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Tell HN: If You Are in Russia

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Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia

#561

Post by Cthulhu_ »

jd115 wrote: post #259

Here's my take on this, which you are not going to like one bit. It goes like this... The good people of Russia - and I'm not saying this with a tongue in cheek - the vast majority of the people of Russia truly are GOOD people, in the simplest, most sincere sense of the word... But they do need to go through some things. You just don't get to support a murderous communist regime for 100 years and then say "but we had…

Who says they supported it? What can "the people" do if elections are fraudulent, constitutions are changed, and any protests are beaten down by police? How many people have been arrested and disappeared for protesting against the invasion?

I mean, even in the US protesters managed to break into Congress, some with the intent to kill. If they were armed things would look very different now. What would have happened if Trump - who looks up to Putin - did things like declare martial law or change the constitution? It would have been possible; he put a new supreme judge in place, and 'his' party held a majority in the various houses. But that assumes a democratic process; if he had more cronies, he wouldn't need to follow a democratic process to become a dictator, only the pretense thereof.

Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia

#562

Post by watwut »

Hard_Space wrote: post #519

It's a bit alarming that some HN posters are saying that Ukraine never applied to join NATO. That they did is the central seed of the John Mearsheimer lecture 'Why is Ukraine the West's Fault?' [1], which got about another 2m views in the last 48 hours. Mearsheimer provides a direct quote demonstrating NATO's resolve to eventually incorporate Ukraine, which was pledged at the Bucharest 2008 summit. Bush was also push…

Basically, it is American duty to make it possible and easy for Russia to take Ukraine. First by making vague promisses of help to make them give up nuclear arsenal in nineties, then by making sure they are cant join nato and third by making sure they are demilitarized.

Yes, if America did the above, Russia would not had to do actual full on war in there. They would be able to just take it.

Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia

#563

Post by CalRobert »

wnkrshm wrote: post #400
squarefoot wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chechnya war also was very close and nobody cared since they were mostly Islamic, and the war in the former Yugoslavia happened just in the middle of Europe, but apparently many have already lost memory of it despite the atrocities committed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre

I've been reading up on the history of the Bosnian genocide, I should probably also read up on Czechnya. I really hope that Ukraine won't go down like Czechnya but I fear in the end, Putin only knows one trick.

At least he didn't blow up apartment buildings in Russia and blame it on Ukraine.

Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia

#564

Post by rob74 »

Moru wrote: post #518
sakopov wrote: post #472

The reason Russia has elevated tyrants to power for centuries is deep-rooted in Russian soul to the point where it's not even a problem. It's something that is inexplicably difficult to understand unless you actually experience the culture for a good portion of your life. There is a lot of literature out there about the "Russian Soul" and I really recommend reading it to understand how this happens. In my opinion it'…

If there is something left to take over. I'm affraid the young will leave russia and start a new life somewhere safe and sane. Russia is more similar to China, North Korea and some middle east areas than the west.

except China is not subject to the "brain drain" you are describing and is actually economically successful. When it comes to which regime is more repressive, I agree the difference is only in effectivity - the scale of China's oppression/brainwashing/ethnic cleansing operation in Xinjiang is really scary, I don't think Russia would be capable of organising (or financing) something like this...

Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia

#565

Post by dingoegret12 »

sakopov wrote: post #472

The reason Russia has elevated tyrants to power for centuries is deep-rooted in Russian soul to the point where it's not even a problem. It's something that is inexplicably difficult to understand unless you actually experience the culture for a good portion of your life. There is a lot of literature out there about the "Russian Soul" and I really recommend reading it to understand how this happens. In my opinion it'…

This type of psychoanalysis propaganda never ceases to amaze me. Reminds me of "The Arab mind".

Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia

#566

Post by TheRealNGenius »

blablablub wrote: post #269

What are the possibilities for an average russian citizen to leave russia and start over somewhere in the west? How about visas? Does anyone know?

Hey there, I know there are a lot of negative responses to this inquiry in the comments. I'm no expert, but I do genuinely believe that if there is a will, there is a way. I have several elder family members who chose to flee their country and become refugees in the 80's. Eventually, they found their way to the west. For anyone considering starting over elsewhere in another country, do your research, know the risks, and consider the consequences if you truly believe this is what you want.

Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia

#567

Post by CyberSimon »

Are any countries accepting refuges from Russia that seek asylum? I know some Russians that are wholly against their Government's actions. I hope some provisions are being made to allow those who wish escape to do so...

Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia

#568

Post by jonathanstrange »

sakopov wrote: post #472

The reason Russia has elevated tyrants to power for centuries is deep-rooted in Russian soul to the point where it's not even a problem. It's something that is inexplicably difficult to understand unless you actually experience the culture for a good portion of your life. There is a lot of literature out there about the "Russian Soul" and I really recommend reading it to understand how this happens. In my opinion it'…

I'm not convinced, this sounds like mystical bullshit to me. There is no such thing as a "Russian soul", just like Frenchmen do not always walk around with a baguette under their arm. Russia (i) hasn't really been democratic yet for historical reasons, and the current regime does everything to make it stay that way, so many people have given up on change in that respect, and (ii) alleged support for someone like Putin is hard to gauge and the data is faulty. Russia is de facto a dictatorship and the suppression of political dissent is pretty drastic. People are not going to be honest about what they really think about Putin and hide their criticism in formulations and poetic use of language like in Soviet times. Most people will remain silent or lie when asked about the government, they certainly won't trust surveys. I wouldn't trust an allegedly anonymous phone survey, for example. They want to get on with their life and arrange as best as they can. It's not different from how people act in other countries under authoritarian regimes.

In history, regime changes have illustrated over and over that the actual support for such a government is way, way lower than as it may seem when you ask around on the streets or in staged elections. Once there is a change and a chance for freedom, support drops from 99% in the fake election to 5% or so. Also, this is not a hundred years ago, people know very well what's going on via the net. Given all that, I doubt that Putin's government has any support at all, maybe from 10% of the elite in Moscow and in the security apparatus and that's it. But what are the rest gonna do? It's a classical collective action problem.

Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia

#569

Post by ganzuul »

TrackerFF wrote: post #454
anovikov wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Russian here. This is not misinformation or anything. This is just because yes, vast majority of Russians from all walks of life are pure evil. Even those living in the Western countries for decades. I have deleted myself from all social networks 5 years ago and people keep sending me screenshots from Russian facebook groups in Cyprus and that makes me freak out. Nearly everyone is pro-Putin. Ridiculous posts get hun…

(preface: I'm from Norway) The other day I spoke with this older Russian lady that works at the local pub - she overheard some of us patrons talking about the situation, and she went into a 20 min rant about western media being pure propaganda, that Putin was such a great guy, and that there was no real war. It was quite bizarre, as she's been living here since the mid-90s.

An expatriate's cultural identity is a fragile thing and easily threatened.

Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia

#570

Post by rmind »

hnov wrote: post #438
staskus wrote: post #345

As a person living in the Baltics, I agree with Western countries using their leverage (including big tech) to put as much pressure as possiblee on Russia. We’ve been sincerely holding back and crafting sanctions that would only affect Putin’s inner circle for the last 8 years but it didn’t work. Now that the ordinary Ukrainians need to withstand the horrors of the actual war, ordinary Russians need to withstand stro…

Maybe as a person living in the Baltics you need to endure the cold and not fund the Russian war machine through natural gas. An unfortunate reality really

Baltics have LNG terminals and can fully supply themselves from alternative gas providers. Tell it to Germans who addicted themselves to the Gazprom drug needle.
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