Russia is Completely Depoliticized. Thanks to Ann Althouse for the heads up
The dominant attitude is to preserve your everyday life. A Russian citizen might say, “What am I supposed to do?” It’s impossible to imagine what would be the response to that. And of course, the government gives them the story line and the talking points to reject it, and they’re willing to believe it, not because they believe the propaganda — Russians don’t believe anything and anyone — but because it reconciles them with the reality that helps you protect your everyday life. I haven’t seen anyone so far saying, “I was kind of supporting this war, but now there’s just too much.”
12 comments:
So how is that different from a western citizen who can't express their frustration on social media? Here in NZ you get blasted on Facebook for criticism of our saintly PM, Jacinda Adern.
Seems to be the same where you are, FJB is Obama resurrected
You can get sanctioned here, but at least not disappeared. In my own career I got some ostracism and occasionally brought to a supervisor's office to be told not to be political, even though my politics were always in response to someone else's politics being foisted on us - just not called that. Putin has had 47 journalists killed, at last count. What will happen going forward is not known of course.
Yeah its more difficult for the Russians, as their population does not believe. Much easier for the west as they can indoctrinate their populations quite easily.
Yes, that's what any rational observer would conclude, that a completely unreliable and government-supervised press is good for the free thought of its populace, because they at least aren't like the West, where everyone believes the same thing and never has any conflict about it. That was my first thought, too.
It has become fairly obvious that a democracy is one of the best ways to control people. You just feed your population lies, owning all the media helps here, and keep them dumb, easy in America, and Bob's your uncle.
I'm sure some of the smarter authoritarian rulers are jealous. ;)
The people who have lived under both systems disagree with you.
Here's a tip you can use on other sites: When people use the word "obvious," it turns out to mean "I don't have any evidence for this, but I want it to be true." You aren't the first to try that trick.
Well its obvious to me, but knowing many would not think so, I said 'fairly obvious'.
Here is a 4-part essay about Russia/Ukraine by a guy who grew up in Russia but now lives in Colorado, where he works as an investment manager. Thoughtful and deeply-felt, strongly recommended. Registration required but Vitaliy doesn't flood you with emails.
https://contrarianedge.com/
Very good articles, David, especially about the influence of the Russian news.
I especially liked his Truman Show analogy...we have that in America, too, but here it's a lot easier for people to live the set and see what the world is really like...a lot of folks find that to be too much trouble, though.
I had a back-and-forth over at Maggie's Farm today with someone who was determined that their narrative - their feelz, really - was what reality had to conform to, evidence be damned. It's common in all places. People live by narrative and anecdote. In Russia and China that is constricted because you can end up dead, and that's always in the background. Also, not a lot else is available.
It's such a weird argument, to find a faint flaw in one's own system and conclude that that means one's own system is no better than a horrifying totalitarian murder-fest--because they're roughly the same, see, each being something less than perfect, so who's quibbling? Straight up black-and-white rigid thinking. Saves a lot of pesky discernment, though, and it's true that it's a helpful guide to avoiding too much thoughtless pride. Because it's literally true, "obviously," that none of us is perfect, and that it's easier to see the others' faults than our own.
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