The Ideology of Putin's Russia (reaction to

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00:00 Intro
02:20 Dugin
03:25 Banditry & mysticism
04:50 Ivan Ilyin and Putin
@Kraut_the_Parrot video "The Ideology of Putin's Russia"
• The Ideology of Putin'...
Kirill Martynov article on Putin's speech
novayagazeta.eu/articles/2022...
Gleb Pavlovsky on Putin & Victor Suvorov
holod.media/2022/04/30/pavlov...
Also mentioned:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexand...

[@VladVexlerChat]

ooops the last few seconds cut off - I just said 'Putin is putting stuff into his trolley... and lots of love! Go to my main channel kzbin.infovideos You can now support Vlad's work on Patreon! www.patreon.com/vladvexler Support Vlad via PayPal www.paypal.com/paypalme/vladvexler?country.x=GB&locale.x=en_GB 00:00 Intro 02:20 Dugin 03:25 Banditry & mysticism 04:50 Ivan Ilyin and Putin @Kraut video "The Ideology of Putin's Russia" kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZWppaSXapmHq68&feature=share&si=EMSIkaIECMiOmarE6JChQQ Kirill Martynov article on Putin's speech novayagazeta.eu/articles/2022/10/02/spetsialnaia-voennaia-degradatsiia Gleb Pavlovsky on Putin & Victor Suvorov holod.media/2022/04/30/pavlovsky/ Also mentioned: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Prokhanov

[@romanstingler435]

I'm very happy that your mind is sharp as a knife.

[@bungalowjuice7225]

I assumed the word was something nasty. Perhaps that says more about me than reality... 😭

[@romanstingler435]

@Lord Simpleton I wouldn't know of anything close, Ukrainians already had decades before WWII the same thing with Stalin as the Jews had with Hitler. Ukrainians were killed, sent to gulags (concentration camps) where they were tortured, killed and experimented on. They were starved to death between 5-10 million only between 1932 and 1933. They have been replaced with russian population and after WWII the Germans had to pay reparations and reform their government but the russians continued with what they did until now when Ukrainians finally are being somewhat heard.

[@anthonymorris2276]

@Lord Simpleton Surely the Crimean War. To Quote Orlando Figges, "The Crimean War: A History", Henry Holt and Company (2011): "The demilitarization of the Black Sea was a major blow to Russia ... . The destruction of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol and other naval docks was a humiliation. ... "In Russia itself, the Crimean defeat discredited the armed services and highlighted the need to modernize the country's defences, not just in the strictly military sense, but also through the building of railways, industrialization, sound finances and so on ... . The image many Russians had built up of their country - the biggest, richest and most powerful in the world - had suddenly been shattered. Russia's backwardness had been exposed ... . The Crimean disaster had exposed the shortcomings of every institution in Russia - not just the corruption and incompetence of the military command, the technological backwardness of the army and navy, or the inadequate roads and lack of railways that accounted for the chronic problems of supply, but the poor condition and illiteracy of the serfs who made up the armed forces, the inability of the serf economy to sustain a state of war against industrial powers, and the failures of autocracy itself."

[@danielh.4295]

I think your shopping for ideas metaphor is a great analogy for Putins thinking. But I think it is still interesting to see in which shops he's buying and isn't every politician in the world only shopping for ideas and not following any ideology by the book?

[@Kraut_the_Parrot]

Hello, greetings from Vienna. Thank you for your response. I will take your critique to heart should I ever cover this topic again. Many thanks for your critiques, they are much appreciated.

[@VladVexlerChat]

My applause for your video essay. It's the best of KZbin. And I appreciate the love and labour behind it. Greetings back from rainy London!!

[@youtubeuser1993]

Nice!

[@juliarichter6987]

Hello Kraut, great videos you are making, it is so nice that Vlad and you are having a conversation!❤

[@humanitarianH]

@kraut new subscriber to your channel. Look forward to your views!

[@ForumArcade]

Oh, Vienna. I know that place from The Illusionist. Lovely movie.

[@doffgdid1151]

As an avid viewer of Kraut it's nice to see criticism of his work, it's always good to be reminded that even reliable and talented creators ideas should always be thought through and not accepted without criticism. Thank you for the video 👍

[@michaelw6277]

yeah and Kraut's acknowledgement and highlight of this particular video is refreshing to see. Usually these kinds of disagreements get really ugly... it's wonderful to see this conversation actually happen and evolve.

[@TannerOfKha]

I second you about criticism. Especially when the said creator casually labels libertarian a facist.

[@michaelw6277]

@@TannerOfKha strict libertarianism by the political science definition isn't fascism, but what we call libertarianism in America is definitely fascism adjacent and has been used to funnel people in that direction. Libertarianism is an idea that's independent of the left/right spectrum, but in the US it's a label that the far right tends to identify with

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

​@@michaelw6277 Kraut acknowledged it because this was barely a disagreement to begin with, so it's a convenient acknowledgement of 'criticism'. I'd say it barely even counts as criticism tbh. They both agree on what Russia is like, if anything all Vexler does it make it even worse. Kraut paints Russia as evil fascists with an ideology, and the only correction this video makes is that Vexler thinks it doesn't even have an ideology. But fundamentally both of them feel the same about it, so it's very easy for Kraut to get behind that. If Kraut had said they were evil fascists and someone said they're not, and THEN Kraut had acknowledged and accepted the critique, that'd be impressive. But this? This is barely a disagreement to begin with.

[@jurgnobs1308]

​​@@ArawnOfAnnwnutin being a fascist is just an objective fact. so, no sane person can really deny that ps: everyone has an ideology. some are more clearly defined than others.

[@gap6533]

I'm certain that putin does not apply the same intellectual rigor to the ideas on Ilyin as you and the other experts cited do, but I think it may be fair to say that putin is influenced by the idea of Ilyin as national philosopher. Repatriation of Ilyin's remains suggests more interest in veneration than understanding.

[@esakoivuniemi]

I agree. One may also ask were people like Stalin, Hitler, Mao or Pol Pot so destructive because of their intellectual rigor and sophistication? Of course not. Vlad is probably right in that Putin & his entourage are not exactly intellectuals, but that's besides the point both Kraut and Timothy Snyder are making. That's my humble opinion.

[@spejic1]

The reparation has to be thought in context of Putin's updating of Russian monuments all over the world. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, an almost forgotten century old monument to Russian sailors who died helping fight a great 19th century fire was replaced with something new and shiny.

[@changeshifter4852]

@@spejic1 That's interesting. I am curious, do you know if it is exactly the same, something completely new or something in between?

[@spejic1]

@@changeshifter4852 It was a totally brand new gravestones, and pricey ones too. And they were done in Mare Island cemetery, a protected landmark, without any advance notice or permission, destroying the original 150 year old markers. I know Putin has done similar upgrades to many remembrances of Russians all over the world.

[@changeshifter4852]

@@spejic1 That's fascinating. First I've heard of it. Going to check my own province in Canada for any local changes or 'upgrades'. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply with the answer. Much appreciated. Cheers

[@marksparrow5968]

Thanks for being a wise, knowledgable and compassionate guy at the same time. A rare combination.

[@VladVexlerChat]

Thank you so much!

[@lepospondyl]

I’m no philosopher but as an undergraduate I was tasked with writing an essay on whether Japan in the 1930s could be considered a fascist state. It became apparent to me that it really wasn’t possible to definitely answer the question one way or the other. The more I looked into the ideology of the military rulers of Japan in this period the more complicated and confusing and contradictory it became to the point where I struggled to define what it was at all. As a 20 year old I was determined (if unsuccessful) in my efforts to answer the question I was set with a yes or no answer, but with hindsight I feel the true answer was that it was impossible to answer with such clarity. One line I read during my research for the essay stuck with me. A Japanese historian who lived through the war wrote that the militarist ideology was popular with those who had some awareness of events and ideas but no interest in understanding them. People with a certain level of education but no intellectual interests. I think now that the people in charge of Japan during the 30s and 40s were probably like this themselves as opposed to just their followers. They knew of things but didn’t know about those things. Their outlook and decisions reflected their level of understanding. As the war in ukraine has dragged on I think more and more about my time working on that essay and how much of what I read about Japan then relates to putins Russia now.

[@a0987789768]

As a junior in University in Japanese major, love your efforts.

[@downstream0114]

Some have said the contradictory brainrot is a consequence of fascism.

[@jefftheriault5522]

There is an alarming resemblence

[@TheRishijoesanu]

Imperial Japan was more of militaristic state similar to Bismarckian Prussia. Russia today has more fascistic characteristics

[@mynameismike1864]

Do you, by any chance, remember the name of this historian?

[@MichaelMoranGearHead]

I like the model of Putin as an uninformed, undisciplined, shopper wandering through the political and intellectual world picking ideas. He's not picking them at random. Some ideas stand out to him as bright and shiny objects that validate his internal psychology. Those he selects, all others are unimportant to the point of nonexistence.

[@petercameron2137]

We all do this to some degree

[@speggeri90]

Now I'm wondering aren't we all like that? Even those who are rigorously intellectual, or especially those.

[@tavoreparan8091]

We all absolutely do that. In theory, we could do better: after having filled our trolley and go home with our bags, we can take the time to savor our purchases, develop nuanced opinions about them, and remix our own spin out of the collection. It is a long and laborious series of additional steps that most people do not have the time, energy, or interest for. Think of it as cooking. Some people are natural chefs, having an eye for ingredients and an intuition for processing and combining them in delightful ways every time. But most of us are just satisfied with an adequate meal, built quickly and without thought from a well-established recipe. And this is fine. It is not wrong to be satisfied with mediocrity. It is merely silly to ascribe nuance and depth to the way an exhausted parent reheats a frozen meal at night.

[@RainierKine]

Putin invades Ukraine: Kraut: What is Putin thinking? Vlad: Is he even thinking?

[@dixonpinfold2582]

@@RainierKine Vlad: [Does anyone think besides me?] Kraut, I congratulate you on your little piece of fluff. I'm going to put it up on the fridge.

[@CaptainBrawnson]

The dialogue between Kraut's video and this response portrays the kind of worthwhile material that a platform like KZbin has to offer at its best.

[@Turinnn1]

I think Kraut heavily relies on literature, books, analysis etc. written about Russia and history in general. That's not a bad thing, but he might get too constrained by those works. Especially when things have changed after the written stuff.

[@BigHenFor]

Theories are either Descriptive models, or Predictive Ones. If Kraut is explaining Putin's thinking, relying on historical sources is ok, with all the historiographical caveats. Predicting where Putin's thinking will take him, is another matter altogether. "What man proposes, God disposes." And Putin is reactive, rather than proactive, as most gamblers are. As such, what he fails to do is as important as what he does do, as his problems reflect his priorities. Right now he's cherry-picking the components of his narrative, for others to swallow. He possibly doesn't believe a word he says. So predicting whst he will do is pretty pointless using his pronouncements. Look at what he does rather than what he says.

[@slippingsnake]

@@BigHenFor I agree with you, for over 20 years Putin cultivated a corrupt Cleptocracy wich is not Part of any nationalist Ideology. But the contradiction is that he is continuing to destroy Russia when he must be aware that his military has not the capacity to hold the conquered territory: refurbished Tanks from the 1960s, Drones from Iran and mass mobilistion of untrained citizens are obvious signs that there is something wrong. Putin must know that he can't win the war but lose Russia, so the question is why he continues and is not looking for an exit strategy?

[@lamaahruloma4270]

I have noticed it myself on me as a big bookworm with several thousands of books. Nobody can have and read books on everything. Some are missing, some stay on bookshelf et cetera.

[@filipe2444]

@@lamaahruloma4270 thousands of books lol why would you write such easily debunkable bullshit

[@lamaahruloma4270]

@@filipe2444 Dear sir, please debunk it, that history of Korea and 20 years older history of Korea contain differences not only in regards of the 20 years of time inbetween. There are changes in historiography and else. The way history is studied, viewed, understood, written depends on authors and the time a society of author is present. Time is not static, human society is not static, humans themselves are not.

[@YourTypicalMental]

I watched Kraut's video this morning, and this sort of reaction video was the first thing to come to mind.

[@markb8468]

As I was listening to Kraut's pod today I was wondering....what does Vlad have to say about this? I think there's much convergence of thought but some differences. Excellent both!

[@Pincer88]

Same here.

[@vicino.]

Oh my god I had the same reaction... such a particular event

[@jan-willemdejong4576]

Didn't know he had a podcast. Can you share?

[@Pincer88]

@@jan-willemdejong4576 Here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZWppaSXapmHq68&ab_channel=Kraut

[@marcusott2973]

Good evening from Vienna, Excellent insights as usual, logic and reasoning in a time of the opposite.

[@VladVexlerChat]

Marcus good evening!

[@timidtom]

Indeed, getting to know about Vlad Vexler is probably the only really good thing to come off this terrible war.

[@007Delta_art]

It is very relieving to see calm and intellectual discourse and criticisms play out so respectfully! Hearing different takes on stuff like this without feeling like either side is trying to goad me into a specific way of thinking is so refreshing. I wish the broader discussions at large could play out like this!

[@dlmsarge8329]

Thank you Vald for this stimulating chat! I look forward to each one you post.

[@spaguettoltd.7933]

Seems that Putin chooses to paint the house he’s built with the words of Ilyin, but the frame and foundation of that house are of his own creation

[@nicolelochren9560]

Thanks!

[@VladVexlerChat]

Thank YOU!!!

[@otakarbeinhauer]

I really like how carefully and thoughtfully you spoke without needing a script. And hwo respectable and well formulated your criticisms were.

[@seanferguson5460]

I appreciate your take on Kraut. When I pull back from the specifics, I think all great powers through history (including a few I admire) do the same thing: find a self-serving justification for doing anything and everything they want to do.

[@VladVexlerChat]

Some regimes are regimes of ideas, they really are. Others are not. For instance Fukuyamian ideas in the West and earlier, Marxist Leninist ideas, were enormously powerful in the 20th century.

[@davethebrahman9870]

That must be why the US has occupied the Venzuelan and Saudi Arabian oilfields :)

[@bigolboomerbelly4348]

@@davethebrahman9870 so what? what does that have to do with anything he said? you bots parrot "america bad" like simpletons

[@n.hermann7200]

@@bigolboomerbelly4348 The bigger point is that the US doesn’t even control the Venezuelan or Saudi oil fields. The US has diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia and buys their petroleum, while the current Venezuelan government hates the US.

[@davethebrahman9870]

@@bigolboomerbelly4348 You aren’t very smart, are you? My comment was entirely sarcastic. Do you really think the US has taken over those oilfields?

[@danciagar]

Thank you, Vlad, for doing this reaction, I was one of those pestering you with questions about Ilyin after watching Kraut's video. This video contains a satisfying response to that question and I hope more interactions between other KZbinrs and you regarding this broad topic of the realm of ideas and its influences in modern Russia become more common.

[@nationradical]

You were the first channel I thought of when I saw his awesome essay! Love the interactions

[@RichardHuffman]

A similar analogy that I think may work better regarding Putin and various thinkers: I see him as walking through a men's clothing store, looking at the racks and saying "oh, that watch projects the kind of image of wealth I like. Oh, the symbols on that tie speak to the sort of authority I want to have. Oh, these titanium cufflinks speak to the sort of rigid inflexibility I want to convey. Aha, this suit projects the implacable determination I posses." It doesn't mean he cares one bit about the design of these items or other things the designers have done, it means those specific items he's chosen project the image that goes along with the things he wanted to do even before he walked into the store. Maybe the choice of items will influence the manner in which he does things slightly, but he will never learn enough about clothing and design to know things that he can't see from his own point of view, such that wearing loose trousers when your ankles and calves are thin make your legs look like toothpicks hidden in a huge, loose wrapping. He has other people for that sort of thing, if they dare to speak at all - and most of them don't care about the real details that much either.

[@tradergirljam]

👏 thats my take on him as well.

[@ericwillis777]

Just a reminder, Vlad pointed out that Putin believes that stuff not because he understands any of it, (that's if it makes any sense), but because it serves his purposes.

[@RichardHuffman]

@@ericwillis777 That's why I worded my analogy the way I did.

[@ebrim5013]

Thanks for your thoughts as always.

[@catherinedallaire5164]

Really neat to hear you reference Charles Taylor. Thank you for such a quick response video as well, appreciate the time you put to the community here.

[@VladVexlerChat]

He's a very beautiful man, and one of the two most important living philosophers.

[@electrosyzygy]

Mlle Dallaire, quelle belle coincidence de te voir ici! On a fait qq cours ensemble au cegep back in the day...

[@catherinedallaire5164]

@@VladVexlerChat Hi Vlad, out of curiosity, who is the second? I’d look up this person’s writing.

[@sonye-jin6737]

When I saw the title of his video I immediately thought of you VLAD! So glad you reacted so quickly. Спасибо

[@VladVexlerChat]

Pleasure, this is just a very quick casual response.

[@stephanledford9792]

Most humans pick up ideas (or philosophies) from the things they see and hear while going through their lives, not from reading and understanding what some philosopher says. These ideas can come from simple things, ranging from an advertisement on the radio or television to a KZbin video from a Russian-British philosopher with a keen mind and an ability to express things in a way that the average person can absorb. I agree with Vlad Vexler in thinking that Putin is not the type of person to read a book on philosophy by any writer, but he does seem to me to be the type to grab hold of a recap or summary of this philosopher, so it is possible that Putin has been influenced by this Ilyin person. Most personal philosophies are a mix of ideas from various sources instead of a complete adoption of one man's ideas. Forgetting Putin for a minute but staying on the idea of spreading ideas (or propaganda in the case of the current situation), it is absolutely shocking to see how slick the Ukrainian propaganda has been VS what the Russians have been putting out. Granted, the target audience is totally different, with Ukraine focusing on the West and the Russians on their own population, but the Russian effort has been clumsy and not believable from the very start. The Ukrainians have done a superb job of generating sympathy and support for their views VS what Russia has accomplished. I am not sure what the exact reason is for this difference, but suspect it is a combination of the Ukrainians already more exposed to the west and possibly their getting help from sympathetic western idea peddlers (we call them commercials in the US).

[@catc8927]

On your second point, Pres Zelenskyy’s old day job was running a large media production company, the one that produced his TV show, in addition to acting on it. He brought many former media colleagues into the Ukrainian government with him. It probably seemed like cronyism back then, but is invaluable now, when Pres Zelenskyy’s main role is to get Ukraine’s message out and win public sympathy around the world. It also helps to have the truth on your side, which tends to be a more stable message. Having to lie and then change to a new lie when the old one was exposed, over and over again, means there never is a stable narrative, that nothing has time to sink in.

[@ericwillis777]

Maybe it's 'slicker' - (I am not sure if that is the right word) - because it's the truth, and, as a result, it's not propaganda.

[@MuireKnight]

I would add that people generally pick up the ideas that are swimming around them at any given time. Putin is influenced not so much from one philosopher or writer but bits and pieces of what is floating around in the general culture of the elite and of the greater populace. Also when you are invading another country specifically for conquest and destruction of national identity it's very hard to spin it as something good to the rest of the world.

[@kauswekazilimani3736]

@@ericwillis777 Propaganda can be truthful.

[@ArtU4All]

I would NOT under”value” Putin’s propaganda as “less slick” and not effective. P’s propaganda has been VERY effective on his audience. Very effective.

[@nikitadrechsel7567]

Just discovering this channel and I must say, I am thoroughly impressed by the research, presentation and work that you put into your videos! Big Thumbs Up!

[@SuperTommox]

I was so waiting for this! Thank you Vlad!

[@marcoherrmann1820]

Hello Vlad,as always Greetings from Germany

[@VladVexlerChat]

Greeting back!

[@mikhailtsyferov9304]

Vlad, that’s a brilliant piece of observation and analysis. Have just discovered your channel and find it hard to grasp how someone from the outside can understand the internal dynamics of our society so well.

[@VladVexlerChat]

Thank you! There are of course big limitations because I am not there. But both here and on the main channel what I am really offering is reflection on society and culture- that’s the core and Russia analytics is secondary. M speaking as a political philosopher in the first instance, not as a Russia expert.

[@adamgroszkiewicz814]

Very cool! I watched the Kraut video on Putin's Ideology last night. Very interested to hear Vlad's takeaway. I was not familiar with Lev Gumilev, so I felt it was time well spent.

[@iancooketapia]

Thank you for, in a short and quick way, helping us understand a little better how ideas are spat back out into the culture that is already engaging with them.

[@georgeholloway3981]

Coming to this only now. It's absolutely brilliant, one of my favourite of your videos.

[@marc2hot4u]

I'm happy there is an exchange between you two. You both and the Caspian Report are my KZbin bread and butter for insightful discussions.

[@nanorider426]

Thank you for the really interesting video.

[@wickstorm_records]

Thank you. I hope you are doing well today.

[@Wallyworld30]

Thank you Vlad for covering Krauts Essay as when he uploaded it I'd only watched 20 minutes or so before getting interrupted by something and I forgot to finish it. Great work Kraut! Best Essay I've seen on Putins' Ideological framework by far!

[@SaintFacetious]

It seems to me with these autocrats (and with anyone powerful really) is that there forms a pool of sycophants lurking around them espousing their own philosophies and trying to get the Leader to choose theirs. And the effect is that the Leader treats them not as a main dish, but as a salad buffet, and takes a morsel from one aid or the other and injects it into his own reasonings. These reasonings, of course, were not reached by the utilization of such philosophies, but those decisions are later justified by whichever morsel of philosophy he's got available at the time. We saw this a lot with the Nazi regime, where Hitler was not overly interested in Himmler's mysticism or this or that, but he was willing to use it where it was necessary to maintain his own control. We also saw it with Trump's team of criminals that he surrounded himself with on his campaign trail. And we see it with Putin. People see authoritarianism as a strictly top down approach, when the autocrat is readily mining the available pool for informational tools.

[@FutureSystem738]

Thanks Vlad - as always, love your work. It’s always great when I see another video from you! Cheers from Oz 🇦🇺

[@VladVexlerChat]

So so grateful always 🇦🇺💛

[@Leuthen57]

Just saw this vid, I watched Krauts video the other day and wondered what you would think. Great video! Happy to of found it.

[@playground2137]

Thank you Vlad

[@paulwilliams698]

Love your approach and construction of these all too brief talks, I often feel I can reach over and touch your words, kind regards.

[@normanboyes4983]

Thank you Vlad - as always.

[@soksnfongz335]

👍 👌 Thankyou Vlad

[@shasamonaghan9528]

Love from Ireland Xxxxxx keep up your good work and well presented thoughts xxXxx

[@genkestrel7254]

Thank you, such an interesting discussion. I'm subscribing

[@tmlucatube]

Food for the brain .. 🙏🏼 thanks

[@jimmartin2548]

Bruh you are eloquent and so on point!

[@zuggernautz]

Thanks, Vlad!

[@silent1547]

The crossover I never knew I needed

[@kingfisher9553]

☕ I'm a bit late today. thanks for the introduction to Kraut! A joy to listen to you, as usual.

[@VladVexlerChat]

Thank you!! And welcome as always.

[@Grace.allovertheplace]

Thank you 🙏 (for the very warm welcome 😁❤️)

[@VladVexlerChat]

Thank YOU

[@Asherrothstan]

I doubt you’ll see this Vlad, but this was the video that hooked me and I’ve been getting all the content from you that I can since this released. Thanks so much!

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

Excellent point, ideologies only take hold if a specific group has what it takes inside of them to accept the ideology (with or without complete understanding, as it usually happens).

[@johnecoapollo7]

Hey, I commented about this. Thank you for your thoughts Vlad

[@VladVexlerChat]

Pleasure!

[@thundereagle4130]

This basically. We assume Putin is some professional historian and a philosopher. But in the end he is just a amateur in both of them. Its like you encounter one of those right-wing doomers claiming we already live in 1984 and claims he knows why George Orwell wrote this book, while in reality that same doomer is making the mistakes Orwell is warning us from. Putin is a amateur who's at his peak of the dunning-kruger graph. He thinks he knows why these people once wrote about this stuff, but in reality he doesn't. He thinks he found the answer why Russia is in decline, but he doesn't. Putin believes in fantasies based on the works of these philosophers. Just like how Quanon followers believe in fantasies of 1984's anti-totalitarianism message. Unfortunately this resulted in some a lot of bloodshed.

[@zefft.f4010]

lol, i watched that video yesterday and thought 'hmmm...i wonder if Vlad Vexler has spoken about Ilyin' and here you are!

[@aiden1156]

Great vid

[@lcs.1094]

You're so right about Dugan's influence, or usefulness, that he's more like a... target drone, used specifically to take western criticism and with these criticisms he can be shaped into a hero or flag, so common Russian folks will believe in him, together with the propaganda he carries out. "the more our enemy criticizes us means the better we are doing" this is not always true, but almost all humans believe in this logic

[@toatoa10]

excellent video, brother

[@yougonahaveanoratime9726]

Now that is a good response to his video

[@electrosyzygy]

Interesting reactions and comments thread. You have a new sub!

[@martinzarzarmusic5338]

In some ways ideas begin with artists and then culture follows… then philosophers do as you describe. Interesting chat as always.

[@simonmassey8850]

Thanks

[@VladVexlerChat]

Thank you!!

[@Hardbass2021]

Kraut's video got recommended to me yesterday, and after watching that, also recommended this video for me. Pretty good analysis and criticism of the topic.

[@BadgerOfTheSea]

Kraut's videos are very informative, and almost always have a genuinely centrist agenda (which is woefully lacking in modern political discourse) but as any academic will tell you, even the most factual content should be debated as having an open dialogue helps the topic grow and if there is a topic that really needs to be talked about more in the west it is the ideology of Putin.

[@kev792]

WOW, I literally saw Kraut’s video today as I was driving and was wondering what’s Vlad’s opinion on this. Awesome!

[@VladVexlerChat]

Hee hee

[@MarcosElMalo2]

I hope you mean you were playing golf while watching Kraut’s video, and not operating a motor vehicle.

[@kev792]

@@MarcosElMalo2 Driving. I wasnt actually watching it, but more so listening, lol

[@sjay67]

Surely Putin is more influenced by his upbringing, experiences and parents. I think Putin learnt to be a thug by his and his father's experience in the FSB. Can you talk more about this ..

[@VladVexlerChat]

I shall

[@sjay67]

@@VladVexlerChat thx

[@MarcosElMalo2]

When Putin was stationed in East Germany, one of his projects was to recruit neo-Nazis and send them to West Germany.

[@vitorboldrini6337]

The mention of Kant as a parallel is curious, because I’m sure Kraut would _also_ put a much larger emphasis on his influence in the West’s ideas and institutions than what you have given him credit for. So in this sense, what I take is that your difference is not so much over the preeminence of Ivan Ilyin in Russia’s ideological makeup, but rather about the idea of individuals having such an influence over society in general.

[@catch_2022]

Thank you. I wanted to ask to make such a video right after I stumbled across the Kraut's video. Kraut's video was interesting to watch, but he seems to take correlation for causality.

[@IndelibleNihilist]

@Vlad Vexler - you sir, are fascinating.

[@henrylansing9734]

The final of many straws for me watching Kraut's video was when he called Lauren Southern a fascist. Like, lmfao.

[@importantname]

calm ratioanal intellectual discussion into complex situaltions on youtube gives me hope for the future of humanity. What people think, discuss, believe and do, can or does make a difference. That you for using your time to help us to better understand the current state.

[@editorrbr2107]

I saw Kraut in my feed this morning, and I actually said aloud “I wonder if Vlad will see this” I think I will start with your analysis first, and then go back to see what the crowd has to say

[@drthomason7043]

Loved your analogue of the the trolley It's like he's going to have a dinner party and feeds each Guest with at least one or two of their favourite morsels so they will think overall the meal was scrumcious but really it' wasn't and just a way to gain favour.

[@nervili583]

I really appreciate any ciritic to krauts videos, i really love krauts work for introducing me to concepts and ideas i never heard of or sometimes might be too lazy to make the first step to actually do some research on. But hes just a man.

[@andrewmargeson6646]

Your argument makes sense to me. One can use quotations from a thinker without being influenced by him or her and it is often tactically advantageous to do so. I suspect this is the rule rather than the exception in the case of politicians. I do think, however, that the influence can be indirect. If a philosopher has a lot of influence on the ideas of people in one's milieu he or she can be influenced by the philosopher even without knowing it.

[@Strykehjerne]

I think I needed this. Thank you 👍. So, as a Norwegian/Brit/European I'm hoping I understand the response correctly. The summary offered by Kraut is good, up to the point where philosophy and the academic analysis of such, becomes important in understanding the individual that is Putin? Making Krauts essay even more condemning of the Russian world view. In that one individuals entirely corrupted, vacuous and at best haphazard struggle to become a figurehead of a national identity, is facilitated, allowed and justified by the particularities of the Muscowite state formation.... ? I suppose I find Kraut useful, personally, as a means to negotiate the word salad I hear when the Russian foreign office makes statements, or Lavrov tries to explain current reality. As it at least provided me with a framework to hang, what to me are inconceivable philosophical/ideological views.Particularly when they appear on the political stage and are presented in debating, or as important tools that shape solutions to current, national issues. I suppose I'm simply not used to navigate a landscape where figures and forces such as, the strong leader of the nation, "winning" as an important issue in elections - or crushing the enemy, seems likely to ever be seen as a positive solution or option. I might simply be unable to even acknowledge that getting inside one individuals head, is important or even relevant, as a tool to help understand an entire political landscape. At least your voice allows me to feel like I am a little closer to such an understanding. So, to express what I see - personally - is deeply shocking, as it can only make sense if it stems from an alien, and profound, disregard for individual responsibilities and freedoms, and a vaguely disquieting relationship with what to expect from a human life, in terms of what gives it value, and who determines that value. It seems to me that might explain why Putin was so coy about answering a question about being ready to go to heaven the other day.. (in itself a very strange question for a political forum), I am justified in placing his doctrine as comparable to that of a martyr producing religion, and the Russian instruments of state, as the active enabler of such "policies" in the population at large. ... Are we just witnessing a protracted collective suicide??.. Somehow, I hope I need to visit the optician again

[@HoovyTube]

Fantastic and well argued critique, with a great focus on interactions within people and the underlying philosophy between the lines. 🤝 The general argument is that ,,Philosophy reflefts societal changes happening at the time" which Nietzsche argued in the ,,Genealogy of Spirit" if I remember correctly. It's hard to argue against that, especially in the case of a leader ,,collecting ideas randomly into a basket".

[@aspielm759]

Fascinating critique. This really helped me to put his Video into perspective. Goes with out saying Kraut's video so far still seems to be one of the, if not THE best video on this matter. I say this because I personally think that in comparison to more popular videos his still remains the most factual and the least "well technically speaking...", by which I mean it doesn't guess or theorise as much

[@maxmeier8784]

tyvm 4 your thoughts again. Best wishes for you and Im curious about your comments on Snyder

[@davidmiles-hanschell]

Slava Vlad!

[@romanadamenko6111]

Awesome shirt

[@A_levs]

Love your vids Vlad. I had a bit of a childish chuckle at the idea of which political philosophers are “swimming in me” tho 😳

[@Fewrfreyut]

I honestly think a chat between you and Snyder would be extremely fruitful, and i think you both are more closely aligned than might seem on the surface. I don’t recall if he mentions this in his book, but i’ve seen some of snyder’s talks about Ilyin and his book, and he very often says Putin isn’t really adhering to Ilyin’s philosophy in any strict sense; that he is indeed mainly just pulling the bits he wants to suit his needs (an example being Snyder says Ilyin would never have supported the leader being a former communist official who lamented the loss of the soviet union), so there is already a conceit that Putin is essentially cherry-picking bits of Ilyin rather than taking Ilyin as a whole within Snyder’s views of Putin.

[@subcitizen2012]

Snyder openly admits that the Ilyin connection is tenuous and speculation, but notes that there appears to be elements that do correspond, and as a matter of fact Putin interred him and quotes him with some frequency. So it's not as if there's nothing there; but also, nothing is ever perfect. We can call it Putinism, but whatever Putinism is happens to be empty and smoke and mirrors, there's nothing wrong with using whatever tools we have available to analyze and observe what is happening. I wish we could at face value acknowledge Putin as basically evil, but in our times we have to keep measuring the present to the past two see how evil something is, and never having a clear answer. 50% evil is still evil, but the algorithms and the post modern mind can't seem to get around that problem. Few westerners were openly defending Hitler after invading Poland, but here we are today, there are people defending Putin after this escalation with Ukraine.

[@VladVexlerChat]

"In the 2010s, Putin relied upon Ilyin's authority to explain why Russia had to undermine the European Union and invade Ukraine." Says Snyder. I am not sure about statements like that. I will talk about Snyder's style soon.

[@LLlap]

Smoke and mirrors, but kids in russia are taught fascism from early age. Smoke and mirrors all you want dude but those kids will grow up.

[@GrimMeowning]

With Dugin situation is different to what most people think. Putin follows Dugin's plan almost precisely step by step, but not his ideology. So Chechnya -> Georgia -> East Ukraine and Crimea as bridgehead for future invasion of West Ukraine and Poland -> then Baltic Countries. So Putin follows those steps - but fails to fulfill them completely, only partially. However, many people in Russia (not Putin himself) are sharing same beliefs as Dugin, but they do NOT know about Dugin's existence. They are just same imperialists as him, with similar mindset and view of the world.

[@atypicalpinetree4212]

I appreciate that here's some constructive criticism rather than attacking Krauts video, you seem more interested in furthering the discussion and building upon it. Really appreciated

[@vgernyc]

Adam Curtis has done a couple of documentaries on Russia/USSR including a new one called TraumaZone which is a compilation of Russian moments on video and he largely lets them speak for themselves.

[@bjhale]

Thanks for the heads up. I've been a fan of Curtis's work for a while and didn't know he had some new documentaries out. His past material on Russia has been quite good, so I'll check them out for sure.

[@darthputinsmouthpiece1059]

My idiology is simple: Restore the Soviet Union. make sure it's Economy is ruined, make sure everyone is trying to get out of the country & losing catastrophic war we blame on USA.

[@urip_zukoharjo]

Uraaaa----nium catastrophe

[@ionxtreme6847]

I know this is sarcasm, but here's my rebuttal: 1. No. 2. No. 3. Well everyone wanted to leave Russia anyways before this war, and let's call it a war, because this special military operation is such a laughable euphemism to sanitize to the Russians that "well, it's just a mini-operation, nothing major". 4. Why is it that every extreme dictator on the left blames the US for their problems?

[@franciscoduarte2190]

You remain a master strategist.

[@BZ-rr1wt]

Step 4: profit

[@telebubba5527]

I'd have to agree 100%.

[@olavl8827]

I would love to hear a review of you on Timothy Snyder's latest series on The Making of Modern Ukraine. I have been devouring those lectures lately because I find them very interesting. I'm planning on reading a few of his books after the video series is finished. What I would love even more is a 1, 2 or three hour conversation between you two about everything ( or anything) related to Russia and Ukraine. That would be glorious.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

I’m also enjoying Snyder’s ongoing university lectures. While they can definitely be taken on their own (as I am doing), I miss having access to the course syllabus and reading materials that he occasionally mentions. I have listened to the audiobook version of Bloodlands, which I recommend if you don’t have access to the written text.

[@olavl8827]

@@MarcosElMalo2 I already have Bloodlands and Sketches from a Secret War as e-books. My problem is I have a large collection of books I still want to read but not enough time (or: too many distractions) to read as many of them as I'd like. As for the syllabus: in the description under each of Snyder's lectures there's a link to the reading list. Even more books!

[@iris1224wwad]

@@olavl8827 Bloodlands is a book I was considering, but like you I have so many books yet to read. Do you recommend it though?

[@olavl8827]

@@iris1224wwad So I haven't read it yet, just skimmed it, and frankly its subject matter intimidates me. But from what I read *about* the book it's one of Snyder's best and certainly the one that has caused the most debate (which is a quality in itself I think). There's a Wikipedia article about the book that seems to describe it quite competently.

[@iris1224wwad]

@@olavl8827 I've been hesitant for that reason. I tried to get through Sebag Montefiores book about Statin. The violence in it is very graphic, and I can handle that, but there was just SO much of it! I put the book away at about 1/3, picked it up later and when put it away again when I was about 2/3 through it. That was years ago. I haven't finished it to date. For now I still have plenty to read, so maybe at some point I'll start on Bloodlands. For now I'll stick with his lectures on Ukraine.

[@larrybuzbee7344]

As I was listening to Kraut a few days ago I wondeted what Vlad would have ti say about it, et voilà.

[@elizabethcooper9552]

Here!

[@karinfend2980]

Thank you for sending back our pigeons equipped with anti-macchiavellian spirit by sharing yor education and experience 🙏

[@VladVexlerChat]

Hee hee 🌻

[@karinfend2980]

@@VladVexlerChat Sunflowers will prevail

[@VladVexlerChat]

@@karinfend2980 I love sunflowers. I grow them in the summer.

[@karinfend2980]

So do I. And in Winter birds love to find the seeds on several places near our home. And some humans in some countries make the best of it to feed the world. Best flower ever.

[@karinfend2980]

Roses are red, Violets are blue, but sunflowers do!

[@yossarianmnichols9641]

Wow, I studied Kant in college. Never heard anyone reference him before.

[@NIL0S]

Putin might be putting a random collection of ideological bits and pieces into his trolley, but everybody else has got to pay the bill.

[@amezcuaist]

I can imagine Putin reacting to a new idea offered to him as a Mafia boss would "Hey that`s a good idea --I`m glad I thought of it ". Like a Mafia boss pretending to follow his religion and seeing himself as a Roman Soldier which is as opposite as you could get .

[@LR-jk2jk]

"your local priest is also your local thief" - priceless :).

[@guygeorgesvoet4177]

thank you Vlad for a most clarifying video the hub of which confirmed some of my proper speculative musings in these matters. I liked the image of a gangster walking along a trolley to see what other arms he could somehow pick up as still useful. To think now i was once somewhat taken in by Mearsheimer's thesis. It's wonderful to get (slowly) enlightened, which means being really capable not to budge any more on basic positions, cos in all these awfully complex and complicated matters it takes a lot of time for a laborious but labouring outsider to fight-find his way around and you have been a most sure helping hand in this and also on the Ilyin-Dugin-bit of the matter. Keep up the good works and spirit, old chap.

[@Mohawkmonkey360]

Oh good you got my pidgin.

[@richteffekt]

Here's a quote from Kant: "I really like those meatballs." - history, gotta have your facts straight.