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Stay strong, hopefully, Russia will collapse and you'll be free - I may be naive but I still think there are enough Russians who can see this tragedy as the doi

Stay strong, hopefully, Russia will collapse and you'll be free - I may be naive but I still think there are enough Russians who can see this tragedy as the doing of a man who wants to continue to live the life of a king, and it's probably his only way of survival after so many murdering and prosecution.

srackey 3y ago
[flagged]
- kevin_thibedeau 3y ago
  They're all spoonfed a propaganda stream that makes the czar look like a nice guy trying his best to protect the motherland.
- pohl 3y ago
  That's kind of what being bathed in a constant firehose of disinformation does to public opinion, though, right? Most of those people aren't even living on earth one.
  - Ray20 3y ago
    That's kind of what ten years in the gulag for a wrong opinion do to public opinion.
- Agoreddah 3y ago
  There were many dictators with high popularity rates. Remember Romanian leader Ceaușescu? Yet, popularity didn't save him. On the other hand, there're still people in Romania who consider him the greatest president of all time :) It's very common and normal, to have a small popularity numbers for the politicians in the democracy. People have a variety of opinions, moods, or sympathies because they are diverse and have different levels of experiences, moods, and feelings.
  - citrin_ru 3y ago
    Was it popular? While a dictator is in power most people show they support for self preservation and once the dictator is dead / in exile there no skin in the game.
- libertine 3y ago
  > You do realize Putin has a significantly higher approval rating among Russians than Biden, Trump, or Congress has among Americans, yes? I'm not going to waste time arguing about fantasy. If you want to have a discussion grounded in reality, I'm up for it. With that said, that statement you made you have in no way shape or form to support it - not about Biden, Trump or Congress, but about Putin. You have no idea how a country feels under the foot of a dictator that has been murdering, arresting, or crippling any voice that is against Putin. Not to mention the millions of Russians that left the country, and are now not even allowed to vote in their embassies! > This is with independent polling as well How can you have independent polling in a country that has political prosecution? How can you have any semblance of independence when Moscow actively makes an effort to wipe out cultural landmarks, including the language, of the different people who live in Russia? Moscow has used genocide as a tool to control people, they used it in the past and are currently using it in Ukraine. Did you know that you have thousands protesting in Russia as we speak, and people are being arrested for it: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-police-make-arrests-protest-moves-regional-capital-2024-01-19/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-police-make-arr...
  - WhatsTheBigIdea 3y ago
    "Independent Polling" of people living under a repressive regime appears to be 100% impossible to me. Yet the idea that such a thing exists seems widespread? Can anyone here explain how independent polling under a repressive regime can be accomplished? Please educate me/us!
    - libertine 3y ago
      > "Independent Polling" of people living under a repressive regime appears to be 100% impossible to me. In Russia, it seems to be promoted a culture of ratting those who are against the government, which is also very common in these regimes - and that has a very deep scarring in societies that go over it. I'm from Portugal and to this day there's still a cultural undertone of not ratting anyone to authorities, even if it is something that's hurting you or everyone, all because of the disgust and hate towards those who ratted people to the government police. During our dictatorships, there were also the same theatrical displays of polling, voting, having opposing candidates approved by the state, etc. Salazar was always the man of course. It's impressive that Russia still hasn't had its societal reform away from dictatorships in the XXI century. Sadly we're now paying the consequences of it, but it might be closer than we think!
- snakeyjake 3y ago
  Oh boy you should see Kim Jung Un's approval rating!
- d3vmax 3y ago
  [flagged]
koreanguy 3y ago
[dead]
waihtis 3y ago
[flagged]
- libertine 3y ago
  The old soviet joke about Russia: “The future is certain; it is only the past that is unpredictable”
- Wytwwww 3y ago
  > close to five hundred years To be fair what we consider to be "western democracy style" didn't really exist prior to the late 1800s. Even Britain only started resembling a democratic state in the 1830s.
Georgelemental 3y ago
I'm not sure a collapse of Russia would be good for GP. Living under an oppressive regime is not fun, but Putin's Russia isn't that bad as dictatorships go, and anarchy/societal collapse aren't fun either.
- Const-me 3y ago
  GP won’t suffer from anarchy or societal collapse. According to internationally recognized state borders, they live in Ukraine, not in Russia. Russians have lost approximately half of the land they have occupied in the first 3 months of the full-scale war. We have repeatedly observed that Ukrainian government is willing and capable of bringing law and order to these liberated territories.
  - Georgelemental 3y ago
    I know someone who has spent a lot of time working in Ukraine, and has acquaintances there they keep in touch with. Their description of the situation is not nearly as rosy as yours. The war (which, for the Donbass, started in 2014) has devastated an immense amount of territory. Ukraine had Europe's lowest fertility rate even before the war, and now millions of working-age men are dead, wounded our have left the country, which makes prospects of a quick recovery slim. Also, Ukraine's government is extremely corrupt, and while less autocratic than Russia it is very far from a model democracy (was even before the war, and war tends to make countries more corrupt and authoritarian). The best thing for GP to hope for would likely be peace, as soon as possible, and which side of the armistice line they fall on won't make much difference for them.
    - Const-me 3y ago
      > not nearly as rosy as yours Ukraine is at war, nothing rosy about that. Still, living conditions of people north of Kyiv, north of Kharkiv, or in Kherson is dramatically better than GP’s situation. Note GP can’t even freely talk to English-speaking strangers here on HN because they fear the consequences from the Russian invaders who call themselves “government”. GP has very good reasons for that fear. Russians are doing horrible things to Ukrainians on the occupied territories, for example https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/torture-chambers-ukraines-kherson-financed-by-russian-state-investigators-2023-03-02/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/torture-chambers-ukrain...

srackey 3y ago

[flagged]

kevin_thibedeau 3y ago
They're all spoonfed a propaganda stream that makes the czar look like a nice guy trying his best to protect the motherland.
pohl 3y ago
That's kind of what being bathed in a constant firehose of disinformation does to public opinion, though, right? Most of those people aren't even living on earth one.
- Ray20 3y ago
  That's kind of what ten years in the gulag for a wrong opinion do to public opinion.
Agoreddah 3y ago
There were many dictators with high popularity rates. Remember Romanian leader Ceaușescu? Yet, popularity didn't save him. On the other hand, there're still people in Romania who consider him the greatest president of all time :) It's very common and normal, to have a small popularity numbers for the politicians in the democracy. People have a variety of opinions, moods, or sympathies because they are diverse and have different levels of experiences, moods, and feelings.
- citrin_ru 3y ago
  Was it popular? While a dictator is in power most people show they support for self preservation and once the dictator is dead / in exile there no skin in the game.
libertine 3y ago
> You do realize Putin has a significantly higher approval rating among Russians than Biden, Trump, or Congress has among Americans, yes? I'm not going to waste time arguing about fantasy. If you want to have a discussion grounded in reality, I'm up for it. With that said, that statement you made you have in no way shape or form to support it - not about Biden, Trump or Congress, but about Putin. You have no idea how a country feels under the foot of a dictator that has been murdering, arresting, or crippling any voice that is against Putin. Not to mention the millions of Russians that left the country, and are now not even allowed to vote in their embassies! > This is with independent polling as well How can you have independent polling in a country that has political prosecution? How can you have any semblance of independence when Moscow actively makes an effort to wipe out cultural landmarks, including the language, of the different people who live in Russia? Moscow has used genocide as a tool to control people, they used it in the past and are currently using it in Ukraine. Did you know that you have thousands protesting in Russia as we speak, and people are being arrested for it: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-police-make-arrests-protest-moves-regional-capital-2024-01-19/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-police-make-arr...
- WhatsTheBigIdea 3y ago
  "Independent Polling" of people living under a repressive regime appears to be 100% impossible to me. Yet the idea that such a thing exists seems widespread? Can anyone here explain how independent polling under a repressive regime can be accomplished? Please educate me/us!
  - libertine 3y ago
    > "Independent Polling" of people living under a repressive regime appears to be 100% impossible to me. In Russia, it seems to be promoted a culture of ratting those who are against the government, which is also very common in these regimes - and that has a very deep scarring in societies that go over it. I'm from Portugal and to this day there's still a cultural undertone of not ratting anyone to authorities, even if it is something that's hurting you or everyone, all because of the disgust and hate towards those who ratted people to the government police. During our dictatorships, there were also the same theatrical displays of polling, voting, having opposing candidates approved by the state, etc. Salazar was always the man of course. It's impressive that Russia still hasn't had its societal reform away from dictatorships in the XXI century. Sadly we're now paying the consequences of it, but it might be closer than we think!
snakeyjake 3y ago
Oh boy you should see Kim Jung Un's approval rating!
d3vmax 3y ago
[flagged]

koreanguy 3y ago

[dead]

waihtis 3y ago

[flagged]

libertine 3y ago
The old soviet joke about Russia: “The future is certain; it is only the past that is unpredictable”
Wytwwww 3y ago
> close to five hundred years To be fair what we consider to be "western democracy style" didn't really exist prior to the late 1800s. Even Britain only started resembling a democratic state in the 1830s.

Georgelemental 3y ago

I'm not sure a collapse of Russia would be good for GP. Living under an oppressive regime is not fun, but Putin's Russia isn't that bad as dictatorships go, and anarchy/societal collapse aren't fun either.

Const-me 3y ago
GP won’t suffer from anarchy or societal collapse. According to internationally recognized state borders, they live in Ukraine, not in Russia. Russians have lost approximately half of the land they have occupied in the first 3 months of the full-scale war. We have repeatedly observed that Ukrainian government is willing and capable of bringing law and order to these liberated territories.
- Georgelemental 3y ago
  I know someone who has spent a lot of time working in Ukraine, and has acquaintances there they keep in touch with. Their description of the situation is not nearly as rosy as yours. The war (which, for the Donbass, started in 2014) has devastated an immense amount of territory. Ukraine had Europe's lowest fertility rate even before the war, and now millions of working-age men are dead, wounded our have left the country, which makes prospects of a quick recovery slim. Also, Ukraine's government is extremely corrupt, and while less autocratic than Russia it is very far from a model democracy (was even before the war, and war tends to make countries more corrupt and authoritarian). The best thing for GP to hope for would likely be peace, as soon as possible, and which side of the armistice line they fall on won't make much difference for them.
  - Const-me 3y ago
    > not nearly as rosy as yours Ukraine is at war, nothing rosy about that. Still, living conditions of people north of Kyiv, north of Kharkiv, or in Kherson is dramatically better than GP’s situation. Note GP can’t even freely talk to English-speaking strangers here on HN because they fear the consequences from the Russian invaders who call themselves “government”. GP has very good reasons for that fear. Russians are doing horrible things to Ukrainians on the occupied territories, for example https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/torture-chambers-ukraines-kherson-financed-by-russian-state-investigators-2023-03-02/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/torture-chambers-ukrain...