How to Brainwash a Nation: A Manual

Why I lost my parents to Putin’s propaganda, and what we can learn from it

This is something I don’t talk about a lot, but I was born in Soviet Russia.

Luckily, my then-normal parents wanted a “better life” for me and did everything they could to help me move to the U.S. I was quite young then but old enough to understand I’d never go back.

As I grew more American every day, my parents regressed and started to become more and more Russian. They chose to settle in Russia for the rest of their lives, instead of joining me in New York, and that’s when I lost them.

Well-traveled and educated people, an architect and an engineer, my parents still fell victims to Putin’s very elaborate propaganda.

When I first realized what was happening, my mom and I got into a massive fight. The one that had her storm off to the airport early. Later, in tears, she asked me to never discuss politics with her again. I agreed. I wish I didn’t.

Seven years later, the war in Ukraine broke out, and my parents and I found ourselves on the different sides of the barricade.

I finally los them to Putin’s propaganda.

Today, I mourn my loss and contemplate how my Russian parents, and the entire nation, got brainwashed to the point of insanity.

Here’s a step-by-step manual.

Give them goods

Post-Soviet Russia was a place of very little. We didn’t have a lot of food, goods, or services. Nothing foreign. Two kids in my elementary school got into a fight over a piece of Polish gum — a rare commodity.

After Perestroika, suddenly Stuff started to arrive. It was Christmas in July for Russians, even though most of us still didn’t have the money to buy much.

Post-Soviet Russians were starved for Stuff. And while often-drunk Boris Yeltsin delivered some, the market really exploded after Putin came into power. I only caught the beginning of Putin’s years in power, so in my memories, Russia will always remain the hungry-for-things-and-travels country.

Upon my first return, years later, I was surprised to find out how much more western Russia looked. By February 24th, 2022, it was a country of everything: from iPhones to credit cards and mortgages.

According to my mother, all of this happened thanks to Putin and Putin alone.

No matter how many times I tried to explain that this was a natural trajectory of things, she refused to listen.

Putin gave my parents what they always dreamed of — “Westernized” Russia. And they bought it.

Give them holidays

My parents like to talk about how Putin “gave them holidays,” referring mostly to the 7-day paid winter vacation everyone in the country gets between the New Year’s and Orthodox Christmas on January 7.

Yes, my parents are that simple. But so are the millions of Russians.

Give them pride

World War II was always a big deal to Russians who lost twenty million people during the six years. The victory was always celebrated with a national holiday, and the losses were honored.

But it was not until recently that WWII became an obsession in Russia.

Nothing boosts a country’s spirit like a good war parade, and Putin went all out with those. According to my friends who are still living in Russia, talks of victory and “defeating the enemy” have become much more common in recent years. So much so that the younger population grew disillusioned, while the old one grew more patriotic and “united” every day.

Now, I look back at these “pro-war” stories and gasp.

We could have known Putin’s intention all along, but then he’s so good at manipulation.

Give them hate

In case the war patriotism wasn’t enough, Putin dialed up the hate factor in recent years.

Anti-gay propaganda became frequent and shameless. My friends told me of billboards and TV commercials openly bashing same-sex relationships and calling Russians to form “normal families.”

Gays were to be hated, feared, and punished. Gayness was a decease.

Even my mom suddenly became bothered with it. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

My mom was the “fun mom” in New York who liked and was liked by all my friends, gay and straight. Now, aging and spending too much time in Putin’s Russia, she was becoming everything that was wrong with this world.

The propaganda was working.

Give them unity against others

Putin is big on uniting Russians against “the enemy,” be it a real or imaginary one.

It started with the fixation on WWII and “beating the fascists.” Putin really sucked each last drop out of that (obviously tragic) story. No country should ever be more proud of itself, according to its president, than Russia.

Then it was “us” versus American “oppressors” always putting their noses in Russia’s business.

Now it’s “us” versus the whole Western world. The greedy heartless Western world imposed crazy sanctions on Russia, affecting not just its rich but its poor. Yes, the oligarchs will suffer, but so will the regular people who are now deprived of luxuries like iPhones and basics like medicine.

Is Putin bothered? Not in the slightest. His anti-West propaganda has never been stronger and more supported by real facts.

“If they hate us, we’ll hate them back” is the word in the streets of Russia.

Thanks, World, for giving Putin what he needed.

Show strength

People want a strong leader.

My mom used to say that “at least Putin wasn’t drunk when he spoke on TV.” That’s how low the expectations were for many in the country at that time.

They wanted a guy who was sober. Who rode horses bare-chested. Who swam in ice-cold water.

It was like having Barack Obama in office after George W. Bush. It was refreshing.

While the rest of the world laughed at the photoshopped images of Putin, Russians fell for it.

People like my parents are too lazy to do outside research other than what’s given to them on government-controlled news stations. Life is just easier that way.

This is what happens when people are too lazy to get out of their comfort zones and face a reality that’s beyond what’s given to them on government-controlled news stations. Because life is just easier that way.

Why think for yourself or swim across the current, if you can lean back and go with the flow?

But let’s not ever forget that Hitler came to power through a legal election. Let’s remember that Putin is loved by many.

Let’s learn from our mistakes.