Lord God's monkey

Augustine of Hippo, one of the church fathers, called the devil a monkey of the Lord God. He meant that Satan, denying God with his whole being, is constantly trying to become like him, but his efforts are in vain, and all attempts turn out to be nothing more than a monkey's grimace and a pathetic parody.

I mentioned this saying because it is very reminiscent of the situation with Russia's futile attempts to enter the circle of civilized states of the world.

For more than three hundred years, at least since the time of Peter I, Russia has been trying to copy the West all the time, but all its attempts can be described as "monkey business". Instead of signs of Western civilization, only various forms of slavery are constantly reproduced in it: in the tsarist times, serfdom and the tyranny of absolutism were hidden under the fine amalgam of European culture, in the Soviet Union, attractive slogans about social justice and flights into space masked collective farm ignorance and total control, and after the collapse of real socialism, instead of the expected freedom and liberal democracy, a corporate state under the leadership of the all-powerful Chekist-bandit mafia prevailed. It is characteristic that at all times the population of Russia was totally enslaved by the state, not one oppressed class was disenfranchised, but the entire society without exception, the property and freedom of even the highest classes was always completely dependent on the whims of the authorities.

“The Russians have constructed in their imaginations an amazing picture of the world in which it is emphasized that any country is worse than Russia in certain parameters, without explaining at the same time why Russia is the best.”

The Russians' constantly unsuccessful attempts to establish a normal life in their country, such as in Europe, gave rise to a deep inferiority complex in them to compensate for which they invented some mythical advantages of their own way of life. In the pre-revolutionary era, they talked about the 'mysterious Russian soul' and 'high spirituality' inherent in the Russian people, in Soviet times, they powdered the world's brains with the 'fairest and most advanced social order' that supposedly flourishes in their country. And after the collapse of the USSR, it turned out that there was nothing to brag about. That is why the Russians have constructed in their imaginations an amazing picture of the world in which it is emphasized that any country is worse than Russia in certain parameters, without explaining at the same time why Russia is the best. The only obvious advantage over others is the enormous size and countless natural resources of their country. And on this basis, the Russians have created a myth that the reason for their failures is some kind of worldwide conspiracy against Russia, which everyone supposedly envies and is going to attack in order to take away its natural resources. As one average Russian woman said, “we live badly, but everyone envies us.”

In general, such a life tactic is not new at all, it was described by Friedrich Nietzsche, who called it resentment. According to the German philosopher, resentment is a defining characteristic of the morality of slaves, an inferior race that is incapable of historical activity and changing the circumstances of its own life. This is a feeling of impotent envy due to the realization of the futility of trying to raise one's status in society and hostility to the one whom the subject considers to be the cause of his failures. However, resentment is a more complex concept than simple envy or hostility, as it involves the transformation of a sense of one's own inferiority into a special system of morality, which is based on denying the values ​​of the enemy and shifting the blame for one's own failures onto him.

“Russia, like the monkey of the Lord God, which is unable to achieve human likeness, instead proclaims itself an ideal and begins to be proud of what it should be ashamed of.”

Russia is a classic country of repentance, which powerlessly copies the West, but, being unable to catch up with it, constantly denies its dreams, not getting what it wants, pretending that it wanted what it got. Simply put, it is like the monkey of the Lord God, which is unable to achieve human likeness, instead proclaims itself an ideal and begins to be proud of what it should be ashamed of.

Since resentment requires an object for symbolic revenge, and Russia feared the collective West, Ukraine was chosen as the victim for trying to escape from the "fraternal embrace" and embark on the path of European development.

And at the end of this short text - a disclaimer for animal advocates.

The author has great sympathy for monkeys and does not want to offend them by comparing them with Russia. The metaphor of the medieval theologian is used exclusively for a brighter image of the reason for the malicious behavior of the Russian Federation, which is unable to overcome its own slavery and provincialism and catch up with such a dreamy West. Of course, it was possible to choose some other metaphor, for example, the myth of Sisyphus, which also could not achieve the intended goal. But Sisyphus, unlike the monkey of the Lord God (remember, this is a synonym of Satan), did not transfer responsibility to others and did not pose a danger to those around him.

Specially for Espreso TV. 

About the author. Ihor Tanchyn, political scientist, journalist.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.