Russian society’s genuine love for genocidal imperialism has nothing to do with propaganda (if that’s what you were referring to).
Mind you, they are fully capable of change, they just don’t want to and have no incentive to do (Westerners enabling and promoting their victim-hood narratives only contributes to this).
Russian society’s genuine love for genocidal imperialism has nothing to do with propaganda (if that’s what you were referring to).
Oh, I’d venture that propaganda is one big contributor to that sentiment, even if the sentiment has been present for a very long time (certainly since WW2). Old horseshit is still horseshit.
Look at American exceptionalism as another example of long-standing unfounded belief that’s exploited by many factions of that country’s ruling elite.
As I said, I don’t buy the propaganda excuse. Independent information sources (in russian) have always been easily available and accessible by all (literally in under 10 seconds). Just look at the creation dates of the DW Russian or BBC Russian YT channels (or even their own TV Dozdh). By mid 2010s YT was widely available not only on desktop, but even on smartphones. Not to mention russians full well know what the KGB is like and how dishonest they are.
Let me give you an illustrative example.
You have Vladimir Kara-murza, darling of the west, went to jail for public opposition to the full scale invasion, western educated and with UK citizenship. And yet here is a recent statement from Kara-Murza:
There is another reason why the Russian Defense Ministry recruits so many members of ethnic minorities [to fight in the war against Ukraine]: as it turns out, because it is psychologically really difficult for [ethnic] Russians to kill Ukrainians. Because we are one people. We are very close peoples, as everybody knows. We have nearly the same language, the same religion, and centuries of history in common. But if it’s someone from another culture, allegedly it’s easier [for them to kill Ukrainians]. I hadn’t really thought about it before. I thought the reasons were primarily economic. But after what [a colleague who spoke about the Buryats] said, I started thinking about it too.
He said this in a speech to the French senate, no less!
We are not on people and I want nothing to with any of them, be it putin or Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Putin’s anxiety is understandable. The Kremlin knows that public opposition to the Ukraine war is much greater than what its propaganda would admit.
Is Vladimir Kara-Murza under the influence of propaganda while living in the west?
Agreed regarding the negative elements of American exceptionalism. But people in the US have a spectrum of views and the US has had a measure of dynamism in terms of social attitudes. The same cannot be said about the overwhelming majority of russians.
Propaganda works.
Russian society’s genuine love for genocidal imperialism has nothing to do with propaganda (if that’s what you were referring to).
Mind you, they are fully capable of change, they just don’t want to and have no incentive to do (Westerners enabling and promoting their victim-hood narratives only contributes to this).
Oh, I’d venture that propaganda is one big contributor to that sentiment, even if the sentiment has been present for a very long time (certainly since WW2). Old horseshit is still horseshit.
Look at American exceptionalism as another example of long-standing unfounded belief that’s exploited by many factions of that country’s ruling elite.
As I said, I don’t buy the propaganda excuse. Independent information sources (in russian) have always been easily available and accessible by all (literally in under 10 seconds). Just look at the creation dates of the DW Russian or BBC Russian YT channels (or even their own TV Dozdh). By mid 2010s YT was widely available not only on desktop, but even on smartphones. Not to mention russians full well know what the KGB is like and how dishonest they are.
Let me give you an illustrative example.
You have Vladimir Kara-murza, darling of the west, went to jail for public opposition to the full scale invasion, western educated and with UK citizenship. And yet here is a recent statement from Kara-Murza:
He said this in a speech to the French senate, no less!
We are not on people and I want nothing to with any of them, be it putin or Vladimir Kara-Murza.
And yet WaPo decided to give him the opportunity to write another bullshit article about russian victimhood and innocence.
Is Vladimir Kara-Murza under the influence of propaganda while living in the west?
Agreed regarding the negative elements of American exceptionalism. But people in the US have a spectrum of views and the US has had a measure of dynamism in terms of social attitudes. The same cannot be said about the overwhelming majority of russians.