From the author: The role of the adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet in the formation of modern Russian mentality. Whatever you call a boat, so it will float.... Russian nature is strange, and the people inhabiting it are even more wonderful. And this people, among others, has one wonderful holiday. A day that makes it truly unique, because other nations do not have such a day. And as often happens, the tribes around us do not know what they are deprived of. This is Russian Alphabet Day, celebrated with solemnity at the end of May. Completing a month already crowded with festivities, it in some way represents the peak of the Russian spirit and people's patriotism. Naturally, this day is perceived as a logical continuation of victory day. Neither the stern Teuton, nor the proud Briton, nor the frivolous Frenchman know the day of the alphabet. And they don’t have their own alphabet. And if there is no alphabet, there are no people. So, the only people existing in the world is Russian. He, the bearer of a unique written language and a special destiny, will have to lead the planet into the future. We have such patriotic happiness... However, something here, as always, does not add up. And although evil tongues claim that the authors of the alphabet actually bought it from Buratino*, for the sake of truth we must admit that they stole it from the Greeks. That is, they took it without paying. So, the veneration of people who stole someone else's property as national saints is very significant. Further, the Greek alphabet, into which Cyril and Methodius distorted the language of the indigenous inhabitants of Rus', repeatedly mutated. The style of the signs changed, and many disappeared and changed their sound. Projects to replace the alphabet have arisen more than once. But the ancient Greek basis of our written language remains. Therefore, what the Russian people, with their usual pathos and pomp, celebrate on this day, is the day of the occupation of Russia by Greek-Byzantine culture. The heirs of the vanquished, who betrayed their native culture, celebrate the day of national surrender. Passing it off as a day of great celebration. Quite in the spirit of paternal traditions... However, maxims about the horrors of Greek expansion may seem grotesque to the uninitiated reader. Everyone has heard that Greece is the mother of European culture and the cradle of civilization. And indeed it is. Antiquity is one of the main roots of the modern world, and no one can cancel this. But, at the time of the events described, it was a different Greece. The beautiful antiquity of Plato, Pericles, and the three hundred Spartans disappeared into the fog of centuries. And instead of the traditions of a free polis, we inherited Byzantium. An eastern fragment of the once great Roman Empire, bearing its worst features. Rus', which was a country of free communities and proud people, has transformed itself according to the model of the dying Eurasian monarchy. With all its deification of power, total servility, and claims to world domination. Then our ancestors exchanged freedom for the grandeur of palaces and the golden glow of domes. And they even stole the Byzantine coat of arms... It all started with the alphabet. So, it would be better if they really bought it from Buratino. However, you can’t take back what you’ve done. And soon, following the letters of a foreign language, a horde of servants of the Greek faith came to us. This is not surprising, since writing was replaced for this purpose. Following the foreign god and his prophets, who sang the delights of slavery, the cult of the earthly king came to us. The prince, who defeated his yesterday's brothers, inherited the rank of Byzantine Caesar. The free hero and his squad, defenders and friends of their people, became the eastern tyrant and his watchdogs. The first enemy of the sacred power turned out to be its own people. At the same time, the government, deified and serving only its own interests, has always shown an inability to protect it from a real threat. Rus' fell to the Mongols, the Greeks became prey to the Turks. Only the Latin West withstood the blow time after time. This is precisely why we hate it so much... The countries that inherited the Latin alphabet, in some amazing way, adopted that proud spirit of freedom that was characteristic of the early Roman republic. And they builta society based on the principles of personal freedom and human rights. Although at first this only applied to a select few. The Latin world created chivalry. An institution unknown to the Byzantine monarchy and its successors. The chivalric spirit, which was the embodiment of the ideas of honor, freedom, responsibility to the people, and personal dignity, laid the foundations of European society. And the valor of a few became the virtue of everyone. Century after century, the flower of European chivalry reflected the raging waves of conquerors who sought to conquer the settled world. Through the efforts and personal courage of free people, Latin Western Europe remained an island of order in a sea of ​​historical changes that swallowed up the heirs of the eastern empire. We inherited slavery... The peoples who adopted the Greek alphabet subsequently all suffered a crushing defeat. As if its letters contained some kind of curse. All of them were conquered by aggressive tribes with a completely different culture. Subsequently, foreign oppression gave way to slavery, which was even more cruel. Their own national government, having thrown off the foreign yoke, adopted the customs, habits, and approach to managing the conquered territory characteristic of the occupiers. Since then, the government has behaved like an occupying army in a conquered country. Which was a natural continuation of a long-standing cultural occupation. People who write in Greek have not created a free society since then. And today, their long-standing descendants perceive democracy and freedom as something completely alien, imposed from the outside, and threatening their national identity. Contrasting them with the ancient values ​​of eternal paternalism. Byzantium continues in us... The cult of national exclusivity, hatred of freedom, xenophobia and isolationism, slavery, veneration and theft, which to this day form the basis of the Russian mentality**, is a carefully preserved and cherished heritage of Byzantium. This is the price we had to pay for the alphabet. Stitched into the genes with the language of the alphabet for centuries, the ancient virus of slavery separates Russia from the future-oriented countries of the golden billion. The vain Byzantine is afraid of the future, does not like change, and dreams of stability. The illusions of past greatness are more important to him than future opportunities. This is what we celebrate. However, our holidays are structured in such a way that they, like the alphabet, separate us from the world***. We celebrate victories over our neighbors, cherishing hatred and past grievances. The day of triumph over the Poles has become a day of national unity, and a worthy victory over the Germans is considered more important than Christmas. It is not surprising that the world shuns us... However, there has always been a chance for integration. However, in order to do this, it is necessary to take steps leading to overcoming the cultural, and most importantly mental, isolation of Russian society from its Western neighbors. But the legacy of Byzantine exceptionalism prevents many from even discussing it. The idea of ​​integration with the Latin world in all centuries was perceived by the mass consciousness as a loss of national identity. The accusation of being a Uniate, of trying to turn the country towards the West, was used by our authorities as the most terrible of threats. So, over the centuries the country has completely isolated itself. A people and a culture that to this day cultivates a sense of its own exclusivity, great-power chauvinism, and opposes itself to the entire outside world, has no chance of surviving in a rapidly developing world. It is no coincidence that today there are so many fantasies about the end of the Third Rome. It looks like these are really the last times... Having spread out like Byzantine over two continents, and having failed to really organize life on either one, we dream of world domination, a world-historical mission, and the special purpose of a God-bearing people. And we sing to ourselves the old fairy tale that our land is rich and abundant, and order will follow itself. We do not notice that the world and history are flying by at the speed of an express train. And with each new day devoted to sovereign narcissism, the chances of jumping into the last carriage remain less and less. The number of people wishing to get into it is rapidly decreasing,/…