First of all, let's see what Wikipedia says about Blue Whale, for those who haven't heard about this wrongly-called "game":
"The term Blue Whale game refers to a trend on Russian-speaking social media, linked to a possible increase in child and teenage suicides, though no suicides have been definitively linked to the game. There have been photos of self-cutting wounds shared on social media alongside the game's hashtags. The game is based in the relationship between the challengers (also called players or participants) and the administrators.[ It involves a series of duties given by the administrators that players must complete, usually one per day, some of which involve self-mutilation. Some tasks can be given in advance, while others can be passed on by the administrators on the day, the last task being suicide. It is believed that the first case of suicide related to the game occurred in 2015 in Russia."
One wonders how is this possible? Who can create such horrible "game", and even more difficult to understand, who would want to play it?!
I have been thinking about it. And my main conclusion is that it is the symptom of the biggest problems of our society: the destruction of moral values.
Is this process "an accident", or has it been carried (and it is being carried) on purpose? Personally I believe it is the latter, but this is not the point of this post. I want to identify some of the mechanisms by which the destruccion of moral values is done:
- Destruction of family. Family is the first and usually the strongest support of the individual. The destruction of family is the first step in the isolation of the individual.
- Reduction of the duration of childhood. This was already denounced by Neil Postman in 1982: "In perhaps his most provocative book, The Disappearance of Childhood, Postman attempts to explain why the dividing line between childhood and adulthood is rapidly eroding in contemporary society, and why the social role of the child may well disappear in modern industrial society."
- Teenagerization. Adults become more and more selfish, egoistic and unable to cope with frustration.
- Individualism.
- De-christianization. GK Chesterton is often quoted as saying "When a man ceases to believe in God, he doesn't believe in nothing. He believes in anything."
Although this quote is difficult to trace, several other observations by GK Chesterton make the same point:
"You hard-shelled materialists were all balanced on the very edge of belief — of belief in almost anything." [GK Chesterton, "The Miracle of Moon Crescent" (1924)]
"The nineteenth century decided to have no religious authority. The twentieth century seems disposed to have any religious authority." [GK Chesterton, Illustrated London News, April 26, 1924]
But my favorite is the following one, that explains why all the previous points make sense, why somebody would want to destroy the moral values of our society:
"A man who refuses to have his own philosophy will only have the used-up scraps of somebody else's philosophy." [GK Chesterton, "The Revival of Philosophy," The Common Man (1930)]
Why Russia?
One question that arises is why did this phenomen begin in Russia? The main reason is the moral catastrophe that the Yeltsin (*) Era brought to Russia. The consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yeltsin's presidency expanded like waves in the water across Russia. That period of "freedom", ultracapitalism, individualism, hedonism had many, if not all, the elements described above. Putin's nowadays support is, partly, the people's reaction to that period. In opposition to that period of surrender to foreign powers, and absence of moral or national values, Putin's presidency has placed the Orthodox Church in a predominant position, and uses any opportunity to organize events to remember and honor the successes and sacrifices of ancestors (as it is perfectly shown by the annual Victory's Day celebrations).
(*) Important to remember the support that Yeltsin had from Western powers, elites and politicians.
