SEELANGS Digest - 7 Mar 2013 (#2013-112)

[Ainsley Morse]

Elena, your point is well taken -- history certainly shows the Russian  
intelligentsia of yore (and today's "creative class") using political  
opinion and/or action as a commodity, and I am sure Shishkin is no  
exception. I think the reason we should nevertheless support gestures  
like his is in the hope that they might have an impact on public  
opinion outside of that liberally-minded intellectual community of the  
two capital cities.

Worst-case scenario: if taking a stand on political principles has  
become something that increases one's sales and popularity in the  
capitals and abroad, maybe it will start to seem more attractive/ 
fashionable/feasible to defend political rights in the provinces and  
villages?

On 08.03.2013., at 01.01, SEELANGS automatic digest system wrote:

>
> Date:    Thu, 7 Mar 2013 23:06:50 -0500
> From:    Elena Gapova <e.gapova at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: Mikhail Shishkin refuses to represent 'criminal'  
> Russian regime (6)
>
> Politkovskaya does not belong with this discussion: she was directly
> involved with politics in her professional life and made her  
> position clear
> at all times, while this conversation, I believe, focuses on a kind of
> "intellectual privilege" specific to (some) artists, writers,  
> producers,
> directors etc.
>
> I constantly see anti-Putin intellectuals taking a political stand
> regarding the "regime" and its "brainwashing propagandistic media"
> (esp. TV) and, at the same time, living off the projects they do for  
> these
> very media (TV series, entertainment shows, even their own  
> "авторские
> программы"). This "delineation" between one's "political  
> position" and
> "professional moneymaking" seems a real moral problem to me (not  
> that I
> condemn anyone; my observations are of a general kind and were just  
> spurred
> by Mikhail Shishkin's statement). A political position, in this  
> case, is a
> very useful commodity: it exists "separetely" of one's real life and  
> can be
> applied according to one's needs.
>
> e.g.
>
> 2013/3/7 Robert Chandler <kcf19 at dial.pipex.com>
>
>> This is well said - thank you, Ainsley!
>>
>> It is indeed wrong to suggest that anything short of the courage  
>> shown by,
>> say, Politkovskaya, is false and pointless.
>>
>> R.
>>
>> On 7 Mar 2013, at 21:22, Ainsley Morse <ainsler at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>
>>> It's clear that Shishkin is not putting his life and career at  
>>> risk (and
>> maybe even helping the latter), but it's really cynical and  
>> fruitless to
>> suggest that he should not have made this statement, or that it  
>> will not
>> have any impact in the public consciousness. When successful  
>> mainstream
>> public figures make strong critical statements against a government  
>> that is
>> openly and persistently decreasing quality of life for most of its  
>> citizens
>> (call it fascist or corrupt and oligarchic), we should praise them  
>> and hope
>> to see more such figures speak out as well.
>>
>
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> End of SEELANGS Digest - 7 Mar 2013 (#2013-112)
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