Is Putin a Conservative or a Progressive?

in Proof of Brain2 years ago

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Pundits are fond of dichotomies and like to separate the world into warring classes such as Progressive and Conservative.

Last summer I produced a series of articles on Proof of Brain arguing that the ideologies called "Conservatism" and "Progressivism" came from the same source.

Both ideologies work on the same partisan paradigm in which they try to frame all issues in terms of "left" and "right."

I dislike both Conservatism and Progressivism because that two ideologies rarely do more than create deep divisions in society. The division invevitably lead to conflict.

In my last post on the Russian/Ukraine Conflict I mentioned that although I am deeply concerned about the War in Ukraine, I've been reluctant to blog on the issue because the players in the game are flooding social media with disinformation and I worry about spreading the disinformation.

So, I am researching the issue, but not blogging about it.

I think it worthwhile for people outside the conflict to reflect on their own beliefs. One interesting exercise is to ask the question: "Is Putin a Progressive or a Conservative"?

Partisan conservatives will argue that, since Putin was raised in Russian schools which taught Marxian dialectics , that he is a quintessential progressive. Putin's speeches and Russian media are still using Soviet style propaganda techniques.

The words that flow from Putin clearly hold to the material dialectic form developed by Marx. The invasion of Ukraine is a Marxian style "praxis."

The term praxis refers to putting one's philosophical beliefs into practice. The concept of "praxis" is fundamental to Marxian thought. Our Marxist friends have littered the world with dead bodies as they engage in praxis.

Progressives look at Putin and see that he is trying to conserve the influence of the former soviet union and can frame the invasion as "Conservative."

Personally, I see Putin as a catharsis of Conservative and Progressive thought.

It is not uncommon to see a political group to campaign with the progressive slogan of change. After the group gains power, it then seeks to conserve its power.

I avoided the term "liberal." Conservatives hold that Marxism and Liberalism are synonyms.

Putin clearly is not liberal as he is seeking to subjugate a nation. Putin's actions are clearly antithetical to the ideals of a liberal democracy as is held in the United States and Europe.

Everyone is a Putin Stooge

Last week I watched a show by Mark Levin. At the end of the show Levin launched into an absurd tyraid in which he began labeling everyone who did not agree with his world view as servants of Putin.

This last week, President Biden pointed to the rising gas prices and said that the inflation was created by Putin.

I've noticed on social media that there is a growing number of trolls who run around accusing everyone of being Putin supporters.

You drive an SUV; therefore you support Putin. You are drinking ginger beer from a copper mug; therefore you support Putin. You question the Obama Administrations actions in Crimea; Therefore you support Putin!

Exposing False Dichotomies

I dislike Putin as a person. I despise what Putin and his army is doing in Ukraine. I believe that most civilized people are upset with Putin as well.

I suspect that a primary cause of the war is that people in the region were raised in an education system that pushed the material dialectics.

People weened on the material dialectic are likely to fall for the false dichotomies proffered by political pundits. I think we should expose the negative nature of this intellectual tradition.

The term "liberal arts" refers to an education tradition that began with Cicero. It is based on the Trivium. The three legs of the tradition are Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric. I think it provides a stronger foundation for society than modern dialectics.

People trained in classical logic are apt to see the left/right split as a false dichotomy. Many of the entrenched conflicts between Russian and Ukraine spur from false dichotomies as well.

A good way to reveal false dichotomies is to look at the people we dislike as we can find elements of both sides of the false dichotomy.

A good way to expose the false dichotomy between progressives and conservatives is to look at the different ways that Putin can be framed as progressive and conservative.

The Father of National Socialism

BTW, the same is true of the father of National Socialism ... you know ... the short man with a half moustache.

Mr. half-moustache presented a form of socialism that he thought was a catharsis between the thesis and anti-thesis conflict presented by Marx.

Supporters of Putin often draw comparisons between Zelenskyy and Mr. Half Moustache. I find that comparison interesting because I can draw quite a few parallels between Putin and Mr. Half Moustache.

The Picture

I drew the picture from Wikicommons . It was taken in 2007 and released by kremlin.ru under the creative commons license. It shows Putin standing between Bill Clinton (one of the greatest progressives in US History) and George Bush (one of the greatest Conservatives in US History).

i have a strong distaste of politics. My next post will be on a different subject.

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Russia's problem is that it found America taking advantage of European countries in order to monitor and besiege it. A few years ago, Putin hinted that he would intervene if Europe remained a spectator, so he began entering Ukraine to remove the American influence on it، but it will give more economic problems to Putin.

Russia's problem is that the core structure of the KGB runs the country.

You are correct that the United States and NATO bumbled foreign policy.

Foreign policy experts in the West love having open debates. People in open societies are apt to say and do things that autocrats despise.