this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2025

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Russia’s new state dictionary calls authoritarianism the ‘most effective’ form of government and bans the word ‘ass’ (meduza.io)

submitted 1 day ago by resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/46204638

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Russia introduced a new Explanatory Dictionary of the State Language of the Russian Federation, compiled at St. Petersburg State University and immediately added to the official list of normative dictionaries.

Some examples:

authoritarianism ... considered the most effective form of governance in difficult times for a country ...

marriage ... family union between a man and a woman ... same-sex marriage (a homosexual intimate union between a man and a man or a woman and a woman, condemned by the Russian Orthodox Church and not supported by the Russian state) ...

enemy ... One whom the sovereign authority has deemed hostile to the people, the government, or the state. An ideological enemy. A sworn enemy ...

humanism ... traditional Russian spiritual and moral value: a worldview based on the principles of the value of the human person, human dignity, respect for others, concern for their well-being, the right to freedom, equality ...

life ... traditional Russian spiritual and moral value: the period of a person’s existence from conception ...

unity ... unity of the system of public authority. The historical unity of Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians. The unity of the peoples of Russia (a traditional Russian spiritual and moral value) ...

ideal ... Moral ideals (a traditional Russian spiritual and moral value: high moral principles and convictions that inspire and guide a person toward goodness, justice, honesty, compassion, and other virtues, with strict rejection of destructive ideologies that allow immoral conduct, actions causing suffering, corruption, and other unlawful deeds) ...

limitrophe ... in 21st-century Europe: a state used as a buffer between Western Europe and Russia, which is politically, economically, and culturally incapable of being independent ...

regime ... set of political, economic, and social measures used by state authorities to govern society ... the Kyiv regime (in Ukraine since 2014: the established form of political rule, which poses a threat to the fundamental rights and interests of the Russian-speaking population) ...

top 18 comments

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[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 hours ago

This is precisely where the Republicans want us to go.

[–] REDACTED@infosec.pub 2 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Wtf at the "Unity"

EDIT: I have to keep reminding myself that Soviet Union was not an Union, but mass occupation. They really love to call whatever they attack and occupy "united with Russia"

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 hours ago

It's very effective... At suppressing people, taking away liberties and rights... I mean, they're not wrong

It's also highly effective at waging senseless ears that destroy the future of the entire fucking country, and then adding a touch of genocide on top of that

[–] OrteilGenou@lemmy.world 22 points 22 hours ago

What an hole

[–] kbal@fedia.io 29 points 23 hours ago

They may have a point. Not just any form of government has the kind of moral and practical strength it takes to ban the word for ass.

[–] Taiatari@lemmynsfw.com 12 points 23 hours ago

To be fair, an effective goverment does not mean that it is great for the people. It is however, effective in what it is doing, which is in Russia’s case suppressing people.

[–] Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world 8 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Which word "ass"?

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

"Ass" as in "butt," not "donkey."

[–] Deceptichum@quokk.au 6 points 22 hours ago

‘Putin’

[–] inkrifle@lemmy.world 5 points 21 hours ago

I chuckled at that headline.

[–] FishFace@piefed.social 4 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I wonder if the Orwell tactics work in practice, then

[–] orbitz@lemmy.ca 4 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

Like doublespeak or just saying the complete opposite and people accepting it? Shit man, no first world country would do that at least. Eyes the US

[–] Broadfern@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

Hey, don’t go accusing us of being a developed country.

[–] FishFace@piefed.social 1 points 14 hours ago

Newspeak via three dictionary

[–] Pamasich@kbin.earth -1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

authoritarianism ... considered the most effective form of governance in difficult times for a country ...

That is the case though. Talking to people takes time, the less people the faster you can respond to difficulty. An autocrat can just take any radical action necessary to deal with a crisis on a whim, theoretically.

I understand the problem with Russia saying this, and I don't see why it should be in a dictionary. But it's absolutely not false.

[–] GunnarGrop@lemmy.ml 9 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (2 children)

It's absolutely not true either. Just because an authoritarian has the power to act "quickly", you think that they will always act in the right way to handle a crisis? An authoritarian will act in any way they themselves see fit to "handle" a crisis, without any or much need for approval.

Do you think that the Roman empire always acted in the correct way to handle the problems it faced, even when the imperator had full control over the senate? This is only true if you define "effective" as "authoritarian", like Russia seems to do here.

[–] Pamasich@kbin.earth 1 points 11 hours ago

Just because an authoritarian has the power to act "quickly", you think that they will always act in the right way to handle a crisis?

Where did I say that? I never made that claim. I even included the "theoretically" to acknowledge that they don't actually do that.

Of course most of them are evil, and even those that aren't, don't have the best ideas. But this is about what the system enables, not how it is actually used.

[–] pressanykeynow@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago

To be fair Roman Republic actually had special elected emergency office that had full power even over consuls. It usually lasted for half a year(so half of the usual office) but could be re-elected. It was called Dictator and was perfectly legal.