tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853024.post6733521634025391821..comments2024-03-12T20:20:35.830-05:00Comments on Organizing Notes: Why the demonization of Russia?Bruce K. Gagnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845856861232395427noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853024.post-41158076937998260152018-07-10T00:59:35.181-05:002018-07-10T00:59:35.181-05:00I went to Russia on a citizen diplomacy peace dele...I went to Russia on a citizen diplomacy peace delegation about 3 years ago. We visited Moscow, several places in Crimea, Krasnodar, and St. Petersburg. We talked to a great many people of many different kinds and were warmly welcomed by almost all. We were treated with wonderful hospitality everywhere we went. Then when I got back to the US, I was shocked that:<br />1) the news was full of half-truths and outright lies about Russia, all accepted as gospel with almost no one disagreeing, 2) not many people seemed interested in hearing what I had directly experienced, especially when they found out that it was going to conflict with what the news was telling them, and 3) many people were unwilling to believe that I had not been spied upon, not told where I could and could not go, not fed a party line, or that there was such a thing as independent media in Russia.Peter Bergelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06629407055502098912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853024.post-47603655507640998832018-07-08T19:02:31.787-05:002018-07-08T19:02:31.787-05:00Bruce, I can't agree with you more. Although I...Bruce, I can't agree with you more. Although I have not yet visited Russia, I fell in love with the country and the people while teaching Russians English online.<br /><br />It seems that the culture and curiosity of Russians have touched my heart and soul again and again during my lifetime: being enthralled with Dr. Zhivago, finding Russian research on auras with photography of plants at a time when I could find nothing on the subject in the U.S., reading science fiction written by Russians singing with a Russian choir at MSU, watching Mikhail Barishnikov leap and dance at a performance of the Nutcracker Suite. <br /><br />Since then I've watched every movie that I can find about Russian ballet. While living in Mongolia, I watched the comedies and game shows on Russian TV because I liked the magical sound of spokenRussian. I even started to study Russian at that time with a private teacher.<br /><br />Demonizing Russians and Putin is easy to dissect, if you have an political savvy. The U.S. needs a significant enemy to fuel the military economy and justify the extravagant spending and windfall profits from financing military deals that Wall Street thrives on. It also serves to passify Americans through fear.<br />Ariel Kyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02005166470431691597noreply@blogger.com