"In one of my last projects, I investigated the government's practice of separating kids with disabilities (and poorer kids generally) from their parents and detaining them in closed institutions. My report detailed how much changes in society when the government excludes swaths of the population from basic services like healthcare, education, and even just access to city streets. The answer? Everything."
"One of my last evenings in Russia was a chilly November night in the northern city of St. Petersburg. Mothers and children, grandparents and teenagers alike stepped with care to avoid slipping on black ice and bumping into (and possibly falling thanks to) large plastic advertisements for fast food, clothing, cosmetic dentistry, plastic surgery, and even IVF treatments sticking up like weeds on the cobblestoned sidewalks of the city's center."
Decades of experience in Russia showed how centralizing policies and Christian nationalist media reshaped everyday life and marginalized vulnerable populations. Government practices separated children with disabilities and poorer children from parents and detained them in closed institutions, excluding swaths of the population from healthcare, education, and public spaces. Such marginalization altered social life and prioritized the enrichment of the wealthiest and powerful. The leadership displayed lack of understanding of basic human needs and rights, a characteristic of fascist regimes. Urban scenes in St. Petersburg reflected consumerist advertising replacing diverse public presence, signaling deep social and economic transformations.
Read at The Nation
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