It's probably a good thing that Putin has held onto the leadership. It was probably required to complete the job against the DS. I don't think things are as bad for the people as the media makes it out to be, but I can't really say for sure other than the media has a 99% track record of being wrong/outright lying, so the odds are in favor.
They always cry things like "political prisoners in the gulags" about Russia but look at what they do to people here over petty bs, so I don't take those cries about Russia seriously at all.
A strong and forceful leader is needed when taking out such a powerful and deceitful enemy, as you can't be weakened by your enemy's cries as they stab you in the back.
My wife is from Moscow. She hasn't been there in fifteen years or so, but she reads the Russian forums (reddit). She says people seem to genuinely like Putin, especially lately. She used to say there was a lot of corruption there, police bribes, etc. I'm not sure if its still like that now. From what she says though, its nowhere near as bad as people think.
From what I've seen, and obviously I'm aware it could all be an act, but every press conference and interview I've seen of him he's always been well articulated and genuine, at least in a sense that we never get here from our politicians. He's also stern and blunt in his answers at times, and not afraid to offend anybody, but without actually being rude.
Comes off as well reasoned, and actually interested in the betterment of the Russian people. At least that's the impression I've gotten from him. He's certainly an interesting and intelligent leader to listen to.
Edit: Just want to add that Russia is also now coming out for the betterment of American people condemning how the left is treating conservatives. Putin is more on our side than Biden!
Moscow is not entirely "Russian" - much more cosmopolitan than the rest of the country, of course.. St.Petersburg as the old capital would be the same, but Putin has spent much of his active life there and he is a very popular figure in this corner of Russia..
The classic corruption has sort of died out. Street gangs riding in BMWs and shooting in the streets, that's (mostly) gone.. This has been replaced by a much more sophisticated system of white collar mafia controlling many official businesses worth billions.. today's villains are lawyers and bankers wearing Gucci suits and Russia is not different..
Moscow is not entirely "Russian" - much more cosmopolitan than the rest of the country, of course.. St.Petersburg as the old capital would be the same, but Putin has spent much of his active life there and he is a very popular figure in this corner of Russia..
The classic corruption has sort of died out. Street gangs riding in BMWs and shooting in the streets, that's (mostly) gone.. This has been replaced by a much more sophisticated system of white collar mafia controlling many official businesses worth billions.. today's villains are lawyers and bankers wearing Gucci suits and Russia is not different..
I understand that line of thinking, and in principle it makes sense. A strong hand to handle an existential threat is sometimes necessary. There's probably plenty of examples of this with leaders during say WW1 and WW2.
With that said, in practice, a strong hand implies a certain level of authoritarianism & big government, which could become problematic. If you had a choice, taking the risk associated with the strong hand could quite possibly be the right choice, but I'm not 100% sold on that. Open to hearing other thoughts on this.
I can't speak for the Russian people obviously, but it could kind of be a similar situation as we would be if we had Trump stay in as Emperor, lol. We would be pretty much be okay with that if it weren't for the constitution and us purposefully staying away from any one person holding onto power for too long. In Russia, things may work differently.
We'll see over time how it goes, and hopefully, before too long we can actually start getting some good honest reporting on it.
You're more right than you think, fren.. Russians had the same situation (staying away from any one person holding more than two terms) but they have changed the constitution about this recently..
It's probably a good thing that Putin has held onto the leadership. It was probably required to complete the job against the DS. I don't think things are as bad for the people as the media makes it out to be, but I can't really say for sure other than the media has a 99% track record of being wrong/outright lying, so the odds are in favor.
They always cry things like "political prisoners in the gulags" about Russia but look at what they do to people here over petty bs, so I don't take those cries about Russia seriously at all.
A strong and forceful leader is needed when taking out such a powerful and deceitful enemy, as you can't be weakened by your enemy's cries as they stab you in the back.
My wife is from Moscow. She hasn't been there in fifteen years or so, but she reads the Russian forums (reddit). She says people seem to genuinely like Putin, especially lately. She used to say there was a lot of corruption there, police bribes, etc. I'm not sure if its still like that now. From what she says though, its nowhere near as bad as people think.
From what I've seen, and obviously I'm aware it could all be an act, but every press conference and interview I've seen of him he's always been well articulated and genuine, at least in a sense that we never get here from our politicians. He's also stern and blunt in his answers at times, and not afraid to offend anybody, but without actually being rude.
Comes off as well reasoned, and actually interested in the betterment of the Russian people. At least that's the impression I've gotten from him. He's certainly an interesting and intelligent leader to listen to.
Edit: Just want to add that Russia is also now coming out for the betterment of American people condemning how the left is treating conservatives. Putin is more on our side than Biden!
To be fair, my Biden flag wielding neighbor is more on our side than Biden.
Nah because that neighbor is directly responsible for Biden
Moscow is not entirely "Russian" - much more cosmopolitan than the rest of the country, of course.. St.Petersburg as the old capital would be the same, but Putin has spent much of his active life there and he is a very popular figure in this corner of Russia.. The classic corruption has sort of died out. Street gangs riding in BMWs and shooting in the streets, that's (mostly) gone.. This has been replaced by a much more sophisticated system of white collar mafia controlling many official businesses worth billions.. today's villains are lawyers and bankers wearing Gucci suits and Russia is not different..
Moscow is not entirely "Russian" - much more cosmopolitan than the rest of the country, of course.. St.Petersburg as the old capital would be the same, but Putin has spent much of his active life there and he is a very popular figure in this corner of Russia.. The classic corruption has sort of died out. Street gangs riding in BMWs and shooting in the streets, that's (mostly) gone.. This has been replaced by a much more sophisticated system of white collar mafia controlling many official businesses worth billions.. today's villains are lawyers and bankers wearing Gucci suits and Russia is not different..
I understand that line of thinking, and in principle it makes sense. A strong hand to handle an existential threat is sometimes necessary. There's probably plenty of examples of this with leaders during say WW1 and WW2.
With that said, in practice, a strong hand implies a certain level of authoritarianism & big government, which could become problematic. If you had a choice, taking the risk associated with the strong hand could quite possibly be the right choice, but I'm not 100% sold on that. Open to hearing other thoughts on this.
I can't speak for the Russian people obviously, but it could kind of be a similar situation as we would be if we had Trump stay in as Emperor, lol. We would be pretty much be okay with that if it weren't for the constitution and us purposefully staying away from any one person holding onto power for too long. In Russia, things may work differently.
We'll see over time how it goes, and hopefully, before too long we can actually start getting some good honest reporting on it.
You're more right than you think, fren.. Russians had the same situation (staying away from any one person holding more than two terms) but they have changed the constitution about this recently..
DS panicked calling him a dictator, they know now they're about to be double-teamed, and not the fun kind. ;P