The current big thing in Russia is the endlessly repeated news that the UK has been reduced to such poverty that a quarter of the population can’t afford toilet paper, soap or shampoo. As all propaganda, this is ancient and boring. We already heard all this back in the USSR. Yet people still believe it and nod sagely to the news of the miserable Brits who haven’t seen a bar of soap or a roll of toilet paper since summer.
One response to “British Misery”
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This is straight out of George Orwell: the idea that power is the ability to inflict misery.
But it’s so Soviet Pravda, isn’t it?
Vatnik Army: Surely all of this is causing you some distress.
Stiff Upper Lip Brit: Ah, well, fewer showers, our flat’s a bit cooler going into winter, and we’re being careful to conserve on water …
Vatnik Army: DID YOU HEAR THAT? The Brits must be lacking soap, shampoo, and toilet paper!
[watches Vatnik Army pat itself on the back for something it had no real involvement in]
This isn’t entirely fair though: Americans do this with sports teams.
OMG YES GO HOGGERS YOU KICK THOSE PIGGERS HARD GOOOOOO HOGGERS
YESSSS THE HOGGERS WIN THE HOGGERS WIN YAY US … WE DID IT!
So yeah, and my point is … that people from empires and post-empires do a lot of the same stupid self-congratulating stuff?
Yeah, that’s it. 🙂
A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
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