Russian President Vladimir Putin remarks during a plenary session of the 18th annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi. October 18, 2021.
“We see with bemusement the paralysis unfolding in countries that have grown accustomed to viewing themselves as the flagships of progress,” Putin said during an event where he spoke for a few hours. “Of course, it’s none of our business what is happening, the social and cultural shocks that are happening in some countries in the Western countries.”
“Some believe that aggressive blotting out of whole pages of your own history, the affirmative action in the interest of minorities, and the requirement to renounce the traditional interpretation of such basic values as mother, father, family, and the distinction between sexes are a milestone - a renewal of society.”
Putin said that Western nations had a right to do whatever they wanted to do but that “the overwhelming majority of Russian society” rejected these new ways of thinking.
“The so called social progressives believe that they are bringing a new consciousness to humanity, something that is more correct,” Putin said. “But there is one thing I would like to say: The recipes they come up with are nothing new. Paradoxical as it may seem, this is something we saw in Russia. It happened in our country after the 1917 revolution, the Bolsheviks followed the dogmas of Marx and Engels. And they also declared that they would change the traditional lifestyle, the political, the economic lifestyle, as well as the very notion of morality, the basic principles for a healthy society.”
“They were trying to destroy age and century long values, revisiting the relationship between the people, they were encouraging informing on one’s own beloved and families. It was hailed as the march of progress. And it was very popular across the world and it was supported by many, and as we see, it is happening right now.”
