freedom of the press

[Pavel Samsonov]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Adassovsky Georges" <gadassov at WANADOO.FR>
To: <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2000 12:49 PM
Subject: Re: freedom of the press


> >The German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted this Russian joke:
> >
> >Why did the Ostankino television tower burn?
> >Due to a collision with a foreign TV tower...
>
> And to rescue people, they were waiting for Norwegian alpinists....
>
> This story sounds better in Russian (ask Alina the true text)
>
> Georges

This and many other jokes can be found at the "Anecdot" site:
http://www.bk.ru/topw/anecdot.html
You can visit it if you are not afraid of some "risque" jokes - the site is
not mediated and some jokes can be too "uncensored". Beware: you may not
like some jokes.

Adding up to the joke about the Decembrists I can offer yet another joke
illustrating the Russian (maybe all Eastern-Slavic) attitude to the rich.

A peasant was digging in his garden and found a bottle. When he uncorked it,
a jinni came out of the bottle and said: "I've been sitting in this bottle
for 40,000 years, and you set me free! Ask whatever you want and I will
grant your wish! But on one condition: your neighbor will get twice as
much".
The peasant scratched the back of his head and said:
" Take out one of my eyes".

The reasons WHY Russians hate the rich is outside the topic. It may be
explained by centuries-long practice of "obshchina" among the peasantry and
maybe lots of other reasons.

However, the dependance of the freedom of speech and press upon the living
standards of the population is too obvious.
The poor don't care about the freedom of speech and press. They would rather
they had more bread than freedom. Freedom of speech is only affordable to
well-off nations to which Russia does not belong, has never belonged, and is
not likely to belong in the foreseable future.

In fact the poor people's mentality perceives the freedom of press and
speech as "bardak" (disorder, unrestrained promiscuity) and cynical mockery,
because this freedom is not translatable into anything material. In the
context of the widespread impoverishment, the democratic rhetorics is
labeled as "dermocratija". The memories of Communist abundance and
affordability with no freedom of press suggest a good contrast to the
current situation. And fancy cars roaming the streets is an unsult to those
who cannot afford to buy a loaf of bread.

A good example is my native Belarus. President Lukashenko has managed to
stifle almost all the free press to the silent content of the people at
large. The president-controlled media is absolutely similar to what it was
in the USSR: trumpeting the "achievements", criticising the West, absolutely
supporting the President, who is portrayed as the defendant of the poor,
wise, fair and merciless to enemies.

This was made possible by the poor people's support or, in the best case,
indifference and by their nostalgia about the golden days of Communism, when
bread cost only 14 kopeks and beer was overflowing and almost free.

Putin may follow the same route. At least he is one of the very few world
leaders who shakes hands with Lukashenko, calls him "friend" and gives him
such a sweet hug that it makes people's eyes wet.

Remember the Roman emperors who thought that "bread and entertainment" was
all the poor needed.

Pavel

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