Modern authoritarian regimes appeal to the past. Their agenda is simple: "today is spoiled yesterday". Like, there was a "golden age", and now it needs to return.
"Spiritual Braces" is what unites any conservative. And the set of themselves "clip" rarely changes from country to country. Homophobia. Monogamy and gender roles. Religiosity. We used to nod to Russia, but it is only one of the countries in the long list of champions of "traditionality".
You can, of course, storm this stronghold of prejudice. It can be said that monogamous relations are the reality of the time when the average life expectancy was half the size of modern. That the institution of the family was in crisis at a time when it ceased to be economically necessary. That modern people are free to dispose of their lives and their bodies as they see fit, writes journalist Pavel Kazarin for the Crimea. Realities.
It may be recalled that the search in religion for answers to the questions of the universe was a successful venture at a time when the natural sciences were only emerging. That today neuroscience gives far more answers to questions about maternal attachment, friendship and sacrifice than sacred texts. After all, even love is mainly an elevated level of dopamine and norepinephrine with a reduced serotonin level.
It is possible to prove to homophobes that the level of LGBT spread in any society is static. That a hormonal surge in the second trimester of pregnancy is most likely to result in the child belonging to this group. That all appeals to the "demographic crisis" are not relevant to the equality of civil rights.
In the end, one can prove the very flawed faith in the departed "golden age". Give statistics on life expectancy. On defeated diseases and prevented epidemics. To explain that the life of any "squave-bearer" would be difficult and meager if he were not lucky enough to please five percent of the elite.
All this could be said. But to no avail.
Because the main content of the myth of "braced" and "past" is a flight from change. The very ones that have only been gaining momentum over the last century.
"Throughout the century, the reality of everyday life remained unshakable. The tools of labor, the daily way of thinking, the notions of the world and the norm were the same throughout the vast period of history. And then everything changed.. The life of our grandmothers is very different from ours. The world is changing so fast that people stop adapting themselves.
"Sreponosets" gives his audience an indulgence. It allows them to normalize themselves. His unwillingness to learn new things. Its reluctance to change the world view. Intellect is the ability to adapt to change. A "skreponosets" justifies stupidity and rigidity.
He sells the audience a myth. That they are heirs and bearers of truth. The fact that their changes are to blame for the changes, and not their own unavailability to change. He trades in simplicity - the one that is worse than stealing. He gives the flock a sense of sinlessness and resentment - the strongest mental drugs from existing.
In the past there are no recipes. To find them there, you need to build around you the Middle Ages. Any attempts to escape to "yesterday" are doomed. You can beat the weaving looms as much as you like - but it still will not cancel the industrial revolution. You can deny your child a vaccination - but this will only doom it in case of a new epidemic.
But the trouble is that myth can not be defeated by facts.
He is always self-sufficient - encapsulates his carrier in a solid armor of prejudice and self-justification. Refusal of a myth is equivalent to leaving the comfort zone. Because it will require from your carrier an active effort. Will deprive the monopoly of the truth.
The peculiarity is that our world does not care about our illusions. He just goes ahead at a speed of sixty minutes per hour. And the problems of the laggards become only their own sentence.
Everyone chooses by themselves. And is responsible for this.