The politics of the insecure E-Book

Alper Meydan

• Herausgeber: WS
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 390

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

What if I told you that your life has a huge impact on political events? Your dreams, goals and desires can play an important role on a global political scale. With such hidden power, even those people who strive to make this world a better place may not notice that the methods they use are no better than those of the dictatorial ideologies of the twentieth century.  

Not noticing how emotions instead of facts become the driving force, people are ready to turn a blind eye to the inconvenient facts of their supported ideology. But they are ready to scream at the limit of their lungs about the "bad side" of their political opponents.

In this book, we go through important aspects of politics, from the people and society in which we live, political definitions, to the geopolitics of this century, and propaganda as a tool to achieve goals. 

This book is for people who want to learn about politics, who are curious about the non-Western side’s opinion, and who are willing to see controversial arguments about sensitive topics for some people.

Leseprobe

The politics of the insecure: how politics creates passive fascists

BY ALPER MEYDAN

This is a nonfiction work. The work is based on political events and personal life experience of the author. Some names and characters are fictitious for reasons of confidentiality and sarcastic tone. The specified information for the reader is intended only for informational purposes in politics. The information provided within this eBook is for general informational purposes only. While the author tries to keep the information up-to-date and correct, there are no representations or warranties, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this eBook for any purpose. Any use of The methods described within this eBook are the author’s personal thoughts. Every effort has been made to trace or contact all copyright holders. The publishers will be pleased to make good any omissions or rectify any mistakes brought to their attention at the earliest opportunity.

Copyright © 2023 by Alper Meydan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form on by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Book cover by Emőke Lőrincz

ISBN 978-615-01-7243-9 The politics of the insecure: how politics creates passive fascists

ISBN 978-615-01-7244-6 The politics of the insecure: how politics creates passive fascists (pdf)

Introduction

After a long time of not seeing my friend Michael, we finally met at our favorite bar. I know that after some time, the topic of the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict would rise. After listening to my arguments, Michael told me his opinion. And I understood that my friend, without realizing it, closes his eyes to the deaths of millions of people around the world.

Before we go deeper into the thoughts of my friends and the societies I live in. Let me introduce myself. My name is Alper Meydan. I am half Russian and half Turkish. I love my countries; I am a patriot of them. Currently, I am living in Hungary. So, I have a big advantage of being a part of 3 different societies: Russian, Turkish, and Hungarian. I can see the difference between Christians and Muslims, between West and East. In 2014, after all the Maidan/Crimea events, I fell in love with politics. I decided I will be a politician in my life. My primary goal is to not just help Russia/Turkey but to unite the entire world. I know it sounds ambitious and maybe even childish. But I know I must try it at least. After all these centuries of killing each other, making genocide, and ruining millions and millions of lives all around the world. I had enough of all these tragedies and destruction. We are the first generation in human history who have access to the entire world's knowledge in our hands at home. We can read all the world's news, from the West to the East. Through our computers, we get degrees. We know about problems in Africa, Asia, and worldwide. There are ads for charities that help people who are starving around the world. We know about many problems in the world and yet we do little about them. To change the world, first, you should start with your own home, with yourself.

I put into this book my 8 years of experience in politics with my interest in psychology and philosophy. We will talk about people, societies, ideologies, histories, the geopolitics of this century, propaganda, and many more.

In Chapter 1, I will show how my friends are looking at the events. My friend’s thoughts I have seen many times in conversations with different people. Therefore, they are a good example of how people can think and interpret things. On the other hand, they are part of different groups of people, so not everyone thinks like them. Yet, I believe it's a good thing to take them as an example. In Chapter 2, we will talk about my experience with different societies. How they talk, what they are intending to believe in and what is my opinion about it. These 2 chapters are completely about my life experience with different people. It's about people’s psychology and my opinion about it. In Chapter 3, we will see the definitions of ideologies, how they are working, what are their goals and what are the differences. At the end of the chapter, I will give a definition to what is “passive fascism” and how it affects people. In the next chapter, we will begin to dive into political events. Chapter 4 will be the longest chapter in this book. I will show you how the USA and the EU behave in different situations, around their borders and in some countries which are over 1000 km away. You will see a lot of hypocrisy, weird statements, and aggressive behavior. We will analyze the history of post-Soviet countries and conflicts. How the West is trying to benefit from those conflicts. Chapter 5 will be about propaganda. Moral in it and how people are ready to believe in it, just because it suits them. We will go over the surface of how it works and how the West supports Russian opposition dictators. Penultimate Chapter 6 will be about my thoughts on the reasons behind the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict and the geopolitical reality now and after the conflict. In the final Chapter 7, I will answer the question “Why should I hate the West?”. In the end, I want to add my Final words about my realization of myself after writing this book.

I think it's enough of an introduction. Let's start our adventure and plunge into this interesting but cruel reality of the political world together.

Chapter 1: how my friends are ready to close eyes on deaths

I have many friends from different countries. Mainly my friends are from Turkey or post-Soviet countries. I can talk with them in my 2 mother languages. We have known each other for a long time. We have a lot in common and a lot of topics to talk about. And of course, one of the topics is politics. I know my friends' thoughts about the situation in their own countries and the world. These are my friends: Adrian, Michael, John, and Ismail (names are fictional). The first 3 friends are from post-Soviet countries, and the last one is from Turkey. Adrian and Michael are from the same country. Later, we will see how both have different interests but still think and talk the same way.

Adrian

After visiting the USA and coming home, Adrian made a really important decision. He will move to the West no matter what. He started finding a way to move from his country to Europe and then stay there or go further to the West (the USA or Canada). Ideally, of course, would also take his family with him. Let's wish him good luck and hope he will get what he wants. Adrian and I have been through a lot together. We go to parties together. We watch and play football together and wish each other's team a loss. Because we support different teams in the same leagues. We support each other's choice, or we criticize it as good friends. Because a good friend is a friend who can tell you a painful truth. Not to hurt you, but to help you realize the problem and help to solve it. This is how I can describe not only ours but mine with other friends' relationships, despite all the common things I have with Adrian. In politics, we have completely different opinions.

Russia

All post-Soviet countries have connections to Russian history because we were in one country for a long time. After the Soviet collapse, every country that got independence dealt with economic instability, nationalism, and, unfortunately, conflicts with neighboring countries. One of the main reasons for conflicts was when all these nations were living in the same country, and conflicts between them were hidden. To hold control and power over such territories, you cannot allow nations to go against each other. Therefore, in Soviet time, the government was trying to make, if not friendship, but at least passive neutrality in conflicts. Another reason, when Lenin started a revolution in the Russian Empire, his idea, to create republics or give autonomy to every nation, was done horribly. He gave a lot of controversial territories to nations without solving the problem. It was a time bomb. When the Soviet collapse, all hidden conflicts arose again. Once upon a time, nations that were living under the Soviet friendship idea, started fighting and killing each other. Of course, Russia, which had control over these territories, was directly or indirectly related to the conflicts. For Adrian’s country, Russia helped the opposite side. I completely understand the frustration and anger in this term. The only thing that I don't understand and go against is that it was 30 years ago! Like other wars, that war occurred between 1990 - 1995 years. And now when anything happens in his country, somehow it turns out that the main core of the problem is Russia. Anything that happened and still happens, somehow if you ask, leads to Russia. Not his nation, not the West, not normal geopolitical rules like every country has its own interest and border. No! Never! But Russia.

Everyone has this idea of blaming others, but not themselves because it's easier. It's easy to blame someone or something rather than to analyze the whole situation from the bottom to the top. It's hard to accept that the main reason you failed can be you. Of course, there are situations when life gives unpredictable events. I agree. But in terms of the well-being of the entire nation and country. The only thing a nation can blame for poorness, failure of the government, and an unpredictable future is the nation itself. But since we are part of the nation, then we are also part of the reason the nation is in such an unfortunate position. It's not just Adrian’s nation. It's everyone! If you look closely and listen carefully to the people. You see that some people, even from your nation, blame other countries or some politicians, but never their own country or own supported party. Usually, such people talk like articles in the newspapers or social media. You can see their arguments in newspapers, they simply copy what newspapers say. You can say “What is the problem that we use experts' opinions as arguments? We are not experts in politics”. Well, that's true, but let me ask you “How many opposite newspapers do you listen to or read? How many of them are not from your region?If you are from the West, how many newspapers do you read from Russia or China?”.And vice versa. Imagine you are in front of 2 books: Capitalism and Communism. You read a book about Communism and decide that's it. It's the only way of living. You don't give a slight possibility that maybe the book is wrong. This is how I see people who support the West or East and blame each other for everything that happens in their countries and the world. They don't want to even bother to open newspapers for a few minutes, newspapers which they don't read. And try to understand their arguments. Never! It's always paid propaganda. Of course, the news they read is written by a good-hearted person who would never do something bad. Who would never lie! Only the truth! Only the facts and never his/her own subjective opinion on events.

Coming back to Adrian, he once said that their own president is a spy of Putin. I asked how? “How does Putin support your president? Did Putin send an army to stop your anti-government protests? What did Putin do?”. I didn't get any answer at all. He didn't have any response. He just simply sat in silence. Did the realization that he has no arguments change his opinion about his own president? Of course, no.

Another situation about Russia was the Sputnik vaccine. Do you remember when Putin announced Russia has the first in the world vaccine, what Western mass media talked about? No one in the West wanted to believe that Russia got its own vaccine, which is effective, plus it is the first on Earth. I remember how people in my Hungarian society reacted. Everyone made jokes, many people told me it's not true, it doesn't work. It's just propaganda. Of course, for West supporters, it was and yet it is a big nail in the ass. Especially for my friend Adrian. So, after the Sputnik news, he didn't believe the words of Russians. Then after some days some high-ranking doctor says that there are side effects of the vaccine. At that time, we didn't know that every vaccine has some side effects. And guess what? He believed the words of the doctor. Right away, I pointed out that how come he believes the bad news of the vaccine and not the good ones? This triggered him and he asked me right away if I would do the vaccine. He hoped it would take me by surprise. I answered yes and when I got a chance to do that, I did. But the funny thing here is that I checked the news, and it turned out the same doctor who said about side effects was the one who first announced the vaccine after Putin. So, literally the same person announced good and bad news. And Adrian chose bad news to believe in, not the good one. Later in the book, we see that many people in the world do that. Believe in things which we want to believe in and not the cruel reality.

West

West for Adrian is a holy grail. Let's be honest, the living wealth in the West is high. It's not just that, but plus a lot of possibilities to grow professionally, to have a stable life with your family, to have a great salary and of course to be sure that your rights always can be defended. You can find such countries all over the world, but there is one thing that makes the West, or rather Europe, unique from the others. The difference between Europe and the other world is in the European Union. There are no unions like the EU in the world which behave like one extensive family. One foreign and domestic politics, one strategy and one border. So, when Adrian wants to move to and live in the EU, I completely understand that. I believe you understand it too. Just, there is a difference between wanting to live in the EU and no matter what supporting the EU or the West. Even Adrian understands how the EU’s actions, by being silent or helping the USA, destroy millions of lives around the world. Still defending the West no matter what and blaming Russia, China and others for the EU decision is exactly what gives power to Western politicians. Because they know there are many like Adrian. Adrian who can see the difference between good and bad but is afraid to admit these mistakes which were done by the West. Adrian is ready to lie to himself, ready to behave like nothing happened. BUT NEVER EVER ADMIT. Never admit that the way the West behaves makes the entire world unstable. I heard many times from Adrian that “the main evils of the world are the USA and Russia”. Then, after some time, he added China. If you look closely at this sentence, you notice that the USA is not the only country. There are some other countries, but NOT ONLY the USA. Another example, which I find hilarious, is the comparison between the USA and China Adrian makes. One day, we were chatting. Somehow, we started talking about the difference between the USA and China. We were arguing about which country puts Earth in danger. After some time, Adrian says the weirdest thing I ever heard in my life, while talking about politics (Sorry, Adrian). He says that he chooses between the USA and China, the lesser evil, the USA. When I ask why? He tells me one thing about China, why he chose the USA. So, I believe you are wondering. What is it? What is the argument? What made Adrian choose the USA, not China, and it's only one argument? Why is the USA, a country who just in the 21st century bombed Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Somali, Yemen and Pakistan? Why is the USA, a country who ruined millions of lives in these countries? So, what is this, only one argument? So, when I asked why? Adrian says, “I choose the USA, because China does bad things to you Uyghurs”.

Before I continue, I want to clarify my position about Uyghurs in China. I don't support what's happening with Uyghurs. I am completely against it. I hope the issue will be solved with peace and people can live their lives happily.

BUT! Coming back to our Adrian’s conversation. Using the problem with Uyghurs as the argument that China is worse than the USA, is a foolishness.

Because, if we look from the perspective of making bad things to the people. No one on Earth can beat the USA in the 21st century. And if you do, put China on top of the list of countries who have killed and ruined people’s lives. You are just justifying the actions of the West on the Near East. What, Uyghurs' lives are more important than Arabs, Afghans, Pakistani and many others? Did China, with a democracy and liberation excuses, enter countries and bomb them, later stealing their oils, demolishing the governments of the countries? Moreover, events which happen with Uyghurs are happening inside of China. It's their businesses, not ours. I agree, we don't want them to solve their problems in this way. And I said it many times, I really hope they will solve it peacefully. Still, it's their country, with their culture and their way of solving problems. Therefore, an argument about Uyghurs is completely absurd for me. I hope it's absurd for you too.

Ukraine

Of course, the hot topic of the year 2022 and 2023-2024 is military conflict in Ukraine. If I tell you that Adrian supported West’s side, I believe you wouldn't be surprised. Events in Ukraine we will discuss together later. Right now, let's focus on Adrian’s arguments when we argue. The first dispute was about why Adrian didn't support Iraq, Syria and Libya, when the West bombed it. Meanwhile, when Russia started everything that we can see now, he showed his support to Ukraine and the West. I got, as usual, one of the weirdest answers to my questions. (Sorry Adrian) The answer was that he was too young at that time. What could he do? How would he show his unacceptance? That's true. Though, for 3rd reich and holocaust, Adrian always shows unacceptance. Even though it was almost 1 century ago. Then how can he show his anger on the 3rd reich but not show on the West?

Second conflict was about how people from the EU were using the situation with refugees for their own advantage. If you have friends or coworkers from Europe, then definitely you would see thousands and thousands of posts of support from Europeans to Ukraine on LinkedIn and other social media. It's nice to see how people support and help each other. Just, there is one problem from my side of events with refugees. One question I would like to ask the Europeans and the EU itself. What is the difference between refugees from Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Africans with Afghan people and Ukrainians?

Arguments about all these ruined countries I will use all the time. Because I don't even know one West supporter who could answer my questions. Plus, radical supporters of the West always repeat the same arguments over and over to defend their beliefs. So, why don't we do it too?

In 2015, there was a crisis, which was called the Syrian refugee crisis. After bombing and destroying Syria, the EU faced significant numbers of refugees, not only Syrians, but also included significant numbers of Afghans, Nigerians, Pakistanis, Iraqis, and many more. Mainly refugees went to Germany, France, and Nordic countries. To stop the waves and hold in one place, the EU paid at least 6 billion EUR to Turkey. So Turkey would hold refugees at its borders. Syria, which the US and the EU destroyed, has side effects for Europe(We will see many times such effects on Europe).

This happened in 2015, and many years passed. We can and should use this situation against radical supporters of the West and Adrian itself in the situation of refugees. But I have a better argument. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia started on the 24th of February 2022. If we go back, simply 4 months to October 2021. We would see an immigration crisis on Belarus borders with the EU. And if we compare the numbers of immigrants with the Belarus crisis and Ukrainian crisis, then we would see around 40k people from the Near East and 5 million people from Ukraine (as of June 16, 2022). How many posts of support have you seen from Europeans to Near East refugees? And how many for Ukrainians? If we listen to what governments say then, we will see this:

For Belarus refugee crisis

“The European Union’s borders are not open in an unlimited way. The entry in the European Union is only possible through legitimate border crossings, fulfilling the European Union requirements –be it visas or asylum procedures-. Any information claiming otherwise is wrong and it is pure disinformation.

The road to the European Union does not lead via Belarus. Our Delegations around the world, especially in the most affected countries, are providing information in order to avoid people being instrumentalised, in order [to avoid] people being weaponised, in order [to avoid] people being cheated and converted in a kind of instrument with political objectives. This is illegal and inhuman. People trapped in this deplorable scheme need to be provided the necessary assistance.

Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs - 15 November, 2021”

For the Ukrainian refugee's crisis

“Europe stands by those in need of protection. All those fleeing Putin's bombs are welcome in Europe. We will provide protection to those seeking shelter and we will help those looking for a safe way home.

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen - 2 March, 2021”

“In a historically unprecedented move, the Commission is today proposing to grant immediate protection in the EU for those fleeing Ukraine. All those fleeing the war will be provided with a secure status and access to schools, medical care, and work. At the same time, we are working to facilitate efficient crossings at the borders for people and their pets, with the necessary security checks. The times are bearing heavily down upon us but the European Union and every single one of its Member States are showing beyond a doubt that we are ready to step up to the plate and stand in solidarity with Ukraine.

Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas - 2 March, 2021”

We can see the difference between 2 crises. How the EU reacted to, approximately 100k from the Near East (October 2021) and over 4 million from Ukraine (29th March 2022). If we think about it, we can see xenophobia here (I can not describe this in another way). How regular Europeans reacted to the Ukraine crisis with the Near East crisis we already know. In the first case, everyone united and supported people. In the second case, everyone behaved like nothing happened. Only a few people, maybe, supported the refugees, in my society or LinkedIn I didn't witness such things. I really hope someone helped to the people from the Near East. Though, the fact I witnessed a lot of support to Ukrainians and zero support to Kurds is already a loud signal about the difference in help.

Coming back to Adrian. When I complained about this situation with the crisis. How people didn't support Kurds but supported Ukrainians. Plus, I said that many people who helped poor people, who were escaping the war in Ukraine, did it without good intention. Adrian, as usual, defended the EU no matter what. Let me clarify things. I am not against the support to Ukrainians, moreover; I am happy with how people reacted to it. Many families needed and still need help. At the same time, when it comes to Muslim Arabs/Kurds, somehow all these smiling and helping people disappear. Such double standards look like xenophobia. I am not saying that Europeans are xenophobic. Europeans are famous for their friendly attitude, and they are indeed good people. Just, their behavior towards different refugees is not a good sign. People don't realize it and don't see it. If you help people, because they are escaping from a war. Then, do it equally for every nation on the Earth, not the only ones who are your race or religion. Also, about help. You don't write posts about how you are a nice person, helping the poor people in every possible social network. These ridiculous amounts of posts with the same cliche text made me think if people were really trying to help Ukrainian refugees or not. All these photos with the text how they help and what they are going to do with them. I don't get it.

Myself I helped one Ukrainian family. They tried to reach the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest. They asked me if I could go there and talk to the embassy. Because they were trying to fly to Turkey through Hungary and needed to clarify some things about documents. Just imagine, I am standing there in front of the embassy with many Ukrainians refugees, who speak Ukrainian or Russian. I understand them, but I must behave like I don't understand what they are talking about. Because I don't want to get attention and when I speak in Russian, it's obvious I am not from Ukraine. When I speak English, it's obvious that I am from Russia. So, I tried to talk in a neutral way in English. I spent an hour or two and at the end could give a phone to the embassy worker, so they could discuss the situation. This is how I helped a family which I have never ever met and neither did my family. My mother’s friend asked me to help them and I happily did it. Helping people who need help is always a pleasure for me. I didn't write any posts; I didn't tell people, to show how I am a good person and so on. I believe when you help you do it sincerely, not with the idea behind how I am going to write a post about it. Many people helped, just the number of posts on Facebook and LinkedIn is high. The ones who wrote posts, I don't feel like it was completely about helping. I really hope I am wrong.

Other help which Ukrainians got was offering a place to stay. When you give a place of your own home, you always should consider the possibility that people can stay longer than you expected. Not because they are bad people, but life turned out that way. So, when you take someone to your home, especially refugees, you cannot push them out after 3-4 months. You cannot do it, even with the street animals. It's a serious decision with consequences. When I started talking with Adrian about how people take Ukrainian refugees’ home and then after some time leave them on the streets. Adrian said, “Of course, they are humans. You cannot live with someone for a long time. You get tired.” Logically speaking, I understand Adrian. At the same time, people who take home refugees are not 14-15 years old. Usually, it's 30-40 years with the families. If you cannot understand such simple things like responsibility and consequences. Then don't make tough decisions like this. You are not just giving some place to stay. You also take responsibility for the well-being at your home place of these people. When you get tired, you cannot simply push them away. Make sure that whoever stays would have another option to stay. I will state this many times, it's not a game, it's a life.

Michael

Coming back to the beginning of the book. After a long time of not seeing my friend Michael, we finally met at our favorite bar. I know that after some time, the topic of Russian-Ukrainian military conflict would rise. After listening to my arguments, Michael told me his opinion. I understood that my friend, without realizing it, closes his eyes on the deaths of millions of people around the world. Michael as Adrian is a supporter of West and from the same country as Adrian. I wouldn't call Michael a big fan of politics. He reads news and listens to politicians. Still, I cannot say he is a fan, he just follows and says his opinion. Michael and Adrian have some interests in common, like football and video games. Rather than that, they are different. Adrian enjoys going to parties, just not like Michael or me. Adrian is the type of person who happily will go to sleep early, so he can wake up early. Studying on weekends and not going to parties. This is Adrian. Last common thing is that both blame Russia. Same arguments about the president being a spy, Russia putting a nose to their country and so on. I was not thinking about talking in this book about Michael until I heard his argument. Not even exactly an argument, just a comment/gesture before explaining his opinion. This comment/gesture is so important for me and so bright in my mind, so I wrote a little about it. It's important because it illustrates exactly how people from different countries, regions and continents behave when it does not suit what they believe in.

When we were discussing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Michael wanted to ask a question. The question itself was not important, but the beginning of the sentence was. Before asking his question, he said, “Alper, yeah, I understand the West destroyed Iraq, Syria, etc. We know that”. Then he waves with his one hand in a way like, “yeah, yeah”. This small part is important. At first glimpse, you don't notice it. Let us for a second think about what just happened. My dearest friend says that we know about the death of innocent people, about destruction, and about how the West destroyed a future for many families. Still, it is not an argument for him to consider it in making political decisions. I hope I can describe what I mean. Let me put it this way. For Russia, it's terrible to start a conflict. For the West “yeah, yeah, we know they do it”. I want to give another example about another friend. Her name is Ana (a fictional name). She is one of the smartest people I have ever seen. Our countries are in conflict. She is from Georgia. In 2008, we had an 8-day war. The result is that Abkhazia and the South of Ossetia are under the control of the Russian army. I understand Ana with her anger. “Twenty percent of Georgia is occupied”, Ana says. One time we had a small talk about politics and the situation in the region. Ana was blaming Russia for pushing the army deeper into Georgia. Though I could not find any news about it. Let us leave it to Ana's honesty if it was the truth or a lie. That is not the point right now. When we were talking, I was as usual saying an argument on which no one from West supporters could answer properly yet. (At least who I know). “Why do you blame Russia for defending its borders, while the West destroyed Iraq, Syria, Libya, etc. Why don't you blame them too, for being the aggressor?”. The answer is one of my favorites: “If the West does it, does it mean Russia can do it too?”. The answer is excellent from a logical perspective. Because, if you don't look at a lot of factors like the reasons of the war, the history between countries, and the geopolitical situation in the region and the world. Then, you can agree with such an argument. Moreover, I would agree with it myself too if I was not into politics. JUST! For the West, she is ready to close her eyes. She is ready to do this “yeah, yeah”. For her country, Russia is an aggressor who likes to kill innocent people. No matter what, no matter why, such conflict happened. No matter that for 18 years, no big conflicts were between these 2 countries. It is Russia, not Georgia. It is Russia, not the West. It's Putin and his zombie brain Russians, not the Georgians. Russians, not anyone else. I am not saying here that Georgia is guilty of the war (we will talk about it later in chapter 4). That is not the point. What I am trying to show here is how people can close their eyes on the behavior of their supported countries, especially their own. Not only Georgians blame the other side this way, but Russians too. Everyone is blaming each other, the same arguments, and the same way of accusations.

John

John is from Ukraine. Another Ukrainian friend introduced me to him. John is like Michael, is not much in politics, so he doesn't speak frequently about it. He also checks the news and listens to politicians or bloggers, mostly from Ukraine. When we talk about politics, I don't remember us agreeing upon something. John is a West supporter. As an example, there was an incident in Syria. The USA bombed the Shayrat airbase in 2017. I asked his opinion about it. The only reason John supported it was because the USA did it. That's it, nothing else. Not the reasons the USA did it and why it is good or bad. It's just that if the US does it, then it's right.

Before the military conflict

Usually, I am not showing much of my position in politics when I am near him, I just listen. When you give people time to talk, you can find out a lot about them. With John, I found out a lot of things that surprised me. First, he was a supporter of Poroshenko. Why is it bad? (We will analyze him in Ukraine in a separate chapter). Anyone who would follow the news would notice strange behavior and words from this politician. There was a time when I thought Poroshenko was a Russian agent. Because he did so many unnecessary movements which showed Ukraine in a bad and funny way. That a normal person would think many times if he should be president at all. For example, in 2015 at the Munich Security Conference, Poroshenko was talking about how Russian soldiers are fighting in Ukraine. At some point in his speech, he showed the passports “found” in the Donbass. As if the president has no way to find fake or real passports from another country. He found a need to show them on the stand as a strong argument like without them, no one would believe him. Why would you show passports and wave with them? Another one, again the Munich Security Conference, only in 2018. At some point in the speech, he opened an EU flag, showing that this symbolizes the aspiration of Ukraine to enter the EU. Like all these years of talking that we want to enter the EU, signing the Ukraine - EU Association agreement and putting flags of the EU in front of the parliament is not enough. Poroshenko needs to show the flag of the EU which he brought with him. I know it's a show, but just for whom? For the dumb people. John is not one of them. It is just the peak of the iceberg. There are many weird-funny moments from Poroshenko. The last example here I want to show is putting Goncharenko Alexey as a member of the Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to PACE. This is one I think is one of the shiniest examples of professionalism of Poroshenko. The way Goncharenko behaved in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is ridiculous. Not only has he received multiple warnings for using inappropriate words in his speeches, but created moments that are bad for Ukraine's reputation. As an example, Goncharenko changed the toilet paper in PACE, into toilet paper with Putin's face. For what? What does it show to European politics? His only goal there was to say mean stuff about Russia and be a pain in the ass. (In the past, Goncharenko was in the Ukrainian party called Rodina, where he stated Crimea should become part of Russia. Also, he entered a second higher education at the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation in Moscow. Graduated from the Academy in 2005 with higher economic education. Now, you understand what kind of politician he is.) He also became a member of Poroshenko’s party. After all of this, John supports Poroshenko. Yes, under Poroshenko some big events happened: like signing Association Agreement and getting visa-free with the EU. These at first look like good things. In reality, not everything is so obvious. I would love to talk more about Poroshenko. Just, I will leave it for a separate chapter.

Another thing I want to share with you is how many times John said how bad Russia is. He knows I love my country, therefore he tried to talk about it in the politest way, I believe. I would hear how bad Russia is even when we talked about regular things. He cannot forget to mention Russia, when he is saying bad stuff about Ukraine. Literally, there was not even one moment when I didn't hear “same in Russia”. “Ukraine has bad roads?Same in Russia”, “Ukraine has high corruption? Same in Russia”, something bad happened in Ukraine “same things happen in Russia, too” and so on. Though, interestingly, when Ukraine has something good, this “same in Russia '' rule disappears. This thing is not about if Russia has the same problems or not. It's about why you need to bring Russia all the time, when you talk about your own country? As a patriot, I know many problems in Russia. When I talk about them, I don't think about other countries' problems. I am focused on Russia and the solution for it. Of course, you also need to see the problems in other countries too. It can help you see clearer problems if it's among your country’s problems. But it's not in John's case. It's more about reassuring yourself in relation to your country.

After the beginning of the military conflict

When the conflict started, I didn't believe that it was real. I didn't believe in it for at least 2 weeks. I was thinking it was not real, some things are happening in the shooter. I didn't call John, because I wasn't believing it. Plus, I did not know what to say. I agree, I made a mistake. This mistake will be with me until the day I die. I had to call him and ask if everything was alright with his family. So, while I realized what was happening, I almost got insomnia. I slept badly. I was falling asleep with the news, and I was waking up with the news. After 10 days of beginning, John wrote to me, and we messaged. I asked if everything was alright with the family, and we talked a bit about things. He asked me why I didn't call him, and I apologized, saying the reasons I just wrote above. Later we met with him and yeah, we discussed the situation in Ukraine. We talked about our common interests. Then John brought up the topic “if people do not show or say out loud that they are against the war, then they support the war”. In a way, I understand him. If you don't show your opinion, then you are part of what's happening. Although it depends on how you look at it. For John, by this logic we can state that he is not against these events:

● banning the Russian language in Ukraine and everything related to it

● holding marches on January 1 in honor of the fascist bandera

● attacks of Azov on people on the street and journalists

And much more. These are just a few important events in the internal politics of Ukraine

It's impossible for me that John didn't see these things for 8 years. Even if you don't support it, say or do something about it. Otherwise, by the same logic, John supports all these 21st century democratic laws and rights to live your life as a citizen of the world (Sarcasm, just in case). How many things change when you look from a different angle, right?

In the end, we stopped talking. Now, I don't know what's going on with his life. We didn't fight or argue, just what happened has happened. Maybe it was obvious that we will stop talking, I don't know. I don't have any bad intentions toward John. I wish him luck and happiness.

Ismail

The last friend who I want to talk about in this chapter is Ismail. He is the only one who is not a supporter of the West. He is a supporter of Turkey. So, we argued with him about things tenser than anyone else in this chapter. Our difference is that I am a socialist (in a way) and he is a little bit more than a “patriot”. Sometimes we would have a tense argument about how Turkey should develop and by which path. We know each other and we know we want good things for Turkey. We want Turkey to be strong with happy citizens. One of his dreams is to get back to the Ottoman Empire with all the former territories. We would argue about it many times because I believe that the key problems of Turkey are not in the territories with the name of the country. It's more in the system and people. Why did I decide to put Ismail in this book? Because he is one of the most common types of people in politics. The type that wants to get back empires, federations, or other types of ancient powerful countries. The major problem with this type of people is that they think that all the problems can be solved if we get back to the previous country, usually its empire. We will be much stronger with the territories and with the people (who, of course, want to be part of such a country. They believe everyone wants to give their sovereignty). “We will be great again!”, they say (this slogan we heard somewhere, didn't we?). I always have this argument: “if such an empire couldn't survive all these years. Maybe it had some problems in the system. Maybe it's for good that we live in a different country.”

Some years passed and now, when inflation is officially 70% and unofficially 180% in Turkey. Suddenly, Ismail started realizing things which he didn’t see some years ago. Now, saying the word “Allah” 100 times in the Turkish government in their speech doesn't help to develop the country and stop high inflation as in previous years. Ismail started for the first time going against the government policy. Not really open, but still he went against it. He doesn't know which party he will vote for. Election is coming in 2023, he has to make a hard decision. In Turkey's case, if you cannot handle territories which you have now. If you cannot build a robust economy with the happy people in it. Then thinking about getting back old territories with your own problems is just an excuse not to solve your own current issues. We passed that time when an extensive amount of territory gives to the country power. Everything is in the hands of new technologies and industrialization. If it wasn't like that, then we wouldn't see countries like South Korea and Japan. They have little territory, but still have one of the strongest economies in the world.

Ismail is a great example of how people want to believe in getting back big power from the past. Such people you can easily use to get votes from. Just simply, tell them how the previous empire was great and mix it with religion. You have a great cocktail of succession in the election. When the government doesn't want to work or cannot give a better life to the people. It will give an alternative history with the hope in the future that we will get back those “good old times”. It doesn't mean you shouldn't be proud of what your ancestors did. There's just a parallel between being proud and being used by one's pride.

Conclusion

Why did I decide to start this book about my friends? My friends represent the core of a bright future for their nations and countries. People with bachelor’s degrees in their fields and in excellent positions in their jobs. If such people speak, vote, and decide based on emotions, not facts. Then we have big problems because they are easy to manipulate. This happens not only in their countries but also in mine. So many people are so afraid to be wrong that they will go to the end with their ideologies and beliefs. The longer they lie to themselves, the harder it becomes for them to admit their mistakes. Years of lying lead to obsession. Without realizing it, they are hurting their countries and their future. Because they cannot step over their pride and self-confidence. This gives power to politicians who know very well about it. They will talk like you want, they will say what you want, and they will sell you your ideas. You will want to believe them and vote for them. In politics, words and actions usually go parallel. Today they tell you “blue”, and tomorrow they will find or create reasons to say “red”. Nevertheless, my friends are one of the nicest friends you can find for yourself. They helped me a lot, supported me in hard times and we had a lot of memorable times. Just, when politics comes to the scene, people change. More emotions come forward rather than accepting hurting facts.