Putin's decree (https://t.me/femagainstwar/5979) on the protection of traditional values, signed yesterday, hides several very specific threats in a stream of pathos, demagogy and muddle. In fact, this decree is a convenient basis for lightning-fast and radical decisions that can rather quickly build an Orwellian dystopia or The Handmaid's Tale in Russia.
According to this document, the implementation of state policy to preserve and strengthen traditional values should be carried out by the federal bodies of state power dealing with issues of defence, state security, internal affairs and public security. In other words, the issues of the "worldview of citizens" (point 4 of the General Provisions), the tasks of strengthening the traditional family and propaganda of having many children, strengthening the position of religion, preservation and purification of the Russian language, as well as control over education, media and culture are essentially transferred to security services.
And this is not surprising, because from the point of view of the authorities, the “destruction of spirituality” of Russian society and the “threat to demography” relate to the country's national security and should therefore be controlled by unlimited surveillance, criminal prosecution and forceful methods.
Censorship, mopping up of universities and schools, museums and theatres, book and concert venues went on all these months half-openly. The reasons for the liquidation of projects and entire educational structures, the cancellation of exhibitions and concerts, the dismissal of people were clear to everyone, but were not made public. Yesterday's decree, as well as the new laws that followed it (the LGBT law (https://t.me/femagainstwar/5791) will not be the last), provide a legitimate basis for the creation in Russia as an “original” version of North Korea, Turkmenistan and Iran.