The expression “do not believe, do not be afraid, do not ask” and the history of its origin formed the basis of the design of the men’s sweatshirt “Bogatyr”.
Where did the phrase “do not believe, do not be afraid, do not ask” come from?
The authorship of this expression, or as it is called, the law of three “N”, is often attributed to prisoners. The truth is that the words of the quote “do not believe, do not be afraid, do not ask” really originated in the walls of “places not so remote” in the Soviet era. However, the mass of people who were deprived of liberty during the Soviet era, were not criminals in the usual sense for us. Both those who peacefully expressed their political, religious and scientific views and those who had “wrong” ethnic, national, social origin and kinship relations were sent to prisons and camps. The Gulag (General Directorate of camps and prisons) camps were overcrowded with so-called “prisoners of conscience”.
Sharashki as source of origin quotes “Don’t believe, don’t be afraid, don’t ask”
Often, political prisoners not only served their time, but also, being educated people, the best representatives of the intelligentsia, continued to work for the benefit of the Motherland in the so-called sharashki (research institutes and design bureaus of the prison type). Through such sharashki passed many outstanding Soviet scientists and designers: SP Korolev (designer of rocket and space technology), AI Putilov (aircraft designer), NV Nikitin (engineer, the future Creator of the Ostankino television tower), BS Maslennikov (Russian aviation engineer), AI Solzhenitsyn (writer), etc. Many samples of military equipment and weapons were created in the walls of such bonded KB. And it is not known what was more humiliating for these people – to be simply condemned “for nothing” or that the very homeland that deprived them of their freedom, family, normal life, requires them to continue their scientific work for its good. The phrase” do not believe, do not be afraid, do not ask ” not so much reflected the system of relations between prisoners, as expressed the ideology of a whole layer of the best, intelligent people, expressed their attitude to the government, the state.
The times of the Gulag passed, the authorities rehabilitated (unfortunately, many posthumously) prisoners of the camps, but we still continued to build a “bright Communist future” until 1991.
In 1991 the USSR disintegrated. The failure of the economic system, inept internal leadership of such a huge country, which led, among other things, to national conflicts, costly foreign policy of the state, man-made disasters, artificial closure of the country and a number of other reasons led to the fact that the “colossus on clay feet” collapsed. The collapse of such a huge power led to very sad consequences: chaos reigned in the country, actual anarchy, arbitrariness in all its manifestations. Those in whose hands power was concentrated before, whom any Soviet citizen knew by sight, lost their status, simple, ordinary people lost their modest only savings, someone even lost their homes (remember the activities of the notorious MMM and similar campaigns). As N. A. Nekrasov wrote much earlier: “the great chain Broke up, broke up and hit – – one end on the master, another-on the man”. Besides, the national idea uniting society ceased to exist. Until then, the Soviet people raised virgin soil, issued a five-year plan in three years, caught up and overtook America, built communism. And suddenly it was all gone. The old system of values collapsed, and no one was in a hurry to create a new one. Wild, in the post-Soviet space, capitalism only added fuel to the fire. To believe, to expect, to hope it was no one, only yourself. Ideology do not believe, do not be afraid, do not ask not only did not lose relevance, but became necessary for survival.
One soldier in the field
More than 20 years have passed since then. And what about our time? Alas, even now our state is not interested in its people. We exist for the sake of the state, although, according to all the principles of political science, and just common sense, should be exactly the opposite. We pay taxes and thus maintain our power, but in return we have neither free education nor free medicine, our pensioners barely make ends meet. The Russian man still has no one to hope for, only himself. If You are successful, live freely and independently, as you should live, it is certainly not because of the state, but rather in spite of everything that it does. You do not believe someone who should not be trusted, do not wait, do not ask and do not be afraid, because as the classic said: “Cowardice is one of the most important human vices.” Well, and one warrior in the field.
In our online store branded clothing from the manufacturer the phrase “do not believe, do not be afraid, do not ask” is dedicated to the model of men’s hoodies “hero”.