One more story on Gorbachev, a short one. My shortest story ever.

There are plenty of stories on Mikhail Gorbachev right now. Open any major news channel.

I want to reiterate: there is no love for Gorbachev in Russia. Most Russians loathe him. He razvalil (broke up) the country. I don’t know what “most” means exactly. I generalize. But I know first hand. If you appreciate Gorbachev, you’re a “liberal” (well, I’m generalizing, again). Liberal folks are marginal folks, in Russia for sure.

But to all the Russian people who are hating and criticizing Gorbachev — not that many are reading me on Medium — I will say this: hating and criticizing is a privilege. It’s freedom. Hate Trump, hate Biden, hate whoever, whatever. It’s what makes modern societies modern. It’s what helps them improve and address their skeletons and demons. This freedom, courtesy of Putin, has been taken away. Now you can’t criticize ’cause you’ll get destroyed. You can’t even hate. I don’t like the word “hate” but it’s a human emotion, after all. It’s Ok to hate sometimes. Well, in Russia you’re deprived of even that.

So yeah, go ahead, disrespect Gorbachev like you did when he was alive and now that he’s dead. You’re able to because Gorbachev empowered you with freedom — the right to disagree, to criticize, to hate if you will.

Maybe, maybe how Gorbachev empowered with freedom is truly profound and maybe, maybe it will just take time for his legacy to manifest itself and win the final battle, after many losses. Maybe. Or…