OPINION: Beware of the Z-Cult Among Us

In his article: “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” Vladimir Putin writes:

“At the same time, the idea of Ukrainian people as a nation separate from the Russians started to form and gain ground among the Polish elite and a part of the Malorussian intelligentsia.”

 Yet again, Vlad’s Polish obsession is showing. Poland is a joke, Poland shouldn’t exist, Poland is the source of all Russian misfortunes. Deep down, Russians admire us. It’s a special, Russian, kind of admiration. As hard as it is, we need to interact with Russians somehow. It’s good to have a strategy of dealing with Russians you come across in life.

 Here are some thoughts and ideas.

 Co-workers

 Your boss calls you to his office and tells you that you’re soon going to have a Russian co-worker. Your boss assures you that your future Russian co-worker condemns the war in Ukraine and hates Putin. Do you storm out of the office and quit your job?

 Of course not. It’s easy to idealistically proclaim you won’t work with, or for, a Russian. Reality check. You still need to pay the bills. Does that make you a bad person? Of course not. You don’t want to end up homeless and starve. If someone calls you a bad person because you work with, or for, a select (having nothing to do with the Z-cult) group of Russians, that’s not your problem. Guilt-tripping you because you don’t conform to someone’s version of what you should be is a cheap manipulation.

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 How can we tell which Russians are hiding their Z-cult membership? Be observant and trust your intuition. To use a relevant cliche: if something feels off, it usually is.

 Z-zombies

 Do you think a cult deprogrammer would have deprogrammed Darya Dugina? No chance. In a brilliant article linking the esoteric and the practical, Natalya Davydova delves into the Z-cult mentality in the context of Dugina’s death:

 “Journalist Andrii Loshak recalls an event led by Dugin and his daughter, where the occult mystery ‘Finis Mundi’ was staged. By the way, Daria played the role of a sacrificial sacrifice there, performing self-immolation for the salvation of Russia.”

 Charming. These nutjobs think even God is wearing a Z-armband. And, in Dugina’s case, life really does imitate art.

 Z-cultists will twist whatever you say to fit into their whackjob worldview. Z-cult Russians have the same mentality as German Nazis who killed themselves en masse when Germany surrendered to the Allies. When it’s clear that Russia has lost in Ukraine, you’ll start hearing about mass suicides of Z-cultists. Brainwashed Russians can’t accept a humiliating defeat. Even family ties must be sacrificed for Russia. That’s exactly what’s happening with the brainwashed Russians who say their Ukrainian family members are dead to them.

 When I was in Moscow in 2008 (my time there left an indelible mark on me), I was taught Russian by a descendant of the Polish exiles to Siberia. He didn’t speak Polish. That’s Russification for you. Is he influenced by the Z-cult, I wonder? By the way, did you know that Irkutsk Oblast in Siberia is Polish? The referendum results are clear.

 A Russian girl sticking her tongue out at Ukrainian refugees and a Russian moron painting Z-signs on Ukrainian cars share the same maniacal mindset with General Surovikin. Apparently, Surovikin’s nickname is General Armageddon. Fitting. We’re one tactical nuke away from Armageddon. I shudder to think there’s my evil twin in some alternate reality with Z-mentality. I hope she gets captured and forced to dance K-pop. Speaking of K-pop, praising everything foreign and virtue signaling are strategies used by many Russians abroad.

 Russians who praise everything foreign

 There are Russian YouTubers in Poland who praise my country. They don’t want to be deported, or investigated, so it’s hardly surprising they are praising Poland. Are they playing the role of a self-hating Russian because they have no choice? Whatever their intentions, they shouldn’t be fully trusted.

 Sure, some Russians want to see the emergence of a democratic Russia. They want Russia to pay for her crimes. They help Ukrainian refugees. They kill Z-cultists on the front lines. We want to believe Russians can be reformed. But can they? There’s no guarantee “liberal” Russians won’t be radicalized when they go back to their motherland to democratize Russia. Such “liberals” would make excellent spies.

 Deep-cover spies

 Lydia Guryev, a former Russian spy in the U.S., posed as Cynthia Murphy and lied to her American neighbors about her accent being Belgian. Her nice, and somewhat naive, American neighbors believed her, but someone clearly didn’t. A foreign accent attracts attention, and not always the kind of attention you want. You may think accents don’t matter, but that’s not the case when you want to blend into American society. Deep-cover spies must speak perfect American English and understand U.S. culture. It makes no sense for Russia to send spies with foreign accents unless these so-called deep cover agents are mere misdirections to make US law enforcement and intelligence agencies complacent.

 You need a modicum of logic to know spy networks are like Russian dolls. You expose one, another one is still operating somewhere. Who knows, maybe with artificial intelligence capable of flawlessly detecting deception and even hacking our minds, spies and propagandists will be out of a job soon. For now, propagandists are here to stay, brainwashing entire societies.

 Society isn’t a static construct

 While spies live in their own parallel universe, so to speak, they are also an integral part of society. We think of society as a static construct but it’s a living organism in a constant state of flux. Lone wolves, spies, propagandists, serial killers, banks, think-tanks, corporations, governments, ad infinitum, all influence one another in countless ways. When these interactions break through to the mainstream, we see it in the news, but all we see is the tip of the social flux iceberg.

 Strange synergy shaping societies

 A genius is a gifted reader of social flux patterns. He shapes society. Geniuses come up with a social structure for the masses while psychopaths enforce it, often with the help of the ignorant masses. The strange synergy of geniuses and psychopaths has shaped societies for millennia. Unexpected (black swan) events, such as the Black Death, influence societies in surprising ways as well. The Black Death brought about the decline of feudalism. Is part of the population predisposed to belong to the masses, just as some people are born psychopaths? Or are some people essentially brainwashed to belong to the masses by being denied education, information and opportunities?

 Dugin dementia

 Speaking of feudalism, all this multipolar world talk by psychiatric patients posing as philosophers is an excuse for enslaving and exterminating entire nations. Arbeit macht frei, work makes one free, Russian edition. Russian crazies really think the West is full of demonic Nazis. The West has problems, sure, but demonic Nazis? Oh, how those Ded Moroz lookalikes would love to exorcize us, enslave us, even burn us in a nuclear hellfire as a sacrifice to Russia. When it comes to Russia and Russians – expect everything. Always remember that.

The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily of Kyiv Post.