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Eh, the lack of success of dissident Russian liberals in their own country suggests that that ordinary Russians don't buy them. That said, one of my dear Russian-American (The mix of vestigial Russian accent plus taught in law school Southern accent is hilarious.) friends who I have an incredible amount of respect for (He's both genuinely smarter than me and vastly more driven.) used to be an uncritically turbo-America neocon who mocked me for my cynicism (I was an unironic Paultard in those days. Ah, high school.) and now is a pro-Trumper so disillusioned (and ruined in his Slavic friend group over the Z question, being unable to hide his great Russian chauvinism) that he moved to China.
I'd spend a lot of money for the privilege of a night talking with Artem in a bar (tough shit for me; he doesn't drink).
The lack of success by the Russian liberals should be attributed to the general depoliticization in the Russian society. It’s not that the Russians just don’t care about politics, the apathy comes from being disconnected with their country and the world in general. Why watch the news if you can’t tell what the truth is? “What’s truth anyway?” is a common way to think. If there’s no way of telling there truth from lies, there’s no meaningful way to act.
This mental state is not only dominant, but also deliberately cultivated in Russia by its government.
People say this all the time like it's some uniquely russian thing. If western media told me the sky was blue, I'd go out and check, just in case it had just turned into world-ending-evangelion-blood-red. Our institutions are hell bent on gaslighting us on even basic facts of life (re-birthing-persons). The media spent 4 years confabulation absolute bullshit about the sitting president, then they spent another 4 years pretending the fossil-in-chief still has all his marbles in order.
At this point I wouldn't even take arms against an invading Russian army, at least the russians wouldn't want to shove rainbow nonsense down my throat.
I'm not entirely sure what your comment is meant to highlight.
The comment I responded to says that Russian liberals failed because Russian people "don't buy it".
I said that Russians don't follow/believe liberals because they are depoliticized to a point where the majority of people don't believe any politician at all, not just liberal politicians.
The depoliticization aspect is unique to Russia. American society is deeply political. Both states are cultivated by propaganda.
What I'm saying is this is coming for us too. People will give up voting, what's the point when the deep state will just install whoever they please. The real question is if people are going to try and stage a boogaloo or just get high and give up.
I'd venture to say that it's a simplistic lens to view the current election, considering the history of Russia. The process of depoliticization has its roots in Stalin's purges, the threat of Gulags silencing any political dissent, the culture of snitching and secrecy. Russian people retreated from the sphere of politics into their own lives because their lives depended on it. The parallels do not seem convincing to me, and I'm not sure if there are any.
Oh no, the parallels are absolutely there. There is a reason you keep your mouth shut if you have right-leaning ideas in hollywood and in big-tech.
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