Interesting take on Russian indifference to the doping scandal (they DGAF, and anyway it was the Americans)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/11/world/europe/russia-olympics-doping.html
The Russian reaction to moral questions is complicated by their association of national greatness with Stalin, who oversaw Russia’s industrialization and victory in World War II, but during his long rule millions died in prisons, forced collectivization, purges and mass deportations.
Russia tends to avoid confronting the crimes committed in tandem with its 20th-century climb to greatness, analysts said, especially since it is trying to regain the same stature. In defending Russian history, given that the government plays down what Stalin did, a doping scandal appears fairly minor in comparison.
Just last week, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church defended Stalin’s legacy without naming him. “Achievements of one or another state leader who stood at the roots of the country’s revival and modernization should not be called into question, even if that leader is known for villainies,” he said at an opening of a museum exhibition on Russia’s 20th century history that also showed how Stalin decimated the ranks of the clergy.
At the deepest levels, analysts say, the idea of morality in public policy died out decades ago, if not centuries, under the weight of government repression.
“It is not that Russian people are bad,” Mr. Babitsky said. “It is just that for 100 years they have not seen a politician who lives by any moral standards. When you bring up a moral argument, everybody looks at you as a kind of crazy person, like those people on Times Square shouting about the end of the world.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/11/world/europe/russia-olympics-doping.html
The Russian reaction to moral questions is complicated by their association of national greatness with Stalin, who oversaw Russia’s industrialization and victory in World War II, but during his long rule millions died in prisons, forced collectivization, purges and mass deportations.
Russia tends to avoid confronting the crimes committed in tandem with its 20th-century climb to greatness, analysts said, especially since it is trying to regain the same stature. In defending Russian history, given that the government plays down what Stalin did, a doping scandal appears fairly minor in comparison.
Just last week, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church defended Stalin’s legacy without naming him. “Achievements of one or another state leader who stood at the roots of the country’s revival and modernization should not be called into question, even if that leader is known for villainies,” he said at an opening of a museum exhibition on Russia’s 20th century history that also showed how Stalin decimated the ranks of the clergy.
At the deepest levels, analysts say, the idea of morality in public policy died out decades ago, if not centuries, under the weight of government repression.
“It is not that Russian people are bad,” Mr. Babitsky said. “It is just that for 100 years they have not seen a politician who lives by any moral standards. When you bring up a moral argument, everybody looks at you as a kind of crazy person, like those people on Times Square shouting about the end of the world.”