2017: Year of the Mirror

In Marcel Proust’s posthumously published Contre Sainte-Beuve, there is an anecdote about Charles Baudelaire, the great poet of 19th century. Baudelaire, who was known as a person with a not so healthy lifestyle. Baudelaire stared into the mirror when he was in his last days. He stared into the mirror and did not recognize himself. The face in the mirror was totally strange to him.

When I read news from the MSM, this story sometimes comes to mind. In these days of seismic geopolitical shift, the liberal media is more and more in a state of denial. Liberals don´t want to look in the mirror offered them by the current geopolitical reality. And even if someone forces them to look in the mirror, will they recognize themselves? Possibly the most disturbing aspect in liberalism has been its capability to turn reality into liberal reality. It has penetrated so deep in the collective consciousness of the West that citizens do  not recognize it as ideology anymore, but it has become a larger-than-life phenomenon. Hence why, in a liberal mind, an opposing opinion is mostly seen as a manifestation of regressive ideologies from the past. And because other ideologies are seen as something inferior to liberal reality, opposing opinions are always wrong, even if they are right. This is because history ended with the glorious victory of neo-liberalism, and the victors are always right.

Thus, fighting against liberalism is fighting against reality - such is the psychology behind liberal denial. In short, liberalism has set the stage so that anything that does not fit the general Western narrative does not exist. Things do not change before this position changes. So, when someone is speaking to you about Western, European values as something universal, commonly accepted and God-ordained, you should make it clear that he is speaking only about globalism and liberalism, not the Ten Commandments. And as Donald Trump often mentions fake news, I would add to the list a new term: fake reality. Globalism and neo-liberalism have created a fake reality where nothing is as it is. This is rather astonishing.

Nowadays liberalism has gradually turned from a political ideology into a pseudo-religion. Moreover, it has started to reveal its true face to the world. It is nothing but a system of vague values - so vague that it is difficult to recognize the original source of these values. It is the perfect religion for those whose priority is individual freedom and who do not want any disturbing elements in their middle-class bubble, fake reality. But that bubble will burst if someone forces them to look in the mirror. All those ideologies, or political movements, that want to challenge the liberal paradigm must reflect reality like the mirror. This is the key to the success.

Let us take present another literary reference. Chekhov said that the “writer's task is to describe the reality, not to change it." In other words, to act as a mirror. That is what a writer should do if he/she does not want to turn into a propagandist. But we want to challenge the liberal paradigm and change the world, right? I think that there lies a great unintentional irony in Chekhov’s words, since I believe that writers like Chekhov, Dostoyevsky, Hugo, and many others have been the driving force behind many political movements by showing the world its true face. But it is noteworthy that Tolstoy was not so successful when he tried to move from literature to ideology. So, there exists a strong connection between literature and politics. The solid ground for both is the everyday reality of people, and especially for politics: the reality of people as  members of organized society.

 What would Nikolai Gogol, a Ukrainian-born literature giant, write about today’s Ukraine? How would he see the current relationship between Russia and Ukraine? Maybe Taras Bulba, one of his most popular works, can give us a hint? Maybe Poroshenko should have read Taras Bulba, before giving a green light to those who attacked Donbass? Donbass has been the focal point and the symbol of resistance against the globalist, liberal forces, during the three years of crisis in Ukraine. The resistance in Donbass has been as crucial in hastening the demise of the liberalism as the developments in Syria. And with victories on the battlefront, it is getting more and more difficult for the losing liberal agenda to deny the reality. And in this, just begun yet, it will be even more difficult, since it will bring to light many things behind the curtain. Thus, 2017 will be the Year of the Mirror.