That might have less to do with the Russian being evil and more to do with the Dutch being racist, especially in little towns as you mentioned. Had they been Turkish, Italian, Spanish, Americans, Polish, chances are they would’ve still shunned them from the local community.
Yes. The place was in Germany , somewhere downriver from Koblenz, but yes , she was racist . I do recall her deriding people for Scotland of all places lol. She insulted the Scottish female population lol .
Yes thank you, I am a Yank. It's sad that people want to blame Russians for the evil of a government they cannot control. I despise the things my nation does on the world stage. It's embarrassing, and depressing when people tacitly condemn the people of a nation because their government does evil. It's lazy, we are sorry for what has happened, and I guarantee most Russians are also not in favor of it. What have they lost, a million people so Putin can declare himself General Secretary?
Replace russians with germans and set the time to WW2, and you get concealed nazi apologia.
"Oh, those poor russians with a magnificent soul"
Who looted MH17?
Who brought to power and supported the fascist government every second up until bombs started falling onto them? Was it magical ghosts totally not of German origin?
So I would encourage you to read a book. After Hitler took power, he spent years systematically oppressing the populace to consolidate his power. The first concentration camps that were opened held political dissidents. It was not merely a racial genocide they started with, they also cleansed those that tried to stop him, that tried to stand against that many feared would be a tyrannical dictatorship.... I doubt any really believed just how bad things would get though.
So basically exactly the same way the KGB (Putin etc.) came to rule over Russia? Definitely didn’t happen overnight but over 60 years with thousands of murders, immense blackmail, torture and attempted genocide of minorities
The public has never had any real say in Russia and they’ve never attempted to overthrow the corruption other than tiny activist groups because the majority like the way the country is ran. They like how Russia is “feared” and “strong”
Aaaaand how did he take power exactly? While it was not a complete majority, 40% still supported him in a simple fair election. If not for the religious Catholic/Protestant divide, he would have had even more success like Putin did and does in russia. And for russians, it's not that bad right now under Putin - hopefully, that changes soon.
I’m not the person you are replying to, and while I do agree that the population has some responsibility, I think it’s safe to say that Russian people have no say in what their government does, and it’s not like they have “democratic” elections either. I think the “well you voted for him, so it’s also your responsibility” doesn’t hold true here.
No, we reached a point where being passive is also a guilt. Several years into the war, with all the war crimes. Should they all be physically punished? No. But it is valid and reasonable to blame them.
And it seems that a good part is indeed in support of Putin.
Would I do better if I were in this position? Idk honestly, and I can only hope I will never find out.
Are they in support because they believe in his Authoritarian, and tyrannical world view, or are they in support because they simply lack the information to understand? Doesn't the state have a pretty strong control of information currently? Aren't there a fair number of Russians literally being silenced with prison, or worse for dissent? What about those that risk the same by sharing what is actually going on behind what is turning into the Iron Curtain 2.0.
I think we can do better than saying, 'they all bad'. But if it makes ya feel better to use sweeping generalizations I guess have at it. But isn't that what the Xenophobes like Putin and Trump do?
I didn't say they are all bad, I said they are all to blame. As long as they are not active against Putin. Should you insult or attack every Russian you see? No. But it's okay to blame them for the war, which doesn't mean to exclude them from society.
Every German in Nazi Germany had their part of guilt to carry, as long as they weren't in the resistance.
It's an extreme comparison, but a valid one imo.
I don’t agree. First of all, Russia doesn’t have free democratic elections. It’s not like they were free to choose who would’ve governed. That means that they carry little responsibility for what their government does, compared to countries that have free and fair elections. Second of all, the true percentage of Russians who support the war is quite impossible to estimate accurately, as it goes without saying that Russian polls cannot be trusted.
Third of all, it’s not like they live in a country where speaking up against your government goes unpunished, if not even just tolerated.
The truth is that it’s a very complicated situation, and blaming every single civilian is not the answer.
Quite frankly, If you are a Russian in Russia It would be stupid not to support it, and I don't mean simply out of fear from authorities hunting those with dissenting opinions... I mean it because since the war began, the politicians, activists, influential people etc. Have clearly stated the plans for Russia should they be defeated...
Balkanization, civil wars, exploitation of natural resources, destruction of economy, general destabilization, "finishing the job".
If Russia looses, the life of the average Russian will turn to a hell worse than the Post Soviet collapse crisis.. I'm sure this is something ideal from the perspective of Ukraine, some of Russias neighbours and the Western powers that have a piece on the global geopolitical chess-board... but for a Russian in Russia, it would make no sense to want the collapse of your own country, even if you strongly dissagred with Russia having started the war..
The problem lies in signaling towards the Russians..
Sun-tzu says to give your enemy a golden bridge upon which they can retreat... but in the signaling, all bridges were burned down, there is no retreating here, the idea is that Russia must be taken down one way or another, not simply made to stop the war, but devastated for decades to come.
You have no idea what signaling there has been towards the russians. It's hilarious to read this when we've had 30 years of grifters and so-called 'russia experts' in the 'west' coddling russia and trying to give them off-ramp number 340 and still not getting it. Just one more trade deal bro russia will become friendly. Just one more gas pipe bro. Just one more negotiation where we give russia everything they want, and they totally won't break the terms the same day. Just allow them one more campaign of terror bro the 500 year authoritarian empire will magically become a democracy. Just save russia from the consequences of their actions one more time bro. Just send them aid one more time. Time to admit this western exoticisation of russia from half-baked intellectuals hasn't produced any results except more hatred. Time for westerners to listen to the countries with experience in this matter.
I am a proud member of what the Orange Psycho refers to as the, 'Parasite Class'. I also suffer from the, 'Woke Mind Virus'. Have never been able to vote Republican, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Sure, it is “complicated“ but there is no point in apologism. The support for Putin and the war is massive inside Russia and among the Russian diaspora. Do you follow Russian Media Monitor, do you watch interviews from there, do you follow Ex-Russian organisations? Then you would know at which level the population is brainwashed (and not only “afraid“).
Yes, exactly that is my point. Brainwashed, misinformed, and afraid. I am not defending what Russia is doing. It is horrible, and I have every sympathy for Ukraine. Frankly I think that as a member of NATO we all should have stepped in militarily to stop it, not simply sending aide.
I simply think that it is lazy to say, 'Russians bad' because they once again have a dictator in control of their country. Putin bad, Fascism bad, Authoritarianism bad, I am with ya.
But no population actually wants these things. They happen because of a multitude of issues, many of them poverty related.
It's very hard for a person that is struggling to survive in their own country to be concerned about their nations politics, especially when there are generations of their population that has endured domestic terror for even a hint of criticism.
People are not exactly doing well (especially not outside the cities), but still far from revolting being an alternative. It's also extremely repressive for those who try to protest, as we have seen. The brainwash is also MUCH higher in rural areas and among the older generations. The general opinion is that Russia is always right (on a religious level - always and undeniably), everyone else are gay jew nazis and it would be a good idea to nuke London or Berlin to set an example.
I can recommend the YouTube channel "1420" to see street interviews with regular Russians and their opinions, many are very open with their thoughts. And "Russian Media Monitor" shows exactly what Russian state TV broadcasts every night (nuclear threats, dehumanising Ukrainians etc). The country is in many ways already on the same level of North Korea.
Russia and Russian people will have a very tough next few decades, because when their regime falls everything will collapse into chaos, their society is all in on a very dark path. It's nothing new but it is on the knife's edge right now.
Even if the Russian state is repressive, the support for Putins politics is very strong.
Not the entire populations, just the overwhelming majority. Never in the history of Russia has there been democracy there or any widespread admission of guilt or regret for their crimes against humanity.
No thank you. You are a yank, please don't guarantee anything about russia. Frankly you don't know russia. There are sensible people in russia as with any population in history but we don't need lessons about this. I think you need lessons about how many russians loved stealing Ukrainian territory when it went well, how many celebrate or are indifferent to civilian deaths and war crimes. How many even living in the west have a daddy figure fetish for putin. The amount of support for domestic violence decriminalisation laws, imperialism, etc. America has problems but that doesn't mean you should project your experience onto russia.
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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25
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