Hey everyone! We're continuing our weekly podcast "Trends of chaos and order". This is episode 197. The podcast was released in Russian on February 18 and was translated by our volunteers.

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Ukraine talks

There was a lot of discussion last week about Trump's negotiations with Putin over the division of territory in Ukraine. So, sorry, we're on again about Trump, who promised to end the war. On February 12, he called Putin about it and thereafter the president of Ukraine, Zelensky.

The very fact of talks between the US president and Putin is, of course, a failure of the whole policy of isolation of Russia, which, by the way, has never been complete. It also became clear that Trump does not consider Ukraine an independent entity. Nor does he consider the opinion of its European allies important.

Well, all in all, who would be surprised. Trump considers himself the king of the world who can buy everything. As always, no one's asking the opinion of the Ukrainians themselves. From what I read and hear from friends – people are extremely pessimistic. Of course, everyone wants peace, but they realise that they are in fact being forced to capitulate on unfavourable terms, despite the assurances of American politicians to the contrary.

New Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth stated: "We too want a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic goal. Pursuing this illusory goal will only prolong the suffering." This means that many of my refugee friends will not be able to return home, because they don't want to live under occupation. It also means that the mayhem of civilian disappearances throughout the years of war will continue in the occupied territories, and an aggressive militarist narrative will be enforced, starting with kindergardens and schools.

Does this mean that Putin has achieved his goals and can almost celebrate victory? Well, here's how it's looking... The US should get half of Ukraine's rare minerals. And suppose that Ukraine will not become part of NATO, but the US would be able to deploy its military organisations in Ukraine to protect the deposits.

In general, all this is very reminiscent of the Munich Agreement of 1938. In this, European countries made concessions to Hitler at the cost of Czechoslovakia's territories. It did not lead to peace. And although the Russian proverb says that ‘a bad peace is better than a good quarrel’, in this case it's like two bandits agreed on a division of territory.

All of this is disgusting and vile. Just like arguments with those who defend "efficient managers", whose bad sides we just need to tolerate, as if it's justified. The "side effects" are living people who the "efficient managers" do not take into account. But this is what states do. More or less democratic, or not democratic at all, they are not interested in your life, they are interested in their own benefit. That is, the benefit of those who have gained power and those whose interests they lobby for. The Musk + Trump couple demonstrates this clearer than ever.

Is there an alternative? Yes. A state-free society. Otherwise we'll never make it into the 21st century. Or we'll enter a new feudalism, just with high technology, aimed not for the benefit of people, but for their control and coercion.

Three years of war

While the politicians are dividing Ukraine like a pie, demonstrations against Russian aggression are planned in many cities abroad. I think it is especially important now to show support to Ukrainians in their unwillingness to become part of the Russian empire. In our resources you can find announcements of some of the marches, although, of course, there will be more than we have announced.

"Effective management"

Meanwhile, while the hostage exchange between the Israeli government and Hamas is finally going ahead, Trump has proposed deporting all Palestinians from Gaza. Although the idea was floated and spawned a large number of memes about the Riviera the week before last, I still have to argue with Russian-speaking supporters of mass deportation. They see it as an act of humanity, or else we'll have to kill all the Palestinians. For some reason these Palestinians strongly dislike those who want to mass deport or mass murder them. It is a pity that among those who support the right and ultra-right there are many former Russians. Having left Russia, they continue to carry the narrative of solving all problems with violence, deportations and mop-ups. Supposedly so that peace and tranquillity will reign between peoples, although all history shows exactly the opposite.

It'd be good if people would understand that their ideas have nothing to do with humanism, and that they hate everyone who is left precisely for their humanism, proudly calling themselves pragmatists. Some don't understand at all what's wrong with their ideas. And here we come back to the fact that in the 21st century, Hitler's and Stalin's methods are for many, who think within the limits of capitalism, just methods of "effective management." Even if we set aside the ethics and humanism so hated by them, what is the economic and political effect of a bombed and destroyed Germany? Or the fact that the USSR economy lagged behind other countries? That it was the first in space while the chief engineer was almost killed during interrogations, then in the camps. Quite a strange notion of efficiency.

Snitching as a cause for celebration

And while we're on the subject of ethics and how people perceive their own ideas and actions: I recently witnessed a very unpleasant story when the former colleagues of a friend of mine discussed the idea of writing a denunciation against her. She'd bolted, you see, but still travelled to Russia to see her parents. And the last thing they expected was for my friend to find out about it.

And so, some of the participants of the discussion thought that everything was normal while others were very offended that their actions were called nasty, and they themselves called bad people. Such excuses they invented! Many of them, like children, at first said that it wasn't them at all, and then – that it was just a joke. Probably, when they read books about war and fascists in their childhood, they imagined themselves heroes. But real life has shown that it is much easier and safer to get approval as a hero among fascists. And no one wants to face the truth. More valuable are the people who don't succumb to the manipulation of social recognition. This does not only apply to Russians. We are now seeing the whole world turning to the right-wing.

A right-wing turn

Ahead of February's early elections in Germany, the BBC published an article entitled ‘Why do more and more young people in Germany support the far right?’ from which we learn that many of these young people actually consider themselves quite moderate.

"Dr Rüdiger Maas from the Institute for Generational Research think tank says that left-wing parties often focus on themes such as feminism, equality and women's rights. "In general, men don't see themselves in these topics," he says. "That's why they have a tendency to vote for right-wing parties."

To quote the article further:

"Hard right-wing populist parties are also making gains in countries such as France, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Italy. ‘‘Sixty per cent of young men under 30 would consider voting for the far right in EU countries, and this is much higher than the proportion among women," says Tariq Abu-Chadi, professor of European politics at Oxford University, based on a study of the 2024 European Parliament elections (European Election Studies)."

By the way, Elon Musk is an active supporter of the far-right Alternative for Germany, and no, his zig is no accident. I wouldn't be surprised if he prepared it in advance.

Anarchy against fear

In the same article on why young people choose the right, many young people share their fear. And fear has always been a powerful means of manipulation, perhaps more powerful than social recognition. The right benefits from terror and intimidation. In fear of the horrors of the world, one must feel like a frightened and confused child, and here the right acts as a parental figure, promising protection and recognition.

Anarchism is about adulthood and maturity. Anarchism is the courage and responsibility to make independent decisions, not to put them on Putin, Musk, or even on the most democratic party.

We all hope that the Russian dictatorship will come to an end, and when the people of Russia will build a new world free from despotism, it'd be nice to avoid repeating our own and others' mistakes.

That's it for today! We're reminding you that in "Trends of chaos and order" participants of Autonomous Action and other authors are giving anarchist evaluations of current events. You can listen to us on Youtube, SoundCloud and other platforms, check out our site on avtonom.org, and subscribe to our social media and newsletter.

The podcast was prepared by Nina T.

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