4 ms·

Based on the fact that he said the sanctions are “an act of war”, I presume he’s feeling some pain from them.

stavros 5y ago
Let's hope so, though for that particular statement I'm not ruling out just him being belligerent.
hbosch 5y ago
I don’t know. Maybe it’s conspiracy minded, but in my opinion Putin will publicly pretend to be hurt by the sanctions (and acknowledge the depressed ruble and so on) as a so-called “act of war” so that the world can hear him acknowledging NATO countries as “doing something.” This serves many ways: Putin projects as vulnerable, sanctions are optically seen as successful measures, NATO countries get to say they’re helping, and all the way Russia gets to keep bombarding Ukraine… I’m inclined to believe the former opinion that gas price hikes ultimately affect the average person and elite persons need not care. Putin and his inner circle operate at a level of power that is above even money. To an oligarch money is a toy thing, the power they have is above any short term economic concern. I’m reminded of that old Weibo thread of Chinese people posting symbols of their wealth, one upping each other over and over, until the ultimate show of “wealth” was posted as being an invite to a dinner with the president (or something like that) which not even billionaires have access to. All this to say that theatre and public relations is a major tool of war and power, as much as soldiers and bombs.
- CuriouslyC 5y ago
  When the average Russian on the street has had enough, Putin's time will be over. He doesn't have the rapidly increasing standard of living that China has to cover his sins, he just has the threat of violence to scare people, which will stop working when their lives are so shit that they don't care anymore. If he doubles down on violence, the government under him will unravel as the good (or at least not evil) people stop obeying his orders. That will lead to mob justice unrestrained by the disillusioned Russians tasked with enforcing Putin's will.
  - ARandomerDude 5y ago
    Death threats kept impoverished Soviet citizens subdued for 70 years. Sadly, fear can be a very effective tool for tyranny.
    - rad_gruchalski 5y ago
      The difference is that many of those Russians have seen the world outside and now know it can be different. It’s not 1950’s anymore.
    - Retric 5y ago
      Less than 70 years after the last revolution. The USSR was extremely politically significant, but really didn’t last very long.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- jjeaff 5y ago
  As far as Russian oligarchs go, without their money, their power does not extend outside of Russia. Which leaves them limited to a rather poor country with the gdp of Italy.
zapataband1 5y ago
Putin lives in a palace and no one even knows how rich him and his thug friends actually are. They don't like the sanctions but I doubt he's 'feeling pain' whilst sending people's kids to war from his personal hockey rink. We simply live in a different reality than the rich, money is nothing to them. I work at a startup and am constantly astounded that our rich investors will write up another 200k check without more than a 5 minute conversation.
- tartoran 5y ago
  There’s no shortage of sushi Putin has on his dinner table. However, his chair started tilting a bit. His control is still above 90 degrees but that angle could take a sudden 180 turn. If he’s confident he’s most likely bluffing. If he’s scared i’d fear him more
  - zapataband1 5y ago
    Both solid points, but imo maybe that's more of a reason to approach the situation russia with more diplomacy than our current "leaders' are rather than force more sanctions and escalate the situation quickly. Some senators are openly calling for assassination.
  - rad_gruchalski 5y ago
    If he was confident he wouldn’t be isolating the country.

Let's hope so, though for that particular statement I'm not ruling out just him being belligerent.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s conspiracy minded, but in my opinion Putin will publicly pretend to be hurt by the sanctions (and acknowledge the depressed ruble and so on) as a so-called “act of war” so that the world can hear him acknowledging NATO countries as “doing something.” This serves many ways: Putin projects as vulnerable, sanctions are optically seen as successful measures, NATO countries get to say they’re helping, and all the way Russia gets to keep bombarding Ukraine… I’m inclined to believe the former opinion that gas price hikes ultimately affect the average person and elite persons need not care. Putin and his inner circle operate at a level of power that is above even money. To an oligarch money is a toy thing, the power they have is above any short term economic concern. I’m reminded of that old Weibo thread of Chinese people posting symbols of their wealth, one upping each other over and over, until the ultimate show of “wealth” was posted as being an invite to a dinner with the president (or something like that) which not even billionaires have access to. All this to say that theatre and public relations is a major tool of war and power, as much as soldiers and bombs.

CuriouslyC 5y ago
When the average Russian on the street has had enough, Putin's time will be over. He doesn't have the rapidly increasing standard of living that China has to cover his sins, he just has the threat of violence to scare people, which will stop working when their lives are so shit that they don't care anymore. If he doubles down on violence, the government under him will unravel as the good (or at least not evil) people stop obeying his orders. That will lead to mob justice unrestrained by the disillusioned Russians tasked with enforcing Putin's will.
- ARandomerDude 5y ago
  Death threats kept impoverished Soviet citizens subdued for 70 years. Sadly, fear can be a very effective tool for tyranny.
  - rad_gruchalski 5y ago
    The difference is that many of those Russians have seen the world outside and now know it can be different. It’s not 1950’s anymore.
  - Retric 5y ago
    Less than 70 years after the last revolution. The USSR was extremely politically significant, but really didn’t last very long.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
jjeaff 5y ago
As far as Russian oligarchs go, without their money, their power does not extend outside of Russia. Which leaves them limited to a rather poor country with the gdp of Italy.

zapataband1 5y ago

Putin lives in a palace and no one even knows how rich him and his thug friends actually are. They don't like the sanctions but I doubt he's 'feeling pain' whilst sending people's kids to war from his personal hockey rink. We simply live in a different reality than the rich, money is nothing to them. I work at a startup and am constantly astounded that our rich investors will write up another 200k check without more than a 5 minute conversation.

tartoran 5y ago
There’s no shortage of sushi Putin has on his dinner table. However, his chair started tilting a bit. His control is still above 90 degrees but that angle could take a sudden 180 turn. If he’s confident he’s most likely bluffing. If he’s scared i’d fear him more
- zapataband1 5y ago
  Both solid points, but imo maybe that's more of a reason to approach the situation russia with more diplomacy than our current "leaders' are rather than force more sanctions and escalate the situation quickly. Some senators are openly calling for assassination.
- rad_gruchalski 5y ago
  If he was confident he wouldn’t be isolating the country.