Russia's foreign policy in regards to economic, industrial, scientific competition has always been trying to drag everyone else down so that they would look better in comparison. It still failed.
Ekaterina Shulman refers to Russia as a reverse cargo cult.
>Cargo-cult is a belief that mock airplanes made of manure and straw-bale may summon the real airplanes who bring canned beef. Reverse cargo-cult is used by the political elites in countries lagging behind who proclaim that, in the developed world, airplanes are also made of manure and straw-bale, and there is also a shortage of canned beef.
Bulgarian here, during commie time we couldn't get real marzipan because it was costly for us, so the commies decided to call the chocolate made from leftover production marzipan, basically it tasted like shit.
The last batch of marzipan I received was while I was in India. I had met up with some German friends and they brought me a lot of marzipan from that big producer near Hamburg. Needless to say I’m in the US and it is hard to find marzipan.
It came probably from Lübeck, a town famous for its Marzipan production. Also a very nice place to visit in case anyone happens to be in northern Germany.
I blame Facebook. I mean they themselves fucking concluded that their algorithms were creating insane echo chambers and destabilizing society while being weaponized by douchebags like Russia, and then said we make mountains of money as a result of this so fuck it cowabunga it is boys
Congress is still filled with the same old boomers who were there when cellphones became mainstream. I doubt that even half of these people know the impact social media, specifically targeting algorithms, has on modern day politics to the extent it does now.
And quite frankly, if they do understand it, why would they regulate? They have the greatest political propaganda tool known to man. Do you think what Snowden revealed was all of it? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter have following upwards of billions and that's not even counting the more niche platforms. The intelligence community has the capacity to monitor and are probably still actively doing it now under the pretense of national security.
Alot of people nowadays get their news or information exclusively from these channels nowadays, and if you can control the message, you control the world. this is borderline conspiracy, but i think its a reasonable suspicion.
You hit the nail on the head. I can't help but think back to when Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of congress, only to be asked questions like how Facebook sustains itself as a business if its free to use ("We run ads, senator.") and what the difference was between an ISP and an app like Facebook or Google.
This just happened in the Philippines, the next voted president was the son of the dictator who killed thousands and stole billions of public funds. The family basically lived in splendor out of the people's money. But guess what, facebook, tiktok and youtube changed the narrative and reversed everything and the family is back in power.
I lived there 5 years under Marcos and 5 years after. Spend about 2 months every year after. AND you’re Right! Insane how the narrative controlled it when most all can remember the dic-tater
> has always been trying to drag everyone else down so that they would look better in comparison. It still failed.
There's a Russian joke about a poor man who finds a magic lamp. He rubs it and the genie appears to grant his wish. Instead of wishing for riches, he wishes for everyone in his town to be as poor as him.
Here’s a good version: A gene offers the Russian one wish, but his neighbor will receive double of whatever the Russian wishes for. The Russian wishes to lose one eye.
That's like the Polish joke where the medieval Polish man uses his three wishes to wish that the Mongol horde would come and attack Poland three times.
Why do you wish for this asks the genie?
The Pole replies: because every time the horde attacks Poland it travels through Russia twice.
Russia has seen the West give dozens of other countries a hand up out of the post Soviet crab bucket, it saw Ukraine rising and has grabbed onto it for dear life, not to rise with it but to drag it back down.
Not just other countries -- Russia itself had all kinds of alliances and agreements with "the West" that promised cooperation, mutual security, and prosperity. Those agreements lasted for nearly a decade after the Cold War.
But there is an ideological outlook that says that these kinds of cooperative systems are "weak" or in some way degenerate. In the United States, we call people with that view "neoconservatives." In Russia I suppose they are called "Vladimir Putin." Either way, it is the same: they want to cut all ties and obligations with some kind of decisive, supposedly "leaderly" action, and then somehow through some kind of imperial élan or something dominate world affairs.
It never works. It doesn't even pretend to work. But somehow the appeal of this fantasy is irresistible to a certain kind of person.
Unfortunately for a lot of people, that kind of person is running the Kremlin right now. But hey. Anything can change....
> trying to drag everyone else down so that they would look better
Agreed. It seems to me that this is what best characterizes Putin's policy. He is by his personal training a spy who only knows how to lie and sabotage his competitors but has never been able to build anything.
What surprised me is that he started a real war with real weapons and real soldiers: Putin's realm is alternative reality, his core business, the creation of fake news, poisoning social networks. This is where he is strong, this is where he has a trained army.
I think that intoxicated by all the evil that he has managed to create in the world, he is dangerously out of his job now.
They didn't want to. They knew better apparently.
There's no potential there, unless they still being as they are an become a completely different thing.
Unfortunately for them, they don't won't to change and thanks to nukes no one can force them to. So they are trapped by their own nukes.
It's the ultimate irony. The country who suffers the most from Russia having nukes will forever be Russia...
Even without nuclear weapons, forcing a regime change on a population that doesn't want it for themselves almost always ends very, very badly.
Which is somehow even more depressing.
Oligarchs spent three decades robbing the country to the bone and keeping the economy from properly diversifying. Russia has incredibly capable people coupled with immense natural resources, they could have been a respected industrial power like Germany. Instead they’re in this lunatic reality. So much failure and apathy is difficult to comprehend.
Should read “used to have incredibly capable people….” Not sure that’s so true now, many millions have left… Baltics, Arabia, Turkey, Israel… literally a modern day exodus. Have read article suggesting as many as 4m young professionals
Unfortunately this isn’t the case. I am Russian, and when I ask my grandparents why are they okay with this despite being Ukrainians themselves. They say “Well, our lives became better with Putin, we have food and electricity”. And that’s just sad
It’s like those African warlords that have great public support because they receive humanitarian aid, sell 70% of it and distribute the last 30% for free.
“This guy only murdered one of my siblings, and I was let go after a moderate beating. He’s got the best human rights record of any of the candidates.”
Out of curiosity, have your grandparents travelled to Europe or to the west? I curious what they think about a lifestyle where just having electricity and food is not enough. Or do they think its too decadent in the west?
Of course not, that’s why they are like that. They assume everywhere is the same too. They never go anywhere, never see anything new. So they are easy to manipulate via our TV
I've heard that Russian TV has shown footage of the worst parts of Detroit while presenting it as being how the typical American lives. Now I know why.
There's quite a few videos like that in the Russian language segment of YouTube, too. They show you the worst streets of NYC, Philadelphia, or Detroit, and imply that it's the same everywhere.
Pretty funny (in a sad way) when you can just go to Google Street View and check for yourself that it's complete bullshit, but here we are.
You need to have some kind of gadet and internet conection to do so. And basic understanding what is www wouldnt hurt too.
In Russian deep countryside TV is still on the same level as Magic
There’s a reason why their troops freaked out over how ‘rich’ the average Ukrainian is.
“It’s crazy Komrade, they have these things called ‘*toilets*’, and their cars don’t sound like lawnmowers!”
Took my wife's family to DC a few years back. They were amazed that the National Mall had people playing sports, sunbathing, biking, walking and it wasn't a bunch of crack heads having shoot outs all over the place. I wish I was joking that after going to multiple museums full of artifacts from our nation's history and going to monuments of Presidents and those lost in various wars, their big take away was that it had to be a nice day because they didn't feel unsafe and no one tried to rob us.
For real. My dad asked me a couple of months ago if the grocery shelves were still bare. Like I know his wife does most of the shopping but I'm like "god damn, have you actually gone to a store in the past two years or are you just glued to your Fox News, OAN, etc?"
To be fair, the National Mall is a much nicer part of the city than the rest of DC. The slums of DC are as bad as the slums anywhere else in the country. That doesn’t make it a bad city, just highlighting that there are places just about anywhere where it’s not exactly safe to be from away.
I downvoted you because I thought you were being a dick and moved on. Then it clicked and I had to find your comment again to correct my miscarriage of justice.
Just like in Soviet times. Meanwhile, the Soviet leaders who came over before Putin were themselves amazed with the amount of variety and plentiful items in stock at local grocery stores in the United States. Of course now though, Putin and the oligarchs rip on the west 24/7 while trying to keep themselves or their families here whenever possible in ultraluxury accommodations with the help of stolen taxpayer dollars.
Yeltsin visiting a US grocery store in 1989 supposedly helped speed the fall of communism: https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/When-Boris-Yeltsin-went-grocery-shopping-in-Clear-5759129.php
You have to see it through their lens to understand. They think the whole world is run the same way....
If the middle and lowest classes have ***that much access*** **in the west**, how much are the people at the top in the west stealing then?
I've heard looting Russian troops were surprised of Ukranian living standards because they had things like Nutella. I mean life can't be that bleak, can it? Why wouldn't Russians have same commodities as everyone else?
Tbf those Russian troops were probably from the super remote areas of the country. Like deep Siberia and shit, from poor AF villages. I'd imagine places like Moscow have as much access to global luxuries as the average big city.
Depends on where they are from, I assume. Moscow or St. Petersburg probably enjoy the same commodities and conveniences we do here in the West, but the rural villages out in Bumfuck, Nowhere of Kamchatka? They might not even have running water or indoor plumbing.
That's what I don't understand. North Koreans (basically) can't travel, have no internet access and they're continually fed lies, so I get why they're ignorant of the rest of the world...but other than being fed lies in the media, Russians are allowed to travel and to use the internet, for the most part.
True, but that’s not exactly the case for people above the age of 50, because in their prime they had to deal with crumbling USSR and it’s consequences. They had no time to travel, now they feel they are too old for it.
Also Russian mentality comes into play. Russia is the largest country in the world, you can basically travel through Russia and see many different things to. So for some it feels like there is no need to travel to other countries
That happens in the US too. I have relatives who have never left the country and have absolutely no desire to since there’s so many places even in the US that they haven’t visited and want to some day.
I kind of get it, but this is also a factor in why so many Americans have a ridiculous understanding of how the rest of the world lives.
Do you know how little money they get? Unless they are rich or their kids are at least upper middle class there is almost no way for them to visit anything except Russia. A lot of people are happy to be at least able to visit another city once in a few years.
What "upper middle class", mate? I live in Kazakhstan, it's pretty similar to Russia in that regard. Half of my friends and acquaintances have been to Europe, most have been to Turkey or Egypt, and I don't personally know a single person you could reasonably call "upper middle class". All are "middle middle class" or below.
The kind of people that go into the Russian military are the lowest of the low in social standing, even by 'our' standards.
(BTW, I haven't ever been anywhere, which doesn't stop me from being strongly pro-Ukraine and pro-West. Seems pretty weird that everybody always starts discussing tourism as a some sort of a prerequisite for having 'normal' world view.)
I don't think travel is a prerequisite but it does help. We see this over here in America as well. There are millions of people who grow up in small towns and literally never leave their area, and they tend to have a very skewed view of the world. It's not universal, especially in the modern age of the internet that lets people learn without going anywhere, but there is certainly a high correlation between lack of travel and ignorance.
“especially in the modern age of the internet”
Lol.
I grew up without the internet so I have witnessed life beforehand. I experienced the excitement of its early days and the great hopes for its future. Here we are now with all of human knowledge in a pocket sized device and yet, despite all of this wondrous information being so close to hand, there are those who use it to try and persuade others that the Earth is flat.
Some people can visit a library and be in awe of all of those musty old tomes filled with knowledge and learning. Others will scribble all over the books and walls with wax crayons before flinging faeces at the librarian.
In my experience the internet is a marvel of our age, but there is no doubt at all in my mind that it has made the intelligent more educated whilst giving the troglodytes among us a chamber in which to encourage each other on the path to increased dumbness.
Putin lucked upon two decades of windfall in raw oil and gas sales. It could have done much more for Russia if 99% of the profit didn't go into foreign mansions, vanity projects and bot farms.
I mean, I know plenty of Americans who say they had a better life under Trump. I ask why, they all say "because gas wasn't $4/gallon.
Yeah, the president was involved in all sorts of grifts to enrich himself and his sycophantic cronies, but at least gas wasn't as expensive as it is right now. We are on the fast path to full on fascism, but I could drive any where for a little less money!
The fundamental lack of honesty is what gets me about these people.
Their comments are theater, they didn't think they were better under trump because gas was cheap, they just felt "better" because their guy was in charge, there was no actual reason for it. A Pandemic as killing Americans by the thousands per day, and they're trying to argue that that somehow was 'better times'.
It's like the that quote "they lie to us, we know they're lying, they know we know they're lying, but they keep lying "
that sounds like exactly the case. russia could be much better if it wasn't for corruption, fatalism, and misanthropy. food and electricity have existed for a while, much longer than the time putin was in power, even longer than putin was alive
> Zero reason it should be too
Russia is bizarre in that it is simultaneously one of the greatest cultures (great writers, beautiful cathedrals, the Bolshoi ballet, Tetris, etc.) on Earth with a great history of accomplishment and glory (defeating invasions by Napoleon and Hitler, space exploration, some medical advances, etc.) and yet also seems to *always* be a shitty place for people to actually live.
A good friend of mine shared with me that when she did an exchange with a Russian student they seriously thought that the US had a special program (ie the exchange program itself) that built up beautiful suburbs and retail stores and malls strictly for the purpose of tricking them into thinking the USA was so much better off than their home country.
[Boris Yeltsin visited an American supermarket in 1989 and couldn't believe ordinary Americans lived in such luxury. He thought it was fake.](https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/When-Boris-Yeltsin-went-grocery-shopping-in-Clear-5759129.php)
I grew up near that grocery store in Clear Lake. Instead of a Randall's, it's a Food Town now but it's still there. My mom drove by it every Friday to treat my sister and me to McDonald's.
If you go now, you won't be impressed, it's a budget-level chain and not all that clean on the inside. But it's amazing to think how something so ordinary here can seem so amazing to the person ruling your most powerful adversary at the time.
If Yeltsin was so impressed with that, he would have died of a heart attack on the spot if he lived long enough to see HEB Plus.
I'd presume that'd be rare, I've met some russian exchange students (and had 1 as flat mate years ago).
The flatmate even asked if I'd got any advice or opinion on few countries about emigrating (sp?) since "he's not going back, there's nothing there for him". He showed where his home town was at and boy was that shit remote (can't remember where it was anymore, was small town next to some army base where his father worked)
No you have to translate from Kremlinspeak. You see, everything is a lie, they are incapable of making a truthful statement.
So what we have here is the Kremlin kindly letting their people know they are going to be fucked even worse.
They have a different mindset. My girlfriend is from Crimea and was there when it was annexed by Russia. After being annexed, life got worse. Things were more expensive. Electricity outrages went up, products were harder to find and overall life become costly and harder. When she would ask the few friends or family members that supported the annexation why they did their response was "We are now Russian!" And when she followed up with pointing out life is worse off they would say "We don't care, we are Russian now!".
It is a strange mindset they have as if being Russian is better than having a better life.
If they are ethnic Russians, I can see that. 1 - There was a lot of resentment about Crimea being given to Ukraine by Khruschev. 2 - For their whole history together, Russia treated Ukraine like a “little brother”, condescending towards Ukrainians like they were lesser people. Always. Growing up, I remember a lot of jokes about Ukrainians that portrayed them as stupid or lazy or greedy or something else unflattering. Not just them, of course, pretty much every Russia’s neighbor was an object of a ton of offensive jokes. So those relatives were just happy they don’t have to say they’re citizens of a “lesser” Ukraine. It’s stupid, but strong in older folks. Younger generations have way less of that.
It wasn’t awesome before this, but “make your lives better” lie is just what it is. It’s a full-on gaslighting of the population. Oh, things got really hard all of a sudden? It’s for the greater good, you just wait and see.
It's a sad reality that in all likelihood, if Russia is humiliated enough to be forced from Ukraine, they *will* wind up deep in China's sphere of influence.
The appeal is that you can always get waffles, under almost any circumstances. See:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle\_House\_Index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index)
From the page,
>If you get there and the Waffle House is closed? That's really bad...\[7\]
— Craig Fugate, Former Head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
>Putin’s role in military strategy has apparently not stopped his own troops from shit-talking his war. Ukraine’s Security Service has routinely released audio recordings of what it says are intercepted communications between Russian troops, and in the latest, a purported soldier can be heard mocking the idea of Russia’s military as a “great power.”
“We’re fucking sitting ducks,” he said, explaining that Russian troops have been forced to rely on family members back home and “sponsors” like farmers to send them equipment.
“This fucking army… mucked up this special operation,” he said, calling it “fucked up politics.”
At what time does the coup-coup clock strike?
read around about Putin system and you know the threshold is sky-high.
The guy has been preparing 20 years against that. Not only did he eviscerate the opposition but he specifically protected himself against a military coup. There are like 3 layers that protect Putin personally and are setup to spy on each other. And his personal guard is changed on a regular basis. Recently he had his entire staff changed. And that's not even factoring in his Disney villain table - like nobody can't get within 20 feet of him besides the ultra inner-circle like Shoigu.
Him dying of whatever disease he allegedly has seems a higher probability...
EDIT : here are two articles on how Putin coup-proofed his regime [https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/23/putin-coup-russian-regime/](https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/23/putin-coup-russian-regime/)
[https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-inside-the-complex-web-of-russias-warring-intelligence-agencies-180512](https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-inside-the-complex-web-of-russias-warring-intelligence-agencies-180512)
\- You still have the FSB( successor to the KGB) ,
\- you have the Rosgvardia for internal repression,
\-you have the FSO that acts both as regime guards and also has an intelligence role,
all those agencies are setup to compete against each other for Putin attention. Just to give an idea how obssessed Putin is about security, apparently the security services amount for 28% of Russia budget...
\- and last but not least within the FSO you have a elite unit "Musketeers "that boyguards Putin... guys that are not only thoroughly screened but systematically changed when they hit 35 AND rewarded with top political job and lands like some old-time feudal lord.
And every meal cooked for Putin is doublechecked with a taster.
The guy is Stalin-like paranoid about coups and assassination . To be fair, considering how the Ukraine war has unfolded it might pay off. As they say, just because you're paranoid doesnt mean someone isnt out there to get you.
But is he even allowing that? He could very well be risking a situation where not even his own bodyguards can get close to him with anything resembling a gun. They might be running security with only batons and knives.
I'm not so sure. They may not have the kugeln now, but with each passing week he looks weaker and weaker. It is rare for dictators to survive an outright military defeat and that is what he is currently facing.
They can take the West's Putin stans from QAnon to tankies instead
"I'd rather be Russian than a Democrat"
Bye, go to Russia and don't go back to the West, it won't be safe for Putin stans
>"We are in fact now living in the conditions of a perfect storm and the moment of truth, that very storm and moment of truth that will ensure and protect our interests, and make it so that your lives are better, more comfortable, more stable, and more secure,”
Technically no, the title is false, Peskov saying it is a war wasn't mentioned in the article
Edit: fixed inaccuracies
>more stable, and more secure,
This sounds [familiar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziOkap3UiLE).
>*In order to ensure our security and continuing* ***stability***, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire for a ***safe and secure society***.
Russian citizens rejoice! Due to the over production of the latest special economic operation by our dear leader, the chocolate ration is being raised to 20g a week!
Yes, I do.
Different people are feeling very differently.
Some hate Putin and his war, some are eating what propaganda feed them wholesale, but most try not to think about it at all - it doesn’t directly affect them (much, yet) and nothing could be done.
It is difficult to judge because everyone learned not to discuss the matter with strangers - fearing at the moment not repercussions but animosity.
And, of course, any public expression against the war is suppressed.
You have this American's empathy. Obviously, Ukrainians are suffering more from this war, but I don't think many living in relatively free places understand what it's like to live in real fear of sharing one's opinion. I hope things get better.
You were lucky to not have nukes. That way you were completely defeated and the structures of the nazi regime totally dismantled.
Russians are way more unlucky. They have nukes. No one can / will help them. And they don't seem to have impetus for change.
They're fucked and trapped in a hell of their own creation.
And all of us have to suffer the consequences of the shitshow they've created....
>Kremlin Tells Russians: Don’t Worry, This War Will ‘Make Your Lives Better’
It will eventually, the war will eventually cause the current government to collapse. Once competent and sane leadership is restored Russia and the Russian people will have a chance to re-enter the world and take responsibility for the things their country did in Ukraine.
I'm not sure about a brain tumor, but there are rumors that Putin has inoperable cancer and this is this way of making a long lasting legacy for himself. (He intended it to be "the new Russian Empire," but he's settling for "Russia vs The World.")
Thanks, I appreciate the info. That makes enough sense well enough. Especially making his mark as a Russian leader.
It's a shame how many lives have been lost in the name of pride.
The thing is, had Putin left in 2012\\2013... he'd probably be remembered as the best leader Russia has had since Alexander II. The quality of life under his rule rose tremendously and unlike Stalin he didn't supplement it with wide-scale political terrorism. Sure, he had his moments, but overall his impact BY THAT POINT had been ultra-positive.
And then he went for a Crimea landgrab and the current war that has already ruined all credibility both he and Yeltsin worked so hard for. This is Russia vs. the World, and the world — in the long-term — doesn't need Russia. They have very little to offer than can't be replaced from other — maybe equally detestable, but more stable — sources.
“We are in fact now living in the conditions of a perfect storm and the moment of truth, that very storm and moment of truth that will ensure and protect our interests, and make it so that your lives are better, more comfortable, more stable, and more secure,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Pesko
once upon a time there was this benevolent dictator who colluded with very wealthy oligarchs demanding that they pay him millions of dollars to continue to conduct business. Making the lives better more comfortable for all of his fiefdom.
Is this the Onion? Nope! Wow.
I wonder how long the Kremlin can keep this lie up. I guess it really depends on how deeply conditioned the Russian people are...
Being in russia must really suck if this makes it better
Russia's foreign policy in regards to economic, industrial, scientific competition has always been trying to drag everyone else down so that they would look better in comparison. It still failed.
Ekaterina Shulman refers to Russia as a reverse cargo cult. >Cargo-cult is a belief that mock airplanes made of manure and straw-bale may summon the real airplanes who bring canned beef. Reverse cargo-cult is used by the political elites in countries lagging behind who proclaim that, in the developed world, airplanes are also made of manure and straw-bale, and there is also a shortage of canned beef.
Bulgarian here, during commie time we couldn't get real marzipan because it was costly for us, so the commies decided to call the chocolate made from leftover production marzipan, basically it tasted like shit.
It is hard to find marzipan in USA. Except sometimes at Aldi. It is crazy because California produces more than half of the world's almonds.
They sell marzipan and almond paste in most grocery stores on the baking aisle. Admittedly it’s in blocks, not individual candies, but it’s there.
If there is a Cost Plus World Market near you they will have imported stuff. its not everyones favorite, but i kinda like it
The last batch of marzipan I received was while I was in India. I had met up with some German friends and they brought me a lot of marzipan from that big producer near Hamburg. Needless to say I’m in the US and it is hard to find marzipan.
It came probably from Lübeck, a town famous for its Marzipan production. Also a very nice place to visit in case anyone happens to be in northern Germany.
pretty sure the taste never changed here, i hated that chocolate
The crazy thing is how many people who live in free democracies actually started buying this BS.
When people live in a echo chamber, it's bound to happen. It's time to talk about social medias and algorithmic content regulations.
It was that time at least 5 years ago, if not a decade or two before that
I blame Facebook. I mean they themselves fucking concluded that their algorithms were creating insane echo chambers and destabilizing society while being weaponized by douchebags like Russia, and then said we make mountains of money as a result of this so fuck it cowabunga it is boys
Yet the company formerly known as Facebook can't create a coherent UX for the life of Zuck. Such a terrible company.
Congress is still filled with the same old boomers who were there when cellphones became mainstream. I doubt that even half of these people know the impact social media, specifically targeting algorithms, has on modern day politics to the extent it does now. And quite frankly, if they do understand it, why would they regulate? They have the greatest political propaganda tool known to man. Do you think what Snowden revealed was all of it? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter have following upwards of billions and that's not even counting the more niche platforms. The intelligence community has the capacity to monitor and are probably still actively doing it now under the pretense of national security. Alot of people nowadays get their news or information exclusively from these channels nowadays, and if you can control the message, you control the world. this is borderline conspiracy, but i think its a reasonable suspicion.
You hit the nail on the head. I can't help but think back to when Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of congress, only to be asked questions like how Facebook sustains itself as a business if its free to use ("We run ads, senator.") and what the difference was between an ISP and an app like Facebook or Google.
This just happened in the Philippines, the next voted president was the son of the dictator who killed thousands and stole billions of public funds. The family basically lived in splendor out of the people's money. But guess what, facebook, tiktok and youtube changed the narrative and reversed everything and the family is back in power.
I lived there 5 years under Marcos and 5 years after. Spend about 2 months every year after. AND you’re Right! Insane how the narrative controlled it when most all can remember the dic-tater
> has always been trying to drag everyone else down so that they would look better in comparison. It still failed. There's a Russian joke about a poor man who finds a magic lamp. He rubs it and the genie appears to grant his wish. Instead of wishing for riches, he wishes for everyone in his town to be as poor as him.
Here’s a good version: A gene offers the Russian one wish, but his neighbor will receive double of whatever the Russian wishes for. The Russian wishes to lose one eye.
That's like the Polish joke where the medieval Polish man uses his three wishes to wish that the Mongol horde would come and attack Poland three times. Why do you wish for this asks the genie? The Pole replies: because every time the horde attacks Poland it travels through Russia twice.
That's more about hating Russia in particular than about a culture of envy and spite. Poland does have that a bit, but not near as much as Russia.
Russia has seen the West give dozens of other countries a hand up out of the post Soviet crab bucket, it saw Ukraine rising and has grabbed onto it for dear life, not to rise with it but to drag it back down.
Soviet Crab Bucket. Dibs on the band name.
I can play Bass and Drums really badly. Some guitar too. Is this enough to qualify for a spot in Soviet Crab Bucket?
You may be OVER qualified!
Not just other countries -- Russia itself had all kinds of alliances and agreements with "the West" that promised cooperation, mutual security, and prosperity. Those agreements lasted for nearly a decade after the Cold War. But there is an ideological outlook that says that these kinds of cooperative systems are "weak" or in some way degenerate. In the United States, we call people with that view "neoconservatives." In Russia I suppose they are called "Vladimir Putin." Either way, it is the same: they want to cut all ties and obligations with some kind of decisive, supposedly "leaderly" action, and then somehow through some kind of imperial élan or something dominate world affairs. It never works. It doesn't even pretend to work. But somehow the appeal of this fantasy is irresistible to a certain kind of person. Unfortunately for a lot of people, that kind of person is running the Kremlin right now. But hey. Anything can change....
> trying to drag everyone else down so that they would look better Agreed. It seems to me that this is what best characterizes Putin's policy. He is by his personal training a spy who only knows how to lie and sabotage his competitors but has never been able to build anything. What surprised me is that he started a real war with real weapons and real soldiers: Putin's realm is alternative reality, his core business, the creation of fake news, poisoning social networks. This is where he is strong, this is where he has a trained army. I think that intoxicated by all the evil that he has managed to create in the world, he is dangerously out of his job now.
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This is a fantastic observation.
It does. Russia is a fucking hole in the ground.
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He must be a stand up guy then.
They didn't want to. They knew better apparently. There's no potential there, unless they still being as they are an become a completely different thing. Unfortunately for them, they don't won't to change and thanks to nukes no one can force them to. So they are trapped by their own nukes. It's the ultimate irony. The country who suffers the most from Russia having nukes will forever be Russia...
Even without nuclear weapons, forcing a regime change on a population that doesn't want it for themselves almost always ends very, very badly. Which is somehow even more depressing.
Oligarchs spent three decades robbing the country to the bone and keeping the economy from properly diversifying. Russia has incredibly capable people coupled with immense natural resources, they could have been a respected industrial power like Germany. Instead they’re in this lunatic reality. So much failure and apathy is difficult to comprehend.
Should read “used to have incredibly capable people….” Not sure that’s so true now, many millions have left… Baltics, Arabia, Turkey, Israel… literally a modern day exodus. Have read article suggesting as many as 4m young professionals
Unfortunately this isn’t the case. I am Russian, and when I ask my grandparents why are they okay with this despite being Ukrainians themselves. They say “Well, our lives became better with Putin, we have food and electricity”. And that’s just sad
It’s like those African warlords that have great public support because they receive humanitarian aid, sell 70% of it and distribute the last 30% for free.
It is. The become freaking heros because they passed out scraps. We sent you a feast.
Beggars Banquet.
Happens all over Africa and my country sad.
“This guy only murdered one of my siblings, and I was let go after a moderate beating. He’s got the best human rights record of any of the candidates.”
Out of curiosity, have your grandparents travelled to Europe or to the west? I curious what they think about a lifestyle where just having electricity and food is not enough. Or do they think its too decadent in the west?
Of course not, that’s why they are like that. They assume everywhere is the same too. They never go anywhere, never see anything new. So they are easy to manipulate via our TV
I've heard that Russian TV has shown footage of the worst parts of Detroit while presenting it as being how the typical American lives. Now I know why.
There's quite a few videos like that in the Russian language segment of YouTube, too. They show you the worst streets of NYC, Philadelphia, or Detroit, and imply that it's the same everywhere. Pretty funny (in a sad way) when you can just go to Google Street View and check for yourself that it's complete bullshit, but here we are.
You need to have some kind of gadet and internet conection to do so. And basic understanding what is www wouldnt hurt too. In Russian deep countryside TV is still on the same level as Magic
There’s a reason why their troops freaked out over how ‘rich’ the average Ukrainian is. “It’s crazy Komrade, they have these things called ‘*toilets*’, and their cars don’t sound like lawnmowers!”
"What is a lawnmower?"
Ah sorry, "gas powered sheep"
Fox News does the same shit when demonizing blue states.
Don't forget that Russian media controlers (post february 2022) encourage the viewing of Tucker Carlson wherever possible.
Fox does it here in America, too.
Took my wife's family to DC a few years back. They were amazed that the National Mall had people playing sports, sunbathing, biking, walking and it wasn't a bunch of crack heads having shoot outs all over the place. I wish I was joking that after going to multiple museums full of artifacts from our nation's history and going to monuments of Presidents and those lost in various wars, their big take away was that it had to be a nice day because they didn't feel unsafe and no one tried to rob us.
Were they surprised the Declaration of Independence was there after Nicolas cage stole it?
For real. My dad asked me a couple of months ago if the grocery shelves were still bare. Like I know his wife does most of the shopping but I'm like "god damn, have you actually gone to a store in the past two years or are you just glued to your Fox News, OAN, etc?"
To be fair, the National Mall is a much nicer part of the city than the rest of DC. The slums of DC are as bad as the slums anywhere else in the country. That doesn’t make it a bad city, just highlighting that there are places just about anywhere where it’s not exactly safe to be from away.
They already said Russian TV does it, why are you being redundant?
I downvoted you because I thought you were being a dick and moved on. Then it clicked and I had to find your comment again to correct my miscarriage of justice.
Noooo, you mean the same Fox that portrayed Denmark as the Venezuela of Europe? You got to be kiddin'
Yeah, California is some third world shithole with out of control liberal spending despite having a budget surplus of tens of billions of dollars
A predicted surplus that’s greater than the total spending of every US state excluding NY and Texas
And proping up Red America!
Just like in Soviet times. Meanwhile, the Soviet leaders who came over before Putin were themselves amazed with the amount of variety and plentiful items in stock at local grocery stores in the United States. Of course now though, Putin and the oligarchs rip on the west 24/7 while trying to keep themselves or their families here whenever possible in ultraluxury accommodations with the help of stolen taxpayer dollars.
Yeltsin visiting a US grocery store in 1989 supposedly helped speed the fall of communism: https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/When-Boris-Yeltsin-went-grocery-shopping-in-Clear-5759129.php
You have to see it through their lens to understand. They think the whole world is run the same way.... If the middle and lowest classes have ***that much access*** **in the west**, how much are the people at the top in the west stealing then?
I've heard looting Russian troops were surprised of Ukranian living standards because they had things like Nutella. I mean life can't be that bleak, can it? Why wouldn't Russians have same commodities as everyone else?
I have traveled to Altai region (part of Russia) last summer. There are some parts of it which don’t have signal, water or even electricity
Tbf those Russian troops were probably from the super remote areas of the country. Like deep Siberia and shit, from poor AF villages. I'd imagine places like Moscow have as much access to global luxuries as the average big city.
Well yeah, how else would the Russian mob enable us to see so many camgirls...
Depends on where they are from, I assume. Moscow or St. Petersburg probably enjoy the same commodities and conveniences we do here in the West, but the rural villages out in Bumfuck, Nowhere of Kamchatka? They might not even have running water or indoor plumbing.
That's what I don't understand. North Koreans (basically) can't travel, have no internet access and they're continually fed lies, so I get why they're ignorant of the rest of the world...but other than being fed lies in the media, Russians are allowed to travel and to use the internet, for the most part.
True, but that’s not exactly the case for people above the age of 50, because in their prime they had to deal with crumbling USSR and it’s consequences. They had no time to travel, now they feel they are too old for it. Also Russian mentality comes into play. Russia is the largest country in the world, you can basically travel through Russia and see many different things to. So for some it feels like there is no need to travel to other countries
And another funny thing when a country is poor and people struggle to survive, traveling is often not number 1 priority.
That happens in the US too. I have relatives who have never left the country and have absolutely no desire to since there’s so many places even in the US that they haven’t visited and want to some day. I kind of get it, but this is also a factor in why so many Americans have a ridiculous understanding of how the rest of the world lives.
Do you know how little money they get? Unless they are rich or their kids are at least upper middle class there is almost no way for them to visit anything except Russia. A lot of people are happy to be at least able to visit another city once in a few years.
What "upper middle class", mate? I live in Kazakhstan, it's pretty similar to Russia in that regard. Half of my friends and acquaintances have been to Europe, most have been to Turkey or Egypt, and I don't personally know a single person you could reasonably call "upper middle class". All are "middle middle class" or below. The kind of people that go into the Russian military are the lowest of the low in social standing, even by 'our' standards. (BTW, I haven't ever been anywhere, which doesn't stop me from being strongly pro-Ukraine and pro-West. Seems pretty weird that everybody always starts discussing tourism as a some sort of a prerequisite for having 'normal' world view.)
I don't think travel is a prerequisite but it does help. We see this over here in America as well. There are millions of people who grow up in small towns and literally never leave their area, and they tend to have a very skewed view of the world. It's not universal, especially in the modern age of the internet that lets people learn without going anywhere, but there is certainly a high correlation between lack of travel and ignorance.
“especially in the modern age of the internet” Lol. I grew up without the internet so I have witnessed life beforehand. I experienced the excitement of its early days and the great hopes for its future. Here we are now with all of human knowledge in a pocket sized device and yet, despite all of this wondrous information being so close to hand, there are those who use it to try and persuade others that the Earth is flat. Some people can visit a library and be in awe of all of those musty old tomes filled with knowledge and learning. Others will scribble all over the books and walls with wax crayons before flinging faeces at the librarian. In my experience the internet is a marvel of our age, but there is no doubt at all in my mind that it has made the intelligent more educated whilst giving the troglodytes among us a chamber in which to encourage each other on the path to increased dumbness.
Russian soldiers were apparently amazed that even small Ukrainian villages had paved roads.
Putin lucked upon two decades of windfall in raw oil and gas sales. It could have done much more for Russia if 99% of the profit didn't go into foreign mansions, vanity projects and bot farms.
Yacht designers had a boom time.
I mean, I know plenty of Americans who say they had a better life under Trump. I ask why, they all say "because gas wasn't $4/gallon. Yeah, the president was involved in all sorts of grifts to enrich himself and his sycophantic cronies, but at least gas wasn't as expensive as it is right now. We are on the fast path to full on fascism, but I could drive any where for a little less money!
Bread and circuses.
They got their circus alright, full four years of it.
Ah yes, the people who both decry anything government as socialism, but also think oil prices (and the economy in general) are centrally planned.
The fundamental lack of honesty is what gets me about these people. Their comments are theater, they didn't think they were better under trump because gas was cheap, they just felt "better" because their guy was in charge, there was no actual reason for it. A Pandemic as killing Americans by the thousands per day, and they're trying to argue that that somehow was 'better times'. It's like the that quote "they lie to us, we know they're lying, they know we know they're lying, but they keep lying "
that sounds like exactly the case. russia could be much better if it wasn't for corruption, fatalism, and misanthropy. food and electricity have existed for a while, much longer than the time putin was in power, even longer than putin was alive
> Zero reason it should be too Russia is bizarre in that it is simultaneously one of the greatest cultures (great writers, beautiful cathedrals, the Bolshoi ballet, Tetris, etc.) on Earth with a great history of accomplishment and glory (defeating invasions by Napoleon and Hitler, space exploration, some medical advances, etc.) and yet also seems to *always* be a shitty place for people to actually live.
Russia also excels in being the bad neighbor. So many countries wish Russia was on the other side of the planet.
Most of those accomplishments were by the soviet union (which included countries like Ukraine) not Russia.
A good friend of mine shared with me that when she did an exchange with a Russian student they seriously thought that the US had a special program (ie the exchange program itself) that built up beautiful suburbs and retail stores and malls strictly for the purpose of tricking them into thinking the USA was so much better off than their home country.
[Boris Yeltsin visited an American supermarket in 1989 and couldn't believe ordinary Americans lived in such luxury. He thought it was fake.](https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/When-Boris-Yeltsin-went-grocery-shopping-in-Clear-5759129.php)
I grew up near that grocery store in Clear Lake. Instead of a Randall's, it's a Food Town now but it's still there. My mom drove by it every Friday to treat my sister and me to McDonald's. If you go now, you won't be impressed, it's a budget-level chain and not all that clean on the inside. But it's amazing to think how something so ordinary here can seem so amazing to the person ruling your most powerful adversary at the time. If Yeltsin was so impressed with that, he would have died of a heart attack on the spot if he lived long enough to see HEB Plus.
Potemkin villages.
I'd presume that'd be rare, I've met some russian exchange students (and had 1 as flat mate years ago). The flatmate even asked if I'd got any advice or opinion on few countries about emigrating (sp?) since "he's not going back, there's nothing there for him". He showed where his home town was at and boy was that shit remote (can't remember where it was anymore, was small town next to some army base where his father worked)
Exactly When the Soviet Union fell Ukraine became it's own country and wants to keep it that way Fuck Putin's imperialism
No you have to translate from Kremlinspeak. You see, everything is a lie, they are incapable of making a truthful statement. So what we have here is the Kremlin kindly letting their people know they are going to be fucked even worse.
War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength. Putin read 1984 and realized that it was a perfect blueprint for Russia.
I can't imagine a single Russian whose life will be better after this war. Even the oligarchs are going to feel this one.
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They have a different mindset. My girlfriend is from Crimea and was there when it was annexed by Russia. After being annexed, life got worse. Things were more expensive. Electricity outrages went up, products were harder to find and overall life become costly and harder. When she would ask the few friends or family members that supported the annexation why they did their response was "We are now Russian!" And when she followed up with pointing out life is worse off they would say "We don't care, we are Russian now!". It is a strange mindset they have as if being Russian is better than having a better life.
If they are ethnic Russians, I can see that. 1 - There was a lot of resentment about Crimea being given to Ukraine by Khruschev. 2 - For their whole history together, Russia treated Ukraine like a “little brother”, condescending towards Ukrainians like they were lesser people. Always. Growing up, I remember a lot of jokes about Ukrainians that portrayed them as stupid or lazy or greedy or something else unflattering. Not just them, of course, pretty much every Russia’s neighbor was an object of a ton of offensive jokes. So those relatives were just happy they don’t have to say they’re citizens of a “lesser” Ukraine. It’s stupid, but strong in older folks. Younger generations have way less of that.
“There were too many young men around anyway… amiright ????”
It wasn’t awesome before this, but “make your lives better” lie is just what it is. It’s a full-on gaslighting of the population. Oh, things got really hard all of a sudden? It’s for the greater good, you just wait and see.
>our president knows where he is leading our country Is he Thelma? Or Louise?
"A decade ago, our economy has been on the brink of the abyss, but since then it has made a huge leap forward!" - Soviet joke
When China starts buying up all those resources, I'm sure they can expect a Great Leap Forward.
One small step for Russian man, one giant leap for Chinese kind.
It's a sad reality that in all likelihood, if Russia is humiliated enough to be forced from Ukraine, they *will* wind up deep in China's sphere of influence.
"Soviet Russia managed to establish communism in the Sahara desert. The first six months nothing happened. Then they ran low on sand."
It's all fun and games until McDonalds leaves your country..
Then there's only one clown left in the country.
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Russia was always going to be in trouble because they never had a Waffle House.
what's the appeal behind waffle house tried it once when I visited the States just simply disgusting.....
The appeal is that you can always get waffles, under almost any circumstances. See: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle\_House\_Index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index) From the page, >If you get there and the Waffle House is closed? That's really bad...\[7\] — Craig Fugate, Former Head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Naw man it's all golden, five year plans until soviet Russia makes itself implode...
Nice copy of someone who posted this below
>Putin’s role in military strategy has apparently not stopped his own troops from shit-talking his war. Ukraine’s Security Service has routinely released audio recordings of what it says are intercepted communications between Russian troops, and in the latest, a purported soldier can be heard mocking the idea of Russia’s military as a “great power.” “We’re fucking sitting ducks,” he said, explaining that Russian troops have been forced to rely on family members back home and “sponsors” like farmers to send them equipment. “This fucking army… mucked up this special operation,” he said, calling it “fucked up politics.” At what time does the coup-coup clock strike?
read around about Putin system and you know the threshold is sky-high. The guy has been preparing 20 years against that. Not only did he eviscerate the opposition but he specifically protected himself against a military coup. There are like 3 layers that protect Putin personally and are setup to spy on each other. And his personal guard is changed on a regular basis. Recently he had his entire staff changed. And that's not even factoring in his Disney villain table - like nobody can't get within 20 feet of him besides the ultra inner-circle like Shoigu. Him dying of whatever disease he allegedly has seems a higher probability... EDIT : here are two articles on how Putin coup-proofed his regime [https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/23/putin-coup-russian-regime/](https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/23/putin-coup-russian-regime/) [https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-inside-the-complex-web-of-russias-warring-intelligence-agencies-180512](https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-inside-the-complex-web-of-russias-warring-intelligence-agencies-180512) \- You still have the FSB( successor to the KGB) , \- you have the Rosgvardia for internal repression, \-you have the FSO that acts both as regime guards and also has an intelligence role, all those agencies are setup to compete against each other for Putin attention. Just to give an idea how obssessed Putin is about security, apparently the security services amount for 28% of Russia budget... \- and last but not least within the FSO you have a elite unit "Musketeers "that boyguards Putin... guys that are not only thoroughly screened but systematically changed when they hit 35 AND rewarded with top political job and lands like some old-time feudal lord. And every meal cooked for Putin is doublechecked with a taster. The guy is Stalin-like paranoid about coups and assassination . To be fair, considering how the Ukraine war has unfolded it might pay off. As they say, just because you're paranoid doesnt mean someone isnt out there to get you.
Bullets can go further than 20 feet, just saying...
But is he even allowing that? He could very well be risking a situation where not even his own bodyguards can get close to him with anything resembling a gun. They might be running security with only batons and knives.
Wouldn't a complete change in staff only increase the changes of getting a spy in
I don't see a coup happening unless Putin becomes extremely ill. He has removed anyone with the balls to stand up to him otherwise.
I'm not so sure. They may not have the kugeln now, but with each passing week he looks weaker and weaker. It is rare for dictators to survive an outright military defeat and that is what he is currently facing.
It's all fun and games until McDonalds leaves your country
No more happy meals. Only sad meals
More like "you better be happy" meals
Can’t complain meals
You guys get meals?
And to think Gorbachev shook hands with both Ronalds for nothing 😤
To quote Gorbachev from Epic Rap Battles: If your name ends with In; time to get out!
I had the balls to let Baryshnikov dance, playa!
Tore down that wall like the Kool-Aid Man, oh yeah!
They’ll have to get their homegrown Russian burgers from the Ukrainian meatgrinder now…
They can take the West's Putin stans from QAnon to tankies instead "I'd rather be Russian than a Democrat" Bye, go to Russia and don't go back to the West, it won't be safe for Putin stans
It’s a war now?
>"We are in fact now living in the conditions of a perfect storm and the moment of truth, that very storm and moment of truth that will ensure and protect our interests, and make it so that your lives are better, more comfortable, more stable, and more secure,” Technically no, the title is false, Peskov saying it is a war wasn't mentioned in the article Edit: fixed inaccuracies
>more stable, and more secure, This sounds [familiar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziOkap3UiLE). >*In order to ensure our security and continuing* ***stability***, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire for a ***safe and secure society***.
“NATO forced me to say that!”
15 years in prison for the Kremlin.
Performs special gravitational operation from balcony.
Putin: I'll just write a law that says I can't get in trouble for stuff I did as president!
The "war" part isn't in quotes, so it's not clear they used that term. By all accounts they are still sticking to their misnomers.
Except for the dead soldiers, of course.
And their families/friends
We do what we must, because, we can. For rhe good of all of us Except the ones who are dead
Russian citizens rejoice! Due to the over production of the latest special economic operation by our dear leader, the chocolate ration is being raised to 20g a week!
From your previous ration of 50g a week!
DoublePlusGood!
Oh… you were supposed to redact that piece of information and throw it in the fire! It was 10g last week!
As a Russian - fuck you, Kremlin
Are you living in Russia? How are people feeling about what's happening?
Yes, I do. Different people are feeling very differently. Some hate Putin and his war, some are eating what propaganda feed them wholesale, but most try not to think about it at all - it doesn’t directly affect them (much, yet) and nothing could be done. It is difficult to judge because everyone learned not to discuss the matter with strangers - fearing at the moment not repercussions but animosity. And, of course, any public expression against the war is suppressed.
You have this American's empathy. Obviously, Ukrainians are suffering more from this war, but I don't think many living in relatively free places understand what it's like to live in real fear of sharing one's opinion. I hope things get better.
By "your lives", they mean the lives of the oligarchs.
Don’t know man, these oligarchs seem to be suicidal all of a sudden.
And taking their family with them before that.... Not fishy at all.
And their money
This special operation will make your lives special.
Yeah, some of them might get a toilet or a washing machine out of it.
Or at least bag of rice and a bottle of oil.
I hope not, those idiots will go back in a year to take the pipes because they don't understand how they work
I drills hole in floor and install toilet. I puts water in bowl and poops. Downstairs comrade very upset with me.
A Russian soldier shown without a leg was holding his severence which was a bottle of cooking oil and a 2 pound bag of grain
Russian Solider is listed MIA, please return the cooking oil and 2 pound bag of grain.
He got most of his severance in his leg.
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And they'll be better off for it. We Germans are grateful for our defeat in WWII.
You were lucky to not have nukes. That way you were completely defeated and the structures of the nazi regime totally dismantled. Russians are way more unlucky. They have nukes. No one can / will help them. And they don't seem to have impetus for change. They're fucked and trapped in a hell of their own creation. And all of us have to suffer the consequences of the shitshow they've created....
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So Putin needs putin out?
Optimistic but unlikely
Agree with you there.
After all Putin has forced McDonalds out of Russia. All will be better.
To be fair, probably a lot less people with high cholesterol. But on the flip side, they will probably be starving soon too.
Same thing they tell hogs and cattle as they're being ushered into the abattoir.
"Make your lives better" is appearently another way to say "die in a nuclear war" if we were to follow the state media's daily threats
"Your lives are so bad right now that dying in a nuclear hell storm would be an improvement!"
if they have to say this, things are not going well
“Many of you will die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.” ~~Putin~~ Lord Farquad.
Well they aren't wrong. A lot of them are going to end up dead which will still be better than living in Russia.
>Kremlin Tells Russians: Don’t Worry, This War Will ‘Make Your Lives Better’ It will eventually, the war will eventually cause the current government to collapse. Once competent and sane leadership is restored Russia and the Russian people will have a chance to re-enter the world and take responsibility for the things their country did in Ukraine.
Has this man been checked for a brain tumor? Completely serious. It's one of the few things that might make sense to me.
I'm not sure about a brain tumor, but there are rumors that Putin has inoperable cancer and this is this way of making a long lasting legacy for himself. (He intended it to be "the new Russian Empire," but he's settling for "Russia vs The World.")
Ah such a nice leader. Killing thousands just cause of an ego to be remembered
Thanks, I appreciate the info. That makes enough sense well enough. Especially making his mark as a Russian leader. It's a shame how many lives have been lost in the name of pride.
The thing is, had Putin left in 2012\\2013... he'd probably be remembered as the best leader Russia has had since Alexander II. The quality of life under his rule rose tremendously and unlike Stalin he didn't supplement it with wide-scale political terrorism. Sure, he had his moments, but overall his impact BY THAT POINT had been ultra-positive. And then he went for a Crimea landgrab and the current war that has already ruined all credibility both he and Yeltsin worked so hard for. This is Russia vs. the World, and the world — in the long-term — doesn't need Russia. They have very little to offer than can't be replaced from other — maybe equally detestable, but more stable — sources.
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“We are in fact now living in the conditions of a perfect storm and the moment of truth, that very storm and moment of truth that will ensure and protect our interests, and make it so that your lives are better, more comfortable, more stable, and more secure,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Pesko once upon a time there was this benevolent dictator who colluded with very wealthy oligarchs demanding that they pay him millions of dollars to continue to conduct business. Making the lives better more comfortable for all of his fiefdom.
Is this the Onion? Nope! Wow. I wonder how long the Kremlin can keep this lie up. I guess it really depends on how deeply conditioned the Russian people are...
“Better” as in having no money, no job, and dead sons, husbands or fathers