Changes

One problem was the equation of "Russia" and "Russian" with "communism" in the Angelo-American world, making the terms synonymous. Solzhenitsyn taught us that Russia and Russians were not communist. The Nobel Prize in Literature put an official stamp on that basic premise from the West. But you can't undo 30 years of [[fake news]] and [[propaganda]] in popular culture overnight, if ever.

One problem was the equation of "Russia" and "Russian" with "communism" in the Angelo-American world, making the terms synonymous. Solzhenitsyn taught us that Russia and Russians were not communist. The Nobel Prize in Literature put an official stamp on that basic premise from the West. But you can't undo 30 years of [[fake news]] and [[propaganda]] in popular culture overnight, if ever.

The term "Soviet" means "workers council", and was always somewhat abused to mean all sorts of other things. I recall a conversation with a teaching assistant on this subject who understood the problem. And I asked, "so what do we do if we can't use the term 'Russian' anymore to denote Soviet Communism, because of popular prejudices  in the public imagination? Russians aren't communist. it's quite the opposite. They are victims of communism.' We concluded that the term 'Soviet' should henceforth be applied to all people, individuals - communist and non-communist, as well as national groups, living under the Soviet system. This was a fundamental change in idiom and meaning of the term "Soviet" from the mod-1970s onward. I'm not saying me and the TA invented the new meaning, but we understood the new direction American media, the educational system, and propaganda sources would have to take.  Fortunately, we were correct in our assessments, and others in the academic world and media likewise must have been having the same conversations at the same time.

The term "Soviet" means "workers council", and was always somewhat abused to mean all sorts of other things. I recall a conversation with a teaching assistant on this subject who understood the problem. And I asked, "so what do we do if we can't use the term 'Russian' anymore to denote Soviet Communism, because of popular prejudices  in the public imagination? Russians aren't communist. it's quite the opposite. They are victims of communism.' We concluded that the term 'Soviet' should henceforth be applied to all people, individuals - communist and non-communist, as well as national groups, living under the Soviet system. This was a fundamental change in idiom and meaning of the term "Soviet" from the mid-1970s onward. 'A Soviet' sounded awkward at first when speaking about an individual, cause the term literally means "workers council", denoting a collective. But the new idea and meaning caught on.  I'm not saying me and the TA invented the new meaning, but we understood the new direction American media, the educational system, and propaganda sources would have to take.  Fortunately, we were correct in our assessments, and others in the academic world and media likewise must have been having the same conversations at the same time.

Soviet Communism attempted to destroy Russian national identity, which strongly identifies with the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. And they were largely successful in the efforts - up until Solzhenitsyn brought their crimes to the attention to the global public. Unfortunately, [[Russophobic]] bigots in government and media are trying to resurrect the old hatreds and prejudices today, which even many conservatives has signed on to. [[User:RobSmith|RobS]]^{[[User talk:RobSmith|''Give Peace a chance'']]} 02:14, June 30, 2023 (EDT)

Soviet Communism attempted to destroy Russian national identity, which strongly identifies with the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. And they were largely successful in the efforts - up until Solzhenitsyn brought their crimes to the attention to the global public. Unfortunately, [[Russophobic]] bigots in government and media are trying to resurrect the old hatreds and prejudices today, which even many conservatives has signed on to. [[User:RobSmith|RobS]]^{[[User talk:RobSmith|''Give Peace a chance'']]} 02:14, June 30, 2023 (EDT)