A cold autumn mist hung over the ground. The village near Moscow was already plunging into a twilight doze, and only at the far end of the street, from the windows of the old dacha, was the light visible. The autumn of 1986 went into the eternal twilight of history, giving way to winter. It was dark and quiet in the village, only a country house standing on the outskirts reminded of the fact that life still glimmered in these surroundings.
There were four people at the table. Ivan Ivanovich is a young man in his 30s who graduated with honors from journalism and has already managed to distinguish himself with a sharp pen in "Ogonyok" and a hanging tongue on television. Pyotr Petrovich is a man behind whom there was a higher education in the field of psychology, but the thirst for a beautiful life turned him into an avaricious swindler. Vasily Vasilyevich is a retired KGB major who was "left" for protecting the moonshine business during the Prohibition period. Uncle Misha is a man of about 40, the director of the Eliseevsky grocery store, who was appointed to this position immediately after the previous head, on his tip, was convicted of embezzlement on an especially large scale. Which, however, did not bother Uncle Misha at all, and he worked according to the same schemes.
“Well, comrades…” Ivan Ivanovich began.
- Okay to you! - Peter Petrovich interrupted him, - comrades for 180 re at the plant work hard. The time of comrades has passed. Now either get out in the gentlemen, or die of hunger.
- Well … - Ivan Ivanovich was confused. - So, gentlemen, the world is changing, people have begun to travel abroad more and more, and more and more often they return from there already infected with the virus of consumption ideology - give them all the clothes and foreign films. And I'm tired of sitting in my editorial office and writing about harvests and yields. It's time to take matters into your own hands. Our society is gradually turning its face towards the West, and we need to correctly fit into this process!
- That's right, - agreed Vasily Vasilyevich, - I am a major in the KGB and …
- Retired! - Pyotr Petrovich snarly hissed.
- It does not matter! - Vasily Vasilyevich exclaimed. - I have enough connections. I am even glad that I left there …
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- Kicked out more precisely! - Pyotr Petrovich quipped again.
- It doesn't matter either! - Vasily Vasilyevich answered with a share of irritation and continued. - So, after I…. ahem … I don't work there, I even have more free time to start selling moonshine. And I have a good flow of clients. Alcohol was removed from the shelves under the pretext of Prohibition, but the campaign for booze remained and sounds from every second film. Look at the most popular Soviet paintings! In the "Diamond Hand" from the screen it is said in plain text, they say, it is useful, doctors recommend. And in "Prisoner of the Caucasus" the topic of alcohol is spelled out almost as one of the storylines. And I'm not talking about the "Irony of Fate"! I don’t know what kind of advisers the current leaders of the country have, but with such an information policy they only discredit all their undertakings. Therefore, my business has excellent prospects.
- Yes, you correctly assessed the situation, Vasily Vasilyevich, - Ivan Ivanovich responded. - I think that it is through cinema, press and culture that people need to be managed. As one very respected man said: "Give me the media, and I will turn any nation into a herd of pigs." And I tell you as a professional that the media is a powerful thing. You just need to use this weapon to your advantage. And instead of harvests and boredom, talk about what will make people buy, buy and buy. Including the same alcohol, because as Catherine II said: "It is easier to manage a drunken people."
- Naturally! - Vasily Vasilyevich exclaimed. - Alcohol also kills neurons - brain cells. Therefore, I am not a drop in my mouth. Seen enough of my charges. Why, even my moonshiners don't drink either, because they see what their clients are turning into.
- Drugs are only one of the whales of social management, - answered Pyotr Petrovich. - Another is sex. Do you know which product I have the most popular? Magazines with naked girls. They buy it even more than jeans, sneakers and gum. So, if there were no sex, and we would multiply like flowers by pollination, then this sex would have to be invented, because you can make great money on sexual preoccupation. I have already raised the prices for these magazines five times - and they still buy.
- But do you know what is the main thing I understood ?! Ivan Ivanovich was suddenly inspired. - The problem of the Soviet government is that they structurally govern society: the Komsomol, the party, etc. And the secret of ideal unquestioning obedience is unstructured management, when we do not force anyone, we do not force anyone to do anything, we do not give any decrees, but we simply create an information field in society that forces people to act in the way we need, while maintaining the illusion complete freedom. I have been on business trips abroad a lot and understood why they seem to have democracy there, but people still live the way large corporations need. Because no one is obviously imposing anything on anyone there. But only if you turn on the TV - they advertise chewing gum; you go out into the street - there a corresponding poster hangs;you look at people - they are all chewing this gum! And as a result, you simply do not have the option not to buy this gum.
- That's right, Ivan Ivanovich, - Uncle Misha entered the conversation, - and this is a completely different level of earnings. It is one thing for people to sell some scarce cervelat - they will buy it for the holidays, and then again they sit on porridge, save. And it is quite another matter to sell chewing gum, cigarettes and Coca-Cola to people. The product is not only useless, but even harmful and addictive due to its composition. And I'll tell you from my own experience - the most profitable business is done on vices and addictions.
- You hit right on the spot, Uncle Misha, - Pyotr Petrovich confirmed, - that's why my magazines with naked girls are a very popular product. And in second place - of course, clothes, so that, having seen enough of the glossy girls, have at least some chance from the real ones, who, in turn, Western propaganda has also partially inspired that should be judged by their clothes. In general, gentlemen, old values are crumbling, and nature, as you know, does not tolerate emptiness. Therefore, we now need to quickly occupy the vacant niche. Nobody believes in communism anymore, and people cannot live without faith. So we need to give him faith in a beautiful life, which is provided not by moral qualities, but by money, delicious food, alcohol, debauchery, and so on.
- And our main trump card should be television. For him, gentlemen, I assure you, the future, - answered Ivan Ivanovich. - As Vasily Vasilyevich correctly noted, it is thanks to the promotion of cultural drinking in the media that the demand for alcohol is now preserved. And if we start to present the ideas we need under the guise of humor, laughter, and even from the lips of famous people, then, in general, there will be a double effect. Because when a person is funny, his critical thinking turns off.
- I agree with you, friends, - Vasily Vasilyevich entered the conversation again, - the rabble cannot live without idols. Young people no longer want to worship the leader of the world revolution, and even Khrushchev undermined Stalin's authority, so let them worship branded clothes, chewing gum, debauchery and other dirt. And as correctly noted, the most profitable business is done on vices. Even on bread, which every Soviet person seems to buy, you will not earn as much as on alcohol. I screwed a couple of pieces of bread with borscht and that's it, but the same beer can be sucked in all evening,”said Vasily Vasilyevich and laughed loudly.
“Finally, I’ll earn money for a black Volga…” Uncle Misha said dreamily.
- Come on, now you have to save up for a Mercedes. The black Volga is already a dream of the outgoing era. We must keep up with the times and take an example from the West, - Pyotr Petrovich laughed.
- But how will we take control of television in order to bring our business to a new level? After all, now everything is very strict there: editorial policy, censorship, and so on.
- But entrust this business to me, friends! I didn't just gather you all here. My relatives from abroad recently contacted me and say that they have the opportunity to contribute to my rapid career growth on television, if, of course, I am ready to keep my nose to the wind.
- Well, well, Ivan Ivanovich, where did you get your relatives behind the cordon? Something you haven't told us about this before, - the former KGB-schnick decided to play detective.
- No need to bother, Vasily Vasilyevich! If you were engaged in business in your security agencies, you would know perfectly well that most of the Soviet intelligentsia, who got involved in the sphere of culture, are far from ordinary bloods, Ivan Ivanovich retorted. - And now they would not be surprised at what I am telling. Unfortunately, many of my fellow tribesmen became imbued with Russian culture and forgot about their belonging to a noble family, but I always kept in touch with my family, which is why everything in my life is going well. By the way, just like you, my friend. Is it by any chance that your nephew named Alex settled in Washington?
- And how do you order you to be called now: a count or a duke? - Vasily Vasilyevich decided to laugh it off, pretending not to hear the question.
- And even so, Vasily Vasilyevich, it is not a name that makes a person, but a person a name. And each of you is another proof of that. Although the blood in our veins is different, but I feel kindred souls in you. Because all those present here have already made their choice - to be a big man, not a trembling creature, to rule, not obey. That is why I offer you this path, which opens completely new horizons for all of us, - Ivan Ivanovich answered excitedly.
“I don’t know how influential your relatives are, but let’s say so,” Uncle Misha, who appreciated any business that smells of good profit, intervened in the conversation. - And what will be our strategy?
- The most important thing, gentlemen, - Ivan Ivanovich spoke again, - is not to impose anything on anyone openly. We will call for pluralism and transparency, but against the backdrop of a general booth, we ourselves will strengthen our positions in the press, on TV and in the shadow business, which will very soon become legal. And when we get strong enough, under the pretext of freedom of speech, we will begin to discuss everything that is still in the taboo zone today: we will bring dissidents, freaks, drug addicts, crazy to make money. We will use every means to introduce consumer values to people, show that you have to live in one day, enjoy the here and now. Not to think about the future and, in general, it is desirable not to think about anything except yourself and your pleasure.
- Take everything from life! This is what the slogan of the new era will be, the authors of which we will become! - Pyotr Petrovich exclaimed enthusiastically.
- Exactly! And our main pass in this era will be television, - continued Ivan Ivanovich. - No wonder it is said that you can turn any people into a herd of pigs. Our Western colleagues have already perfectly implemented this principle of mass management. We must take an example from them. We will start showing the mob foreign content. If it worked there, it will work here. I assure you, gentlemen, in 10-20 years we will completely reverse the Soviet people's system of values. Alcohol, drugs, debauchery and consumerism will become the norm for him, and for us - the norm for making a profit.
“Vigilance is our weapon,” Vasily Vasilyevich said playfully, pointing his finger at the central slogan of a worn poster that hung on the wall.
“In 20 years, or even earlier, this poster will look nothing more than an unsuccessful joke and a caricature of the“prison of peoples,”Ivan Ivanovich replied.
- ABOUT! Excellent phraseological unit! True … - Uncle Misha hesitated, - Ilyich was talking about tsarism, but it doesn't matter. Now we will talk about the USSR in this way in the media in order to throw mud at the past of the Soviet people and the entire Russian people as much as possible, and to quickly introduce Western values.
- Eh, gentlemen, what prospects are opening up for us. You look 20 years later and we'll hold a gay parade in Moscow. And then we will allow same-sex marriages, - Pyotr Petrovich drawled dreamily.
- Come on, Pyotr Petrovich, you turned it down. Gay Pride! In Moscow! - Vasily Vasilyevich laughed. - Television, of course, works wonders, but we will hardly be able to lower the Russians to such a level of degradation. Still, family values are in their blood. Not. They will not tolerate this.
“History will judge us, dear Vasily Vasilyevich,” Ivan Ivanovich smiled maliciously.
The quiet autumn night passed midnight. The moon was gone, and the cloudless sky was covered with bright stars. Millions of Soviet citizens slept peacefully. They did not yet know that in exactly five years the country in which they were going to build a bright future will no longer be; they did not know that soon the grandchildren of those who marched victoriously across Berlin, trampling on German banners, would dream of getting a low-skilled job in Germany; they did not know that in two decades the heirs of the winners would start getting tattoos with a swastika and throwing up their hands in a classic Nazi salute, and everything that they consider to be vices would be considered a norm of behavior for many; they did not know that even during their lifetime one of the leaders of the country would say about hundreds of thousands of citizens, grinded by alcoholism, drug addiction and rampant crime: “Everything is fine. They didn't fit into the market. " They knew nothing of this then. People slept peacefully and saw vivid dreams about a bright future. And over their homeland the ominous black wings of vultures were already spread, and the roar of hungry lions was heard. Ahead was a tough battle, in which the grandchildren of those who once said in the ruins of Stalingrad: "There is no land for us beyond the Volga" - will have to become just as decisive and bite their teeth into the last line of defense. And each of them will have their own war. And your line of defense. For which there is no land."There is no land for us beyond the Volga" - they will have to become just as decisive and bite their teeth into the last line of defense. And each of them will have their own war. And your line of defense. For which there is no land."There is no land for us beyond the Volga" - they will have to become just as decisive and bite their teeth into the last line of defense. And each of them will have their own war. And your line of defense. For which there is no land.