5 ms·

a soviet is not a russian the modern russian has traits of a soviet but is a different person plus the actions of a country’s leaders do not represent the ent

a soviet is not a russian the modern russian has traits of a soviet but is a different person plus the actions of a country’s leaders do not represent the entire will of the people

trhway 5y ago
>plus the actions of a country’s leaders do not represent the entire will of the people and what is the will of the Russian people?
- diegoperini 5y ago
  A more accurate question would be "what are the wills of the Russian people?".
- _8j50 5y ago
  Who knows without fair elections. Every opposition to putin is killed or imprisoned.
- agumonkey 5y ago
  In all honesty it's a fuzzy topic. A human, when basic needs are at play, has no independent will anymore. Putin has his hand on the country, as long as he can make people believe he is the only solution to their prosperity.. their will will align with that. That's partly how he maintained his position it seems.
- torginus 5y ago
  Probably the same as all people - to live in health, peace and prosperity.
sebow 5y ago
Definitely, but there still exist such "homo sovieticus" in other ex-USSR countries(Belarus,Ukraine,Transnistria,even Moldova --all decreasingly though--).You also see this kind of mentality even in some western countries, but I'll stop here since we're getting into touchy politics. What's kind of funny is that long time ago Putin 'wanted' to distance himself from communism in order to not lose public support,though he always wanted to serve his own interests by carefully choosing his words, compared to someone like Yeltsin who arguably had more attempts at a more 'democratic' approach.
- throwaway98797 5y ago
  i find the people who left the Soviet Union the longest ago are more soviet than the Russians that remain. When you immigrate you hang tightly to “your” culture it freezes you. sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s bad. said another way, your identity is fixed on point of immigration while those living in the country have a chance to evolve.
kreetx 5y ago
As far as I can tell, many countries with significant Russian populations have done really well in making the difference between Russian government and the Russian people, and how the war in Ukraine is a war of the former. Not to say that the support from the population within Russian Federation is small, but clearly there is a significant amount having doubts as to why. One can also see this manifest in how slow the advances have been thus far and how the morale in Russian forces appears to be low.
ukraineally 5y ago
>plus the actions of a country’s leaders do not represent the entire will of the people If the Russian people don't agree with war. They would show up in the capitals and shut down the country until this problem is resolved. If they do not, then your claim that Putin doesn't represent the entire will of the people is wrong. The subsequent poverty and isolation the Russian people are about to go through will mean the Russian people have all the reasons in the world to oppose the government. If they don't, then it just proves how much they support Putin.
- ithkuil 5y ago
  > If the Russian people don't agree with war. They would show up in the capitals and shut down the country until this problem is resolved After watching a video where Sergey Naryshkin, the director of russian foreign intelligence service, was visibly stuttering trying to find the right words to answer a simple question by Putin, hoping for his dear life that he didn't say something wrong, well, I'm not quite sure a reasonable person who cares about the life of their loved ones is going to risk it all. There wouldn't be dictators if it was easy to go to the streets and take it back.
  - ukraineally 5y ago
    >After watching a video where Sergey Naryshkin, the director of russian foreign intelligence service, was visibly stuttering trying to find the right words to answer a simple question by Putin, hoping for his dear life that he didn't say something wrong, well, I'm not quite sure a reasonable person who cares about the life of their loved ones is going to risk it all. There wouldn't be dictators if it was easy to go to the streets and take it back. Yes I saw the same video. Putin surrounded himself with yesmen and propaganda. He most likely misled himself. Also yes, it takes a strong people to stand up to their government. We saw many people in the middle east topple their governments during the arab spring. Do you think the Russian people are strong enough to do the same? Idont.
    - ithkuil 5y ago
      > Putin surrounded himself with yesmen and propaganda. He most likely misled himself. true. but it's also sending a message to his people "I can do whatever I want, look how afraid they are of me"
azangru 5y ago
> the modern russian has traits of a soviet but is a different person Is this even a meaningful statement? If you took a Soviet professor of physics in a big Moscow university and a Soviet grocery shop cashier in a small Russian town, would you find common traits among them that would at the same time set them apart from a professor of physics in a Finnish university or a Chinese shop assistant?

a soviet is not a russian the modern russian has traits of a soviet but is a different person plus the actions of a country’s leaders do not represent the entire will of the people

trhway 5y ago

>plus the actions of a country’s leaders do not represent the entire will of the people and what is the will of the Russian people?

diegoperini 5y ago
A more accurate question would be "what are the wills of the Russian people?".
_8j50 5y ago
Who knows without fair elections. Every opposition to putin is killed or imprisoned.
agumonkey 5y ago
In all honesty it's a fuzzy topic. A human, when basic needs are at play, has no independent will anymore. Putin has his hand on the country, as long as he can make people believe he is the only solution to their prosperity.. their will will align with that. That's partly how he maintained his position it seems.
torginus 5y ago
Probably the same as all people - to live in health, peace and prosperity.

sebow 5y ago

Definitely, but there still exist such "homo sovieticus" in other ex-USSR countries(Belarus,Ukraine,Transnistria,even Moldova --all decreasingly though--).You also see this kind of mentality even in some western countries, but I'll stop here since we're getting into touchy politics. What's kind of funny is that long time ago Putin 'wanted' to distance himself from communism in order to not lose public support,though he always wanted to serve his own interests by carefully choosing his words, compared to someone like Yeltsin who arguably had more attempts at a more 'democratic' approach.

throwaway98797 5y ago
i find the people who left the Soviet Union the longest ago are more soviet than the Russians that remain. When you immigrate you hang tightly to “your” culture it freezes you. sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s bad. said another way, your identity is fixed on point of immigration while those living in the country have a chance to evolve.

kreetx 5y ago

As far as I can tell, many countries with significant Russian populations have done really well in making the difference between Russian government and the Russian people, and how the war in Ukraine is a war of the former. Not to say that the support from the population within Russian Federation is small, but clearly there is a significant amount having doubts as to why. One can also see this manifest in how slow the advances have been thus far and how the morale in Russian forces appears to be low.

ukraineally 5y ago

>plus the actions of a country’s leaders do not represent the entire will of the people If the Russian people don't agree with war. They would show up in the capitals and shut down the country until this problem is resolved. If they do not, then your claim that Putin doesn't represent the entire will of the people is wrong. The subsequent poverty and isolation the Russian people are about to go through will mean the Russian people have all the reasons in the world to oppose the government. If they don't, then it just proves how much they support Putin.

ithkuil 5y ago
> If the Russian people don't agree with war. They would show up in the capitals and shut down the country until this problem is resolved After watching a video where Sergey Naryshkin, the director of russian foreign intelligence service, was visibly stuttering trying to find the right words to answer a simple question by Putin, hoping for his dear life that he didn't say something wrong, well, I'm not quite sure a reasonable person who cares about the life of their loved ones is going to risk it all. There wouldn't be dictators if it was easy to go to the streets and take it back.
- ukraineally 5y ago
  >After watching a video where Sergey Naryshkin, the director of russian foreign intelligence service, was visibly stuttering trying to find the right words to answer a simple question by Putin, hoping for his dear life that he didn't say something wrong, well, I'm not quite sure a reasonable person who cares about the life of their loved ones is going to risk it all. There wouldn't be dictators if it was easy to go to the streets and take it back. Yes I saw the same video. Putin surrounded himself with yesmen and propaganda. He most likely misled himself. Also yes, it takes a strong people to stand up to their government. We saw many people in the middle east topple their governments during the arab spring. Do you think the Russian people are strong enough to do the same? Idont.
  - ithkuil 5y ago
    > Putin surrounded himself with yesmen and propaganda. He most likely misled himself. true. but it's also sending a message to his people "I can do whatever I want, look how afraid they are of me"

azangru 5y ago

> the modern russian has traits of a soviet but is a different person Is this even a meaningful statement? If you took a Soviet professor of physics in a big Moscow university and a Soviet grocery shop cashier in a small Russian town, would you find common traits among them that would at the same time set them apart from a professor of physics in a Finnish university or a Chinese shop assistant?