We are witnessing processes that are fundamentally reshaping the world. Often, we perceive them as isolated incidents, failing to grasp their true essence and scale.
Digital Resistance and the Collapse of the «Old Guard»
A striking example of this collision between the old and the new was the attempt to block Telegram in Russia. This was not merely a technical incident; it was a conflict between a stagnant bureaucracy and the people. The authorities attempted to construct a «digital concentration camp,» only to be met with reality: the state could only manage to restrict 15% of Telegram users. The remaining 85% possessed the skills and intelligence to bypass the fences and, figuratively speaking, laugh at the «camp guards.»
The Telegram block has failed. Despite all government efforts, 65 million Russians are still able to use Telegram.
Furthermore, the actions of state «enforcers»—driven largely by self-interest—led to chaos in places they never expected. Major banking payment systems (Sber, VTB, T-Bank) stalled, and toll road and metro terminals froze. Meanwhile, services like DeepSeek and iCloud continued to function without interruption. This proves that the world has changed irrevocably, and old methods of control are no longer effective.
The Forgotten Genius: Alexander Bogdanov
To understand the roots of today’s events, we must look back at Russian history. Years ago, I researched the work of Alexander Bogdanov (Malinovsky)—a man who, in the early Bolshevik hierarchy, was once the number one figure.
Leonid Krasin and Vladimir Lenin were among the leading Bolshevik trio, but it was Bogdanov who emerged as the leader in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Bogdanov laid the foundations for cybernetics, genetics, computer science, and general systems theory, but his conflict with Lenin and Lenin’s criticism of Bogdanov’s ideas led to Bogdanov’s ideas being rejected or hushed up in the USSR after the 1917 Revolution and until the late 1980s. Cybernetics and genetics were denounced in the USSR as «the whores of imperialism.»
But there was another reason why Bogdanov’s ideas were rejected for so long by the ruling party and state bureaucracy of the USSR. These ideas frightened bureaucrats, depriving them of the ability to control information and block the development of ideas. The fight against Bogdanov’s legacy continues to this day—the same attempts to shut down Telegram stem from the same fear of uncontrolled information systems.
Bogdanov was a true visionary. His science fiction novels (“Red Star”, “Engineer Menni”), published in the early 20th century, predicted computerization and television. It was his ideas, not just Tsiolkovsky’s calculations, that inspired Sergey Korolev to create the Soviet space programme.
Space: From an Arms Race to Exploration and Habitation
Today, we are entering a new stage of the space age. In the West, there is talk of a new «race,» comparing the standoff between the US and China to the Cold War and the arms race between the Soviet Union and the US. But this is a mistake.
The first stage of space exploration (the 20th century) was a “breakthrough”. The goal was simply to exit the atmosphere and establish a presence. Now, however, the goal is exploration and habitation —the transfer of human civilization and intelligence to other planets.
China operates in the Soviet fashion: through massive state momentum, meticulous planning, and rigid discipline.
The USA relies on individualism and private initiative (Elon Musk).
Russia is trying to regain its leading role by creating a drone nuclear power space station and join the US and China on the Moon, but Russia has lost too much time and «fumbled» this round. The blame lies with unprofessional bureaucrats, a culture of the «Rogozin-ism,» narrow-mindedness, and the dismissal of Musk’s ideas as mere «trampolines.» Russia lost time due to a lack of that «Bogdanovian» romanticism and grand vision, sinking instead into political rationalism, corruption and petty pragmatism.
A New System of Relationship
The main challenge of our time is creating a new system of relationship and interaction. On Earth, we are accustomed to the logic of «might makes right,» sanctions, power and hostility. In space, this is a dead end.
Despite politics, cooperation in space persists. Musk began his journey by trying to collaborate with Russia, but he was rejected by people who did not understand where the world was heading. Now, we need to reach an international level with a new ethics of relations. Space gives us a chance to avoid repeating mistakes on Earth and create a system where the synergy of reason, not the law of force, dominates.
Humanity needs a new romanticism and grand ideas. Narrowness of intellect is a disease affecting the entire post-Soviet space and the West. It is time to realize: we are not just building rockets and space stations; we are transferring life and reason into the Universe. And that requires a completely different level of consciousness.
