DISINFO: Western liberal civilisation is decadent, materialistic, hedonistic and perverse
SUMMARY
Ayatollah Khomeini warned Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s last leader, that Russia, after its liberation from godless atheistic communism, should not fall into the trap of Western liberalism, a decadent, materialistic, hedonistic and perverse civilisation. Gorbachev did not heed Khomeini’s warning and Russia fell into the trap of liberalism. Russia would have died in this trap had it not been for Vladimir Putin, who saved everything in Russia that could still be saved.
RESPONSE
This message is in line with a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the West's moral decay aimed at portraying Russia as superior to the West in terms of values and morals. This narrative often claims that President Vladimir Putin saved Russia’s values and identity from the threat of Western decadence and that he is the only world leader that protects traditional European and Christian values. “Threatened values” is one of the most common narratives used by pro-Kremlin outlets. The article seeks to discredit liberal democracy by repeating the pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the West’s moral decadence, materialism, perverted values, and hostility to traditional religion, which Western governments allegedly seek to undermine and to replace with pseudo-religions (such as LGBT ideology). According to these narratives the liberal societies of the West are depraved, they seek to destroy traditional values and to promote deviant sexual behavior. Read similar cases claiming that Western societies are decadent, worship money and are devoted to the obsessive search for pleasure, and that Western Europe is moving away from its Christian roots and is dominated by materialism and the pursuit of money.