Dedovshchina, or, the practice of abusing and sodomizing new recruits in the Russian army
An often repeated talking point of Putin goes somewhere along the lines of tthis: “The West is corrupt, decadent and awful and Russia represents traditional values. It is a beacon of sanity in an insane liberal world.”
It sounds cute, doesn’t it? The image of stern, hard-working, upright citizens living a hardy existence in a giant frozen land. Orthodox Christians, the lot of them, solid, wholesome folks. The West, full of debauchery, losing its way. Russia, a shining light in the midst of all the madness. It’s just that, that’s all it is — a talking point.
If you want to shit-talk another culture, another society, stop for a moment and look at your own for just a minute. Is Russia wrong to say the West is awful in many ways? Nope. But there’s enough wrong within Russia not to point fingers at anyone else. Take the system of Dedovshchina for instance. Dedovshchina is the brutal hazing, abusing and often sexually assaulting of new recruits in the Russian army.
This word, Dedovshchina, literally translates as “reign of the elders” or “reign of the grandfathers”. It basically means that as a new recruit, you are literally ‘the bitch’ of your senior soldiers and officers. Much like in prison, they can do with you as they please. You may get beaten up, or sodomized, and you’ll take it and say “thank you”. Some men speak up. Some men die. Some commit suicide out of sheer misery. To talk about this is taboo but it’s a pretty big issue.
In 2007, over 300 Russian recruits committed suicide. About a dozen were directly murdered by their own brothers-in-arms. When Putin announced mobilization, men did not just run away because they didn’t want to be blown to bits by HIMARS — they ran, too, because they know the stories. They are aware of the abuse. And they didn’t want to get sodomized and abused by men who are supposed to train them and have their backs, on top of risking certain death in the field.
As Michael Jackson sings: “You want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and make a change.” Russia would benefit quite a lot from taking a good hard look at its own culture — for it is every bit as rotten, if not more so, than the West Putin so despises.
I have nothing against Russia, against its culture, against its people. I have a problem with the government and the fanatical maniac in charge of the whole clown show, but the average man or woman in the street is, in my view, largely blameless. I just don’t enjoy this view of Russia as this wholesome place and “the collective West” being this hivemind of immorality.
Because the truth, as always, is a lot more complex. And he who is without sin may cast the first stone. Or ought to. We’d cast a lot less stones and point a lot less fingers if we’d adhere to that.