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"but for Russia, it's a good thing." Are you sure? Haven't the resulting sanctions damaged Russia's economic growth and increased prices for consumers? I can

• puranjay 7y ago
  You have to understand that democracy, even the idea of it, is not native at all to Russians. I was there earlier in June. What struck me the most was how much reverence the Russians still have for all their erstwhile Soviet era dictators (Lenin and Stalin in particular). The former Tsars are particularly venerated. The Russian people called Tsar Nicholas "little father". The assassination was an anomaly; the revolutionaries had to work very hard to hide the bodies because they feared the people would start worshipping the dead Tsars (which is exactly what's happening today). Even with religion, 70 years of Soviet oppression and Russia is now as religious as ever. So when you criticize Putin for crushing dissent, you have to understand that what might be oppression to us is perfectly normal for Russian people. At this point, I have to ask: why do we assume that we know what's better for Russians (or any other nationality) than the Russians themselves?