Not a pretty picture of current situation in Russia.
https://www.youtube.com/live/xoHed2_gTN0?si=mrfP6vUBa-vXiboq
1 Like
Another point of view, I certainly don’t hear much of.
My initial response, is of an intelligence narrative[as an op source].
Yet; there may be some fire, in the above smoke screen[my point of view].
I hoped I was wrong on Trump’s Treasury Secretary.
Unfortunately; my recent post of the above ex-Soros partner, says otherwise.
I hope I’m right here - that the average Russian is NOT psychologically breaking-down.
Time will tell…,
on both accounts.
3 Likes
I only listened to a little bit of the video, but it sounds to me like the Russian people being the way they’ve been for centuries.
This is a Russian man speaking from a Western point of view, which – I grant you – a relatively small minority of Russians probably share. That Westernizing impulse (called “Atlanticist” these days) has also existed in Russia for centuries, but it has never been embraced by more than a small minority.
I don’t believe for a minute there was some “golden age” between the fall of the USSR and the time Putin consolidated power. I can believe the standard of living for the average Russian isn’t great, that alcoholism is a major affliction, that most Russians are comfortable with a strong man as a leader. But, again, none of that is anything new.
In my opinion the real questions are:
First, did the economic sanctions really weaken the Russian regime? I don’t know . . . All the evidence I’ve seen to date is to the contrary. There’s still plenty of oil flowing out of the country. The majority of Russians don’t appear to be in revolt.
Second, is the current Russian regime primarily to blame for the Ukrainian situation? I don’t know . . . Poke a bear enough, and it’s going to bite back.
Third, is Western society any more virtuous than the “degraded” Russian society he describes? Sorry, I don’t buy that one either. I could list a dozen things illustrating the moral and psychological degradation of the West too. Nobody’s perfect, and no powerful nation-state is moral in its actions on the world stage.
3 Likes
You just described Russian behavior from Westerner stand of point.
Yes, Russians are not French or German or Polish where small increases in oil prices put entire farmer populations on the streets.
Russians will have to start starving before they organize against government.
This channel Inside of Russia is worth watching. Konstantin provides real time data on Russian economy, and more.
The key from the video I have linked is that majority of Russian are quite vulnerable to gov propaganda, even more so now then in soviet times.
1 Like
You listened more than I did[as it worried me to hear any more of his viewpoint - in case there was fire]]
You went further; thereby, adjusting my vanishing points[artist rendering of perspective[s] in their craft].
I find your take, a much more likely scenario.
Thanks for going the extra mile[s]!
1 Like
Listen to Sergey. I am Circle W Ranch and he answers me… like BIG TIME. Don’t listen to Konstantin- pissed off Russian. Don’t know his agenda except to make more Americans hate Putin.
IOW, according to Sergey Baklykov, this guy is just more anti-Russian propaganda.
3 Likes
I have no problem that humans on earth live on a transnational planet and that soveriegn countries don’t exist anymore. Current democracy is illusion for the masses. The story in various forms that Russia and its inhabitants are masquerading in a gas station is Western whining tiring propaganda.
1 Like
Boots on the ground, kind of guy…
Where the rubber meets the road.
A much more typical, Russian on-the-street perspective.
Thanks for the link!
Nope, I still am watching Konstantin. He has been on You Tube ten years already. Not like Sergey Baklykow who has been there only for three and who presents himself more as a wanna be “Nouveau riches” and shows Russia mostly from tourist perspective
Konstantin has an interesting perspective of somebody who lived in USA for ten years and returned to Russia with his American wife, because he loved his country and missed his extended family. He made an excellent living after coming back and he talks about it in his videos. His decision to leave Russia two years ago was not lightly taken. He is impervious to Putin propaganda, and I consider him true Russian patriot and great source of info on current Russia.
Konstantin never compares Western societies to Russian ones. Not in this video and not in any that I have watched. He is truly concern with the direction that Russian society is going
I didn’t listen to the whole video, as I said. I was only responding to the little bit at the beginning that I did listen to. I didn’t get far enough to hear what he says is new and different in Russian society today.
From what you explained, the main takeaway is that the majority of Russians are quite vulnerable to government propaganda, even more so now than in Soviet times. I have no idea if that’s true or not.
I responded based on my own impression of Russian culture and history, based on exposure to post-war Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and other East Slavic émigrés, because of my family background; getting to know a few people from the post-Soviet émigré community; studying Russian language, along with a little of its history and culture; spending a few months as an exchange student in the dying USSR; and a brief visit to Russia in the 2010s. None of that makes me an expert on Russia – especially not contemporary Russia. I think I have a little more understanding of the Russian mindset than the average Westerner, though.
I am not a typical Westerner. I am Polish American that spent 25 tears of her life in communist and post-communist Poland before I’ve arrived to America.
Also, I don’t tend to comment on anything that I don’t read or watch to the end 
1 Like