'Loose Talk'
By Benjamin Benedict

Putingrad

With Russia’s expansion at the end of The Second World War, the expression ‘White Russia’ went out of use, but now that Russia is pretty much back to its former size, I think that it again has a purpose. It was not a racial identification, but more a cultural one, attached to the Western part of the Country. A hundred years ago, St Petersburg (for awhile called Leningrad) was considered the City most like Paris and undoubtedly European. All European Royalty was closely linked and the Tsar was no exception, being the cousin of the English King, George V. They were not only close friends but looked very like each other and it is to George’s discredit that he failed to extricate the Romanov Family from the firing squad – but that’s another story. 

To my mind White Russia is more European than, say Czechoslovakia, Rumania, or the countries that form part of the old Yugoslavia, let alone the new applicants to the European Club such as Georgia and Turkey. The cause of the problems currently encountered in Georgia, and their ramifications as regards the neighbouring countries are down to a lack of acknowledgement of White Russia’s essential European nature. It is also down to the determination to create a political entity out of Europe; unfortunate bearing in mind that there is no democratic mandate for the construction of this political Behemoth, in fact quite the reverse.

What I am suggesting is that White Russia should become part of the European Community. The obvious stumbling block is the question of how one part of Russia could be a part of this consortium and the other, not. It brings us back to what The European Community actually is. If it is simply a trading entity, then there isn’t a problem. Different internal tax structures can exist in different States of America, so why not between one part of Russia and another?

Whether Russia would actually consider such a proposition is another matter, but it might be pointed out that they play in the European Soccer league, so why not at least give this proposal some thought?

Yes, it sounds an outrageous idea but given the overall state of the World I have come to the conclusion that the guys in charge are a bunch of plonkers, and in such times the great unwashed have the right to pick up the ball and run with it, and as I am more unwashed than most, this is my contribution. Have you got a better idea?

Possibly a better idea is for a ‘White Russian’ to remain a Vodka cocktail, but then as the saying goes, ‘If you don’t go to them, they will come to you.’ Now from where I stand, the only guy in charge who is not such a plonker is a guy called Putin and as he has all the oil and gas that Europe is going to need, maybe this silliness will put me in good standing when London is renamed Putingrad, a few years from now. 

             

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