Russia's Cossacks rise again

[formercia]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6937562.stm





Village leaders like "Ataman" Viktor Vasilyevich are greatly respected


The Cossacks play an increasingly important role in Russia. Their disciplined way of life, patriotism, large families and commitment to work, are seen by many politicians as a model that could help resolve many of Russia's problems. For this, they receive support from the very top.

--snip--

Cossack family values are simple, rigid, and to a Western eye, seem to come from another era. The men build the home and provide an income; the women cook, clean and give birth to children. Traditional Russian values, culture, and Orthodoxy form the bedrock of their beliefs.

--snip--

This is how the Ataman and his sons had come to work thousands of hectares of land. They have made a big success of it, with the family owning several large houses and appearing materially comfortable. Communism, they say, was an alien belief forced on Russia by foreigners. He was referring to Karl Marx.

--snip--

Cossack values are deeply conservative, a mix of self-reliance, fervent patriotism and belief in discipline and authority. As I prepared to leave, Ataman Viktor told me he would like to see the Tsar return to Russia.

[Fierce]

1. Oh, and they tend to like conducting pogroms.

Which is why I've never understood why Jewish people on Kos embrace the term "Kossack."

[formercia]

3. A hint from the article:

Ataman Viktor asserted that the village was welcoming to people of other faiths, including Muslims. But, he warned, they would only be accepted as long as they recognised the pre-eminence of Orthodox customs and beliefs.

The alternative, he made clear, was expulsion. Two families had already been "dealt with" in this way.

[rockymountaindem]

11. Yeah, like the one they conducted against my ancestors

which killed two of them in 1903. I don't know why anybody would embrace that term Kossack either.

[Warpy]

2. Great, Russian fundies

I hope Russia has more luck with theirs than we have with ours.

Nothing can return a country to feudalism faster.

[formercia]

4. The whole Planet is returning to Feudalism

one Feud after another.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Russian Cossacks tied my great grandfather to a tree in Lithuania and

then took turns shoving their swords through him. Because he was Jewish and didn't have money for them to rob.

The resurrection of Cossacks is like watching the return of Nazis in my mind.

[formercia]

7. Cossacks were ruthless

some even fought in the SS.

The World doesn't need that mindset. There's enough assholes on this Planet.

It pains me to read your reply.

Never forget.

[KharmaTrain]

9. My Grandmother's Stories...

Shortly before she died, she told me about the life she fled from in her "shtetl" outside of Warsaw. She wanted to make sure the story of how her town was constantly pillaged by Russian Cossacks and Polish "Police" were a regular occurance. Where late night raids by drunken horse soldiers would end up in a night of screams and fear of what the morning would bring. There would be another hacked bodies and several raped women. The images were vivid to her last days and I can still hear her stories over 35 years later. I also have letters from relatives from that era that describe a lot of the discrimation and economic tough times they had to endure.

Due to a void of any real democratic institutions...or the encouragement of them, we're once again seeing the rise of nationalism and totalitarianism in Eastern Europe and Russia...and with it religious intolerance.

[rockymountaindem]

12. They trampled my ancestors to death with their horses

and two of their sons escaped, age 12 and 14, all alone. One of them, my great grandfather, came to the US all alone (they got separated) and was the last of my ancestors to have left Europe.

[xchrom]

6. more tribalism -- or clan loyalty before all else.

return of the tsar? -- that alone lets you know this guy is just plain nuts.

blech.

[JVS]

8. the tsar is dead and there are no heirs! good move bolsheviks!

[Odin2005]

10. I remember reading that a relative of the last Tsar was a mayor of a Florida town!

[knitter4democracy]

13. Isn't that what the Biela Russians do when times get rough?

This isn't the first time the government has relied on Cossacks. Still, not exactly the best model for life in Russia these days.

There are many kinds of fundies in the Orthodox Church, and there are many in Russia who miss being a feared superpower. Mainly, they miss a decent living for decent work. *sigh* Things are really rough over there, and here's a sign that it's not going to get better soon.