"I got to NYC with my son, and we are wandering the streets of lower Manhattan. So we see a beggar sitting at the corner, and I decided to give him a buck. He sees a Russian winter hat with some military insignia that my son used to wear, and tells us: I know that type of a hat, it is Russian, isn't it. --Yes, I say, it is Russian. --Are you Russians, he asks. --Yes, I say. --It must be very bad there, I hear, it is very tough.
That was all long before the current Russophobic hysteria, and all more telling for this.
So there is this beggar has to sit at the corner begging for a dollar, obviously down on his luck, and yet he is convinced he is doing much better than poor Russians, who happened to give him this dollar. Irony was obviously not his strongest suit.
If this is not a skillful propaganda, then I don't know what is. The country that has its beggars indoctrinated to such a degree that they believe that they are truly exceptional, is doing something right. It is not difficult to fool the NYT crowd. These guys, in pursuit of their success, usually miss any human experiences, and are trained to obey the external stimuli. But the corner street beggar, a person who experiences the other side of American dream every day, still feels superiority over other countries?
It might be just an anecdote, but it does tell you something about the power of propaganda, and the mindset of its victims.
For all Dante's genius, there was one group of sinners that he didn't consider. He should have put some clowns in some darkest, ugliest pit of hell, who would claim, that "we are doing so well, it is so nice and pleasant here. Souls in other circles are suffering, but we are enjoying the balmy weather."
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