Dear Readers:
Today I have a story about a sociologist and his opinion poll, the reporter is Vladimir Vorsobin. Before starting: There is a certain Russian concept called глубинный народ (glubinny narod), which could be translated as “deep people”. Not to be confused with the English rock band Deep Purple. In the linked piece the author sometimes uses a slightly different formulation глубинные русские люди (“deep Russian people”) which means pretty much the same thing. The only somewhat analogous formulation I can think of, in American English, is “the Silent Majority“. I believe that term was invented in the 1960’s to denote secret Nixon supporters. The Russian term adds a semantic slice which subconsciously contrasts Deep State to Deep People. A contrast which always comes to the forefront in Russian history, during times of crisis. For example, during the Time of Troubles, the Deep State included dodgy elements who were willing to work with the invading Poles; whereas the Deep People would continue the fight and not settle for anything short of total victory against the invaders.
In both cases (Russian and American), the semantic underlay implies that there are masses of people out there who have opinions but are usually ignored; rarely speak up; and if they do, their voices are drowned out by those of the “elite” classes; or, in the Russian case, the “creative class”.
Well, in the Russian case, the “creative class” (or “kreakles“, as Russophile bloggers used to call them derogatorily) are no more. That is, they all fled abroad at the start of this war. Tens, and possibly even hundreds, of thousands of them. They just up and left. “Good riddance,” a lot of people say, “who needs that Fifth Column anyhow?” Which is true, except that these political refugees are a long-burning fuse certain to rock the international boat, with unpleasant consequences for the future. I may have a post on that phenomenon as early as tomorrow, barring breaking news. My post will be about the new Russian diaspora in Central Asia, and how NATO will try to recruit a willing cohort from this pool of “draft dodgers and traitors”.
But back to our story: So, there is this “Deep People” which unequivocally, in its majority, not only supports the Special Operation, but is more hawkish than their own government has been so far.
In A State Of Depression
The reporter interviews a man named Valery Fedorov, who heads the sociological polling company called ВЦИОМ. Their polls are internationally recognized as state-of-the-art scientific.
Reporter: What is the mood in the country? According to the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 53% of our youth under the age of 35 are in a state almost equal to depression.
Fedorov: It’s just that, before the mobilization the Special Operation, for the vast majority of Russians, was a war that they saw only on television. They didn’t have any relatives, neighbors, or colleagues, or anybody they knew personally, who was involved. The partial mobilization changed a lot of things. We have not had such a thing in Russia since the Great Patriotic War, and everybody considered warfare to be the job just of professionals. But now you see doctors, teachers, builders, being sent to the polygon, and then… to the front.
Reporter: Does this anxiety influence the level of trust towards the government?
Fedorov: In Russia nobody trusts the government, they only trust specific people.
Reporter: On the ВЦИОМ site, Putin has a trust level of 80.9%.
Fedorov: That’s what I was getting at. For example, in the Belgorod Oblast we see the phenomenon of Governor Gladkov. His Oblast is right on the front lines. There is shooting going on there. And much depends on how the Governor conducts himself. And Gladkov has proved himself to be an impeccable man. He is constantly in touch with people, every time there is an incident, he communicates it immediately, he explains what is going on, he doesn’t sugar-coat anything. And his approval rating is growing.
It’s the same thing with the President’s approval rating. It has steadily gone up since the start of the Special Operation. For sure, after the announcement of partial mobilization, people were confused. But after several days, things got sorted out. The President is a figure who is trusted. Whereas the governmental organs enjoy a low level of trust.
The New Sheriff In Town
Reporter: In your list of “people to trust”, which is a list of politicians, when is this new person going to be added, I am talking about General Surovikin, the Chief Commander of the Special Operation?
Fedorov: But he is not a politician. At least not yet, thank God!
Reporter: Why do you say “thank God” ?
Fedorov: In our country, the fate of popular generals is usually a sad one. Surovikin finds himself in a complicated situation. We don’t want to set him up for anything bad.
Reporter: But people are attracted to a successful and charismatic general…
Fedorov: Let me give you an example from Ukraine. There we see the squabbling between Zelensky and his commander Zaluzhny, whom people want to see replace Zelensky. We see the various dogfights taking place on the side. Whenever a war is going successfully, then the generals get all the attention. Another great example is Eisenhower, who was the Chief Commander of all the American troops in Europe. And who later became President. But in Russian history we have no such precedents. It would be much better to shield General Surovikin from Big Politics, and to let him do his one and only job: to successfully complete the Special Operation.
We Are Not Cattle, We Are Smart And Exceptional People!
Reporter: The mood of the Deep Russian People is shrouded in fog, it is a riddle…
Fedorov: Why do you say that?
Reporter: People say that, of those polled, only a tenth agree to answer the questions of the sociologists.
Fedorov: That does not affect the quality of the opinion polls. Yes, it’s true that only a minority respond. But it is very easy to explain this: People tend to share their opinions with those who are close to them; those who will stick with them and help them. But a sociologist just asks them some questions, and then vanishes. Many people fail to see why they should waste 15 minutes of their time answering somebody’s questions…
No, the problem here is a different one: How to interpret the answers. Different sociologists have different approaches. Some criticize the Russian people. And others believe that our people are wise, experienced, even exceptional, and therefore able to see into the essence of matters and not gullible to lying promises.
Tools Of Propaganda
Reporter: Let’s return to the mood of the people. Why is it the youth who are depressed, and not the grown-ups?
Fedorov: In truth, we have two sets of “youth”, the younger set 18-24 years; and the “older” youth who are 25-35. The younger group are less involved in the situation, they are emotional, anxious, they ask: “Why do we need to go to the front?” Everybody has the same questions, but the youth takes them more to heart. Then, if you take the group 60 and older, this is like heaven and earth, the contrast with the youth. The older people are calm, they know who is a friend and who is an enemy, and they support the Special Operation.
Reporter: How do these people relate to those who fled from the mobilization?
Fedorov: The older cohort regards these people as deserters and cowards. The younger cohorts are more tolerant.
Reporter: Notwithstanding the propaganda?
Fedorov: I don’t see any particular propaganda going on here.
Reporter: Are you sure about that?
Fedorov: You have to remember that this Special Operation began without any particular kind of propagandistic preparation. Therefore the public struggled, in the first 2-3 weeks, to understand what was going on. If there had been a propagandistic preparation, with serious brain-washing, then I think there would not have been so many questions. But it all came as a big surprise. So, there was a military mobilization, but no political mobilization. It became the job of the President to personally explain to people the goals and tasks of the Special Operation. But I just don’t see how any real propaganda implements had been put into place prior.
Reporter: Why wasn’t this done?
Fedorov: We live in a completely different era, than the one in which the word “propaganda” was invented. Today we live in an era of information overload, there is a gigantic number of channels and websites. How could there even be such a thing as propaganda any more?
A Question Of Faith
Reporter: Does this factor lower the approval rating of the Special Operation?
Fedorov: It has a reasonably steady approval rating; quite high. The peak was in the summer, up to 75% supported it. Nowadays, around 70%. This drop is not just the result of the mobilization. A lot depends on whether or not we are gaining territory. In the summer it seemed to us that we were gaining territory slowly, but surely. Inch by inch, our troops were grinding down the enemy, liberating village after village. And then in September, everything changed. Our troops withdrew from Kharkov, and now they are threatened under Kherson. This also came as a shock: How can this be? And people needed explanations. Keeping this in mind, it is possible to say that support for the Special Operation remains at a high level, but in the future much depends on the successes of our army, and the explanations that are given, for what is happening.
Reporter: And when some of the mobilized perish at the front, as is bound to happen, will this not shatter people’s faith in the Special Operation?
Fedorov: It may well so. In any case, nobody really knows for sure how many soldiers perish, until the war is over. The war in Afghanistan lasted 10 years. The losses were numbered 13,000 men. But we only learned that number after the war was over.
Reporter: But you yourself said, we live in the Internet era. You can’t hide anything any more.
Fedorov: One should not exaggerate the capabilities of the Internet. From whence come these numbers of losses? There are two sources: Either our own official organs; or those of the enemy. How are we supposed to verify these numbers? We cannot. It’s just a question of faith, or belief. And our faith, here in Russia, of Defense Minister Shoigu, is greater than our belief in the disinformation that comes out of Kiev.
Reporter: How do people relate to the possibility of peace negotiations?
Fedorov: They consider, that peace is always better than war.
Reporter: In other words, the majority of people support the Special Operation, but also want peace?
Fedorov: I don’t see a contradiction. It is no accident that Putin keeps repeating: “We are ready for negotiations.” But Ukraine is not ready for negotiations. And when people are asked: “Do you support us marching on Kiev?”, 60% reply “Yes”. But when they are asked, “Do you support peace negotiations?” those very same people reply “Yes”. Both numbers are 60%!
Awful Avalanche 
Perhaps I should read War and a Peace some day… I mean, some month. But the way things look, I might not get a chance to finish.
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You should definitely read War and Peace! But, yeah, it is a bit of a slog. If you want a reasonable taste, Bondarchuk’s film is very good, but it (necessarily) cuts out a bunch of stuff .
But, back to the content of the article. Russian support for the war will likely track people’s perception of its’ success or failure, as mentioned. So, we’re probably at the Nadir, and can expect more enthusiasm if we see something like a general offensive once the ground freezes.
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I would recommend Quiet Flows The Don. More modern than War And Peace and deals with ordinary people, too.
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Both books are rather good!
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I’ll look for that one, too. But what I think I’m going to read first, now that I figured out an easier way to do it, is something that could be called “Peace and War”. You see, I’ve only been reading this blog by Yalensis for a few months, and I see that it goes back to 2017! I’d like to read it all from the beginning, hence the ‘peace’ (relatively) and ‘war’ (recently). Then maybe I’ll have time to check out some lesser authors like Tolstoy. Heh.
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You’re so sweet, and I’m so flattered, anti-swas!
But if it’s me vs Tolstoy, you should really read Tolstoy.
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never underestimate the power of a douchebag diaspora. i happen to live in the area of canada where ukie nazis were “resettled” after WWII and their spawn are constant agitators for more government meddling against all things russian. as many readers of this and other quality russia-centric blogs probably know, our “deputy prime minister” (a role created for her) is the spawn of a well-documented nazi collaborator.
https://www.theprogressreport.ca/blank_spot_why_chrystia_freeland_s_refusal_to_acknowledge_her_grandfather_s_nazi_past_matters_in_2020
as for the polls…people in their 20s are insufferable everywhere. it is interesting seeing the difference between these kids and ones in the US after 9/11. were the situations switched you’d see waves of “call of duty” playing bros chanting “Russia F_ck Yeah!!!” whereas the russians are more “i guess i’ll go to war if i HAVE to.”
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I’ve been to Winnipeg in the 2009/2010 twice and I was not aware of all the nazi connections between Ukrainians and nazis before I met a couple of people who invited me and proved to be utterly racists. Or as we say in French, imbuvable, undrinkable peoples. It was shocking. It was open negrophobia and russophobia combined with blatant antisemitism. Since I’m part German on my paternal side, they thought there was quite a connection with them so they didn’t care and i don’tknow what the oldest said in ukr mova. The contrast was huge when I got to meet some indigenous people who were self depreciating themselves but truly friendly, open minded and honest.
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“imbuvable” – what a great word! I must remember that. In Russian there is a word with a similar semantic load which translates roughly as “un-hand-shakable”. In other words, somebody you would never want to shake their hand.
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Yes, Freeland is an utterly insufferable Ukrainian wench of the lowest order and phylum. Canada is rife with Ukrainians, what a bummer. And they really have influence there. Long gone are the days of Canada allowing American war resisters asylum; even during the Iraq war Canada eagerly arrested and deported any U.S. soldiers who tried to escape to “peaceful” Canada for asylum. Trudeau jr. is the opposite of his old man. Canada has taken a turn for the worst, sadly.
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Very sad indeed. With its immense geography, unbounded natural resources, and human potential, one would think that Canada could vie for some kind of independent status. I realize that the population base is too small to be a super-power. But still, they could at least be a contender, if they had the will.
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The problem in Canada also grows from the Five Eyes network of “intelligence”, where the “brain” is the CIA/NSA of the US hegemon telling the other “eyes” what to do, and what to tell their governments.
Snowden, who is now Russian, has explained how totally unaccountable this whole “intelligence” network is, spying on it’s own citizens. The propaganda about Russia has been thick and heavy excrement for decades, and all you have to do is read the blatant fabrication of lies in western media to see how they all spout the same garbage in lockstep. They were all chanting that Russia blew up it’s own Nord Sea pipelines the minute it happened. Mass Formation Psychosis.
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Alas, somebody needs to poke out those Five Eyes somehow. Like Siegfried slaying the dragon.
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RE “mass formation psychosis”…
The official framing of the mass formation (or mass psychosis) “phenomenon” is misleading and wrong in terms of what the whole true reality is. The false hope-addicted psychologists and their acolytes want you to believe this is “just some temporary occasional” madness by the masses when it is but a spike of a CHRONIC madness going on for aeons with “civilized” people — read “The 2 Married Pink Elephants In The Historical Room –The Holocaustal Covid-19 Coronavirus Madness: A Sociological Perspective & Historical Assessment Of The Covid “Phenomenon”” …. https://www.rolf-hefti.com/covid-19-coronavirus.html
One of these mainstream psychologists who have been spreading this whitewashed reality, Dr. Desmet, also fails to see that the PLANNED Covid Psyop is a TOTALLY deliberate ploy because he doesn’t think (after more than 1 year, even 2 years, into this total PLANNED scam!) it’s ALL intentionally sinister as he stated in a prior podcast (this makes him witting or unwitting controlled opposition). It should be apparent that Desmet’s lack of truth-telling is then also present in his largely plagiarized truth-distorting mass formation theory.
In the May of 2022 podcast with James Corbett he stated that “some people tend to overestimate the degree of planning and intentions” (behind the COUNTLESS, VERIFIABLE, FULLY INTENTIONAL, FULLY PLANNED atrocities by the ruling tribe of psychopaths over the last century alone) and see all of it as being planned which Desmet called “an extreme position” … Sound logical thinking is “extreme” and therefore false and sick in his demented delusional view!
In his overpriced misleading whitewashing old material regurgitated book the psychology of totalitarianism he too states that “There are countless … examples that seem to point in the direction of a plan being implemented, such as the fact that the definition of ‘pandemic’ was adjusted shortly before the coronavirus crisis; that the definition of ‘herd immunity’ was changed during the crisis, implying that only vaccines can achieve it … [he continuous with several other obvious facts of an ENTIRELY PLANNED event, especially discerned through the totality of all these facts].” “SEEM to point in the direction of a plan”??? No! They most evidently, clearly, and irrefutably DO demonstrate and prove it IS a COMPLETELY AND FULLY DELIBERATE PlanDemic! A big scam. An Entirely Planned Holocaust against the non-ruling herd of people (see cited link above). A coherent 12-year old kid can figure that out. But not Mr. I’m entitled to teach my deep wisdom to the world professor.
It clearly shows Desmet’s own complete lunacy. But because almost everyone in the culture is a member of mass formation (madness), including the “woke” people of the alternative media domain, hardly anyone recognizes Desmet’s lunacy. Not surprising that he has even become some type of popular “guru” among the adherents of the alternative media landscape and his whitewashed fake narrative strongly resonates with both mainstream people and alternative mainstream folks.
“All experts serve the state and the media and only in that way do they achieve their status. Every expert follows his master, for all former possibilities for independence have been gradually reduced to nil by present society’s mode of organization. The most useful expert, of course, is the one who can lie. With their different motives, those who need experts are falsifiers and fools. Whenever individuals lose the capacity to see things for themselves, the expert is there to offer an absolute reassurance.” —Guy Debord
As expected, “useful expert” Desmet has been also advocating and pushing the false misleading dogma-based non-scientific holy mantra of trust the official science … “everything and everyone should follow the scientific consensus” [https://archive.ph/9QRmw ] — meaning the fabricated fraudulent official consensus science behind the Covid jabs that the killing of millions of people around the world is based on(!!) — so it’s no wonder he’s been heavily popularized globally by the dominant psychopathic world instead of censored and suppressed (as lots of truth-tellers have been), yet in his crafty stylish total hypocrisy and public misdirection ploy, he wants you to buy his belief that everyone should have a voice.
With his false use of language Desmet also obscures or hides the true reality instead of directly and uncompromising exposing it — aiding the obfuscation of the vital reality of what the ruling authorities really are. He speaks of ‘the elite’ (as he does in a number of podcasts) when, in reality, they are THE SCUM OF HUMANS because they are REALITY-VERIFIED PSYCHOPATHS (see referenced source above). Yet in the Corbett podcast he “teaches” us that we, the masses, need to start thinking differently. Right… how about YOU start with sane instead of insane thinking/talking/”teaching”/etc, Dr. Desmet?
How do self-styled “truth-tellers” wake up the masses to the so-called truth when they THEMSELVES use lies with their deceitful fake language???
No one is “teaching” or “waking up” the ignorant masses to the CORE truths with lies, with the official “language of lies” (see cited source above).
This all means Desmet is ALSO a member of the masses of lunatics, an ACTIVE CARD-CARRYING MEMBER of mass formation!!! When, if at all, will he wake up from his state of mass psychosis, his “invisible” stupidity? When, if at all, will he face the TRUE and FULL reality instead of hiding behind fantasies such as his whitewashed “reality” of human civilization?
It shows we live in a global mental asylum with criminal and/or delusional mainstream psychologists, scientists, and docs as the guards, “teachers” and “therapists” … The blind/criminal/mad leading the blind/criminal/mad; the blind/criminal/mad adhere to the blind/criminal/mad = the human madhouse.
Worst of all, perhaps, the mass formation/mass psychosis notion frames the problem as the public being a mere unaccountable non-culpable victim in this phenomenon (the gist of the circular argument is: the masses should change their thinking but they got brainwashed so they’re victims). Nothing could be further from the truth (see referenced source above).
In October of 2022, once a few people caught onto his public-misdirecting game he took no responsibility for it but dishonestly framed himself as the victim of frivolous attacks against him — https://archive.ph/9QRmw
Desmet is right in that truth-activists must fight against mass formation psychosis (human madness). That also means exposing HIS deeply destructive mad part of it. This comment serves, in part, that objective.
If you are in the United States and your employer has mandated the toxic/lethal COVID jabs, you can register to receive a “Medical Exemption Certificate” for free at https://drgastonmedicalexemption.com or https://lc.org/exempt
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Very interesting for a good understanding of Russian psyche when it comes to politics . In the west people don’t understand how Russians value Putin. He is trustworthy. And why they are skeptical about politicians in general at the same time. Personal trust VS general distrust. The other thing is how Russians think logically: wr support when we win, why support someone who fails. Why the west supports the clown in Kiev no matter the reality. I won’t say I expect with impatience the general russian offensive but it will be relieving to see the nazi connection be defeated on the ground once for all. By the way there is no street lamp at all in my city in France from midnight to 5 am. Effect of wise French leadership haha people who work at night and go to work or go back from work walk in the streets with the torch of their smartphone..
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That’s a shame, Sacha, I am so sorry you don’t have street lights at night any more. Good to have your smartphone though, those flashlights inside the smartphone are quite powerful!
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Great piece Mr. A.
I like how you strive to bring an excellent critical thinking eclectic to your work. It is nice too, as it is an intellectually different take that you work towards.
This post is highly indicative of your style.
Appreciate you and your efforts!
Please, kindly, keep up the excellent work.
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Why, thank you kindly, mtnforge, I really appreciate that!
I shall continue to strive to produce meaningful content (as I see it) and I am very blessed to have great readers and commenters such as yourself!
🙂
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Thumbs Up!
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Invasion Lite didn’t work. Russia thought the Ukies would fold. But they re-grouped and the west re-armed them. So, Russia mobilized. And a large scale mobilization by any major power is a big challenge. But this grants Russia the advantage. Because no western power can mobilize. The stress on their fragile societies would threaten collapse. Their existing military does not have the required combat ready gear. And, it would take them a long time. Plus, their very non-compliant population.
The west has already shot off all they have at Russia. Russia can clean up the Ukraine with its enhanced forces. And just close the border. You all get nothing. We can take it. You can’t. Nuke arm everything on full alert and wait the fools out. Can’t top that.
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“Invasion Lite” – that’s a pretty good description.
Fewer calories, more losses.
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The Sakers current piece agrees that the west cannot mobilize or deploy any force against Russia. And that is why a ‘dirty bomb’ may be arranged as an alternative. So, let’s say that or some equivalent 9/11 event occurs.
What matters then is will Russia have the nerve to respond? And, that may not be the case. But, what to do? Close the borders, call home all diplomatic personnel in the west and load nuclear. But then, do nothing. Can you imagine what would happen to the stock markets? The west will fall apart because of its many latent weaknesses. Hopefully, the population will turn out en masse and hang their rules from lamposts. New world then.
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The Russian diplomats warned everybody that they know what the Ukes are planning; so hopefully that warning acts as a deterrent, and the Ukes won’t do it after all. Hopefully.
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Russia has misjudged the American Way of War. The southron, Scotch-Irish cracker disposition keyed to honour and the Feud. To gouge, chew and stab. When the U.S. looks at Russia’s Invasion Lite they see the small commitment of infantry that advances slowly and cautiously. To the Americans this is Putin being timid. He doesn’t have the nerve. The Rooskies haven’t the balls and guts to go at this business. So, they agressively beef up the Ukies and send them forth.
What happens is the Russians completely lose control of the initiative. The Ukies may be getting chewed up but they show grit. The Russian look like they are on the ropes. Surely, they are not advancing anywhere. The Americans are emboldened to conduct ever more audacious attacks. If the Russians had undertaken a more formidable invasion none of this would be happening. Plus, the Russian timidity is undermining Russian public morale. It makes Russia look weak. The consequences of this taken together is very bad for the Russian cause.
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Very interesting. You might want to look at this too, which has some similar points (Nezavisimaya Gazeta): https://www.ng.ru/editorial/2022-10-23/2_8572_red.html
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Thanks, Susan!
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