“I had a strong inclination to settle in favour of nationalism as a strong antidote to Communism. My country, right or wrong that seemed to be emerging as my main motto. But my bubble was one day pricked by Ram Swarup to whom I listened as he talked to a friend of RSS-BJS persuasion. This friend was laying too much emphasis on eschewing everything that was foreign. Ram Swarup said: “But foreign should not be defined in geographical terms. Then it would have no meaning except territorial or tribal patriotism. To me that alone is foreign which is foreign to truth, foreign to Atman.” This touched some chord in my own heart. That was the end of my tether. I did not know which way to turn next.
Ram Swarup was now becoming more and more meditative and reflective in his comments on the current political scene. He often talked of a cultural vacuum which Communism was using to its own great advantage. Communism, he said, was deriving support from a deeper source, a new self alienation amongst our political and cultural elite, and advancing with the help of forces which on the surface seemed to be allied against Communism. It was not our democratic polity alone which was under attack from Communism. There were several other forces which had come together to suffocate and render sterile the deeper sources of India’s inherent strength.
Meanwhile, we became acutely aware of the progressive degeneration of politics in India. Our politics was no longer national politics. It was getting increasingly ridden with many fissiparous factors like caste, language and provincial parochialism. Nation building was no longer the aim of this politics. Winning elections and grabbing power and privilege, without a corresponding shouldering of responsibility or accountability to the people, was becoming an end in itself. A politics which was no longer informed by a larger and deeper culture was likely to become pretty poisonous.
A similar degeneration was taking place on the international plane as well. The United States was prepared for a hot war which may not take place. But it was not at all prepared for an ideological contest in which the issues may be decided in the long run. The Soviet Union was supplying a lot of ideas, ideology and categories of thought in a stream of books, pamphlets and periodicals. The only response which the United States could muster against this menace was economic aid. It was widely believed amongst U.S. thinkers and rulers that a man was likely to become better wedded to freedom and democracy if his standard of living was raised. Ram Swarup remarked one say: “The Soviet Union swears by Dialectical Materialism. But what it practices is Idealism. On the other hand, the United States swears by Idealism. But what it practises is Dialectical Materialism. There is a neat division of roles between the two powers. The Soviets take care of our heads. The United States takes care of our hearths and homes.”
How I Became a Hindu, Sita Ram Goel, Chapter 7
This is a continuation of my last article, wherein I documented the mythos of the current conflict and the support of political reactionaries for Putin. You can read my full analysis of this phenomenon in part one here:
As a general explanation, this section contains three different types of people. The first are various internal Russian movements, demonstrating support for the war across a wide variety of political perspectives. The second are a general grouping of Russian supporters who directly advocate for the war. The third are those who claim to support neither Putin’s invasion nor western involvement in Ukraine, yet who intentionally use arguments that are intended to bias their audience against Ukraine (indicating that they don’t actually take a neutral position in the conflict, as their claim would suggest). I have purposefully chosen to exclude people who are merely critiquing western involvement in Ukraine, as this isn’t a position which involves promotion of political propaganda. To be cited in the group below one must have purposefully engaged in propaganda, whether deliberately or through ignorance.
Some people are categorized by the site/organization they write for, others by their name directly. Generally speaking, I’ve chosen to give examples from people or sites with large numbers of views/followers, or who have a history that is interesting for the subject in question. Sometimes this may also include people who do not qualify for this guideline, but who have been promoted by a larger social influencer.
Horseshoe Theory
In regards to the title of this article, Horseshoe Theory suggests that the farther one goes from moderate positions, whether on the right or left wing, one will come to embrace tactics and positions that increasingly resemble those on the opposite side of the political spectrum. For example, one can think about the similarities in the ruling tactics of a Communist President for Life, such as Castro, compared to an equivalent Fascist dictator such as Mussolini. For the purposes of our current critique, this will involve showing how the reactionary wings of the western right and western left have come to embrace essentially a similar position on the issue of Ukraine, driven by a similar disdain for the modern west.
It’s an interesting concept, and one which perhaps calls into question the legitimacy of the right/left distinction from a psychological perspective, as if the distinctions are more rhetorical than practical, civic reality might not align with the political interpretations assigned to it. That is a discussion for another time, though.
Guide
I have separated the various groups of propagandists into rough categories. Of course, due to the ideological spectrum there are numerous cases of overlap, but generally this is sufficient for the purpose of this collection. To make an image larger, simply click on the desired image in a gallery. Pieces of articles are placed in sequential order.
With that said, here are the links:
Russian Sources
https://atomic-temporary-196631146.wpcomstaging.com/putins-war-part-2-addendum-1-russian-sources/
Left Reactionaries
https://atomic-temporary-196631146.wpcomstaging.com/putins-war-part-2-addendum-2-left-reactionaries/
Right Reactionaries, Altists
Right Reactionaries, General
Conspiracists, General
Conspiracists, Q-Anon 1 – Patriots. Win
Conspiracists, Q-Anon 2
https://atomic-temporary-196631146.wpcomstaging.com/putins-war-part-2-addendum-7-q-anon-part-2/
Bonus: Taiwan Edition
Kotharian Lightning 