Thursday 10 July 2014

My Perestroika





There's an interesting confluence between Generation X and Perestroika people. Broadly speaking we have the same spectrum of values without having really met till after the fall of the USSR.

We don't like authority, we don't believe the State, we're sceptical of media and we prefer to live with values that transcend materialism even if it means we're often broke.

I felt uncomfortable watching My Perestroika. It's a close up look at people of my generation's lives. I was left with two sound bites from this film, that stuck in my mind like a Shuriken (Chinese throwing star or ninja star) from a Bruce Lee movie.

One woman spoke about the overpowering need, during the fall of communism, to run out into the streets and squares to be with like-minded people protesting at the insanity of those who claim to be in power.

I feel like that all the time. We're trashing the planet with a growth model that doesn't have a planet B.

One gentleman talked about how he couldn't understand the Russians who flipped from being Communist one day to Capitalist the next, just because their TV's told them so. No reflection, no awareness, just making money is all that matters now.

It's a bit like those who have talked about the war on terror and the need for security, but now fall silent as NATO funds Nazis in Ukraine and terrorists in Syria.