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So, for you, Putin was a kinda-benevolent dictator until 2022? Did you miss a bunch of news?

• nine_k 2y ago
  He tried hard to make an impression. Look, the prosperity grows, "Russia is rising from its knees", or what was the slogan by then. A political assassination here and there? Well, these were the enemies of the prosperity and order. Large demonstrations against his rule? They came, they went, nobody even got shot. "Re-election" for the third, fourth, fifth, whatever next presidential term? Well, everyone just somehow acquiesced to the notion that the "controlled democracy" is a game, the price of the "white glove" dictatorship; who did not, left the country. It looked sort of "benevolent", even though the rot under the surface was exposed time and again, with murders, multiple attacks on neighboring countries, and eventually a large-scale war in Europe. Those who think that Chairman Xi is benevolent and is doing good for China with his long-term wise planning may be up for a very rude awakening. They prefer to somehow push away from their picture of China things like people disappearing, businesses crushed, political commissars at every large business, the whole Xinjiang thing, and the battle dances around Taiwan. When they realize that these are integral parts of the "benevolence", and have been all along, it may be a bit late.