Russia is a fantasy.  These are not the words of an insane human.  Russia is objectively a fantasy.  So, how has a figment of our imagination been destroying the lives of real people?

Russia is not the only fantasy that is changing real things.  First and foremost, the real lives that Russia is destroying belong to another imaginary entity, Ukraine.  But the list of fantasies is not just a list of nations. In Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari argues that religions, business organizations, currency, and ideologies are all “figment[s] of our collective imagination.”  However, fictions make the human race the master of the world and control every moment of our lives.

All institutions only exist in our minds.  None of them are embedded in nature.  They would not exist without the human brains that made them.  As human brains built them in the first place, they were made, by definition, as figments of the mind.  Therefore, they can not exist without human imagination.  If everyone stopped thinking that Russia existed, it would not exist.  For example, this happened to Russia’s and Ukraine’s predecessor, the Soviet Union.  Mikhail Gorbachev, who most believed had the supreme word over the state of the Soviet Union, declared that the Soviet Union ceased to exist, and it did just that.  Therefore, we can not and thus do not build our fantasies into nature.  If Vladimir Putin makes a similar announcement, the same thing will happen to Russia.

An institution without backing is powerless.  If there were only a few people in the world who believed in the existence of Russia, Russia would hold little influence.  If a few people declared war on Ukraine, they would be laughed at and sent to prison.   As everyone else in the world would not believe in a tiny institution, we would not listen to or even hear about any power they try to exercise.  Such was the case of Stuart Hill and the Sovereign State of Forvik.  In 2018, he declared the independence of Forvik, a small island in the United Kingdom.  However, Brits believed that he was still Scottish.  As he hadn’t registered his car with Britain, he was arrested.  His independence claim was recognized by no one other than him.  

However, when many people believe in an establishment, it can be very powerful.  Large institutions can govern with their members’ obedience and force.  As people believe the leaders of an institution have authority, they listen to those leaders.  Therefore, that institution and its leaders hold power over all people who believe in its power.  If enough people believe in it, it will be internationally recognized.  Furthermore, that establishment can then use its force to protect itself from other nations.  Such was the case of America in the Revolutionary War.  As enough people believed in it and were willing to fight for it, they were able to scare England away from trying to control them.

These fictions made humans the controllers of the world.  The ability to believe in such fictions is the main difference between the mind of a human and an animal.  While animals are stuck to doing the same things that their ancestors did and the rules of evolution, humans can do revolutionary things.  Therefore, this ability allows humans to progress.  By implementing these institutions, we develop and spread technologies that grow our control.  For example, agriculture could never have happened without many humans believing in farming rather than hunting and gathering.  Therefore, humans have built their power over time through imagination to reach our standing in the world today.

These institutions also control humans.  The belief in a nation makes a human alter their actions to abide by their laws.  The same could be said for a religion.  However, a country will also punish a person who does not abide by the laws, making its control even stronger.  Our belief in the value of little pieces of paper and electronic data — money — determines the luxuries and living standards that we can enjoy.  Our belief in human rights affects how we treat a person.  As we believe in all of these things, we abide by their rule even if we could just as easily forget about it.  As there are so many institutions to cover so many parts of life — especially money — almost all of our actions are affected by these institutions.

Every institution — from money to America to Christianity — is a figment of our imaginations, but they hold enormous power through the number of people that believe in it.  Therefore, it is important to be careful about deciding which institutions you believe in.  As your life is controlled by these things, it is important to make sure that the right ones are controlling you.  Furthermore, it is important to realize that these institutions are imaginary and that it is possible to walk away from them.  If we all recognized this, we could revolutionize a world in need of a revolution.  The solution to remove the leadership of horrible people is both simple and impossible: get enough people to tell them, “No.”  So do not be afraid to rally people up against an institution.  The only way forward is change.