An interesting thing I’ve noticed with Russian and Chinese co workers is their attitude towards propeganda. If you start the sentence:
“All governments are lying to you, so:”
A typical western completion might be “so I need to validate what I’m hearing against what I’m actually seeing”
I’ve met Russian and Chinese people who would finish it “so none of it matters, the real truth is unknowable, and so I’ll choose to believe the truth that facilitates the path of least resistance for me and my family”
I hear the same from many of my eastern european colleagues. It’s an attitude you pick up when living under corrupt governments. It’s sad, it makes people feel like they can’t do anything to make things better.
I think that it’s one of the goals of propaganda in such places. Drown everyone in conflicting information and let them abandon any agency.
I also heard that this may pose a problem for the Russian govt as this makes people passive and totalitarian turn Russia undergoes requires people to be active but brainwashed.
An interesting thing I’ve noticed with Russian and Chinese co workers is their attitude towards propeganda. If you start the sentence:
“All governments are lying to you, so:”
A typical western completion might be “so I need to validate what I’m hearing against what I’m actually seeing”
I’ve met Russian and Chinese people who would finish it “so none of it matters, the real truth is unknowable, and so I’ll choose to believe the truth that facilitates the path of least resistance for me and my family”
I hear the same from many of my eastern european colleagues. It’s an attitude you pick up when living under corrupt governments. It’s sad, it makes people feel like they can’t do anything to make things better.
I think that it’s one of the goals of propaganda in such places. Drown everyone in conflicting information and let them abandon any agency.
I also heard that this may pose a problem for the Russian govt as this makes people passive and totalitarian turn Russia undergoes requires people to be active but brainwashed.