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Notes -
Attempting to summarize the ideas of red tribe normies around me
-Putin is not popular. Russophiles are acknowledged to exist but seen in the same way hardcore conspiracy theorists in, say, 2010 would be. That being said, ‘Russia is our enemy but Ukraine is not our friend’ is a good summary of the popular consciousness.
-Most people are aware that EG Poland and Greece are much poorer than the US per capita but believe that France, Germany, the UK, etc have lower personal incomes mostly due to very high tax rates and that these societies have similar resources to Marshall for defense to the US once you adjust for population size. There is little sympathy for euro defense budgets.
-This is the main military recruitment demographic in the U.S., especially for the combat branches. There is no appetite whatsoever for their sons coming home in body bags. On the other hand, most believe that in the event of a major war a draft is just, necessary, and correct. That it would be extremely unpopular is something politicians should consider before putting boots on the ground. The cultural memory of stop lossing and national guard deployments abroad is alive and well.
-Most support America as #1, hate and fear red China, and believe Islam needs to be repressed. But there is widespread disapproval of the, uh, social and cultural goals associated with US foreign policy.
-Japanese rearmament is extremely popular; so are Israeli and South Korean conscription. France, Germany, Britain, etc are viewed as freeloaders that should follow their example instead of relying on American protection. Many think they should cut their welfare budgets to pay for it. British and German hate speech laws are widely hated and seen as evidence that they don’t share our values.
-Most accept that non-US powers are allowed to have interests and advocate for them. But they do not want the US to advocate for the interests of these countries, or fund those interests.
How much of the unpopularness is Putin, and how much is the man on the TV told them they should find Putin unpopular?
Many people I find that express their disfavor towards Putin, would still believe any number of 'Russian interference' narratives, the Steele dossier, etc.
Very little, if any.
The cultural reach and credibility of legacy "mainstream" media outside of college-educated Democracts has declined preciptously over the last 10-20 years, to the point where "believing what the man on TV told them" is strongly anti-correlated with "normie" politics.
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There is no real reason for an American to like Putin, so like, not much? I know there is a significant amount of anti-Putin propaganda out there, but even absent that there's not really any reason to like him. He doesn't actually ride bears, and he does actually, at best, waste everyone's time and money clinging to power and saber rattling.
And he doesn't even do cool stuff with his aggression like nuke Tehran. Its all boring border squabbles with his weaker neighbors.
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These people view Russia as a corrupt tinpot dictatorship propped up by oil money and connections to organized crime. They don't see the racial/religious kinship towards Russians that wignats tell them they should; 'white and christian' are not adjectives they'd use to describe Russia. They see Putin as a thuggish oriental despot overseeing all the Russian state has ever been- a brutal tyranny that fails at its goals without outside assistance due to the savagery and treachery of its inhabitants.
To the extent that the TV told them this, the TV told them this during the cold war. Most don't believe Trump-Russia connections, or ascribe any mystic powers to Russian foreign services. They hate Russia and the core red tribe was in large part raised to hate Russia- I was taught that it was a savage land which blends the worst aspects of Asian civilizations in with things stolen from the west by a cruel, treacherous people who can barely keep the lights on, and are the enemy of all that's good and free.
Do they believe Russia is unique in this? This describes alot of places.
Who said anything about being unique?
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No. They hate Iran and Venezuela and mistrust Saudi Arabia. But the median redneck opinion is to group Russia in with that set of notoriously oppressive countries and not to see it as some outpost of the old European civilization.
Conservative American russophilia is far overstated in popular media, and russophiles are seen like hardcore conspiracy theorists or antivaxxers would have been in 2010- sure, they're mistrusting the right people, but in the most gullible and stupid manner possible.
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