"Our own romantic dupe falls for the propaganda," writes Steven Volynets, of Tucker Carlson's recent bedazzlement during a carefully curated tour of Moscow delights
Wonderful article! My husband lived in Russia for two years before the fall of Communism and our family lived in Prague from 2014-18. We are quite familiar with the grim and substandard housing the author discusses! One reason the plot of the film works is that the layout of every Soviet apartment, throughout the Soviet Union, was identical. So it’s believable that the hero would enter any random apartment and mistake it for his own. In Czechia these buildings are called panelaky, named for the concrete panels that cover the outsides. People I know who live in these apartments are not fans of them. They are poorly insulated and have almost no ventilation, and sound carries everywhere. Too bad Tucker Carlson didn’t have to stay in a panelak. It might have opened his eyes.
I have ridden on the Moscow subway. It is pretty amazing. While I'm sure the tunnels were dug with the use of prison labor, the stations were built with loving care by skilled craftsmen (and women.) The statues, the carving, the chandeliers, are all beautiful.
I read an essay once about a teenage Spanish girl who attended a rock concert in Madrid. She said she and her girlfriends could walk unaccompanied to the concert despite being dressed provocatively. This was in the early seventies when Franco was still in charge. She noted slyly there are advantages to living in a police state. The Moscow subway is the same way. There is no litter or graffiti anywhere, and my wife and I felt perfectly safe riding it all over the city.
Carlson loves America. He advocates that the American system is superior, and we are still, for the time being, the place on earth where he most wants to live, and he feels privileged to do so. If you have ever listened to him, this fact would be annoyingly obvious. He wasn't in Moscow on a tour, and he didn't get 'duped' by propaganda. His whole trip and entire agenda while in Russia was focused on one thing: the war in Ukraine. That's it. That was focus of his interview with Putin and it was the lens through which he was looking while on his short visits around the city of Moscow.
If you had paid attention to him, and listened to him and operated on the assumption that he might have a legitimate point and is not just a total cartoonish lying moron, you would know this.
And in that vein, he scored a direct hit. In spite of what our government has told us, Moscow looks less at war than New York City. Didn't your governor finally take Tom Cotton's advice and deploy the National Guard? Of course, this action wasn't taken to quash protests... it was taken to allow for NORMAL LIFE to be lived without fear. And why is that? Is that the price of freedom? Horseshit.
THAT was his point. And thank you, Governor, for driving that point even deeper.
While I appreciate the author's perspective on Soviet Russia, and do not doubt the interesting points made, the way he applies his knowledge to Carlson -- who he really, really wants to call a dupe -- seems off target.
If you want to take on Carlson, sorry to say, you will need to actually listen to him and his ACTUAL point. I can understand why folks might be reluctant to do so, but if you don't... then you might just be the dupe.
Steven, thank you for your excellent article.
Wonderful article! My husband lived in Russia for two years before the fall of Communism and our family lived in Prague from 2014-18. We are quite familiar with the grim and substandard housing the author discusses! One reason the plot of the film works is that the layout of every Soviet apartment, throughout the Soviet Union, was identical. So it’s believable that the hero would enter any random apartment and mistake it for his own. In Czechia these buildings are called panelaky, named for the concrete panels that cover the outsides. People I know who live in these apartments are not fans of them. They are poorly insulated and have almost no ventilation, and sound carries everywhere. Too bad Tucker Carlson didn’t have to stay in a panelak. It might have opened his eyes.
My father, as a 5 yr old child with his family didn’t flee Russia because it was or wasn’t beautiful, they ran for thier very lives to America.
Can’t stand Tucker he’s an ass. This is a great essay.
I have ridden on the Moscow subway. It is pretty amazing. While I'm sure the tunnels were dug with the use of prison labor, the stations were built with loving care by skilled craftsmen (and women.) The statues, the carving, the chandeliers, are all beautiful.
I read an essay once about a teenage Spanish girl who attended a rock concert in Madrid. She said she and her girlfriends could walk unaccompanied to the concert despite being dressed provocatively. This was in the early seventies when Franco was still in charge. She noted slyly there are advantages to living in a police state. The Moscow subway is the same way. There is no litter or graffiti anywhere, and my wife and I felt perfectly safe riding it all over the city.
Carlson loves America. He advocates that the American system is superior, and we are still, for the time being, the place on earth where he most wants to live, and he feels privileged to do so. If you have ever listened to him, this fact would be annoyingly obvious. He wasn't in Moscow on a tour, and he didn't get 'duped' by propaganda. His whole trip and entire agenda while in Russia was focused on one thing: the war in Ukraine. That's it. That was focus of his interview with Putin and it was the lens through which he was looking while on his short visits around the city of Moscow.
If you had paid attention to him, and listened to him and operated on the assumption that he might have a legitimate point and is not just a total cartoonish lying moron, you would know this.
And in that vein, he scored a direct hit. In spite of what our government has told us, Moscow looks less at war than New York City. Didn't your governor finally take Tom Cotton's advice and deploy the National Guard? Of course, this action wasn't taken to quash protests... it was taken to allow for NORMAL LIFE to be lived without fear. And why is that? Is that the price of freedom? Horseshit.
THAT was his point. And thank you, Governor, for driving that point even deeper.
He did praise the style of architecture in Moscow and took a stab at post modernism for its shallow ugliness. But Camille Paglia has been far harsher, and frankly, is far more compelling in her take downs while making the same point. [https://faustomag.com/camille-paglia-postmodernism-is-a-plague-upon-the-mind-and-the-heart/]
While I appreciate the author's perspective on Soviet Russia, and do not doubt the interesting points made, the way he applies his knowledge to Carlson -- who he really, really wants to call a dupe -- seems off target.
If you want to take on Carlson, sorry to say, you will need to actually listen to him and his ACTUAL point. I can understand why folks might be reluctant to do so, but if you don't... then you might just be the dupe.