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NazBols are such a dumb meme group. Russia is really the only place you can kinda make sense of it but still it's cartoonish that they exist.
What are the major modern political struggles? Do they all get portrayed in the light of comparisson to the USSR or are things directed more towards comparing to other modern nations?
Is there a class conciousness in Russia today or is identity outside of leftist circles more focused on nationality, ethnicity, or other factors?
What are the perceptions of leftism right now(/when you were there last), both anarchist movements and communist ones? Do they benefit from the history of the USSR or are they hindered by the history/propaganda?
What's your favourite part about Russia and your least favourite? What is your favourite place in the country, is it in a city or town or is it in the countryside? Is it a different place than the place you would reccomend every tourist should go to see?
What are the perceptions of other countries in political circles vs local opinions (Syria, Iran, China, any others non-nato ones you hear about a lot)?
Thank you for the insight, this is really informative! Some of this is stuff I've heard from other people online but I'm glad to get answers from a leftist perspective. I have heard a ton about how Russia has a huge sense of community and hospitality, it definitely is different from a lot of north america; seems here you're held at arms length with pleasantries by everyone who doesn't want something from you. Shame about how much the media and oligarchs can shape people's perceptions of history, but I see the same thing happening here in canada so its not super surprising that the same tactics work. Sad to hear that the left is struggling so much there but we're stuggling everywhere in hellworld and some of us are dealt with repression and others with concessions, hopefully the movements can grow in the future. I've been looking at some pictures of Karelia since seeing this post and wow it is incredible, I'm glad to have learned about it!
Not an op.
More nationally - disdain to central rule of Moscow, locally, usually ecological or corruption related stuff. Absolutely disconnected from any global struggles.
0, it’s curious, from my perception, political energy is focused on the local stuff, because local bureaucracy and companies are usually so blatantly exploitative. In some republics it’s inherently intertwined with nationality though.
Both completely neutered, with occasional based older folks here and there, seen as useless. Significantly hindered, younger generations only saw the rot of the 80s and can’t connect the 90s with 70s.
People - grudging respect for china, indifference to Syria or iran, USA is adored in somewhat ignorant neolib circles (and fash, but that’s obvious), more advanced ones prefer Europe. Politically - USA is empire and big bad (neolibs POV - we should open to them and copy), Europe losing its soul to immigrants (here is an interesting needle to thread without emboldening racist movement too much), Syria is a latest victim of usa, Iran - has done nothing wrong (here it’s actually the most fascinating, because while Iran is an ally, their oil trade hurt sale prices and profits, more likely to be a thorn in America’s side).
Jesus how could I forget: the orthodox church has forged an unholy alliance with government, I’m starting to see fucking shit about abortions, traditional marriage (well, thats now in constitution), obeying the husband, respecting rulers coming from churches in the last 10 years.
It’s fascism. Putin is already a dictator, however from 2010 onward Putin’s government is trying to rehabilitate honest to god fascism. Their talking points are “fascism is actually good”, “fascism isn’t the same as Nazism”, “Mussolini was actually a cool dude”. They hammer on the idea of slav identity too and it’s very easy for people to emphasize with it as there are so many outgroups. For religious people it’s LGBT folk and muslims who must be removed. For people who encountered drug addiction it’s those pesky immigrants who smuggle drugs. You know how that works.
That doesn't seem right to me. (My relationship to Russia is more removed, to be fair, - I've immigrated longer ago, though not at 3 years old. But I do visit and keep up with media/family/friends.)
I've seen zero "fascism is actually good" anywhere in official media - rather the opposite. Fascism is still the go-to way to describe a lot of anti-Russian nationalists in Eastern Europe. Navalny gets attacked for being a nationalist occasionally. And recently they killed Tesak in prison... so it doesn't really fit with the government line. Neonazis and so on are a thing, and not necessarily inconvenient for the state, but they're themselves a minority. Dangerous for individuals, but not for society as a whole.
There's definitely concerning alignment with traditionalists/Christians... but they're clearly just tools, not an independent power base. Actually religious (churched) people are still a minority. And the flipside is amoral liberalism on TV, strip clubs out in the open, etc. I think on balance there's more liberalism than traditionalism, especially among the upper and ruling classes.
And Muslims, thank God, will never become an enemy of the state. Russian foreign and domestic policy depends on keeping nice with Muslim republics and neighbors. Muslims are a part of the fabric of Russian society, the government and military. No one in government is stupid enough to sow ethnic discord. If you're Muslim, especially a migrant laborer, you will likely face discrimination on a personal level, but it's not something anyone encourages from on high.
The Soviet Union gets beat up in some media, but praised in other.
I think the social conservative talking points are just for show. The ruling ghouls don't believe in anything. They are affected by Europe and the West though, which means they imitate it or react to it. They'll play the same games, not go out on a limb - they're too cowardly and careful for that.
TL;DR I'm 100% predicting that Russia will continue to be boring/liberal/capitalist. At least no more fascist than the USA.
Thank you for the reply and the source! I am guilty of avoiding Solovyov and even Komsomolskaya Pravda, because why would voluntary see that? Туда не наступайте, ибо там нехорошо.
фашизм и ублюдлчный нацизм - разные вещи (fascism and bastard Nazism are different things)
третий путь, по которому, частично, сегодня идёт Россия ([Mussolini created] the third way, which Russia today partly follows)
Ah, but this is a bit different from a rehabilitation of fascism the way fascism is normally understood. Mussolini, despite inventing fascism, wasn't really its most pure expression. The fact that an odious media personality is flirting with Mussolini isn't indicative of the general direction of things.
Remember the time when Kiselyov said gays shouldn't be allowed to be organ/blood donors? That was a very prominent statement - but in the end Russia's one of the few countries without restrictions on MSM blood donations. I think it's just empty demagoguery or TV clowns being TV clowns. I'm optimistic, but I hope I'm right.
I would 100% agree with you if people wouldn’t eat this shit up. Not only my relatives, but real people all over Russia in general.
My anecdotes sadly confirm your anecdotes. People are dumb and don't go outside enough. But, luckily, Russia's not a democracy. So there's no need to fear what people think ;-). I agree it's bad that there are fascist/racist/conservative opinions entrenched out there, which creates the potential for bad leaders, but I also think people's backward views are tempered by pragmatism/apathy/civility. Sure, hypothetically, the Jews and Gayropa want to addict your kids to drugs and perverted sex, everyone knows that, but in your daily life it's not something that ever comes up. (Unless you yourself are the target of discrimination, which sucks, obviously, but it's not systematic.) Most people are too busy dealing with normal shit to want to get into politics.
Hey, maybe I'm 2 years behind. But I've vacillated on this question before. I think the darkest timeline is not in the interest of the ruling class either.
Older Westerners base their image of Russia on Cold War propaganda, but how do you feel about young internet dwellers distilling Russia (and Slavs and Slavic culture more broadly) down to gopnik Stalker vodka hardbass?
How come such a high preportion of the lit-rpg ebooks I see are from russian authors.
How hard is that scene going over there?
___Propaganda like this
Holy shit what the fuck is this lol
Like, this is worse even than a lot of the cold war stuff.
When they brought back the original staff, they also brought a lot of perfectly preserved brainworms from the red scare
One thing I want to know is, in 1969, was NASA's Apollo 11 mission mentioned widely in Russian media when it happened? Was it considered a big deal and were people generally aware of it at the time?
Just how bad is queerphobia in Russia, really? Because I'm trans (easy to hide it tho) and want to learn Russian/visit Russia.
Also is there still a big witch house scene?
Part of why I want to learn Russian is to connect with antifascists. If I do visit I intent to have a few друзья by my side.
What do you think about Bald and Bankrupt? Does he do a decent job of accurately portraying what small Russian towns are like, or does he maybe omit certain things for the sake of his videos?
Has the quality of Doctor Sausage gotten worse with the fall of the USSR?
Also can you send us some?
Another thing to blame Khrushchev for. The death of Doctor Sausage!
How cringe would my unironic love of the Red Army Choir be there?
What do people in Russia think of the whole Russiagate and what do they think of people using Soviet imagery to represent modern Russia?
What are your thoughts on the memeification of the USSR on r/dankmemes and other such subreddits?
Do you have any insight into discourse regarding the Belt and Road project and its impacts on Russia or other parts of Russian speaking Asia?
Nah, I know how it is (somewhat) . Most of my life I've had social relationships with at least some Soviet or Russian immigrants, as friends and as people to practice my terrible Russian with. They're usually not even fun to talk politics with because after observing American politics for awhile they seem to come to the conclusion that politics is stupid. It seems like living in Russia would do the same thing to you. I'm just fascinated with the Belt and Road, so I was wondering if it had a place in Russia's collective imagination.
I will never forget having an older Soviet couple sit me down when I was 8 or 9 and explain how they hated Gorbachev for ruining the Soviet Union.
