I have to wonder, don’t the majority of Russians pretty much know that their government is full of shit? There’s enough of the population old enough to see the fall of the USSR, the time between the fall and the rise of Putin, and then every bit of Putin’s transition to autocracy, to the point that there’s enough word of mouth in private to counter the majority propaganda. Granted, the younger generations will grow up not knowing anything else, especially with older generations dying off or getting killed either via war or suicided by falling out of windows.
They do know, but they honestly, sincerely believe that a government of for and by the people isn’t possible for them.
Source: hosted a Russian exchange student. We had this talk, I suggested that Russia could have a state that works for its people and got laughed at and basically told “we don’t do that here.” And honestly, as an American in 2024 watching our democracy implode in real time so that billionaires can have lower taxes, I get it.
I have to wonder, don’t the majority of Russians pretty much know that their government is full of shit?
Let me offer my perspective,as a Russian. People do not want to lose everything like they did in the 90s. Yes, everyone understands that the government is full of shit, but they believe in the belief (google it, an interesting concept) that it’s virtuous to support a government.
It’s like a classic trolley problem. Yes, you’d probably push that lever, but you know of consequences and you just purchased a car and your wife is pregnant. You are caught in this unending circle, you simply do not want to deal with it because it doesn’t affect you. But when it does affect you, it’s always the west: shock therapy of the 90s, current sanctions, debit card ban, visa bans, etc.
It doesn’t really matter because Russians have never really had a mature democracy and so, I think, do not really know how it should/could be different. They are used to various forms of authoritarian rule; whether the leader is called a Tsar, or a General Secretary of the Communist Party, or a President of the Russian Federation doesn’t make that much difference.
Well, that was also true in Korea and Japan before WW2, yet both are shining examples of democracy (with a healthy amount of chaebol/Keiretsu/oligopoly to round it out). Likewise in Germany.
“Mature democracies” buy Russian gas and support Azerbaijan.
Nothing in the past makes an existing democracy more stable.
What does is culture of bravery\heroics AND fairness AND individualism. Bravery AND fairness without individualism get you communism. Bravery AND individualism without fairness get you either the British Empire or Somalia. Bravery without fairness and individualism get you fascism. Individualism AND fairness without bravery lead to something like most “mature democracies” of today.
Now, Russia has problems in culture with every one of these. Each of them pops up locally here and there in the social fabric, but the lumpen layers don’t like the idea of fairness and bravery, while the worker class, so to say, doesn’t like the idea of individualism, and the “well off” people are similar to the lumpen class sometimes in this. Bravery is the one most lacking, though.
Life in Russia is ridiculously tough if you don’t live in a major city like Moscow or St. Petersburg and don’t have a decent job. People don’t really have time to think about Putin and politics, they have to survive. I have some distant relatives there, man is a truck driver, his wife is a teacher. The guy goes hunting and fishing regularly to have food on the table. Can you imagine hunting to survive in a developed country? Can you imagine thinking about politics in these conditions?
Bruh. Where do they live? I live in a cul-de-sac shit hole with low af pay and nobody seriously goes fishing or hunting to survive. It’s a hobby in every single case.
“i have to wonder…full of shit”
think about how many poeple voted for and continue to vote for Trump and republicans in general here in the US when they have a long and obvious track record.
One other part of the factor that isn’t often mentioned. Is that they believe and in some small aspects are not mistaken. That the US government is just as corrupt manipulative and bad as theirs. And see critique of their government as hypocrisy. And a lot of Americans feel the same under similar critique.
I have to wonder, don’t the majority of Russians pretty much know that their government is full of shit? There’s enough of the population old enough to see the fall of the USSR, the time between the fall and the rise of Putin, and then every bit of Putin’s transition to autocracy, to the point that there’s enough word of mouth in private to counter the majority propaganda. Granted, the younger generations will grow up not knowing anything else, especially with older generations dying off or getting killed either via war or suicided by falling out of windows.
They do know, but they honestly, sincerely believe that a government of for and by the people isn’t possible for them.
Source: hosted a Russian exchange student. We had this talk, I suggested that Russia could have a state that works for its people and got laughed at and basically told “we don’t do that here.” And honestly, as an American in 2024 watching our democracy implode in real time so that billionaires can have lower taxes, I get it.
Let me offer my perspective,as a Russian. People do not want to lose everything like they did in the 90s. Yes, everyone understands that the government is full of shit, but they believe in the belief (google it, an interesting concept) that it’s virtuous to support a government.
It’s like a classic trolley problem. Yes, you’d probably push that lever, but you know of consequences and you just purchased a car and your wife is pregnant. You are caught in this unending circle, you simply do not want to deal with it because it doesn’t affect you. But when it does affect you, it’s always the west: shock therapy of the 90s, current sanctions, debit card ban, visa bans, etc.
Interesting, thank you for your input.
It doesn’t really matter because Russians have never really had a mature democracy and so, I think, do not really know how it should/could be different. They are used to various forms of authoritarian rule; whether the leader is called a Tsar, or a General Secretary of the Communist Party, or a President of the Russian Federation doesn’t make that much difference.
Well, that was also true in Korea and Japan before WW2, yet both are shining examples of democracy (with a healthy amount of chaebol/Keiretsu/oligopoly to round it out). Likewise in Germany.
So it’s not impossible, just foreign.
Of course it is possible and I hope they eventually develop into a mature democracy. Point is, it has not happened yet.
“Mature democracies” buy Russian gas and support Azerbaijan.
Nothing in the past makes an existing democracy more stable.
What does is culture of bravery\heroics AND fairness AND individualism. Bravery AND fairness without individualism get you communism. Bravery AND individualism without fairness get you either the British Empire or Somalia. Bravery without fairness and individualism get you fascism. Individualism AND fairness without bravery lead to something like most “mature democracies” of today.
Now, Russia has problems in culture with every one of these. Each of them pops up locally here and there in the social fabric, but the lumpen layers don’t like the idea of fairness and bravery, while the worker class, so to say, doesn’t like the idea of individualism, and the “well off” people are similar to the lumpen class sometimes in this. Bravery is the one most lacking, though.
Life in Russia is ridiculously tough if you don’t live in a major city like Moscow or St. Petersburg and don’t have a decent job. People don’t really have time to think about Putin and politics, they have to survive. I have some distant relatives there, man is a truck driver, his wife is a teacher. The guy goes hunting and fishing regularly to have food on the table. Can you imagine hunting to survive in a developed country? Can you imagine thinking about politics in these conditions?
Bruh. Where do they live? I live in a cul-de-sac shit hole with low af pay and nobody seriously goes fishing or hunting to survive. It’s a hobby in every single case.
“i have to wonder…full of shit”
think about how many poeple voted for and continue to vote for Trump and republicans in general here in the US when they have a long and obvious track record.
One other part of the factor that isn’t often mentioned. Is that they believe and in some small aspects are not mistaken. That the US government is just as corrupt manipulative and bad as theirs. And see critique of their government as hypocrisy. And a lot of Americans feel the same under similar critique.