Faŗît n farleft alîc admîrd Pūćin. Nǎ w’v ol trnd agnst stroñmen
(Transcription of an article published in the Guardian on Frîday 4 March 2022)
Aftr ɖ Ycren inveźn, hiz formr dfndrz r ruśñ t distns ɖmslvz
Nic Cown, Saṭde 5 Marć 2022
Ɖ wrst ppl in ɖ wst wr pro-Pūćin. Ɖe xkzd hiz impirịlist îdioḷji n crîmz agnst hymaṇti n nvr peid a prîs fr būtlicñ a dictetrśp. On ɖ contrri, ɖe tc Britn ǎt v ɖ Yṛpiyn Yńn n tc ovr ɖ Lebr parti. Ɖe wún ɖ prezidnsiz v ɖ Ynîtd Stets n ɖ Ćeh Rpublic n sizd cntrol v poḷtics n ɖ mīdia in Hunġri.
Ɖ savijri v Vlajīmir Pūćin’z asōlt on Ycreńn dmocṛsi hz snt ɖm intu hedloñ rtrit. Nʈñ betr iḷstrets ɖer panic ɖn Marine Le Pen hvñ t dnî ɖt ś hd ordrd ɖ dstrux́n v 1.2m ilex́nlīflits ɖt fīćrd picćrz v hr gvñ Pūćin a frm hanśec, az f t ʈanc him fr ol ɖ muni h hd lound hr.
Anɖr Frenć faŗît līdr, Éric Zemmour, anǎnst hiz afiṇti wɖ ɖ fasist tṛdiśn bî dfndñ Vichy’z c’laḅreśn wɖ ɖ Natsiz n ɖ prṣktrz v Alfred Dreyfus. Wɖ ɖ frst rǎnd v ɖ Frenć preẓdnśl ilex́n oṗnñ on 10 Epril, h rtrnd ɖ s’port ɖ Cremlin hz gvn him bî seyñ ɖt ɖ Frenć śd nt trīt Pūćin’z victimz az refyjīz bcz ɖe wd “sbmrj” Frans undr a wev v iṃgreśn.
Ćīrñli, Zemmour’z imij v Ycreńnz pśñ Frenć hedz undr wōtr, az f ɖe wr agresrz rɖr ɖn victimz, dd nʈñ t stop ɖ dclîn in hiz s’port. In Hunġri, ɖ vicṭri v ɖ Pūćin woṇbi Viktor Orbán in ɖ ilex́nz on 3 Epril no longr sīmz ɖ srtnti it wns wz.
In ɖ YC, ɖ Lebr līdrśp ordrd MPz fṛm ɖ rump v ɖ Corbin left t dis’sośiet ɖmslvz fṛm a letr blemñ Pūćin’z wor on Nato or lūz ɖ ẃip. Īvn Doṇld Trump n Nîjl F’rāź r bacñ awe fṛm Pūćin nǎ, n ẃn rats ɖt sîz abandn śip w nǒ w r in unćartd wōtrz.
Raitrz hv strugld t fînd a lebl fr ɖ muvmnts ɖt hv trnsformd ɖ wst. “Popylist” z tù veg. “Naśṇlist” wrcs wel untl y rmembr ɖt ɖe het larj numbrz v ɖer felo sitiznz n r mor ɖn wilñ t alî wɖ ɖer neśnz’ eṇmiz. “Resist”? Srtnli in sm cesz bt hǎ dz ɖt oft-rpitd insult cuvr ɖ rlijs s’cterịnizm v a Modi or Erdoğan? “Fasist?” In ɖ r’toricl ecoz n comn heṛtij, v cors, bt nt in gūștepñ fact.
Bt ɖe hv ol bn “Pūćinist”, n nt onli bcz ɖe hv flatrd ɖ Cremlin.
Ɖ apil v ɖ Ruśn empîr t parts v ɖ farleft rmenz bʈ a cōz v ǎtrej n a pitịbl demnstreśn v moṛl n inṭlecćl dce. Fṛm Carl Marx t Oscr Waild, evri 19ʈ snć̣ri libṛl n soṣ́list ń impirịl Ruśa wz ɖ gretist fortris v Yṛpiyn riax́n. (Waild wz so muvd bî ɖ strugl agnst it h rout Vira; or, Ɖ Niḥlists, a fgotn n trūli teṛbl ple t onr an atmt t asaṣnet ɖ tsarist guvnr v St Pīṭzbrg.)
Ɖ apil v Pūćin’z rvîvl v tsarizm t ɖ modn faŗît me b gṛtesc bt at līst it mcs sns. Pūćin z antideṃcratic n so r ɖe, az Orbán’z qāzidictetrśp n Trump’s atmts t oṿtrn ilex́nz śo. Pūćin dspîzz hymn rîts n so d ɖe. Pūćin tredz on a darc nstalja n so d ɖe. Abv ol, Pūćin z a stroñman n it z az ɖ tufgaiz hu mc ɖer cuntriz gret agn ʈru a śir act v wil ɖt ɖe hv sold ɖmslvz t tnz v miłnz v votrz.
Dd I cōl ɖm ɖ “faŗît”? Fgiv m, fr “faŗît” dz’nt qt cuvr it. Az I sd, ɖ Lebr mênstrīm yzd ɖ inveźn t muv agnst ɖ t’raṇfîl left. W hv sìn nʈñ cmpaṛbl on ɖ s’pozidli mênstrīm rît.
No pìsz in ɖ Meil or Teḷgraf aġnîzñ ovr hǎ ɖe evr cem t b fūld bî F’rāź n Aṛn Bancs. No spīćz fṛm Boris Jonsn wornñ agnst ɖ sdux́nz v t’ranicl ʈncñ n pǎrwrśp. Ɖ sîḷns śoz ɖt ɖ bordr btwn ɖ sntŗît n ɖ faŗît hz fōḷn intu disṛper.
Fr Jonsn olso lîcs t pǒz az a stroñman, hu cn gt Brexit dn. H tù woloz in nstalja fr ɖ past rɖr ɖn hop fr ɖ fyćr n dfînz himslf agnst a larj porśn v hiz felo cuntriṃn: ɖ rmonrz, ɖ nêseyrz, ɖ libtardz n ɖ wouc.
In ɖ most despṛt v srcmstansz, Ycren crîz t b alaud intu ɖ Yṛpiyn Yńn, ɖt sem Yṛpiyn Yńn a jeṇreśn v unfgiṿbli trivịl Tōriz hv dedcetd ɖer lîvz t dstroyñ. Pūćin śoz hiz fir v Ruśnz lrnñ ɖ truʈ abt hiz wor bî blocñ ɖer axes t ɖ BBC, ɖ sem BBC ɖt Jonsn unḍfundz n proṃsz t ruin ẃnvr h nīdz t tos red mìt t ɖ Tori rît.
Pridictñ enʈñ in ɖs heliś wīc z a fūl’z indevr bt v wn ʈñ I am śr: Pūćin hz dstroid ɖ apil v stroñman poḷtics in ɖ 2020z az ifctivli az Adolf Hitler n Yosef Stalin dd in ɖ 1930z.
Ɖ c’rir v Volodimir Zelensci xplenz ẃ. H hz nt pleid ɖ Pūćinist gem v dvîd n rūl or crietd a prṣnaḷticult. At hiz inōğreśn, h asct guvnmntwrcrz t end ɖ Sovịt practis v ptñ picćrz v ɖ rūlr on ɖer ofiswōl. “Hañ yr cidz’ fotoz instd n lc at ɖm ć tîm y r mcñ a dsiźn,” h sd.
Jst bfr Pūćin’z forsz atact, Zelensci apild t Ruśnz in ɖer ǒn lanḡj t rjct Pūćin n emḟsîzd hiz dtrṃneśn t pṛtct Ruśn mnoṛtiz in Ycren. Ɖ brōd apil v hiz līdrśp hlpt criet ɖ brōd rzistns t inveźn.
Tom Tugendhat, ɖ ćer v ɖ foṛn-aferz s’lect cmiti, tld m ɖr wz nʈñ sópi abt līdrz dwñ ol in ɖer pǎr t sīc naśnl yṇti. A neśn’z rziłns dpndz on guvnmnts sīcñ t avôd nīdlis dvîdñlînz. “W mst ynît ɖ cuntri in pīstîm so w cn dfnd ǎrslvz in an imrjnsi.”
W r nǎ in an ic̣nomic wor ɖt wl snd fyl n fūd prîsz evr hayr. Ɖ purist wl hrt ɖ most, n in ɖ nem v naśnl yṇti ɖe dzrv imrjnsi hlp. Wrs me b on ɖ we ɖn infleśn n rseśn. Az ʈñz stand, ɖ most fitñ eṗtaf t ɖ Trumps, F’rāźz n Le Penz hu pṛstretd ɖmslvz bfr Pūćin z ɖt f ic̣nomic wor z ol h brñz dǎn on s, w cn cǎnt ǎrslvz luci.
• Nic Cown z an Obzrvr coḷmnist
