Jonah Goldberg// November 14th 2022
Vladimir Putin is a hypocrite.
Putin in the Valdai Discussion Club, criticizes the West’s “racist and neocolonial imperialism" saying that it has corrupted the concept of democracy. He emphasizes that although "the West claims that its culture and worldview that should be universal" that it is not suitable for universal application. And that
the values of Russia and China are a better alternative for world order.
Putin West’s “racist and neocolonial imperialism”. He claimed that Russia and China provide an alternative to this approach to the world order. It is true that the West has a history of racism and colonialism and the extent of its retention is debatable. However, this is where the hypocrisy comes in as the Soviet Union Putin loves, specifically the Russian Empire is nothing if not racist and imperialist. Additionally, to indirectly claim these critiques as his own values is strange. Although more profound in some societies, racism is a universal issue. Additionally anti-racism is most prominent in western liberal ideologies, making it more of a Western value.
This hypocrisy is also interesting because of Putin’s use of liberal terms like “democratic” to justify his brutal actions in Ukraine. Why pretend that your actions are Democratic if it's a corrupt Western concept? Nothing he said is making sense.
댓글