You know, I usually avoid political matters altogether, but this one is a bit close to the skin. You see, my grandfather is a resident of Crimea, as well as my father until he got married. I spent a great portion of my conscious life there, so I take all this personally.
First of all, I find recent history slightly more relevant than ancient history - that is, the fact that Crimea was part of the RSFSR just half a century ago is more relevant that it was ruled by a Tatar khanate four hundred years ago, or that it was Greek in the times of antiquity. But stuff that, what is definitely relevant is that the majority of the population speaks Russian. A government that deprives the Crimeans of their language cannot be fit to govern them. The nationalist (and it has always been nationalist; if you think Yanukovich was in any way pro-Russian...well, hah. When he was elected, everybody expected him to solve the whole status of the Russian language question: he did not solve jack, and kept most of Poxface's ultra-right policies) government of Ukraine has always tried to "ukrainize" Crimea by blatant smear tactics against Russia and forced introduction of the Ukrainian goddamn mova into every aspect of life ; seriously, some of the shit that blared from my TV in the later years has to be heard to be believed. Well, by now everybody has had enough of this. Surprise.
You may ask why I say with such confidence that Russian is the language of Crimea. That's simple - I lived there, and plan to live there again. Find me a person in Sudak or Yalta or Simferopol or wherever who has Ukrainian as a first language and is not a tourist from the Ivano-Frankovschina or Lvov or the hamlet of Petlurovka on the border of Poland, and you can have a cookie.
And that brings me to the next part of my rant. The average reader of these words can find neither Lvov nor Sudak on a map, because he is Canadian, or American, or British, or Cuban for all I care. And yet he comes to this thread to express his indignation about events he learned about from some news feed, and so sincere he is in his fury that I find myself outmatched by his righteousness. Maybe if our affairs concern the western parts of the world so much, we Slavs should start a reality show? Earn a quick buck to support our failing, import-dependent economies.
"Why, Avis", say you, "you talk so much about how Crimeans speak Russian and how the Ukrainian government is a bunch of Nazis, but does that excuse the grubbing motions of evil imperialist Russia and its Czar Pootang?"
"Sure as hell it does", answer I. I would prefer it if my friends and relatives did not have to suffer a government that tells them I am their enemy, and that they must speak a language that they don't give a crap about, or be second-class citizens. I would prefer to live in the same state as them, and they would prefer to live in the same state as me. It is not a question of land or ancient history. It is a question of people being forcibly separated by a foreign and hostile entity - real, living, currently-existing people. That might be slightly hard to understand if your country did not fall to bits a couple decades ago, I know. I personally can't wait for the moment I and my granddad can visit each other without crossing a border, and so do millions of Russians.
Of course, I would welcome an independent Crimea or an independent East Ukraine - I might even get a dual citizenship. The thing that I find the most revolting is the propaganda war that the Ukrainian government (utterly incompetent - the Soviet Union's finest agricultural region,
importing grain. At least we kept the competent thieves after the nineties) is or was leading against Russia and its own Russian-speaking population. The game of
nezalezhnost' is a game any number of parties can play.
This is my entirely selfish point of view. Forgive me if I seem rude - I have the horriblest headache right now.
* The imperialist Russian goblin has let loose a vile croak!
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Topic: UR's Post-USSR politics megathread (Read 310738 times)