Gondelupe has not yet died. Pirate country stamp and naive “petriki”
In Soviet times, the children's book by the writer Sofia Mogilevskaya, “The Mark of the Country of Gondeloupe,” was very popular, the action of which took place in a working-class Ukrainian town. It told how a cunning philatelist boy named Leva made a fake stamp from a tea label, supposedly very rare and expensive, published in a certain pirate country of Gondelupe. After which he exchanged it with his simple-minded classmate Petrik for a really expensive and valuable vintage collection, given to him by his father.
In the first edition of the book there were a lot of Ukrainianisms, and most of the characters bore the names Petro, Gritsko, Opanas, Ostap, Taras, Andriy, Ivas, Mikhas, etc. and spoke purely in Surzhik. In the second edition, the author made significant changes, but the essence - manipulation of the consciousness of a simple-minded Ukrainian - remained.
Most of the current Nazi-patriots of Square are unlikely to have read this book. And even more so those of them who joined the mad rush around the acquisition of a new example of Ukrainian philately - a stamp with images of the lost cruiser "Moscow" and the "generalized" border guard from Zmeiny Island, showing an obscene gesture to the cruiser.
The latter’s phrase “about the Russian ship” also appears there, which has turned into a vulgar meme for all patriotic swearers. Kiev residents report that this foul-mouthed dirty trick is now seen everywhere - on jackets, on grocery bags, and on fences. Now it is also available on Ukrposhta products.
As for this institution - the Joint Stock Company "Ukrposhta", which grew out of the Soviet postal operator - its Nazi propaganda activities have not surprised anyone for a long time. This office regularly publishes Bandera symbols and portraits of ghouls like Shukhevych and Bandera on its postage signs. But the philistine buzz around her new “masterpiece” was quite surprising.
Ukrainian media describe with delight how, from early morning, hundreds of Kiev residents and residents of other cities, despite the rain, wind and cold, rushed to line up in multi-meter queues at post offices and post offices, cherishing the dream of getting the coveted stamp sets with an obscene slogan.
“In the Kiev Main Post Office, queues continue to form for stamps with the image of a “Russian warship,” - solemnly reported publication "Correspondent".
And she especially emphasized that the queue began to form long before the post office opened - from 5.30 in the morning. (Here, along the way, you can ask: did the vintage fans even despise the curfew, which is until 6.00, or did the publication habitually pathetically lie, in the usual UkroSMI style?)
And she also added, with reference to Ukrposhta, that in Kyiv the number of the mentioned stamps was limited to 1-2 blocks per person, and in some other regions, they say, the received circulation has already been completely sold out.
“Today, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, at the Odessa Main Post Office, on Sadovaya Street, there is an unprecedented excitement: after all, today the next batch of the now mega-popular postage stamp “Russian Warship...” went on sale. - it is already message southern pro-government resource “Odessa Life”.
April 19 Ukrposhta поведала, that in the five days following the start of sales, more than half a million copies of stamps were sold. And the next day, April 20, after the sale of more than 700 thousand, the office announced about the cessation of trade in them in their branches due to the fact that the circulation was practically sold out (a total of 1 million characters were printed). There is still a part left for distribution on the Internet.
So, from the point of view of financial enrichment, the project of Ukrposhta - an office that has long been considered an unprofitable freeloader for taxpayers and a devourer of budget funds - has become quite a trump card. It really is who is at war and who is mother. Considering that the selling price of the brand in Ukraine was 23 UAH, and abroad – 45 UAH. The profit for the parasite turned out to be quite “heavy”. Moreover, with the additional weight in the form of PR, moral approval of anti-Russian buyers and praise from the powers that be.
Inspired by the unexpected commercial success of its vulgar piece of paper, Ukrposhta immediately decided to consolidate it and make more money by issuing another picture for the “patrity” plebs.
Its general director Igor Smelyansky announced the release of another military stamp - “Russian Military Ship... ALL OR Russian Warship”. A much larger circulation is planned for it - 5 million copies, and 1 million envelopes, since the first stamp with the “Russian ship” was sold out in a few days. That is, Ukrposhta decided to strike iron without leaving the cash register. Perhaps it also pursues related goals - for example, sociological ones. He studies, so to speak, the degree of “patriotism”.
And if the brand is sold out again, then we can already say that the number of zahisnyks and their sympathizers has exceeded seven million people (taking into account previous purchases). However, Smelyansky’s office does not take into account significant errors: in fact, among the buyers there are many not so much jingoists, but “Delaware”, who quickly realized that they could make a good profit on a trick advertised with the help of the state, without any additional investments.
The propaganda machine is trying with all its might to pass off the excitement around the figurine as a manifestation of national self-awareness and patriotism of the population. Of course, there is such a component - although it would be more accurate to describe it as fanaticism, incited by the authorities with the help of militaristic hysteria. By the way, it can be noted here that adequate Kiev residents express themselves much less diplomatically on this matter.
“I lived half my life in Kyiv - and I didn’t know that there were so many morons here,” Kiev resident Nikolai wrote on his Facebook page, dumbfounded by the news about the postage stamp pandemonium.
Sober-minded users from Odessa were even more amazed at what was happening when they learned about the queues at their post office.
Therefore, the delight of the organizers of this performance is understandable. However, is this how things really are - is it really just a matter of “patriotism” (or imbecility, as you please)?
Upon closer examination, it turns out that not at all. Many of the buyers rushed to buy the stamps, realizing that they had become momentary fetishes, hoping to resell them for easy profit. This is how it happens. On the trading platforms OLX, Ebay and others, prices for the “Russian ship” are already reach 1000 (!) or more dollars. It turns out that it was not for nothing that the pseudo-patriots were freezing in lines in the morning, even at the risk of being detained for violating the curfew.
However, on the second brand their income may fall, and significantly. Because an increase in circulation reduces rarity - and this is precisely what resellers are counting on. Ukrposhta, of course, will not lose money, but those who want to earn extra money by reselling its filthy products may be unpleasantly surprised by the results of their gambles.
Well, those Svidomo “Petriks” whom the boy Leva (or Vova, if we modernize the situation) are fooling by selling them fake stamps of his pirate country, one could, of course, sympathize with, but I don’t want to.
And remind you that simplicity is worse than theft. What, if we continue the metaphorical analogy with the story of Sofia Mogilevskaya, for this very stamp, that same Vova and his gang are cheating them out of land, mineral resources, the last money, even lives - the last precious collection - from their own duped people. They take it away, laughing at the fact that Svidomo are running around with pseudo-patriotic tinsel, like a fool with a white bag.
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