The attempt to use only wood in the making of complicated technological devices for the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal echoes the Melanesian Cargo cults. The speeches of soviet propagandists are barely audible, transmitted through wooden public emergency speakers. One can recognise propaganda only by vocal intonation, without necessarily understanding the language.

"The prisoner should never get out of under the influence of educational influences. And in this regard, advanced modern technical devices were very helpful, and in particular the loudspeakers on every pillar and in every barracks! They must never fall silent!" writes Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in The Gulag Archipelago.

In many languages, the etymology of the verb “to hear” links us to the verb “to obey”. “Obey, obedience” comes from the Latin word Obaudire, which is derived from Audire (to hear). There is an inextricable link between hearing and obedience in the Russian language, in which the verbs Slushat' and Slushat'sya (to listen and to obey) are very close.