Post: #151

Quote:It's interesting to me that it's always the Ukrainian guys who are criticizing the Russian economy and promising doom because of Putin...

A little as if Zimbabwe was ridiculing Dubai's economy.

Ventura is Ukrainian? never knew that!

Vinny Putin is very popular. Western polling firms have also done polling and Putin comes out higher than almost any leader in the world.Also the RU firm Levada is actually well respected in the west as well.

In fact the only main group in RU that doesn't support Putin are the liberals and liberals are a very small miniority of the RU population, mostly seen in ST Pete and Moscow. FYI, even liberals liked him at 1st but "fell out of love" for him when he came back in power so now Putin caters to the "blue collar" which happens to be the countries majority.

Quote:Do you forget that Dear Leader was part of a cabal of professional propagandists?

There are certainly Russians who gobble up the Putin propaganda just like the last generation of commie sheep.

True, have you read western propaganda like Washington times lately?

Quote:But honest, hardworking Russians who'd like nothing more than a few more hours per day with electricity do not uphold the guy willfully leading their economy back into the Soviet dark ages.

I didn't realize they had electricity issues in the big cities today. Lets see what DaveR has to say since he lives there.

Perhaps that is propaganda like the "infamous " bread lines? Funny thing about the bread lines is that it didn't really start until when the USSR was falling down. If the USA was failing..same thing would happen here. It was more of a distribution issue than anything else. For example, Odessa NEVER had a food shortage or lines from what I have heard. Simply because they are a port city and didn't depend on a breaking distribution system.

Post: #152

(03-06-2016 05:04 PM)jimukr104 Wrote:  

Quote:It's interesting to me that it's always the Ukrainian guys who are criticizing the Russian economy and promising doom because of Putin...

A little as if Zimbabwe was ridiculing Dubai's economy.

Ventura is Ukrainian? never knew that!

Vinny Putin is very popular. Western polling firms have also done polling and Putin comes out higher than almost any leader in the world.Also the RU firm Levada is actually well respected in the west as well.

In fact the only main group in RU that doesn't support Putin are the liberals and liberals are a very small miniority of the RU population, mostly seen in ST Pete and Moscow. FYI, even liberals liked him at 1st but "fell out of love" for him when he came back in power so now Putin caters to the "blue collar" which happens to be the countries majority.

Quote:Do you forget that Dear Leader was part of a cabal of professional propagandists?

There are certainly Russians who gobble up the Putin propaganda just like the last generation of commie sheep.

True, have you read western propaganda like Washington times lately?

Quote:But honest, hardworking Russians who'd like nothing more than a few more hours per day with electricity do not uphold the guy willfully leading their economy back into the Soviet dark ages.

I didn't realize they had electricity issues in the big cities today. Lets see what DaveR has to say since he lives there.

Perhaps that is propaganda like the "infamous " bread lines? Funny thing about the bread lines is that it didn't really start until when the USSR was falling down. If the USA was failing..same thing would happen here. It was more of a distribution issue than anything else. For example, Odessa NEVER had a food shortage or lines from what I have heard. Simply because they are a port city and didn't depend on a breaking distribution system.

As someone who's in Russia right now, I can tell you that after carefully asking the girls I've interacted with and bartenders, that most of them don't like or dislike putin, but that their close family loves them. This is quite unanimous. There's been no "omg he sucks" reaction. Solely some "well, he's not a perfect guy but the best we can have I think" reactions. All other reactions have been positive.

And just FYI, I haven't noticed any electricity issues here in SPB. Idk about other cities.

I remember boarding my flight in NYC to LHR and picking up a copy of the FT just to see something along the lines of "Tyrann ruling Russia" to put it back in the shelve. I think we love to point towards the Russians for not having free press, but in the end we do the exact same in our mass media. Anything that goes against the doctrine gets labeled as politically incorrect and the person writing it gets persecuted or loses their job. We've all seen it with people close to us.

On a side note, been on two dates today. Russian women are a whole different level. It takes dates to convert them, but its worth it.

Post: #153

^^You bring up a good point. My bar of measurement is "pussy riot".

Let me explain: They are loved in the West but despised in most of RU. They went to the US congress encouraging sanctions against Russia.

Did Putin send them to the gulag? NOPE! Russians pretty much ignore them. But if an American celebrity went to Russia to speak in front of the Russian Duma insisting on sanctions against the US, they would probably get charges for treason from Obama.

Post: #154

Putin is the new czar. We all know how much the Russians love their kings until they don't. Fickle public opinion means jack. Much of that data is probably false.

He's made a bunch of enemies but he keeps the common person on his path by spouting nationalistic propaganda and expanding russian borders- first into georgia then into ukraine.

Hes a KGB spymaster and he plays dirty like one too.

Id say people are more scared than love him. Somewhat like Stalin.

Post: #155

(03-06-2016 06:56 PM)DVY Wrote:  Putin is the new czar. We all know how much the Russians love their kings until they don't. Fickle public opinion means jack. Much of that data is probably false.

He's made a bunch of enemies but he keeps the common person on his path by spouting nationalistic propaganda and expanding russian borders- first into georgia then into ukraine.

Hes a KGB spymaster and he plays dirty like one too.

Id say people are more scared than love him. Somewhat like Stalin.

You are completely wrong in this post. Above all, Russians do not want a return to the traitorous Ieltsin era. And Putin is the man who put Russia in its deserved place in the world stage, people acknowledge that, even many Ukranians secretely would rather have Putin as their leader than the current Junta.
Putin has been making what needs to be done to protect Russian interests. Ukraine, Georgia and Syria are perfect examples. USA has been making what needs to be done to protect USA (or allies) interests, Ukraine, Georgia and Syria are also perfect examples.

Post: #156

(03-06-2016 06:56 PM)DVY Wrote:  Putin is the new czar. We all know how much the Russians love their kings until they don't. Fickle public opinion means jack. Much of that data is probably false.

He's made a bunch of enemies but he keeps the common person on his path by spouting nationalistic propaganda and expanding russian borders- first into georgia then into ukraine.

Hes a KGB spymaster and he plays dirty like one too.

Id say people are more scared than love him. Somewhat like Stalin.

Nonsense. Even the West doesnt dispute Putin's approval ratings. Talking of expanding borders, how about Nato and their deal not to extend into Eastern Europe? Russia is feeling threatened, simple as that. They had to act after the USA initiated Coup De Tat in Kiev. How would America react if Russia decided to install Military bases in Cuba and Mexico?

Post: #157

Read up on bismarck. Putin is basically following in bismarck's foot-steps on nationalistic expansion and success.

I never said he was going back to Yeltsin era politics. I said he is the new czar/communist leader and he is making a push to be a modified USSR.

He is popular because it is easy to sell "make Russia great again..." just like Donald says "make America great again..."

The fact is the #1 thing holding back Russia from joining Europe is the corruption and government interference into private business. Very unfriendly business climate. Rule of law needs to be fixed before more capital flies out of Russia.

Its easier to rah rah the populace and conquer nations adjacent than it is to fix internal problems that Russia faces. Bandages over open festering wounds.

The economy is heavily dependent on commodities. Basically the paradox of being blessed with natural resources- "Natural Resources Curse".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse

Post: #158

^ A lot of the above posts belong somewhere in the Politics sub-forum.