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.
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 This has been replaced by a much more sophisticated system of white collar mafia controlling many official businesses worth billions..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..
Question, what is it like in Russia these days? Specifically, the freedom of their people.
It's still a dictatorship, no?
With that said, Putin's stance against Big Tech is great to see.
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.
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..