I guess the question comes down to who is responsible for one's own sanity. The individual, the community, or the state? Anyways, I would argue that attributing

I guess the question comes down to who is responsible for one's own sanity. The individual, the community, or the state? Anyways, I would argue that attributing Putin's popularity to brainwashing is not that solid of a theory. Perhaps Putin is popular because Russians want a strong leader in the wake of previous leader who were seen as weak. We can't know without better introspection and data to ground the discussion.