Pravles Redneckoff 🇷🇺 Z

The medicine comes in the form of the novel Why We Took The Car by Wolfgang Herrndorf. Two fourteen-year-old boys, Maik Klingenberg and Andrey "Tschick" Chikhachov, go to school together. Maik is the son of a wealthy real estate agent. Tshick is a Russian immigrant and part of a dysfunctional family. One day, they take a stolen Lada Niva on a road trip through Germany.

The novel is a fairytale on several layers. Let's look at them one by one.

In 1941, the collective West invaded Russia primarily from the direction of Ukraine. As a result, around 26 million Soviet people were purposefully genocided by the Westerners from 1941 through 1945.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the collective West did not abandon its plans to destroy Russia. "NATO eastward expansion" is just a euphemism for Drang nach Osten.

The Russians want to avoid losing another 26 million people again. To ensure this, Ukraine must adopt neutrality, and no country must station hostile troops there. Since at least 2014, Russia has attempted to settle the issue diplomatically and turn Ukraine into Finland or Austria on the Dnieper.

In February 2022, the shelling of Donbass intensified, and according to OSCE, the attacks came mainly from the Ukrainian side.

A few days later, Russia launched the Special Military Operation to make the Ukrainians negotiate.

Initially, this plan succeeded: In March 2022, the Russians and Ukrainians agreed to general terms which would lead to ending the hostilities. The Russians withdrew their troops from the vicinity of Kiev to show they were serious.

Then Boris Johnson flew to Kiev, and thereafter, the Ukrainians withdrew from negotiations with Moscow. Hostilities continue to this day with total losses in the millions on both sides.

The West responded to the actions of the Russian government with the collective punishment of all Russians. They enacted the punishment differently across different nations, however.

Take the freezing of Russian citizens' bank accounts in European banks. In 2022, the European Union issued an order to freeze such accounts. Russians permanently living in the EU were exempt from this regulation.

The individual member states implemented this order in different ways. My bank accounts in Austrian and Belgian banks were not frozen.

German banks, on the other hand, froze Russian accounts even if their owners were EU residents. The Germans went the extra mile to punish the Russians extra hard.

It was the Germans who put forth the idea that Russians are subhuman into law. For example, if a Russian enters Germany in a car, the German authorities are allowed to seize the vehicle. This German precedent was a basis for EU-wide regulations.

Ivan Timofeev writes (my emphasis):

In theory, this means that a Russian entering an EU country may lose more than just his car. He faces the possible confiscation of his mobile phone, camera, toilet paper, products made of precious metals, cigarettes, cosmetics, soap, suitcases and bags, women’s clothing (jackets, dresses, skirts, shorts), etc. In other words, in accordance with Article 3i customs officers have the power to literally strip Russians entering an EU country. There has been no such practice yet. But it cannot be ruled out.

When I lived in Germany in 2022, it was customary to avoid talking about "sensitive" topics like the NATO-Russia war in Ukraine or the pandemic in public. The feeling was that if you wanted to talk about this, you should do it privately and only with people you trusted.

Cases of ordinary people ratting out others to authorities for 'wrong' views support this attitude.

Here is an example. In 2022, Heidemarie Clara Schuhmacher, a retiree from Quierschied, district Saarbrücken, put a handwritten poster in support of Putin in the window of her house.

The neighbors reported her to the authorities, who initiated criminal proceedings against her. In the worst case, she would get three years in prison.

Sometimes, the idiocy of Russophobic measures defies any logic.

In December 2023, the German authorities ordered German post to confiscate any parcels sent from Russia to Germany during the Christmas season.

If some grandma in Russia knits a sweater with reindeer on it and sends it as a present to their grandkid in Germany, customs will confiscate it.

How is this supposed to help Ukraine?

If any Russians in Germany wanted to support the Russian war effort, they would buy, say, an FPV drone and send it to Russia, not the other way around.

The only logical conclusion is this: The Germans who enacted this wanted to piss off the Russians.

You may counter that Olaf "sulky liver sausage" Scholz is a member of the evil global elites who suppress good German people.

Those good Germans have the option of voting. If most Germans disagreed with Olaf Scholz's and Friedrich Merz's policies, they would vote them out of office.

In reality, during the recent election, the Russophobic faction (CDU, CSU, SPD, the Greens) won overwhelmingly (64 percent of the votes).

However, all these symptoms of practiced German values were invisible in the 2010s. You could revel in the idea that in Germany, everything is good and can only get better.

Folks born around 1960 were in their early thirties when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1992. The 1990s were a decade of national humiliation for the Russians. It was when the West came the closest to destroying Russian civilization, and this conflict motivated these Boomers to migrate to the West.

The next generation of Russians (born around 1980) grew up among the ruins. When you struggle for survival, you thirst for a normal, stable life. This thirst makes active people think extra hard about how to get a normal life most efficiently. If you get paid a thousand Euros in Russia and two thousand Euros in Germany for the same job, isn't it efficient to migrate?

This hunger for normality made the people born around 1980 migrate to the West.

Migration is hard. It is a traumatic experience, even if it happens voluntarily. Hence, it is not surprising that some percentage of migrant families break down, like Tschick's.

The Russian economy recovered around the 2010s, which could have ended the mass migration from East to West and the resulting tragedies.

The latest wave of migration started in 2022, triggered by the escalation of the war between NATO and Russia in Ukraine.

I will call the luckier of those young refugees "Mykolas." The name comes from a German website that is supposed to help young Ukrainian refugees. Its mascot is a little boar.

Looking at it makes me think: Could it be that the Germans hate the Russians overtly and the Ukrainians covertly? If not, why would you choose a pig to represent the nation you allege to support?

(No, it's not a cultural thing. In Ukrainian culture, a pig has the same connotation as any other. I'm unaware of boars having any unique symbolic value for the Ukrainians. Virtually any other animal, from nightingale to horse, would be less insulting to them.)

Being compared to a pig in Germany isn't the worst thing to happen to a Mykola. If he managed to flee Ukraine before the border was closed, it means he has more luck than others.

The Mykola generation is worse off than the previous two.

There are multiple reasons for this. Sometimes, the right culture can help a person from a dysfunctional family become a functioning adult.

I speak from experience here. I also grew up in a troubled migrant family. I had excellent chances to end up in jail, a mental asylum, or a cemetery.

What helped me avoid all of that?

Russian culture.

No, I don't mean vodka-drinking bears dancing a piece from "Swan Lake" with ushanka-wearing matryoshkas in a birch grove in front of an Orthodox nuclear power plant shaped like the St. Basil's Cathedral to the accompaniment of balalaikas played by squatting Gopniks.

What I mean are the Russian works of art that can help a young person learn what's good and bad.

The tape recorder raised me, playing many songs by Vladimir Vysotskyi and Alexander Rosenbaum.

I listened and re-listened to these songs and also thought about them. In the case of both artists, the songs are lyrics-focused. Sometimes, such songs give you an idea of how a decent man is supposed to behave in a particular situation. If your father can't show you this by example, these songs are the second-best alternative.

(Leave a comment if you want to know more about Russian culture, which has helped me overcome adversity.)

Apart from the tape recorder, I was reading all sorts of books, including, but not limited to, Russian ones. Perhaps surprisingly, it wasn't Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy who were most helpful to me. The former was wrong in crucial matters, the latter – a pampered prick of a nobleman to whom I couldn't relate.

We should leave Russian classics where they belong — in the 18th and 19th centuries.

(Again, comment if you want to know where Dostoyevsky was fundamentally wrong.)

The Russian writers who really helped me were contemporary ones like Yurii Nikitin, Maxim Kalashnikov, and Yurii Mukhin, as well as some bloggers.

I lived in the West among the Westerners and thought like a Westerner. Reading these authors was like getting into the mind of an alien. Based on what they wrote and how they wrote, I realized there were other ways to live your life and approach things than my Western peers did.

It wasn't just different political or religious orientations, but a different way to relate to yourself, others, and the world.

I'm not saying that I agree with everything they wrote. When you have two ways of doing things (the Western and the Russian), you are more likely to find the right solution to a problem than when you only know one thing (only the Western or only the Russian).

These new ways of thinking are a game-changer for a kid from a troubled family because their life is a never-ending series of problems. The more of them you solve correctly, the greater your chances of becoming a more or less functional adult.

Now, let's look at a typical Mykola.

Most Ukrainians speak Russian, so theoretically, they could also benefit from the works of Russian singers and writers. The problem is this: I was introduced to this music by my parents. Ukrainian parents may consider Russian culture to be anti-Ukrainian (pro-Putinist) and not tell their Mykolas about it.

(In 2024, the monument to Vysotsky, my substitute father figure nr. 1, was dismantled in Odessa.)

Therefore, Mykolas can't benefit from the treasures of Russo-Soviet culture. But maybe there are other cultures available to Mykolas which may be as good or better, such as

1. Ukrainian,
2. German, and
3. Western.

There may be treasures of wisdom in Ukrainian culture. The Ukrainian language, for example, might be a valid source of pride. However, if the elites force that language on the population, the result will be annoyance instead of pride. According to a study by the State Service of Education, the active usage of the Ukrainian language has dropped since 2022 (source, Russian).

Many people in Ukrainian history could be role models for these Mykolas. Some of them contributed to the liberation of the world from Nazism, others helped send the first human to space and design one of the best space launch systems in the world. Yuriy Nikitin, whose books helped me survive, was also born in Ukraine and is (probably) the greatest living Russian fiction writer.

Unfortunately, in the scope of "desovietization," the Ukrainian elites threw out the baby with the bathwater and declared everything created during the Soviet times as evil. If you declare all Ukrainians who cooperated with the Russians or Soviets as being "not truly Ukrainian," there won't be many potential role models left.

Let's look at German culture. The fundamental difference between the Russian and German mindsets is this: The Russians believe they have the right to shape their future as they want. This attitude is similar to that of Americans, Israelis, and Muslims.

The post-WWII Germans seem unwilling to even think about this. There are at least two versions of the Russian Dream (leftist and rightist), and there is the American Dream. There is no such thing as the German Dream.

If you ask lots of Russians whether or not they agree with the following statements, most of them would say "yes," regardless of ethnicity and religion:

1. Being rational (respecting the laws of nature) is better than being irrational (disobeying the laws of nature).
2. Having healthy and well-educated children is better than having children who are not.
3. Having domestic industries (including high-tech) is better than importing everything from abroad.
4. Because other nations have invaded us multiple times, we'd rather maintain a functioning military than depend on the security guarantees of such "reliable" Western partners as Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Joe Biden.
5. Accepting reality and acting upon this knowledge is better than not.

These are the core Russian values. If you like and adopt them, you can become a Russian. Religion and ethnicity don't matter.

I spent most of my life in the German-speaking world, and I know it better than the Russian one. However, I couldn't formulate the core German values for the life of me—how a German in 2025 is different from an American, an Italian, or a French—not even approximately.

This means that our Mykola can't either.

The non-German Western culture is a double-edged sword.

On the left, you have lunatics who reject rationality (e.g., make unfounded claims that the number of genders is unlimited) and promote racism towards Caucasians (including the Ukrainians).

On the right, you have lunatics who reject rationality by promoting the idea of the superiority of the West and completely ignoring the fact that The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. (source).

As a result, society cuts Mykolas off from sources of wisdom that could help kids from dysfunctional families overcome adversity.

But this lack of culture isn't the only threat to Mykolas.

Suppose our Mykola's parents did not leave Ukraine in time, and he got mobilized. In this case, he may be in multiple places at once: the heart, say, in Berlin, one kidney in Munich, another in Frankfurt.

On December 16, 2021, the Ukrainian parliament passed Law no. 5831 which allows "third parties" to extract organs from people without their consent or the consent of their relatives. Under this law, it is legal to cut out a kidney from an unconscious wounded soldier and sell it for profit. Today, Ukraine is probably the biggest organ market in Europe. Recently, a Ukrainian woman was arrested for selling 56 human kidneys.

Other Mykolas are being sold to pedophiles on Etsy.

On January 16, the Federal Court of Justice ruled in a landmark decision that the extradition of a conscientious objector to the war in Ukraine is permissible. This decision means that any Ukrainian male, aged 18 through 60, living in Germany, can be sent to the front, where Ukrainian generals make up in corpses what they lack in arms and ammunition.

Most people Maik and Tschick encounter in the novel lead normal, comfortable lives. As a child of wealthy parents, Maik can look forward to a happy life. Contrary to Tschick, he won't have to fight for survival. Unless he does something foolish, prosperity is his for the taking—-at least, at first glance.

At second glance, however, we see a paradox: Tschicks and Mykolas care less about philosophical questions than the likes of Maik.

For decades, answering questions like:

1. How do I pay the rent next month?
2. How can I earn more to save up for my child's education?
3. Is there a way to move from a hole with eight people shoved in together to something better?
4. How can I avoid getting fired again because my PTSD-riddled brain keeps freezing?

Answering these questions prevented me from thinking about philosophical ones. Fighting for survival is stressful, but at least there are algorithms on how to do it.

Spend less. Research the market and find out what you can do to get a better-paying job. Test the umpteenth business idea. Pray, but don't buy the spiritual opiates mainstream Christians and Buddhists are trying to sell you.

Also: Stop bitching, bitch, or else God may send more fires your way than you are used to extinguishing.

Where algorithms fail, instincts kick in. Hunger is a powerful motivator and IQ enhancer.

Once a person manages to ensure his or her survival, new questions start to arise in their mind:

1. Who am I?
2. What am I here for?
3. What am I supposed to do with my finite life?

Instincts won't help you answer these questions, and there are no algorithms for finding the answers.

A Tschick will probably be hardened enough to face this challenge if and when he reaches this stage. He can also tell himself: What do you prefer: thinking hard about your life's purpose or busting your ass off working for pennies? Also: Stop bitching, bitch!

It's a different story with Maik. Survival was never really an issue, and prosperity is more or less guaranteed. That's where these three hard philosophical questions raise their ugly heads.

Maik (probably) will face these questions earlier than Tschick, with less experience under his belt.

Maik (probably) doesn't have access to other-than-Western culture. As we learned before, modern Western culture isn't particularly good at helping people orient themselves in life.

Sometimes, instincts can provide answers to complex questions:

1. Question: Who am I? The instinctive answer is: One of us.
2. Question: What am I here for? Instinctive answer: To help us survive.
3. Question: What should I do with my finite life? Instinctive answer: For starters, find a good wife, then make and raise a few kids.

These answers aren't that bad, are they? If Maik found and applied them, he'd be in a relatively good position, wouldn't he?

The problem is, according to the modern German worldview, these answers make Maik an almost-Nazi.

Let's look at each answer in detail.

What does "us" mean? The German nation? What do you think you're thinking?

Since 1945, the Germans haven't been allowed to have a nation. They are merely German-speaking Americans.

Generally, patriotism is a thing of the past that worthless individuals use to masquerade their worthlessness.

Also, where there is an "us," there is a "them."

Are you saying you are excluding someone from that German nation?

Mentioning survival implies someone or something is threatening it.

Aren't you some conspiracy theorist? You don't believe a secret cabal of Jewish lizards is trying to exterminate the Germans through the China virus and chemtrails, do you?

This point contradicts modern Western ideology on so many levels.

• The word "wife" is homophobic and transphobic. The correct word is parent 2.
• Second, what do you mean by "good"? Is "good" another word for "slavishly accepting the patriarchy"? I hope you aren't selecting a woman based on her health because that's DIY eugenics.
• Third, giving birth to babies is killing Mother Earth. Science has proven it.
• Fourth, there is nothing about diversity and love for LGBTQ in your answer.

The verdict is clear on this: release Greta Thunberg!

Material prosperity causes a spiritual crisis in Maik, and there is no obvious solution. When it is not clear what he should live for, a man may choose death.

I can only guess whether or not the author of the novel represented himself as Maik. He may have. If any of the protagonists is Wolfgang Herrndorf's alter ego, it's almost certainly Maik.

In 2010, Wolfgang Herrndorf was diagnosed with a malignant tumor and died three years later. But it wasn't cancer that killed him.

A stolen Lada Niva drives the story. Without this vehicle, the plot would not have occurred.

The choice of this car is no accident. Wolfgang Herrndorf is a German, and the novel is set in Germany, where there are plenty of other car brands.

Designers created the Lada Niva in the 1970s, so it isn't the most modern.

It isn't the safest car, either. In 2002, the Russian ARCAP safety assessment program gave it zero stars out of a possible four.

It's certainly not the most comfortable. No power windows, a high cabin noise level, and a cramped passenger compartment are only a few of its weaknesses.

The Lada Niva is what connects Tschick and Maik. There must be a reason behind this highly counterintuitive choice of car.

To solve this riddle, we must remember that Maik and Tschick are polar opposites.

Maik is the archetypal German who crosses all the Ts and dots all the Is.

Tschick is a minor drunkard with criminal inclinations.

Maik relies primarily on reason. Tschick: primarily on instincts.

Maik succeeds by following the rules. Tshick has to be creative because there is no rulebook on how to survive as a child of idiotic parents in a foreign country.

In other words, Maik is closer to being a robot, while Tschick is closer to being a human.

Maik is also one of those smarter kids who suspects that following rules will not bring him happiness. Deep down inside, he longs for happiness.

It's not modernity he wants. Nor is it safety or comfort (he has plenty of these already).

A modern, safe, and comfortable car wouldn't give him a near-life experience, but an old, unsafe, and uncomfortable one may.

But this isn't the complete answer–after all, there are plenty of old, unsafe, and uncomfortable cars other than the Lada Niva, such as the Suzuki Samurai.

I suspect that Wolfgang Herrndorf knew little about Russians while writing the novel. He probably could not do proper research because of his illness.

Including the Lada Niva in this novel was a way of telling the readers that Germans may benefit from learning about the Russian approach to life.

Germans would benefit if they – like Russians – were more skeptical towards the elites.

Rugged individualism is another thing the Germans could learn from the Russians. Many Russians may not know this term, but they certainly behave like the only person you can rely on is yourself.

Work ethic is another issue. According to the International Labor Organization, Russians work an average of 38.2 hours per week, while Germans work 29.6 hours. Americans work more than Germans but less than Russians—36.1 hours per week.

Most importantly of all, spending time with a typical Russian may show a German that it's OK to be white, healthily patriotic, and willing to procreate. It's also OK to want to stay away from homosexuals and transgenders. If you choose to start a family with a biological woman, who is willing, plus mentally and physically healthy enough for bearing children, nobody will get hurt.

The most valuable thing the Germans can learn from Russians is that instinctive, primal answers to hard philosophical questions can be good enough for many people.

In the novel, the Lada Niva is a conduit for the gentle transfer of modern Russian values to modern Germans.

In 2025, reality is far different from the novel's utopia. Like most Western societies, Germany is suffering from Russophrenia: the belief that barbaric, subhuman Russians can conquer parts of Western Europe.

Western elites describe the breaking up of Russia as a "moral and strategic imperative." Germany is preparing for war with Russia by the end of this decade: their third attempt at exterminating the Russians in the last 112 years.

If you look at the map of Russian advances in Ukraine, you will inevitably conclude that the Russians are unwilling and/or unable to conquer Ukraine. That’s the reality.

If Russia is unable or unwilling to conquer Ukraine, then how would it conquer the rest of Europe? This is another instance where Russian values, such as the acceptance of reality, could have helped the Germans.

If they accepted reality, they might not be throwing billions of Euros worth of military equipment at the problem and putting the lives of equipment operators at risk.

Maybe the T-14 Armata tank will succeed at imparting Russian values to Germans, where the Lada Niva failed.

2025-07-02

P.S.: You may want to read my other articles.