After a meeting with regional leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed his country. In this address, historical examples were used again- cavemen, Spartans, and, to reinforce the effect, the piercing story of Jack London, according to Russian media.
On Tuesday, Putin turned to the Russians at the end of the meeting which addressed countering coronavirus, in which quarantine measures were extended in the country. The president spoke of those who are against restrictions and believe that the main thing is to save the economy. He compared such thoughts with the idea of natural selection.
Responding to supporters of this opinion, the President drew attention to the early period of the formation of our civilisation.
“From history and world literature, we know that in primitive times, old people, sick children, weakened people were simply abandoned for the survival of the entire tribe. Probably, back then there simply was no other way out. But we live in the 21st century. And I will say bluntly: those who now offer to sacrifice people and leave them to their own devices, in fact, call for a return to savagery and barbarism,” said Putin.
And then the President remembered the legends of Sparta.
“It is said that in ancient Sparta, sick, crippled children were thrown from the cliff of Taygetus. True, today, historians, archaeologists believe that this is only a legend, a myth. But we know that the society of Sparta was indeed built on a rigid order. However, this did not help either. And ultimately, she lost her statehood. As the saying goes, the story is instructive,” continued the Russian President.
Then Putin turned to literary examples and recalled the story of Jack London’s ‘Law of Life’- where the tribe abandoned their old, who became a burden. Children left their parents at the mercy of wild animals, leaving them to die.
“And the old father, left alone by the fire, believed and hoped to the end that his sons would return after him. Can you imagine for a moment what you can do with our parents, with our grandparents, as in this story? I will never believe in it, this is not our genetic code,” Putin concluded.
