amoral and wars do happen. Human history is one endless war and only in recent years people in most countries live in somewhat peaceful time. In Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan more atrocities have taken place or are still taking place, but very few people in the west care or know about it. So morality tends to be relative depending on distance from us, starting from family/friends to city to country and then culture, language. Tribalism makes us desensitised to the usffering of those far away or on the opposite side. and the media loves and promotes tribalism. While literature is universal.

  • @magistrate3343

    @magistrate3343

    Жыл бұрын

    This is a well put and agreeable clarification imo, nicely said.

  • @Just-North-Of

    @Just-North-Of

    Жыл бұрын

    I don't think these things are "Lazy" per se, it's all working as intended, like years in the past there's a lot of propaganda going around and journalists directly funded by outlets that only benefit from the war have incentive(s) to do so. The war is horrible, but Ukraine leadership isn't exactly a democracy like we hear in the west, for example, having a hitlist on independent freelance journalists who were in the area reporting on what Ukrainian people had witnessed. All a part of the plan. The real key for people is they're too busy to do the reading or research, so they take what's fed to them by said outlets. It's the sad truth, there's wrongs on both sides and people aren't being told everything. Keep ears and eyes open, folks... A recent news article said people in a region bordering were leaving Ukraine TO Russia, but no mention of where they were going because people in the west don't know the geography. The info is out in the open, they even say that Ukrainian Forces, Azoz mainly, are setting up in Civilian buildings, schools, etc... But I'm sure you only pay attention to "Russian's shoot at Civilian building." Well, why are they even put in that situation?

  • @helveticaneptune537

    @helveticaneptune537

    Жыл бұрын

    Where are you from sir fiction beast?

  • @psychologianiestacjonarna6558

    @psychologianiestacjonarna6558

    Жыл бұрын

    Kyivan Rus' and Duchy of Moscovy are two different things. Later, Moscovy incorporated Kyivan Rus'. It was Moscovy's politics of territorial expansionism and creating an empire. Eventually Moscovy started using the borrowed (or rather stolen) name of Kyivan Rus', changing it into Russia (Rossiya). Kyiv was simply 800 years older then Moscow, Kyiv, as a centre of Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe, had connections with Constantinople. Adopting the name 'Rossiya' added splendour to Moscovy. Reading lots of 19th century Russian literature doesn't make one an expert on Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Russia and on history of that region. You simply misleading your viewers

  • @daydays12

    @daydays12

    4 ай бұрын

    Tolstoy hated and despised Shakespeare which already tells me a lot of negative things about Tolstoy.....Ironically Tolstoy as an old man ended up as a King Lear who was written by his despised Shakespeare.He ended his life being written by Shakespeare. Dostoevsky was influenced by Shakespeare... which tells me something about Dostoevsky. I call this the Shakespeare Test. Shakespeare was not concerned with religion...he was more concerned with human beings. Shakespeare was right..Dostoevsky had a' stomach ache ' of no interest to me. Religion and belief in an invisible dictator has caused such misery in the world... the more people leave it and other 'isms' , like Imperialism , the better.

  • @robertm3951
    @robertm3951 Жыл бұрын

    There is a big difference between blaming one person and blaming everyone. Most people are powerless. History is the story of those who were in power as told by those who are in power.

  • @GG-to1jl
    @GG-to1jl2 жыл бұрын

    I am so glad there are people like you in the world, who are capable to understand the complexity of what’s going on!

  • @Alphabunsquad

    @Alphabunsquad

    Жыл бұрын

    It’s not though. He just replaces one bad take and over simplification with another. Ignoring how Putin has set up the political system to jump when he says jump and acting like this war was an inevitability is irresponsible. The personal beliefs of people in power matter as do the intrinsic political forces of a nation but it’s a spectrum in each nation and in each era of which is more effective on the fate of a nation. Whether the US economy prospers likely has little to do with a sitting president. Whether Russia goes to war in 2022 has everything to do with the decision made by Putin. Just ask yourself who has the ability to end the war. It’s not the oligarchs. It’s not the generals. It’s not the people. It’s Putin. So the media focusing on Putin and his psychology is justified.

  • @ryanw6493
    @ryanw6493 Жыл бұрын

    This is a great perspective! I just read a few Tolstoy books (including war & peace) and I’m reading a couple of Dostoyevsky’s books now. Having this video put a lot of things in perspective for me (I confess I had watched the Johnny Harris video)

  • @robwashers

    @robwashers

    2 ай бұрын

    and don't you miss out on Gogol's 'Dead Souls' enjoy :)

  • @elle1373
    @elle13732 жыл бұрын

    I'm not russian, and it's quite weird that I have the same sentiment. Last year I did a report about Ukraine Crisis (in class) instead of merely relying on news articles I also included Russia's history, the east and west Ukraine, and Crimea (to understand the Ukrainians more and so as the leader/s). And maybe it's the effect of being a russian lit fanatic. That I subconsciously learn more than what I thought. So I think somehow we can still rely on news it's just don't mere rely on them. Also news and history were quite same as they were recorded and told differently based on who's account, so therefore we should atleast acquire more than one story. Lastly, obviously, literature does really help lol.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you! literature goes deeper and takes a long-term look.

  • @samerdarwiche
    @samerdarwiche2 жыл бұрын

    Please tell us more about this subject through the lense of literature

  • @balrajsingh776
    @balrajsingh7762 жыл бұрын

    Great video. Appreciate your thoughts and knowledge.

  • @markwilliams3174
    @markwilliams3174 Жыл бұрын

    Brilliant presentation. TY from Australia

  • @keithlongley362
    @keithlongley3622 жыл бұрын

    I love Russian literature; its depth and intelligent observation, is not only thought provoking its insightful as well. Tolstoy's aristocrat , Peter, in War and Peace, finds privilege a burden, and only shifts that guilt after being mistaken for an ordinary soldier, and suffering dire consequences under the boot of Napoleon's forces...for me that typified the Russian character.

  • @kaany.9120
    @kaany.91202 жыл бұрын

    Amazing video. Very insightful. Interesting approach that digs deep within the roots of the russian people and their psyche and connects it with modern day conflict.

  • @TheGuroLOLITA
    @TheGuroLOLITA Жыл бұрын

    Explained better than anyone!!!!!! Thank you Matt

  • @Anistotle
    @Anistotle2 жыл бұрын

    I was blindly follow Harris suggestion and not doubting his conclusion enough. At first I was biased towards Putin and blame him solely as the man who cause all the incidents. I didn't even think about many factors that shaping into this man. Thank you Fiction Beast.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Tom Nichols made a really good video exposing Johnny Harris.

  • @Oziasdumpf
    @Oziasdumpf Жыл бұрын

    Kyiv wasn’t heartland of Russian kingdom but Ancient Rus which is not Russia and not a kingdom either

  • @geddykrugerthealt-leftover2237
    @geddykrugerthealt-leftover2237 Жыл бұрын

    Many important observations, comrade---many thanks! Unfortunately so many here and there in the so called West still insist on believing and saying things for the sake of the superficial comforts they offer rather than for the sake of a more truthful relationship to the matter at hand.

  • @khier-eddinehennaoui9783
    @khier-eddinehennaoui97832 жыл бұрын

    Link for the photo in 9:20 please.

  • @rahuljha5615
    @rahuljha56152 жыл бұрын

    Well done brother you really gave me a honest perspective of what's going between these two countries you're reasearch and analysis are really excellent 👍🏻

  • @PynshynnaRabon

    @PynshynnaRabon

    2 жыл бұрын

    Let pray for Ukraine and Russia

  • @juandavidsolano6591
    @juandavidsolano65912 жыл бұрын

    Amazing video. I have read both Tolstoy and Dostoevsky and I couldn't agree more, totally relate with that. Greetings!

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Awesome! Thank you!

  • @koalasandwich567
    @koalasandwich5672 жыл бұрын

    Love how for the picture of Stalin you used the meme of Sylvester Stallone

  • @LoganMortonIsABoss

    @LoganMortonIsABoss

    2 жыл бұрын

    I was looking for this comment to make sure I wasn’t crazy

  • @anurag5852
    @anurag5852 Жыл бұрын

    Eooh i didnt realised i am watching your videos non stop for more than 3 hours wow and still not bored wow

  • @vaibhavnayak5890
    @vaibhavnayak58902 жыл бұрын

    Great video as always

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks again!

  • @chickencharlie1992
    @chickencharlie1992 Жыл бұрын

    I only really got into Russian literature a few years ago but since the war started it's basically all I want to read so thank you

  • @paulandreigillesania5359
    @paulandreigillesania53592 жыл бұрын

    Heyya! I would like to ask if you took a course in literature, and if so, where did u take it? Cuz i'm sharing ur videos and wpuld like smt to convince people more away, from unprincipled journalism and the ideologues, to literature.

  • @user-rr8eg9zl6b
    @user-rr8eg9zl6b Жыл бұрын

    Привет. Интересный ролик для западной аудитории, погружение в мир этой далекой и непонятной России. И необычная попытка посмотреть через призму литературы. Молодец, отличная работа. Ролик не вызвал у меня отторжения и я понимаю, что слишком долгое видео бы утомило любого, поэтому пришлось давать информацию сжато. Но, не могу не сказать следующее. Ты упомянул о некоем проекте/желании единого славянского государства с российским главенством. Этой идее уйма лет, она понятна и логична: а давайте соберём всех похожих на нас. Особенно это было популярно во второй половине 18 века. И вновь зазвучало во второй половине 19, упомянутыми тобой славянофилами. Но в современной парадигме русского человека эта идея неактуальна. Нет, есть ее сторонники, и даже не все они маргиналы. Но это та вещь, которую надо иметь в виду, но придавать ей много значения не надо. А то, ниже в комментах уже писали про какие-то мысли о Словакии в составе России вроде. Далее, когда Путин говорил про распад СССР, там ещё была примерно следующая фраза: кто не скучает по СССР, у того нет сердца. А у того, кто хочет вернуть СССР, не хватает ума. Для очень многих людей в России Украина все ещё часть Родины. Ещё недавно общее пространство, где люди свободно перемещались. Люди со всего Союза приезжали на великие стройки ДнепроГэс, а позднее восстанавливать Украину после немецкой оккупации, авиаконструктор Антонов и так далее. И также наоборот, украинцы уезжали осваивать целину в Казахстане или строить БАМ. Потому что у них была цель и стимул, энтузиазм, дух покорителя стихии, творца. А не только потому, что рядом был агент Чк/ОГПУ/нквд/кгб. И потом все это общее, эта мечта о будущем, хотя ее не все разделяли, но понимали - рухнула. В миг, несмотря на референдум. Но мысль о том, что Украина, которая была и в начале и последние столетия частью одной страны, все ещё родная и любимая, осталась. Новый период обнажил некоторые противоречия, которые искусственно подогревались. Но где их нет, в той же Британии есть трудности между англичанами и шотландцами. Но связь между народами России и Украины всегда была более тесной. Как будет дальше, трудно сказать, но диалог необходим. В завершение этого сумбурного сообщения хочу отметить, что говоря о Достоевском и Толстом, надо помнить, что это дворяне. В особенности очень знатный граф Толстой, поэтому его мнение или понимание процессов государственного управления той эпохи весьма ценны, как и опыт ветерана войны. Однако, мысли «простого человека» все же отличаются. Да и многие современные русские знают произведения Толстого и Достоевского очень посредственно. Осилить Войну и Мир считается достижением. Поэтому и заложенные в их произведения смысл тоже знаком далеко не всем. Так же и все о чем говорю я, тоже надо учитывать, что я не могу говорить за всех.

  • @user-rr8eg9zl6b

    @user-rr8eg9zl6b

    Жыл бұрын

    Ах да. Политика и журналистика это везде и всегда грязь, а также попытка поиметь. Просто, где-то добавляют больше смазки, чтобы ты не почувствовал, а где-то меньше.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for a very thoughtful comment.

  • @user-rr8eg9zl6b

    @user-rr8eg9zl6b

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast и вам спасибо ещё раз, что вы пытались понять, а не повесить ярлык в угоду кому-либо.

  • @veronikavart9651

    @veronikavart9651

    8 ай бұрын

    @@user-rr8eg9zl6b отлично сказано.

  • @DimaaReyma
    @DimaaReyma Жыл бұрын

    Important video-well done!

  • @danielchao6041
    @danielchao6041 Жыл бұрын

    The Ukraine War results from the tension between the West (US & NATO) and Russia (Political warfare that started decades ago). After the USSR fell apart and Russia hoped to move on and wanted to be a part of Europe and also asked to join NATO; which not only got rejected but also got isolated by the rest of the world. What is making things worse is the rapid NATO expansion that the west promised not to (turning the independent countries that used to be a part of the USSR against Russia although there was no longer the Warsaw pack nor USSR).

  • @smitaarihant5025
    @smitaarihant5025 Жыл бұрын

    Dear traditional friend, love from India. I like ur almost all videos, I'm die hard fan of ta gr8 fyodor dostoevsky, n therefore I totally can relate wid every word of his literature, n i ve huge respect for president putin where I totally believe in him tat he s a man of reasons n responsibilities. Tnx 4ur wonderful videos, keep it up.

  • @theodorerooseveltsantlers270
    @theodorerooseveltsantlers2703 ай бұрын

    As an American I agree 100% with your take on the Western media. They omit facts that disagree with their narrative. Tolstoy & Dostoevsky give great perspectives on Russian culture. Btw, the Brothers Karamazov is the greatest book ever written.

  • @veronikavart9651
    @veronikavart96518 ай бұрын

    спасибо большое.

  • @sebastianbarandiaran3846
    @sebastianbarandiaran38462 жыл бұрын

    Thank you.

  • @ragnar999tobi
    @ragnar999tobi2 жыл бұрын

    This also a good work of fiction...WHAT WOULD BE THE AMERICAN MIRROR IMAGE OF THE CURRENT UKRAINIAN SITUATION? Imagine that the Warsaw Pact (the defunct military block opposite to NATO en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Pact) and the Soviet Union still existed and that somehow they managed to overthrow the Mexican government and install a Soviet puppet regime. Following that, several Mexican states next to the US border (inhabited only by bilingual double Mexican US citizens stemming from mixed marriages) declared independence from the Mexican Soviet Puppet Government. Subsequently, the Mexican Soviet Puppet Government started shelling those breakaway Mexican states with the help of Soviet military hardware and military advisors. In parallel, the Mexican Soviet Puppet Government would request membership in the Warsaw Pact with the pledge to station regular Soviet troops and nuclear weapons on the doorstep of the USA. This situation would drag on for eight years with the US trying to defuse the situation by diplomatic means. Soviet naval provocations close to US shores in the Gulf of Mexico would be an everyday occurrence. After a particularly nasty shelling of the Mexican Breakaway Republics by the Mexican Soviet Puppet Government, the independent Mexican Breakaway Republics mainly inhabited by bilingual English-speaking Mexicans (stemming from mixed marriages) are finally recognized by the USA. This would drive mad the Mexican Soviet Puppet Government (and their Soviet masters in Moscow) and cause to intensify the mass killing of innocent civilians by shelling the bilingual English-speaking Mexicans living in the Mexican Breakaway Republics. The US has no choice but to intervene to save human lives and prevent Soviet Mexico from becoming a nuclear-armed Warsaw Pact member.

  • @bojidaralexandrov2113

    @bojidaralexandrov2113

    Жыл бұрын

    There is one key mistake - Zelensky's governemnt is not a "puppet regime" but was elected freely. Now, the one immediatlely after the 2014 events was not but the current one is representative of its people, not imposed from abroad. Key difference!!

  • @bojidaralexandrov2113

    @bojidaralexandrov2113

    Жыл бұрын

    Your statement is a sad example of distroting reality to fit with your preconceived notions...

  • @divinepiccolo9469
    @divinepiccolo9469 Жыл бұрын

    the only thing i can say, the war is a tragedy for both sides.

  • @stevenbattles
    @stevenbattles2 жыл бұрын

    I really like and appreciate this video

  • @fromnewusa
    @fromnewusa2 жыл бұрын

    Excellent presentation ! I got a much better understanding of the Russian people.

  • @funkyboy_22
    @funkyboy_222 жыл бұрын

    If Russian Novelists who have been dead for 110+ years provide more accurate explanations and reporting than a Reporter alive today, then I'm sad to say that the state of Journalism has reached a new low. Don't let me even get started with how their political activism (whether left or right) always tarnishes their reporting nowadays.

  • @koalasandwich567

    @koalasandwich567

    2 жыл бұрын

    I feel like most journalists have just become glorified reaction KZreadrs, they just point and laugh at people they disagree with and call them stupid.

  • @bowthor3203

    @bowthor3203

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yeah, they're making their agenda too evident.

  • @GiveBackAll

    @GiveBackAll

    2 жыл бұрын

    I think we always need both. To understand the present we need both honest journalists (very few exist today!) to tell us what is currently happening, and well-recorded history to help us understand why it is happening.

  • @kelvinaradi1003

    @kelvinaradi1003

    2 жыл бұрын

    The problem i think is not on the reporter but the audience. Sure some reporters are biased (cause who isnt) but people on the internet ramble on about how modern journalism is a joke only to then buy into propaganda like this video. News nowadays is subjective if you dont like it you say journalists are lazy haaa lemme see @Fiction Beast do what johnny does, im not saying he is perfect but out of the many who seem to think they are the only source of clarity Johnny tries

  • @Sundar...

    @Sundar...

    Жыл бұрын

    @@kelvinaradi1003 You have judged him guilty without any proofs/explanations whatsoever. Is that how you go around talking everywhere? A lazy fan of a lazy journalist!

  • @aurimasmeska3508
    @aurimasmeska3508 Жыл бұрын

    It is not a conflict, it's a war...

  • @thomassimmons1950
    @thomassimmons19502 жыл бұрын

    Bravo!

  • @shahsadsaadu5817
    @shahsadsaadu5817 Жыл бұрын

    2:56 yeah,and? It was the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. The fall of the Soviet union helped reinforce the American hegemony on the world even more which resulted in the kind of ultra aggresive imperialist policies we see Americans did in this century, notably being the Iraq war. USSR acted as a counter to the aggressive US policies(and vice versa) for a better portion of a century,and it was no more. Third world countries would have had more leverage on the world if it weren't for the collapse of the Soviet union,as they now are slaves to the IMF debt trap policies. Countries like ours(India) where far better off and wouldn't have had to close in to the neoliberal hellscape it is now if soviet union was still our ally.

  • @shahriarazim
    @shahriarazim2 жыл бұрын

    thanks.

  • @brainxtc2171
    @brainxtc21712 жыл бұрын

    This is a somewhat simplistic analysis. Russia is only the largest nation by Land not population. Tolstoy's deemphasis on the great man is well constructed, but individual people can have an overwhelming effect on the trajectory of a nation. You don't understand how romanticism is used. Wrestling bears is part of romanticism. It's the romantic notion of the "rugged" man. Russians protesting against Russia: kzread.info/dash/bejne/fYmBmc-jgq2XpNY.html The Russian Spirit is complex.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    This is a 19th century lens to 21st century problem

  • @veronikavart9651
    @veronikavart96518 ай бұрын

    объяснение (или его попытка) не равно оправдание. спасибо за критику "ленивой" журналистики.

  • @thecrimsondragon9744
    @thecrimsondragon97442 жыл бұрын

    I really hope your channel grows, your videos are superb 👍🧡

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much 😀

  • @mohammadaminsarabi6207
    @mohammadaminsarabi62072 жыл бұрын

    What a video...bravo.

  • @sebastiaanvs3709
    @sebastiaanvs3709 Жыл бұрын

    You are entitled to your analysis, which is deep and articulated. Our opinions on this matter differ drastically, and this must be the first video of yours that I disagree with, but that doesn’t mean I think you’re clueless. Your points about Tolstoy’s and Dostoevsky’s vision likely identify some accurate points about Russian society, but deny any space to criticism of high-minded nationalism and the preposterous idea of a ‘national spirit’, as if the average Oleg in Yekaterinburg is more ‘fit’ to struggle and honesty than any Hans in Germany or Jean-Louis in France. However, attacking journalism in general, by picking some random KZread ‘journalist’ and making a strawman for all of journalism of him, doesn’t lend more weight to your video. On the contrary, try to poke holes in established Western liberal journalism, such as The Economist, The Atlantic, or the New York Times. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy are obviously more impressive than any youtuber.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    Check my pinned comment if you care to know what I think.

  • @winniethuo9736
    @winniethuo97362 жыл бұрын

    Well, that is the question. Who tells story better? The journalist who may have an agenda in place or a reputation to adhere to or a fiction artist whose only tool the mind is protected by name given to his way of communicating what he could be seeing as truth but guises it under the genre of fiction? Well having read Kafka whose character K in Trials gives insight to how far things can go while some of us are married to our never ending bills, and lack of time to exhale and some of various other writers that you kindly featured who in their time have had the time and drive, the calling and the capacity to sit for hours and shrink our experiences and sometimes expectations into digestible reads I feel a fiction writer is a bit more likely to tell the truth. His aim is not normally to manipulate but because the fact that it is a fiction, he can dig to depths that a journalist hasn’t got willingness or the time and leaves to the reader to interpretation. He is not about headlines and likes to boost his wall! I feel you have captured this well too and for that I vote for the fiction writer also because I feel he taps from a similar conscience that is for all so we can see what he sees if we concentrate. Keep going. You are stimulating debates and triggering us to look into things with a fresh mindset. Thank you.

  • @davidtrindle6473
    @davidtrindle6473 Жыл бұрын

    90% of the fighting and dying of WWII occurred on the Eastern front.

  • @veronikavart9651
    @veronikavart96518 ай бұрын

    комментарий в поддержку продвижения ролика.

  • @gugish9579
    @gugish9579 Жыл бұрын

    I remember watching this cool video 2 months ago and thinking that the war would not hit Russia so hard. September 24 Putin announces partial mobilization.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    Yes. I hope they start taking.

  • @nonan1974

    @nonan1974

    Жыл бұрын

    ​@@Fiction_Beast sunshine, you misunderstand "mysterious russian soul", your video was an absolute waste of time PS: moskovits and their slaves will pay with their blood and pretentious little shit like you will cry from dissolution

  • @shahsadsaadu5817
    @shahsadsaadu5817 Жыл бұрын

    9:20 Tolstoy was not the only one to come up with that idea. Karl marx also refuted the idea of great man theory. For him,it the material forces that shapes history. This view is called historical materialism. Now i get why the Russians got to communism😅

  • @Sundar...

    @Sundar...

    Жыл бұрын

    But, for Tolstoy, there were also spiritual forces in work. Marx rejected all that. Thus, even though both believed in historical forces, Tolstoy's views were much deeper and broader. Didn't you notice his point about the flaw in the communist ideology which made the Soviet Union fall apart?

  • @shahsadsaadu5817

    @shahsadsaadu5817

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Sundar... I don't think Tolstoy 's views are more deep. Tolstoy s views are more dogmatic and utopian. Also,the fall of communism in USSR is not due to some psychological mumbo jumbo dostoyevsky(who mind you,was a bitter,failed utopian socialist) thought of. It was due to deviating from the very realist communist principles that was set by Lenin, degrading the dictatorship of the proletariat into just a sophisticated beuractic state,and giving space to reactionaries and revisionists. China did not make those mistakes,they kept their beuractes in check and didn't let the market reforms steamroll their entire government like Gorbachev did,and that's why they're still here. Truth to the matter is,if dostoyevsky lived to see the Bolshevik revolution,he would have died a happy man,as bolsheviks managed to create a practical, realistic solution to the terrible conditions of the people,unlike the utopian socialists like dostoyevsky and Tolstoy who failed and failed again.

  • @Sundar...

    @Sundar...

    Жыл бұрын

    @@shahsadsaadu5817 Well, if you want to call being spiritual and moral being dogmatic and utopian. I'm not saying everyone must agree with Tolstoy.

  • @laurakuhlmann1626
    @laurakuhlmann16262 жыл бұрын

    I agree with you that the media is lazy. Romania (speaking a Latin language) and Hungary (speaking a Fino-Ugric language) never belonged to the 'Slavic state'. But...I worry your analysis is a bit superficial. Why did you give so lite time to Ukrainian literature for example? I've recently read about the Holodomir (a mini purge of Ukrainian nationals) from survivors' perspective and it paints a different picture of the Russian compared to the one we see in Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. As a Romanian I read a lot of Russian literature but our own literature about them is more in the middle of the Russian and Ukranian view. Russia has been an aggressor for us. Russia has moved its army into Romania and other sovereign countries after WWII. Moldavia, which got incorporated into the USSR in the 1940s used to be Romanian land. Now the Romanian population has been diluted by something you acknowledged in the video: an (I'd call it) effort to mix the populations, something that may have been a divide and conquer, or divide by dilution strategy. And sure, Putin is just a man, but he's also a man who has imprisoned or threatened dissidents. I feel you're diluting the strong influence he has. But I may be misunderstanding. I also felt like you talked about the Russian people as a monolithic entity. What about the Russians protesting the war right now? Is it true that they're being arrested? For supporting different views than the leadership? It looks to me like the leaders are the ones right now causing this commotion, even though I agree there is a lot of history behind the decisions being taken. One more thing I'd like to point out: just because the classics have endured the test of time does not mean they're right. As much as I love Dostoevsky, his portrayal of an atheist is childish AND stupid. No depth whatsoever. I've been an atheist my entire life, most my family is. There is NO disregard for authority or diminished appreciation of ethics and morality in my family. I disagree with orthodox Christian obsession of controlling women's behavior, and wish to be left alone to not fast on special holidays but at no point did I consider (or any atheist I ever know) that I should be ok killing another human being because there is no heaven or hell. On the contrary, many atheists strongly value life and are often opposing the death penalty. I'm not saying there aren't stupid atheists out there, but none I know would ever say taking a human life or stealing or cheating are acceptable behaviors. Dostoevsky's opinions about lack of faith match those of a lot of religious fundamentalists. And they are wrong. All you need to do is speak to someone who doesn't share your beliefs and see for yourself. I warmly recommend reading Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel prize winner for non fiction. She interviews different former soviets with little to no judgment in her journalistic style writing. It's brilliant and more recent than the classic authors you mentioned. Second Hand Time talks about the trauma that was the USSR breakdown.

  • @peterivankovich2990

    @peterivankovich2990

    2 жыл бұрын

    You sound like a very intelligent and perceptive person. Yet it`s odd that you believe that a survivor`s perspective is necessarily true. Or 100% true. A human being will always try to put into their true story a certain amount of spin to achieve a goal, conscious or subconscious. You`re knowledgeable about languages spoken by the Hungarians and others, but you are loose in your notions about ;;Russian'' and ''Soviet''. The Holodomor was due to the Soviets, not Russians. Stalin was a Georgian, the guy in charge of collectivization was Jewish. Why did Hitler not like the Russians? Because they couldn`t rule themselves and were overtaken by socialist-minded Jews aiming for biblical Utopian communism. The Ukrainian peasants were partially responsible for causing their Holodomor. To counteract Stalin`s plan for collectivization, they neither plowed nor sowed for two years except for personal needs. They aimed to bring Stalin around by their protest. They hoped the Soviet government wouldn`t let them starve and bail them out with more food if need be. Stalin couldn`t be so cruel as to let his peasants starve, could he? It turned out he could. He ordered the food that the peasants in the Ukraine had grown for themselves confiscated and given to industrial workers in the cities. After two starving years, the Ukrainian peasants gave up, swallowed their pride and got back to farming. You have to remember that historians harbor personal political views as well, and tell their stories accordingly, puffing out some facts while blanking out others. One doesn`t have to lie a lot, just juggling hard facts will do. You should also know that Romania was considerably diluted by incorporating vast tracts of land inhabited by the Hungarian population, that was formerly Hungarian land. So your bitching about an enlargement of Romania through mixing various people in the pure Romanian stock is a bit spurious. Diminish the size of Romania, give back bits of land that have been folded into Romania, and you`ll get a pure Romanian population. Moldova is a long story that went back and forth in history so I leave it out. A couple of decades after a part of Romania had become part of the Russian empire to become Moldova, the Romanians (or now Moldovans) expressed their dissatisfaction by taking their anger out on Russians in 1905. The Jewish population in Moldova was registered as Russians by their own choice and owned special trade privileges, like only they could have vodka. After the Romanian-Moldovans had beaten up on those Russians-Jews, the event has gone down in history as a large-scale Russian pogrom of Jews: a major symbolic event for the Israeli state. It`s bad that the Russian government disperses protesters by force. The same thing happens in the US. The world seems fine with that. Because those who get beaten and shot in the US are people of color, civilized Europe doesn`t bother much about it. But generally, it`s the essence of all governments to dislike inconvenient protests. Only nobody thinks of imposing sanctions on the US. Svetlana Alexievich was selected to be a famous writer in Europe because she emphasized an anti-Soviet slant in her writings. She is not all that hot in Belarus, her homeland when she doesn`t knock about Europe. She is not read widely in Russia either, for all I know. Her books read much better in English translation than in her clumsy Russian. She is a political and ideological writer, not a literary writer. I completely and entirely share your take on atheists.

  • @laurakuhlmann1626

    @laurakuhlmann1626

    2 жыл бұрын

    @peter ivankovich first of all I never claimed I believe a survivor 100%. What I did after reading the book of a survivor was read more from historians. And unless international historians decided all to lie, your account of the Holodomor is misinformation. Wow, it sounds just like antisemites blaming the jews for the genocide in WWII. At best you can say the famine was linked to the soviet wide famine in the early 1930s, or as a consequence of problematic industrialization. But to claim that millions of people just got lazy and stopped ploughing their fields and just waited for others to feed them? OK let's see your sources then. I won't even address your deceitful interpretation of Romanian history (you did get some facts right, but not all)

  • @laurakuhlmann1626

    @laurakuhlmann1626

    2 жыл бұрын

    For those interested in a Holodomor account from a survivor: "Philipovna, daughter of sorrow" is one example. The author is the daughter of the survivor. The survivor managed to flee Europe after WW2 and was a factory worker in Eastern Canada. She recounted her stories to her daughter, who put them on paper and over time, after her mother's death, managed to publish the book. I know these details because I know the author personally. She only sold a few hundred copies, but received acclaim from some historians for thorough research of the topic. She is not on social media, she's not involved in politics, she's not dependent on this book selling to make a living. When people ask what's is the writer trying to gain: how about she's trying to tell a story as accurately as she can?

  • @peterivankovich2990

    @peterivankovich2990

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@laurakuhlmann1626 I`m afraid you have misunderstood most of what I wrote. I never said that you believed a survivor 100%. I meant that any survivor would tell untruths and slant his/her story to achieve a certain effect. I have spent a good chunk of my life among European big-shot historians and I have seen how they decide to interpret events. British and American historians often reinterpret history which can be seen from books sold at the bookstores. They have to churn out books to advance their degree and there are not enough salient events in history to go around for everybody, so the best way to write about known events is to reinterpret them. For example, I was stunned a few years ago to see a book putting a new interpretation on the well-studied see battle at Lepanto. English kings get reinterpreted by historians. It`s fashionable nowadays to present Richard III in England as a not so bad king after all, not guilty of crimes traditionally attributed to him, while until a few decades ago he was a terrible king. Shakespeare took a good swipe at him in his play. If you personally choose to accept international historians (as you term it, but I question - is there such a thing? - an international historian) as being impeccably faultless and pursuing nothing but the truth - which doesn`t exist in nature because truth is not a natural phenomenon but man`s biased decision - than do it. I don`t mind it at all. I just wanted to exchange some opinions on what you wrote, that`s all. You live your live and you choose opinions that suit you. I`m not saying that the Holodomor is misinformation. I was saying that the Holodomor as it`s presented by Ukraine now is not a full interpretation of the events, but only certain aspects of it meant to whip up ant-Russian feelings in Ukraine. And of course picked up by England right away because England loves everything that vilifies the Russians. This enmity toward Russia dates from the middle of the 19th century. I`m totally discombobulated by your remark that ''it`s like blaming the Jews for the Holocaust.'' What does it have to do with the Ukrainian peasants? You entirely misinterpreted what I wrote. I didn`t say the peasants got lazy. I said they decided to stage a protest against Stalin`s collectivization drive and deliberately refused to toil their fields to grow more than they personal needs. They had hoped to make Stalin come around in his plan. They miscalculated. Stalin took away what they had grown for themselves to distribute for industrial workers. The peasants had counted on Stalin not letting them starve if the worst came to the worst. Stalin decided to teach them a lesson. It`s so easy to say that the Russians wanted to exterminate the Ukrainian people because they the Ukrainians loved freedom. It`s something a brainwashed Westerner can relate to without over-straining his/her brain. The sources I have about the Holodomor sit in piles of books on history that crowd my place. You are quite right that the vast majority of books does contain the view that you unquestionably hold on it. A rare book will tell a more rounded story. The reason why most books give a straight-line narrative is in the ideological line of the West. Strip out details, give a crass picture of suffering. I talked to some people from Ukraine and they told a more differentiated story told them by their grandparents. For example, a woman from around the city of Poltava in Ukraine told me her grandparents had told her that starvation had not been evenly covering all of Ukraine, but it was kind of patchwork - present in some areas but totally absent in other areas. But why should a reader know such fine points when the purpose of a book on starvation in Ukraine is to generate hatred for the communists? Nobody cares to discuss three major outbreaks of starvation that swept India, a British colony, in the second half of the 19th century. I mean, there`re books that write about it, but those books are not ideologically blown out of proportion. And after all, the people of India are not Europeans, which means their lives are worth less and not worth talking about. Then the famine was not soviet-wide as you write. It was catastrophic only in the Ukraine and down the area along the River Volga. An English traveler had predicted the potential danger of a wide-spread famine along the Volga long before it happened. He had foreseen it in agricultural practices of the local populations. They were focused around the same kinds of crops and there was no diversification of agricultural crops. If one kind of the crops would fail, it would entail starvation because no alternative crops grew favoring different weather conditions. Starvation had happened a few times there in the late 19th century. Available wheat was exported to the Western countries. When it happened in the early 1920s under the communists, it`s worth talking much about it. I`ll gladly listen to your rectification of my wrong-headed interpretation of the history of Romania. I gather my facts from French history channel, as they talk about Romania more frequently than anybody else.

  • @Tzimiskes3506

    @Tzimiskes3506

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@peterivankovich2990 dostoevsky protayal of an atheist it perfect and no wonder hes had such a massive influence on everything written in the brothers Karamazov... To derive morality from atheism is a doomed enterprise and an oxymoron... You should come up with better arguements average internet atheist... How was it the orthodox church that oppressed women when your atheist lord stalin destroyed thousands of orthodox churches across the USSR? how absolutely ignorant are you? Yes and that's the points because most athiests act out a religious framework... Its like looking at God and slapping him in the face...

  • @badwolf69420
    @badwolf694202 жыл бұрын

    I agree that a lot of journalists and wannabe journalists are lazy, although I don’t know anything about the one mentioned in this video. I appreciate the different perspective offered on the Russian psyche here. However, I do think the comparison of Russia’s behavior to a jealous and abusive boyfriend is a valid one, and dismissing it out of hand as “childish” comes across as a deflection and an unwillingness to consider it. China comes across the same way with Taiwan. Also, if you’re going to say this isn’t about Putin and his lackeys but about Russia as a whole, then Russians will have lost their reputation for being “honest”, given the duplicity about the invasion of Ukraine.

  • @aleksandarignjatovic3130

    @aleksandarignjatovic3130

    2 жыл бұрын

    Actually all this is much less unclear then generally thuought. Remember the Cuban crisis and how Kennedy could not allow Soviets to come too near the USA with their misiles? It is the same here. Russians cannot allow NATO to come too near them with NATO misiles. And they have invaded to prevent it just like Kennedy would have invaded Cuba (would he have had a choice?) if Soviets had not withdrewn from Cuba.

  • @SudinNair007

    @SudinNair007

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@aleksandarignjatovic3130 that's another thing, Soviets never really had any missiles in Russia. It was a lie peddled by the Kennedy Administration, to invade Cuba.

  • @badwolf69420

    @badwolf69420

    2 жыл бұрын

    In one case, there were actual nuclear missile sites being installed at a time when the two nations were openly hostile to each other. In the other case, a country is being invaded and destroyed simply for talking to other countries about joining a pact or alliance with them. It's a dishonest comparison, even when one is reaching for an excuse or pretext to restart the Cold War. I feel bad for the Russian people, because their country is in a state of national psychosis, similar to how the US was after 9/11, except much worse, and what they're reacting to is in no way similar to 9/11.

  • @badwolf69420

    @badwolf69420

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@SudinNair007 Your knowledge of history is wrong. I'm sure I won't change your mind, if that's what you actually believe, but even if we suppose it's true then you're implicitly acknowledging that this is what Putin is doing now.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    have you been to Russia or have you known a russian for a long time?

  • @articshreder3569
    @articshreder35692 жыл бұрын

    Interesting video but in a way you kind of fell into the same trap as the journalist. You used a very general and dubious idea (the "russian soul" which apparently encompasses all 150 million Russian citizens that come from different geographical regions,places in society, ethnicities or religions) to explain complex geopolitical events like the rise and fall of the Soviet Union.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Literature teaches us nuance. But our minds are shaped by the mass media that everything is either black or white. I never claimed these were rules written in stone. Simply adding to the pool of knowledge to broaden the conversation to see things from various angles and sides. That’s all.

  • @articshreder3569

    @articshreder3569

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast I am a big fan of your content and this was an interesting perspective which kept in theme with the channel (literature). I just think that it is a limited and kind of idealistic perspective in such a complex and ruthless matter. It really reminded me of Hegel's geist, the spirit of nations that moves ,according to him, the wheels of history. Anyways much love from Greece, hoping to see you expand your content and your subscribers

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Appreciate it. Still learning.

  • @nescius2
    @nescius2 Жыл бұрын

    thanks for sharing your opinion, there are some interesting things to think about, but i will stick with ideas of some long dead poet, journalist and political thinker, who wrote that when _He went to Russia, He felt as Slav, but then he returned as Czech,_ that same dude also said that _Russians call everything Russian as Slovan, so then they can eventually claim all that is Slovan as Russian_ (so called -Trojan- Slovan horse). as i am listening to this i think that there are also many things here to disregard completely.

  • @geraldmeehan8942
    @geraldmeehan89422 жыл бұрын

    Agreed good job, I don't think journalists understand Russian fear of encirclement. If it's any consolation, I guess French and German politicians have learned the hard way, they vetoed Ukraine's membership in NATO

  • @zlvirag
    @zlvirag2 жыл бұрын

    I have been reading both Russian authors you speak of. And, I really think that what you are saying about what has shaped or given substance to a Russian is correct. And I too believe that people like Napoleon and Putin, among others are simply characters in a pay that goes on but is driven by the collective effort or ideas of many. But I also see that the events that they, Putin, etc., have put into motion are their own constructs. Without them, it would not have happened. Yes, the stage was set, the actors were ready, and once the play started to roll the events followed in some sort of order, due to the will of the actors. Either to a successful outcome, or to a miserable failure at the cost of, well, many lives. If Putin has read War and Peace, I think he should have remembered, before attacking all of the Ukraine, Napoleon's praise for the Cossacks. I cannot remember exactly, but I believe it was 'that if my army was made up of all Cossacks I could conquer all of Europe. Yes I know that Cossacks are both Ukrainian and Russian. But, in my view anyway, Putin's army is looking more and more like Napoleon's army, following their arrival at the torched site of Moscow.

  • @bojidaralexandrov2113
    @bojidaralexandrov2113 Жыл бұрын

    As much as I admire Tolstoy, I do not agree on 100% with him. Some people create history, rather than be subject to it. Consider the classic thought experiment: would the Holocaust have happened if Hitler had got into art school? I think not. Yes, some form of conflict between Germany and Great Britain was inevitable but the anti-Semitic pogroms were not at all inevitable. Similarly, I believe that Putin's personal ideas (though shared by many Russians) of Russia's place in the world have a lot to do with the inasion of Ukraine. As to Dosoyevsky's Panslavism, this is nothing but imperialism. I am a Slav myself - a Bulgarian. I can tell you that Panslavism was never popular in Bulgaria. We never felt one with all Slavs. Of course, in Russia by the far the largest Slavic country in the world, this idea seemes much more appealing. It is like China wanting all of the Confucian countries to unite, or Saudi Arabia wanting to establish a Pan-Arabic state... No one bothers to ask the small countries of their opinion. As to understanding the Russian soul, I higly recommend "Second hand time" by Svetlana Alexievich.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    I agree, I think history is a mixture of the two. Also interesting point on the salvic unity. I think that sentiment is present in a lot of countries. Arabs, Turks and Slavs. But given the geopolitcs and centuries of unique cultures, i can't imagine them happening in the old format. A more realistic approach might be something like the EU, not race-based but more economic-based.

  • @bojidaralexandrov2113

    @bojidaralexandrov2113

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast Yes, a mixture of imprersonal forces and great people. I remember that while reading “War and Peace”, which I otherwise completely loved, and got to the part where Tolstoy discusses his view of history, I was not particularly convinced…. As to Panslavism, I just wanted to point out that all sorts of projects of ethnic unification are more appealing to the dominant/most numerous ethnic group, in the case with Slavs - the Russians. Even in the 19th century, when the idea was more plausible than today, it never had big support in Bulgaria- most people simply view Panslavism as a tool of Russian imperialism. The one Russian author who knew something about my country was Tolstoy - and he was not a Panslavist, he was a universalist. Btw, I didn’t expect to get a reply from the actual creator of the video! Very interesting channel, keep up the good work!

  • @timotharcher
    @timotharcher2 жыл бұрын

    It is hard to understand U mate.... What is going on ?

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    I'm glad most of audience is happy young men :)

  • @Historelic
    @Historelic2 жыл бұрын

    There's no justification for civilian casualties and all out wars result in huge numbers of that, no matter how big of a statesman Putin is or how resilient and proud the Russian race is this current aggression against Ukraine is deplorable.

  • @emmanuel8310

    @emmanuel8310

    2 жыл бұрын

    By the way....a large number of those invaded are Russians too.

  • @bladerunner9531

    @bladerunner9531

    2 жыл бұрын

    But there's a big chaos in Kiev and other cities in Ukraine. People were given guns and mostly they just robbed shops and killed each other. Like it happened to Ukrainian family who was driving home and they'd been killed by Ukrainian groups because they thought it was russians. Real Ukrainian soldiers don't want to fight as well as Russians so they always surrender and it's really wise. Especially when Chechen special groups were invading Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers just surrendered, but civilians were furious about that. It's just a massive chaos and media uses it to portray Russia as an evil. But no one cares about the fact that Ukraine has been blowing up Dombas for 8 years. Also Ukraine just could've given Krym to Russia and stop bombing Donetsk People's Republic.

  • @bladerunner9531

    @bladerunner9531

    2 жыл бұрын

    By the way I'm Ukrainian

  • @emmanuel8310

    @emmanuel8310

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@bladerunner9531 Hope you're safe??

  • @emmanuel8310

    @emmanuel8310

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@bladerunner9531 Will you just shut up?? Russia is bullying Ukraine. Simple. You're the bias one here, you're ignoring the fact that those group at Donbass shot down a civilian plane ... And it was Russia who was backing them up. What do you expect Ukraine to do...to look at them destroy lives? If you don't know what to say ... Just keep quiet

  • @markspano3468
    @markspano34682 жыл бұрын

    Is Johnny Harris a journalist?

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    yes he has been claiming to be a journalist. kzread.info/dash/bejne/dqmhksSqh8nPd9o.html

  • @cesar.sandovalcolon
    @cesar.sandovalcolon Жыл бұрын

    10:20 isn't this Sylvester Stallone?

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    yes

  • @Armorius2199
    @Armorius21992 жыл бұрын

    I really love your rational. In my belief war is terrible and unbearable. But war is necessary and eventually brings peace. If ancestors did not fight in the revolutionary war of independence or in the second world war, I would not be free. A nation can always wait to be attacked to defend itself. They poked the bear for 20 years, now it bit them back.

  • @cassandravalasi108

    @cassandravalasi108

    Жыл бұрын

    I hope you are talking about Ukraine defenting herself from Russia, but probably you aren't. Remember how Hitler invaded Poland by claiming that he wanted to stop Polands aggressiveness? Well that reminds me of what Putin claims about that war. But Iam sure that your opinion is deferrent!

  • @salomelazariashvili556
    @salomelazariashvili5562 жыл бұрын

    5:45 Yes, invading Ukraine was indeed very pragmatic decision for Russia. Their economy will be booming after this I am sure.

  • @abhiroopdas3232

    @abhiroopdas3232

    2 жыл бұрын

    short term loss vs long term gain. Then again his plan isnt going smoothly either.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Only time will tell.

  • @cassandravalasi108

    @cassandravalasi108

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast That means that you are hoping for Russia to win. And you rather would expect Russia to to be a satellite of China instead of the "corrupted West".

  • @cassandravalasi108

    @cassandravalasi108

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast Also their is a deferrence between Russians cultivating and surviving in a harsh envioronment and becoming "brutal and honest" and those of today expecting the world to obey them because they have fossils. I recently came to your channel, but now I unsubscribe.

  • @cassandravalasi108

    @cassandravalasi108

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast But you had convinced me that Russians actually want this war. They only want just somebody to tell them they are the best nation in the world, and everybody is misunderstanding them, and everybody is depriving them from there rights. The same thing with Hitler and the Germans in other words. But then only time will tell ... how they are going to be referred by future historians!

  • @radovanradosavljevic6866
    @radovanradosavljevic68662 жыл бұрын

    Good job my friend. My favourite writer Dostoevsky of course!!

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you very much!

  • @geraldmeehan8942
    @geraldmeehan89422 жыл бұрын

    Johnny hasa new Ukraine video out now I see, lol!

  • @KLLAVI_The_Skaven
    @KLLAVI_The_Skaven10 ай бұрын

    I personally don't like Putin, after all I'm communist so you can kind of expect that I'm not gonna like him. Yet i like Russia, as person who is invested in mythology, history, literature, i just love it there, to see all the cultures there, and as person who was born and lives in Czechia i just love see different parts of slavic culture. So even thou i don't like their politics, i still love it. nowadays i cant say it cause people don't care that i don't like Putin and don't support Russia in this war.

  • @SudinNair007
    @SudinNair0072 жыл бұрын

    Considering Dostoevsky was an Antisemite and A purist, I don't think his perspective is that different from what Johnny Harris pointed out.

  • @SudinNair007

    @SudinNair007

    2 жыл бұрын

    Also The fall of USSR was definitely not the biggest Geopolitical Catastrophe of the 20th century.

  • @dinahreschid7731

    @dinahreschid7731

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@SudinNair007 No, for peoples around the world the fall of USSR is the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the century, after that the world is unbalanced and the USA without the USSR begun its endless wars and destroy several countries (Afghanistan, Irak, Yougoslavie, Lybia). Before the fall of USSR the USA were a better country, with better behaviour.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    imagine i judge you based on your left arm, while ignoring the rest of your body.

  • @shahsadsaadu5817
    @shahsadsaadu5817 Жыл бұрын

    5:55 you're also making the same mistake as Johny harris by focusing on Putin's aesthetics rather than the policy decisions of the Russian state. Wrestling bear and shirtless horse riding have nothing to do with pragmatism. In terms of politics,ho chi Minh was more pragmatic than Putin and more impressive,and he was a poet.

  • @89volvowithlazers
    @89volvowithlazers2 ай бұрын

    One year on wonder if the author still proposes these ideas as russian motivation after 2 yrs on for the russian pragmatist he so descibes...er sumpin😮

  • @everybodyhadtopayandpay8
    @everybodyhadtopayandpay8Ай бұрын

    "the ethnic X that find themselves on the other side of the border' - same concern Hitler had, if I remember correctly. Excuse me, claimed to have

  • @user-js8tk4yg5t
    @user-js8tk4yg5t2 жыл бұрын

    希特勒在没有失败之前也很聪明 就像普钦一样 给我是这样是影响

  • @hermanshvets7915
    @hermanshvets79152 жыл бұрын

    As a man from Russia I want to say something... That's an interesting video but.. a lot of russians is just a prisoners now. There's very few people who support the war against Ukraine. That's why everything comes down to Putin now. Nobody asked us what we want. So.. we don't want this war! We love Ukraine! We have brother, sisters, friends there! P.s. sorry I made a lot of mistakes in text but I don't speak English, so.. I'm trying ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ

  • @Tzimiskes3506

    @Tzimiskes3506

    2 жыл бұрын

    Actually there is a lot of support for putin lol.

  • @hermanshvets7915

    @hermanshvets7915

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Tzimiskes3506 As I said: very few people support the war.

  • @Beatrice_Stefanie0203

    @Beatrice_Stefanie0203

    2 жыл бұрын

    😰

  • @kensimpson2925

    @kensimpson2925

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Tzimiskes3506 says who? Not the locals I’ve spoken to, furthermore, there are no real stats to be had coming out of Russia.

  • @Tzimiskes3506

    @Tzimiskes3506

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@hermanshvets7915 well then you haven't seen the whole picture yet... Most of them are neutral... Many people did support ukraine in the beginning but now people see both sides of the same coin...

  • @robwashers
    @robwashers2 ай бұрын

    You're starting to personify a Dostoevsky quote from 'The Idiot'..."beauty will save the world" keep it coming

  • @beastmode6609
    @beastmode6609 Жыл бұрын

    i got a bad vibe for that harris

  • @nopenopenope678
    @nopenopenope678 Жыл бұрын

    let us hear the rest of the nutcracker . . .

  • @rachaelmacdonald8652
    @rachaelmacdonald86522 жыл бұрын

    I love understanding all points of view and the motivations behind everyone’s decisions, that’s why I am here. However, your argument seems to focus so much on historical influences and you are completely ignoring the realities of the modern state of Russia. The reality is Putin has become increasingly isolated and detached from his own people. He is not acting upon his peoples wishes, he is controlling them. His current actions are not for his people, but for himself and he does not care how many lives it takes to hold onto his power. He IS the villain just as Hitler was. We must understand his psyche but also understand that he has taken these historical reasons and twisted them for his own gain. I think the reason much of the media coverage has focused on Putin in because most of the realities of what’s going on is not historical strife- it’s death. Which is not generally considered appropriate to show on tv in order to respect those who have died. Death of a people that if he really wanted to protect, there are many ways he could have helped reconnect them with Russia that do not involve murdering them. Free Russia from Putin’s fear tactics, and they will tell you the same. In fact, they already are despite the risk to their own lives for simply speaking what they believe. I respect your perspective but saying modern journalists are “lazy” for summarizing or misinterpreting the past, is hypocritical of you considering you are ignoring modern facts. Totally keep putting the historical perspective out there, but using insults to shallowly take shots at journalists only hurts your argument and validates hypocrites.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Most of the media makes more money if they demonise or pedestalise individuals and this in turn promotes a sense of tribalism (ideological or nationalistic). Investigating the truth, which is often ugly and hard to swallow is also extremely time-consuming and costly. I think most media companies follow their own financial interest and in some cases, some journalists are too lazy. My attempt was to look at things from a literary angle. It's just another tool to understand something as complex as conflicts among nations.

  • @rachaelmacdonald8652

    @rachaelmacdonald8652

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast I absolutely agree with that, however that does not mean that they are wrong. They are just leaving a lot of the complexities out, but so does everyone including yourself. The problem arises when people seek out only one source. The journalist you presented, or yourself. Both are bad on their own. However, you are the one taking cheap shots at other sources, attempting to isolate your audience from other sources creating your own tribalism.

  • @Alphabunsquad

    @Alphabunsquad

    Жыл бұрын

    @@rachaelmacdonald8652 very well said. He ignored the current political situation of Russia that Putin has worked very hard to build and that doesn’t happen without him. Of course there are other factors that made this war possible and let Putin build the political system he wanted but ignoring that Putin is absolutely a key piece in that puzzle lends unjust justification to Russia’s actions as being a natural response to world around them when it’s not. It’s due to both Putin’s political philosophy and his lack of care of his people (or people of other countries), as well as the miscalculations that he has made due to the faulty political system he’s established. If you want to give a surface level, quick report to give the general population an idea of what is happening and why it’s happening then focusing on Putin is absolutely the right call. You can absolutely dig deeper from there and find more about the wider context but starting with an approach from history and literature will give you background information that will lead you to draw really incomplete conclusions

  • @lucashilty1838

    @lucashilty1838

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Alphabunsquad and @Rachel Macdonald Actually, I think he was very respectful in how he handled this and I appreciate it! I do wish we could have heard a bit more about the actual cost of the war. Because a people values struggle, does that explain an invasion that leaves thousands dead on both sides? But the thing you're touching on which I agree with is the influence of one man. Tolstoy overlooked something important here, I think. Putin is not merely the product of a million chances in the seething soup of history. It's right to acknowledge the larger situation; this is much bigger than Putin. But it's a mistake to relegate the strong man to a place of unimportance. For peace...

  • @mikemestas9835
    @mikemestas9835 Жыл бұрын

    you bring up something elementary''''dont judge a book by the cover----also and not before the time

  • @dionysian222
    @dionysian2222 жыл бұрын

    Does this mean history absolves Putin of any responsibility?

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    history absolves nobody. Power does. history is written by victors.

  • @dionysian222

    @dionysian222

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast Thanks for the engagement. My divergent view from a lived experience is powerful men are not mere cogs in a machine. I am from South Sudan and both my parents served in the longest civil war in Africa. The whole region is controlled by a gun class that is far removed from the populace and their trade is the spilling of blood. I cannot accept that the end justifies the means. In my country South Sudan, we still mourn Dr. John Garang, the man who led the resistance until his death. He presented to the country an image of resilience and hope, his successors are at war with the people. Certainly leaders have a huge influence on events that occur given no bullet can be fired mostly without their consent. Maybe history in the books is written by the victors but the oral tradition is more powerful in moving the emotions of the common man.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yes I agree that’s why I think literature is more powerful than history books. Oral tradition is a precursor to the written literature.

  • @dionysian222

    @dionysian222

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast Totally agreed! Revisionist history is lazy but if a historian chances to get it right, historic figures are quite powerful. Even the philosophies of men are derived from experiences influenced by the whims of a powerful man should he choose ill or well!

  • @buzzwithdrip6347
    @buzzwithdrip6347Ай бұрын

    not sure why they were so afraid of western ideas like atheism and nationalism

  • @calebgunkle1870
    @calebgunkle18702 жыл бұрын

    to me it makes sense to focus on Putin because its impossible to make sense of the whole russian population and really he is the man behind the wheel as a dictator. For understanding why this was happened putin needs to be understood. Arent you doing the same thing portraying Johnny Harris as the media at large?

  • @emmanuel8310

    @emmanuel8310

    2 жыл бұрын

    I think you're right. There are Russians in Ukraine fighting against the invasion. And there are Russians protesting in Russia. I think he's in fact, himself, exaggerating the words of those historical writers to fit his view more.

  • @nynaevealmeera

    @nynaevealmeera

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@emmanuel8310 Ikr! You articulated so well why this video didn't really sit well with me. He's doing the same thing he's professing to be criticizing.

  • @Tzimiskes3506

    @Tzimiskes3506

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@emmanuel8310 i think your dum. These russians some fight for putin while others are agaisnt... Almost the entire nation of India and China supports Russia... I think you are indeed wrong on every level or have lost the ability to think critically... Either way you have no clue of what you speak

  • @nynaevealmeera

    @nynaevealmeera

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Tzimiskes3506 I think you're the one who's dumb The following countries have sent military aide to Ukraine: - US - UK - France - The Netherlands - Germany - Canada - Sweden - Portugal - Greece - Romania - Spain - Czech Republic More countries have imposed economic sanctions. Russia is out of luck.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    You're right. He is a small piece of a large pie, but most media outlets focus on Putin and ignore asking deeper questions.

  • @craigb4913
    @craigb49132 жыл бұрын

    A bit odd you're more concerned about how one describes a brutal invasion against a weak & defenseless nation than you are of the invasion itself.

  • @lydia8937

    @lydia8937

    2 жыл бұрын

    I have noticed that the media looks overwhelmed by the invasion, they are not being professional. It's not about whether it is right ot wrong or 'brutal' as you say, it's about presenting the situation as objectively as possible. They are influencing people and It's unacceptable. Also, your comment shows that they influenced you as well. I would have loved to see the same outrage for Iraq, Libya or Yemen. But no.. to quote that journalist from one of your channels "it's a civilised place, you don't expect or hope for such things to happen here". I am amazed by how the world reacted to Ukraine when the US destructed countries everywhere in the world (Latin America is a great example) the US did not only invade, it's decimated, it pulverised countries.

  • @craigb4913

    @craigb4913

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@lydia8937 Not enough room to respond to everything, but a few points. First about the media not being "professional" or "objective." That ship sailed long ago. Most media sources are more geared to commentary than reporting, and commentary is by nature subjective. Second, you know nothing about my sources of information. Unless you're in Ukraine, you have to rely on some type of media for information. And if you think you aren't influenced by any media, you obviously have no self awareness. Third, "it's not about whether it's right or wrong?" Do you not believe in right & wrong in general, or do you just not think this invasion is wrong? Why isn't it wrong? As far as your language describing past US military actions, you obviously think that was wrong. Why is that considered wrong while Russia's invasion isn't? Last, if you think toppling Sadam is a moral equivalent to toppling Zelensky, that definitely explains your comments. Sadam came to power in a military coup, invaded his neighbors, systematically killed his own people, and funded terrorism throughout the region. If you have information that Zelensky has done any of those things I'd love to hear about it.

  • @lydia8937

    @lydia8937

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@craigb4913 I agree that every media, be it BBC or Al Jazeera, is biased. But in this particular case, it's reacting way too emotionally, and as the video suggests, centering around one big villain. As a citizen of a country that knew invasion and colonisation, I know how terrible the Ukrainian must feel. It's ineffable and deeply unfair. Of course it's wrong, but it is not the role of the media to inform us that it is wrong and almost unprecedented in the most melodramatic way. This can cause people to react foolishly. Like that man hitting the wax figure of Putin in Paris. And regarding Saddam, as a neighbor, I only have one remark: Saddam wasb very close to the US government, an ally and trading partner. The reason they toppled him has nothing to do with freedom and justice and everything to do with disobedience. They even refused all negotiations with him because they wanted him out et puis voilà. The world is not made of the nice VS the bad, no country is nice and heroic, especially not the US. I have a question for you : what's the excuse for Yemen? How do you think those countries feel when they are treated like they are unworthy of having the attention that Ukraine is now receiving. I am not defending Putin. But I cannot stand the hypocrisy of the media, and the international Indignation as if we haven't seen such a war since the 40's ( something I actually heard many journalists claim) and at least ( and I was truly touched to see) the Ukraines are being welcomed in neighbouring countries. Not everyone has that luck. I do not live in Ukraine, but I do not live in a quiet area either. All I am saying is, if you call for justice, call for global one.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Someone has to do the dirty work of describing a brutal invasion. Easy to attack an invasion but hard to dig deeper to understand what's happening on a cultural/historical level.

  • @craigb4913

    @craigb4913

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast Dirty work indeed. Fine line between explaining/ understanding & rationalizing/justifying. If Harris errors in ignoring historical forces, you error in ignoring human agency. There was nothing historically inevitable about Hitler's actions prior to & during WW2. There was nothing historically inevitable about Churchill deciding to fight Hitler instead of negotiating a peace deal when Britain stood alone. And there was no historical/cultural inevitability in Putin ordering this invasion. The "great man" vs "great forces" theories of history is a false dichotomy. History is the interaction of the two. And dictators like Putin have more freedom to act as they lack the basic structural & institutional checks on their power.

  • @chungchihsu2000
    @chungchihsu20002 жыл бұрын

    Berdyev, bad fate happened to Russians and Chinese.

  • @bdwon
    @bdwon Жыл бұрын

    Johnny Harris is a strawman in your account. He is easy to criticize. A better video would have contrasted the Russian Greats to a better journalistic account like “Putin and the Presidents,” a FRONTLINE production with the Kirk Documentary Group. The director is Michael Kirk. The producers are Michael Kirk, Mike Wiser and Vanessa Fica. The writers are Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser. The reporter is Vanessa Fica.

  • @egorsurimov5996
    @egorsurimov5996 Жыл бұрын

    10:22 ????????

  • @DrJoySmithMaxwell
    @DrJoySmithMaxwell11 ай бұрын

    I'm a fan of Russian lit. & have a fair grasp & appreciation of Russian history & its culture, however no historical claim, nor any amount of "geopolitical anxieties", legitimize an attack on a sovereign nation, full stop! Historical context may add nuance, but it's nothing more than a deflection to a past, which by definition no longer exists! Present day Ukraine has been a sovereign nation since 1991 & citizens directly vote for their president & the members of parliament, aka Today's Ukraine is a de facto democracy by definition! Russia's invasion was a violation of the UN Charter and an act of aggression, full stop! No historical context or literature review excuses Russia's crime under international law. Putin & his enablers are wreaking havoc in the region to the determent of civilians. In an attempt to divert Russian public scrutiny of their political & economic failures, the oligarchs are sending young Russia men to die by tapping into & capitalizing on the long standing "Russian Mother Land" & "Real men" myths!

  • @GiveBackAll
    @GiveBackAll2 жыл бұрын

    This provides a good balance. We need to understand that there are powerful forces behind Putin. However, the author of this film clearly has a bias - he assumes that Tolstoy is right, and goes to the other extreme from focusing on a man to only blaming the great forces behind him. This fatalistic view is very effective in excusing the evils of a man like Putin and his supporters. The video may help us to understand the Russian mindset, but the author is wrong in trying to excuse this evil. Just as Hitler was the man who decided to invade, and so the world had to fight against him, so we must fight against Putin as the head of a violent movement that is committing atrocities against Ukraine. Furthermore, the Russian people are not the same as the serfs of 200 years ago who were just focusing on survival. They can - and must - rise up against the evil regime.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @Alphabunsquad

    @Alphabunsquad

    Жыл бұрын

    I disagree that this balanced. It tells a different angle but it’s a generally less significant angle. It ignores the political realities of Russia that Putin has built a political system and a propaganda system to makes it so that his will is the key piece in the decision making of Russia. This should be supplemental information, and should also be better researched. Saying the reporting on Putin is inaccurate is just not true. They are two aspects of the same issue but Putin’s personal philosophy is absolutely important and if you want to give people a quick understanding of the situation that will bring them to mostly accurate conclusions you should focus on Putin and not on literature. Putin first, geopolitical forces second, literature third. All are important but starting at the back without researching the other two will completely bring you to the wrong conclusions.

  • @canzonettasullaria9472
    @canzonettasullaria94722 жыл бұрын

    That video complening bullshit.

  • @peterivankovich2990

    @peterivankovich2990

    2 жыл бұрын

    It`s not bullshit. It`s just above your level of understanding in that particular subject matter.

  • @user-bu9nd9nc5b
    @user-bu9nd9nc5b7 ай бұрын

    The West and Russia developed differently. Russia was originally a secular state, then sealed by the Orthodox religion. The western states were originally provinces of Catholic Rome, and the formation of modern western states was as a protest against the power of the pope. the difference between a Little Russian and a Great Russian. less than between a northern German (Protestant) and a southern German (Catholic) and much less than between northern and southern Italians who have different genetics and these facts do not prevent Germans and Italians from living in one state and consider themselves one people. Little Russia (Ukraine) is not a nation, but a province. Ukrainians who do not consider themselves Russian are simply the result of the Bolshevik red experiment and Western propaganda. the Bolsheviks before the revolution did not see movements for independence in any province of the Russian empire.

  • @animalspirits1061
    @animalspirits1061 Жыл бұрын

    Really enjoy your videos but it's absurd to suggest honesty is one of the most important traditions and values in Russian society. The level of disinformation, lies and hypocrisy pumped out by the various tyrants ruling Russia really has no parallel!

  • @CA-jz9bm

    @CA-jz9bm

    Жыл бұрын

    I have only seeing lies from the west, and especially Ukraine so far. XD

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    I meant to say honesty is part of Russian literature but also when you meet ordinary Russians but agree on misinformation on all sides.

  • @user-rr8eg9zl6b

    @user-rr8eg9zl6b

    Жыл бұрын

    Какое счастье, что в мире есть не тираны. А честные и нелицемерные лидеры, которые правда почему то машут непонятными пробирками в ООН и вторгаются в другие страны. И там не преследуют людей подобных Ассанжу и Сноудену. Да и сми не принадлежат магнатам типа Трампа или Баффета, которые диктуют свою повестку. Ей богу, аж заплакать готов от такого счастья

  • @chemicaltankerdriver
    @chemicaltankerdriver2 жыл бұрын

    One or two notes here... first, the 1917 Revolution did not create an utopian state. Second, it was not rational and that was primary cause of the fall of the Soviet Union. Third, Russian character, or Russian soul, was changed a lot by a brutal qnd very systematic process of putting in GULag anybody thinking just slightly different than yesterday's government newspaper. Often times they even put in GULags true believers in communism - at least 5-10% of all people who went through GULag camp were such people. To understand modern day Russia, yes you need Dostoyevski.. but more than that, you need to read "The GULag Archipelago" at least three, four times. Especially, that Putin comes from KGB school of thought. It's something so alien to the Western thought that I'm not at all surprised that even most bright people in the West misunderstand both Russia and its governing elite today. Read GULag.

  • @Tzimiskes3506

    @Tzimiskes3506

    2 жыл бұрын

    So what does it explain?

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    October revolutionaries claimed socialist utopia. Dialectical materialism is pretty rational. Not all Russians went to gulag, a small minority.

  • @ghostwraith119

    @ghostwraith119

    3 ай бұрын

    Gulag is more pro-western propaganda. It is almost fictional, not documentary for my dissatisfaction... One guy told me that, other second, etc...

  • @elegachi
    @elegachi2 жыл бұрын

    I'm from Finland, and I'm close to Russia, but I still want to be a part of nato. Nato doesn't attack; it's a defense agreement, and honestly, I don't want anything to do with Russia, and the hatred is somewhat strong. The reason 24 million Russians died in WWII is because their leaders don't care about them, not because they were brave. You're looking at Russia through rose tinted glasses, and I wouldn't care so much if my sovereignty wasn't in danger because the last thing I ever want to be is Russian.

  • @pilipala4003

    @pilipala4003

    2 жыл бұрын

    I was looking for a comment like this, thank you. I enjoyed the video on the whole searching for a deeper analysis through a different lens but there were parts that were way off and Russian propaganda apologia. Nato expansionism is Russian propaganda, we must have a hard line on this. If you're interested in history I'm absolutely astonished the video maker didn't know that 24 million Russian soldiers lost their lives in the great patriotic war as they call it, which as you said was due to massive incompetence and total lack of giving a shit. Many of those returning as heroes were also thrown into the gulags so again, we need to be careful, especially those with a platform.

  • @CA-jz9bm

    @CA-jz9bm

    Жыл бұрын

    NATO attacked Libya, destroyed the country completely, gang up on Afghanistan (and still ost lol) etc. NATO is a way for US to expand its influence nothing more. Why are you being Naive? " The reason 24 million Russians died in WWII is because their leaders don't care about them" - since majority of them were civilians, they died mostly from German politics on occupied territories, also like half of those who died (civilians) were Ukrainians and Byelorussians.

  • @CA-jz9bm

    @CA-jz9bm

    Жыл бұрын

    @@pilipala4003 "Nato expansionism is Russian propaganda, we must have a hard line on this." . it expanded into Eastern Europe which is a fact. and before you repeat the same stuff about sovereign countries doing whatever they want, ask why US can have Monroe Doctrine but not Russia? We are talking geopolitics here after all. Rules here is might makes right and conquest is a virtue.

  • @user-yy8qc6yo1m

    @user-yy8qc6yo1m

    Жыл бұрын

    From 27 millions that USSR lost in WW2 only around 10 is military. Other peoples was killed because for nazis peoples of USSR was same as Jews. But western propaganda dosnt tell it for you

  • @user-hp9su1iy6g

    @user-hp9su1iy6g

    Жыл бұрын

    With all respect, for the phrase NATO doesn't attack sounds like a bad joke. Alright, NATO as a whole organisation perhaps has never attacked a country, but its main member with the help of other member-states attacked a whole bunch of countries, especially after the Soviet Union ceased to exist

  • @lukemoran8158
    @lukemoran81582 жыл бұрын

    While the commentary about the thinking of the Russian nation is valid, denying the total authority Putin has over Russia ignores the major culpability he has in the conflict. Furthermore,,it ignores the general desire for peace held by most of the Russian people. Putin is warmongering and no reading of Dostoevsky will turn that into something rational

  • @Tzimiskes3506

    @Tzimiskes3506

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yeah its best you keep your mouth shut to avoiding further embarrassment that only serves to entrench yourself further into the pit of stupidity... Listen to dostoevsky for he understands things far eternally better than you...

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    i didn't deny Putin's authority. This was Tolstoy's theory.

  • @user-yy8qc6yo1m

    @user-yy8qc6yo1m

    Жыл бұрын

    I am from Russia and supporting SMO. It is hard to understand that russians want peace, but we are supporting our country in any war because we kniw what can happen after lose. In WW2 nazis killed 15 millions USSR peoples only because for them we was the same as Jews - not peoples. This hard to understand that russians want peace but not by becoming satelite of other state, but by war if needed, by being stong state that kniw one want to attack

  • @cassandravalasi108

    @cassandravalasi108

    Жыл бұрын

    @@user-yy8qc6yo1m I am glad that I encounter an opinion from someone from inside Russia, but I have to dessagre with you. I also don't know what SMO is. First of all I beleave that Russians don't want war, but they somehow were convinced to get into this one. I am not going to discuss why your goverment says you should do that, but the thoughts that you express here. There is no point to be affraid that someone is going to invade in Russia and kill people. This thing would never happen again in todays word. Do you suppose that if you lose the war Ukranians are going to invade in Russia and kill people? The Americans maybe, the Frence, the Germans? What modern country would have allowed that to happen? Their citizens would have protested against that, the same way they are protesting now about war in Ukraine. Some things cannot be repeated in todays world. There are cameras everywhere to witness. The only possible people to take such a revenge would be the Ukranians. But what they mostly want is to take their country back and be able to rule it themselves. They wouldn't have the strength to continue that war further more. As of Russia being strong and not become a satelite, well Russia could never become a satelite to anyone. It is the largest country in the world and they could stay on their one if they chosed. But that does not mean that they have the right to make other countries their satelite. And they have done that consistently in the last 100 or more years. Sure they are not the only ones. Other counties have done it more. But take for instance Ukrain. If you were not treating them as your satelite for the last 20 years, they might have chosen to be your allies, because you are closer culturaly. But you were forcing them your one corrupted people for their goverment. I will always remember Yanukovich palace when the journalists have first got in. You can see it on youtube. Which country would have accepted such a filthy corrupted man, only because he was supporting the Russian interests. They have the right to choose for their own interests. And now after this war you have removed Ukrain for ever from your influence. Because you cannot forse a country to love you! No one is going to win to this war.Everyone will lose. Ucrainians whatever happens to them will have a completly destroyed country that will take half a century to be bild up again. Russian economy will collapse, Europe's economy will collapse, everyone is going to disgrase the Russians, everyone except the Chinise, who will offer "help" and will gradualy lead Russia to become their own satelite, because they pottentialy have more power than Russia. What are you stoping with this war?I am sorry but you are wrong.

  • @ghostwraith119

    @ghostwraith119

    3 ай бұрын

    ​​@@cassandravalasi108we wanted to be heard. Western democracies were creating 2nd edition Hitler- Ukrainian nazi regime- honed and ready against us. Putin many times asked Western leaders to stop doing that. Everytime we heard- we will do what we want and we do not care about what Russians are thinking about it. The same was before ww2. Putin decided not to wait for another 22.06.41. And you know what- after seeing western reaction and hypocrisy, most of Russians assumed he was actually right.

  • @baruchbobo9993
    @baruchbobo99932 ай бұрын

    Wonderful perspective, lazy johnny should remove his video I hope he can humble himself and remove the video. Ouch!😂

  • @mondoenterprises6710
    @mondoenterprises6710 Жыл бұрын

    Now I have to unsubscribe Comrade b/c Putin is full of it! Are you really trying to justify this butcher!?

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    read my pinned comment.

  • @CA-jz9bm

    @CA-jz9bm

    Жыл бұрын

    Putin is doing everything right m8

  • @u1rtc7t5f64t157856v8
    @u1rtc7t5f64t157856v8 Жыл бұрын

    Imperialist writers who died before WW1 are in no way starting points for valid analyses of what's happening, maybe about how russians perceive themselves. An appeal to authorities contrasted with some random KZreadr is pretty lazy too...

  • @kingkefa7130

    @kingkefa7130

    Жыл бұрын

    Are you saying Tolstoy was an imperialist writer?

  • @blackbear77
    @blackbear7711 ай бұрын

    What I noticed is that people "side with Russia" in social media is more keen to listen to other side of story and also dig into history and geopolitics and more info to try to understand the situation and found a solution to peace, but people support Ukraine mostly just put the Ukraine flag on and sealed up and ready to attack any different voices. Not saying absolute but majority.

  • @lavalamp6410
    @lavalamp64102 жыл бұрын

    I think you miss the point, Ukraine is an independent state with a democratically elected government, what they decide their foreign policy stance is is entirely up to Ukraine and nobody else, that is what being a democracy is about. Russia has no say in the matter, it isn't their business, Russia resorting to the barbarism of invasion and war comes across as a childish temper tantrum.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Never questioned Ukrainian independence. This was a 19th century russian literature view on the matter. that;s all

  • @ghostwraith119

    @ghostwraith119

    3 ай бұрын

    Western hypocrisy...

  • @rektor2141
    @rektor21412 жыл бұрын

    Russian here. Great video till the last part. You have really complex understanding of Russian culture and mentality. My spacial thanks for Aksakov cameo. Now let's talk about Russia today. As you mentioned Russians are the biggest divided nation in a whole world. A lot of Russians live in others countries including Ukraine. I bett you didn't know but Ukraine in a civil war for last 8 years. Everyday Ukrainian military forces bombed Donetsk and Lugansk where mostly live Russians and a lot of them even have Russian citizenship. It's not my dreams, it's horrible reality nobody talks about. If you don't believe me check OSCE reports, there thousands of dead Russians. So today's war not about culture or mentality at all. It's all about saving our people.

  • @nynaevealmeera

    @nynaevealmeera

    2 жыл бұрын

    So you invade the rest of Ukraine (including non-Russians) to "save your own people"? Doesn't really make much sense to me.

  • @rektor2141

    @rektor2141

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@nynaevealmeera i don't know how'd you stop civil war without demilitarization of aggressor and trial of people who gave orders. If you could probably you are god of negotiations and politics. Wars don't stop just if you please.

  • @Tzimiskes3506

    @Tzimiskes3506

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@nynaevealmeera yeah no shit sherlock thats what happens when a chicken comedian president gives weapons to innocent citizens... Putin only engaged on a military front and operation. But i guess that ukrainian military never had the balls to only engage in military conflict but reeled in their entire civilian population as an excuse... See the truth not what CNN feeds you...

  • @nynaevealmeera

    @nynaevealmeera

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Tzimiskes3506 yea no shit Reuben. Putin "only" engaged military front? What do you call the mass murder of civilians in Kharkiv? Read other sources other than Russian state news. Also, let's be clear on who's really the aggressor here. Ukraine had a united front before Russia annexed Crimea and supplied arms to separatists in the Donbass region. And the fact that another country is on civil war is not a justification to invade, especially since it was COMPLETELY UNPROVOKED. At least Zelenky is brave enough to stay in Ukraine, not like shitty Putin who's isolated and hiding out in a bunker. Zelensky inspires civilians to fight because Ukrainian forces are outmatched. But at least they know what they're fighting for.

  • @nynaevealmeera

    @nynaevealmeera

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@rektor2141 Wars also just don't start as you please. Putin started it.

  • @Alphabunsquad
    @Alphabunsquad Жыл бұрын

    This is a pretty poor take in my opinion. Harris’s reporting is a bit dodgey but that doesn’t make this a good take. Everyone knows that great man history is poor way of viewing the events of the world. However it’s also a mistake to say that the personal beliefs and intentions of a nations leader doesn’t have a significant impact on their nations course of action, particularly in Putin’s Russia. You fail to take into account the current political climate of Russia. Russia, more than any other country operates to their leaders whim. Putin has worked very hard to achieve that. Putin systematically ousted Yeltsin’s oligarchs and replaced them with his own, making sure to create a system where they all operated under his thumb and the power didn’t go the other direction. Every political expert on Russia, including many Russian oligarchs former and current have explained that Putin has absolute power of the oligarchs and the oligarchs have none over him. Furthermore, Putin has spent decades creating a propaganda machines that manipulates Russian opinion to meet his own needs and has been caught rigging elections. Add on top of that the arrests of political dissidents and the harsh crack downs on protestors, and Putin exerts an incredible amount of control over what Russia does and where Russia invades. Yes the political climate in Russia and temperament of the Russian people allow this to happen as many people happily go along with his suppression of personal freedoms, but that does not mean that this war isn’t nearly entirely of Putin’s making. Make no mistake. If Putin does not want to go to war, then Russia doesn’t go to war. If Yeltsin didn’t make the decision to appoint Putin as PM then this never war would have happened. The decisions of leaders does matter. Russia is one of the few countries that has the political climate, and geopolitical power and independence to make such a decision. But just because it can doesn’t mean it has to unless their leader thinks it’s important. No one would step in and make Russia go to war if Putin didn’t want to. Putin has been laying the groundwork for this for years. He’s the only person at this point that can end the war. You act like this war was an inevitability. It wasn’t. What the Russian authors discuss is the backdrop to Russian culture. Anyone who’s ever met a Russian understands this about them. It is the backdrop to the news coverage. It’s all pre assumed and it does not need to be covered. Are Russians partially responsible for this war, yes. Have many of them also been systematically lied to so that they can’t make informed decisions, also yes. Does Putin bear more responsibility than anyone else. Absolutely. So news coverage focusing on Putin is entirely fair. I do suggest watching real life lore’s video on the Russia conflict. That has the best explanation of why Russia is going to war and takes into account natural resources in a way that the rest of the coverage does not. Putin felt he was acting rationally but he still chose a path that didn’t require murdering countless innocent people and letting Ukraine determine it’s own future, also he created a system that led to countless mistakes and errors in judgement due to endless yesmen too afraid to admit suboptimal results. Another leader could find another solution or might at least not make the same mistakes that lead them to taking the wrong course of action to fulfill their goals.

  • @CA-jz9bm

    @CA-jz9bm

    Жыл бұрын

    Putin's biggest mistake was not going to war in 2014, he is Germanophile and a too liberal, hence we see he still cares about what west think of him.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    Check my pinned comment.

  • @shengcer
    @shengcer2 жыл бұрын

    It is Putin who wanted the war, but it is Russian culture that molded a character like Putin.

  • @nigelbryant7980
    @nigelbryant79802 жыл бұрын

    How come I learned more from this than I did from CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and all the others?

  • @behnamsaeedi

    @behnamsaeedi

    2 жыл бұрын

    Maybe because you didn't learn anything and were just lied to? have you considered maybe this content is not factually correct?

  • @TheFuryKnight
    @TheFuryKnight Жыл бұрын

    So this is why I'm more inclined to the Russian side... now I understand why.