They think you're too stupid to think for yourself

Initial thoughts about the Carlson-Putin interview.

If you follow politics, you probably already heard about Tucker Carlson interviewing Putin. The interview did take place and will air shortly post this. As someone who was born and raised in the US, and has been in an out of Russia since 2019, I have thoughts.

Overall, I think the interview is a good thing for the people… and a bad thing for gatekeepers who want to control the flow of information. There’s already been a panic amongst the anti-Russian segment of the U.S. In this post, I’ll explain why I think this is happening.

(While thinking about what to post here, a question came to mind… who exactly is “they”? Others have described it as Deep State or The Matrix. While pondering this, I came up with my own phrase… the machine. I’ll talk more about the machine in a later post.)

But before I dive deeper, let me first share what gives me more insight than most about the US and Russia. First and foremost, I’m not directly involved in politics and my thoughts are based on my experiences and observations — which have both been positive in the US and Russia.

In addition, I’ve lived and worked from over 36 different countries, which I feel gives me a great understanding about how other societies function. For example, I’ve spent weeks to months at a time in places that are very diverse from each other; such as Tanzania, Japan, Uzbekistan, and Turks & Caicos. Yet despite how different these places from each other, there are commonalities. Things like family values, love for each other, and personal development.

Yet despite all of these commonalities, there’s division between countries. It doesn’t exist organically, it’s manufactured. I’ve met thousands of people from all over the world, and not once do I recall someone expressing hatred for another simply because of where they’re from.

When I’m in Russia and people learn that I’m from the US, they’re not angry at me. They’re interested in who I am. The same is true when I’m in the US and I explain how I’ve spent time in Russia — they’re not upset, they’re interested.

People have a natural desire to learn and connect. This desire gets subdued when you have people in power use their power to sow division. The question then is… why? Why create enemies in the first place?

Probably because conflicts are an effective way to hide your faults. There are still people who believe Donald Trump won because Russia helped him win — not because Hillary Clinton was unpopular. It’s easy to project your shortcomings elsewhere then realize you’re not as good as you think.

Now, if Russia encouraged and supported an anti-American government at our border and gave them billions of dollars… then, yes, the anti-Russian rhetoric would make more sense. But none of that has happened. In fact, the opposite is true.

So why the projection?

It’s likely to distract from the actions the US is taking. People are generally not happy with being on the side of the aggressor. As long as they label Russia as the enemy, the US can justify their actions.

But then we have… Tucker Carlson, a guy who decided to talk with Putin. Simply doing so is a problem for those who need Russia to play the role of the bad guy. If your power is dependent on not letting your opponent speak, this is concerning.

Yet what’s the worst than could happen?

Chances are he will share his views in a calm and thoughtful manner as he’s done in previous interviews. Putin isn’t an idiot. I also believe any respectable person would allow others to speak — and — respect the listeners to form their own opinions.

The fact people are threatened by Putin speaking. It says that they don’t trust you to think for yourself. But let’s remind ourselves, it’s not. I know for certain that if you’ve read this post, and formed your own opinions, you’re not an idiot.