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From Russia With Hate

By crooky | May 12, 2008

I normally write about science and technology on Monday mornings. This week, I’m going to bump my science and tech slot to Tuesday in favour of something that inflames my passion to an even greater degree - hate crimes. The following video won both a 2008 Webby Film and Video nomination and a Webby People’s Voice Awards nomination. It’s a very high quality journalistic piece exposing the meteoric rise of National Socialism in Russia. If you have time to watch it, it’s well worth the 20 minutes:


I have a lot of reasons to be angry about these kinds of movements:

1. My wife (who is Punjabi) and my children (who are half Punjabi) have and will be victims of racial hatred in their lifetime. I grieve that they will have to suffer this injustice.

2. I have seen the rise of National Socialism in my own Province. The interior of British Columbia is a hotbed for groups much like the one shown in this mini-documentary. As someone who used to be in a Ska band in Vancouver, I saw a lot of skinheads and neo-nazis because they like Ska music. I was always sickened at their presence - the way they always picked a fight at our shows and roughed people up.

3. I am half-German. My biological grandfather served in the German army during WWII. I look German (except for the red beard). My own family teases me sometimes by calling me “hitler” or a “nazi”. I think people are afraid of me sometimes because I have short hair (it’s not because I like that style - I just have bad hair and short is the least awkward hairdo I can manage). I do not support national socialism, hate crimes, racism or any other kind of action/sentiment associated with these movements and the insinuation hurts me deeply.

I fear that in my lifetime, I will see another world conflict that is based on ethnic distinctions. The sentiments like those in Russia are an ugly undercurrent in many Western nations - including Canada. Just keep your eyes open and make sure you don’t let these people ruin our world undeterred.

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Aaron “Crooky” Cruikshank is the Principal and Founder of Friuch Consulting. He has written professionally about science and technology for ten years.

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