The Official Russian Politics Thread [NSFW]

[Frug]

Russia serves as our favourite whipping boy in terms of derp, but Russia is doing quite well, all things considered. The west's sanctions over crimea have had less effect than was desired, Putin is still popular, as in actually popular, not like dear leader and Russia has more influence globally now than it had two years ago and despite the fact that Russia is chaotic as fuck, the recent american political circus has only made Russia look more positive and much stronger than it otherwise would. Russia played an excellent role during the american elections, shitposting on Russian media amongst the best that FHC could ever offer but never confirming or denying anything. Russia has stopped its population decline, for what reason I don't know and their economy is doing somewhat better because oil prices are up again. Putin simply held out long enough for the arabs to fuck themselves and now he's looking, along with Russia, decidedly less like a poorfag than he was a year ago. Russia stuck by its buddy Syria, which gives the important message that they aren't fickle like the west is, and although everyone here was belittling the Russian effort, including an aircraft carrier that looks more like a locomotive than a ship, the Russians are there and they're actually getting experience in using all their war junk, from the TOSS to the Tu-160.

I don't see the Russians doing all that much wrong geopolitically compared to the west, tbh.

It's amazing what a country can achieve at the cost of its people.

[El Capitano]

The price of oil hasn't really recovered, it's still down y/y and was only really lower for a very short period at the beginning of the year.

[Fara]

Russia serves as our favourite whipping boy in terms of derp, but Russia is doing quite well, all things considered. The west's sanctions over crimea have had less effect than was desired, Putin is still popular, as in actually popular, not like dear leader and Russia has more influence globally now than it had two years ago and despite the fact that Russia is chaotic as fuck, the recent american political circus has only made Russia look more positive and much stronger than it otherwise would. Russia played an excellent role during the american elections, shitposting on Russian media amongst the best that FHC could ever offer but never confirming or denying anything. Russia has stopped its population decline, for what reason I don't know and their economy is doing somewhat better because oil prices are up again. Putin simply held out long enough for the arabs to fuck themselves and now he's looking, along with Russia, decidedly less like a poorfag than he was a year ago. Russia stuck by its buddy Syria, which gives the important message that they aren't fickle like the west is, and although everyone here was belittling the Russian effort, including an aircraft carrier that looks more like a locomotive than a ship, the Russians are there and they're actually getting experience in using all their war junk, from the TOSS to the Tu-160.

I don't see the Russians doing all that much wrong geopolitically compared to the west, tbh.

its amazing what a country like italy could achieve if its people would be happy with 300-500$ a month.

[Zeekar]

Russia serves as our favourite whipping boy in terms of derp, but Russia is doing quite well, all things considered. The west's sanctions over crimea have had less effect than was desired, Putin is still popular, as in actually popular, not like dear leader and Russia has more influence globally now than it had two years ago and despite the fact that Russia is chaotic as fuck, the recent american political circus has only made Russia look more positive and much stronger than it otherwise would. Russia played an excellent role during the american elections, shitposting on Russian media amongst the best that FHC could ever offer but never confirming or denying anything. Russia has stopped its population decline, for what reason I don't know and their economy is doing somewhat better because oil prices are up again. Putin simply held out long enough for the arabs to fuck themselves and now he's looking, along with Russia, decidedly less like a poorfag than he was a year ago. Russia stuck by its buddy Syria, which gives the important message that they aren't fickle like the west is, and although everyone here was belittling the Russian effort, including an aircraft carrier that looks more like a locomotive than a ship, the Russians are there and they're actually getting experience in using all their war junk, from the TOSS to the Tu-160.

I don't see the Russians doing all that much wrong geopolitically compared to the west, tbh.

its amazing what a country like italy could achieve if its people would be happy with 300-500$ a month.

it really also depends how far those 300-500$ a month go. Most people dont need much more than a roof over their head, full belly and decent set of clothes.

[RazoR]

its amazing what a country like italy could achieve if its people would be happy with 300-500$ a month.

Didn't we establish that turnips are ten times more expensive in EU?

[thebomby]

Russia serves as our favourite whipping boy in terms of derp, but Russia is doing quite well, all things considered. The west's sanctions over crimea have had less effect than was desired, Putin is still popular, as in actually popular, not like dear leader and Russia has more influence globally now than it had two years ago and despite the fact that Russia is chaotic as fuck, the recent american political circus has only made Russia look more positive and much stronger than it otherwise would. Russia played an excellent role during the american elections, shitposting on Russian media amongst the best that FHC could ever offer but never confirming or denying anything. Russia has stopped its population decline, for what reason I don't know and their economy is doing somewhat better because oil prices are up again. Putin simply held out long enough for the arabs to fuck themselves and now he's looking, along with Russia, decidedly less like a poorfag than he was a year ago. Russia stuck by its buddy Syria, which gives the important message that they aren't fickle like the west is, and although everyone here was belittling the Russian effort, including an aircraft carrier that looks more like a locomotive than a ship, the Russians are there and they're actually getting experience in using all their war junk, from the TOSS to the Tu-160.

I don't see the Russians doing all that much wrong geopolitically compared to the west, tbh.

It's amazing what a country can achieve at the cost of its people.

This is true on the one hand, but also ignores Russian history and geography on the other. Russia is big with a large population and it has, for the most part, a cold climate, similar to Canada's but without the Oceanic influence. Russia has never had a history of democracy and has been invaded so often by just about anyone that could do so that it's a testimony to Russian resilience that it still exists. From what I can gather, most Russians have no respect for the law or what they think are weak democracies and without an authoritarian government the place would be in utter chaos, like it was for long periods in the 90s.

[thebomby]

Russia serves as our favourite whipping boy in terms of derp, but Russia is doing quite well, all things considered. The west's sanctions over crimea have had less effect than was desired, Putin is still popular, as in actually popular, not like dear leader and Russia has more influence globally now than it had two years ago and despite the fact that Russia is chaotic as fuck, the recent american political circus has only made Russia look more positive and much stronger than it otherwise would. Russia played an excellent role during the american elections, shitposting on Russian media amongst the best that FHC could ever offer but never confirming or denying anything. Russia has stopped its population decline, for what reason I don't know and their economy is doing somewhat better because oil prices are up again. Putin simply held out long enough for the arabs to fuck themselves and now he's looking, along with Russia, decidedly less like a poorfag than he was a year ago. Russia stuck by its buddy Syria, which gives the important message that they aren't fickle like the west is, and although everyone here was belittling the Russian effort, including an aircraft carrier that looks more like a locomotive than a ship, the Russians are there and they're actually getting experience in using all their war junk, from the TOSS to the Tu-160.

I don't see the Russians doing all that much wrong geopolitically compared to the west, tbh.

its amazing what a country like italy could achieve if its people would be happy with 300-500$ a month.

it really also depends how far those 300-500$ a month go. Most people dont need much more than a roof over their head, full belly and decent set of clothes.

It mainly ignores that the cost of living in Russia is far lower than in the west. I worked in Turkey in 1993 for 400 Deutche Marks a month and lived on that quite comfortably. Roof over my head, food and going out. What it means for Russians is that imported technological goods are very expensive, but as anyone on a budget knows, you can make do quite easily by being just slightly wise in what you buy.

[Keckers]

Russia serves as our favourite whipping boy in terms of derp, but Russia is doing quite well, all things considered. The west's sanctions over crimea have had less effect than was desired, Putin is still popular, as in actually popular, not like dear leader and Russia has more influence globally now than it had two years ago and despite the fact that Russia is chaotic as fuck, the recent american political circus has only made Russia look more positive and much stronger than it otherwise would. Russia played an excellent role during the american elections, shitposting on Russian media amongst the best that FHC could ever offer but never confirming or denying anything. Russia has stopped its population decline, for what reason I don't know and their economy is doing somewhat better because oil prices are up again. Putin simply held out long enough for the arabs to fuck themselves and now he's looking, along with Russia, decidedly less like a poorfag than he was a year ago. Russia stuck by its buddy Syria, which gives the important message that they aren't fickle like the west is, and although everyone here was belittling the Russian effort, including an aircraft carrier that looks more like a locomotive than a ship, the Russians are there and they're actually getting experience in using all their war junk, from the TOSS to the Tu-160.

I don't see the Russians doing all that much wrong geopolitically compared to the west, tbh.

its amazing what a country like italy could achieve if its people would be happy with 300-500$ a month.

it really also depends how far those 300-500$ a month go. Most people dont need much more than a roof over their head, full belly and decent set of clothes.

And an eve botfarm apparently

[Fara]

Russia serves as our favourite whipping boy in terms of derp, but Russia is doing quite well, all things considered. The west's sanctions over crimea have had less effect than was desired, Putin is still popular, as in actually popular, not like dear leader and Russia has more influence globally now than it had two years ago and despite the fact that Russia is chaotic as fuck, the recent american political circus has only made Russia look more positive and much stronger than it otherwise would. Russia played an excellent role during the american elections, shitposting on Russian media amongst the best that FHC could ever offer but never confirming or denying anything. Russia has stopped its population decline, for what reason I don't know and their economy is doing somewhat better because oil prices are up again. Putin simply held out long enough for the arabs to fuck themselves and now he's looking, along with Russia, decidedly less like a poorfag than he was a year ago. Russia stuck by its buddy Syria, which gives the important message that they aren't fickle like the west is, and although everyone here was belittling the Russian effort, including an aircraft carrier that looks more like a locomotive than a ship, the Russians are there and they're actually getting experience in using all their war junk, from the TOSS to the Tu-160.

I don't see the Russians doing all that much wrong geopolitically compared to the west, tbh.

its amazing what a country like italy could achieve if its people would be happy with 300-500$ a month.

Most people dont need much more than a roof over their head, full belly and decent set of clothes.

lmao maybe if ur from africa

[erichkknaar]

Russia serves as our favourite whipping boy in terms of derp, but Russia is doing quite well, all things considered. The west's sanctions over crimea have had less effect than was desired, Putin is still popular, as in actually popular, not like dear leader and Russia has more influence globally now than it had two years ago and despite the fact that Russia is chaotic as fuck, the recent american political circus has only made Russia look more positive and much stronger than it otherwise would. Russia played an excellent role during the american elections, shitposting on Russian media amongst the best that FHC could ever offer but never confirming or denying anything. Russia has stopped its population decline, for what reason I don't know and their economy is doing somewhat better because oil prices are up again. Putin simply held out long enough for the arabs to fuck themselves and now he's looking, along with Russia, decidedly less like a poorfag than he was a year ago. Russia stuck by its buddy Syria, which gives the important message that they aren't fickle like the west is, and although everyone here was belittling the Russian effort, including an aircraft carrier that looks more like a locomotive than a ship, the Russians are there and they're actually getting experience in using all their war junk, from the TOSS to the Tu-160.

I don't see the Russians doing all that much wrong geopolitically compared to the west, tbh.

its amazing what a country like italy could achieve if its people would be happy with 300-500$ a month.

Most people dont need much more than a roof over their head, full belly and decent set of clothes.

lmao maybe if ur from africa

Nah m8. I'm from Africa and I need a lot more than that.

[Frug]

it really also depends how far those 300-500$ a month go. Most people dont need much more than a roof over their head, full belly and decent set of Adidas.

FTFY

[Frug]

This is true on the one hand, but also ignores Russian history and geography on the other. Russia is big with a large population and it has, for the most part, a cold climate, similar to Canada's but without the Oceanic influence. Russia has never had a history of democracy and has been invaded so often by just about anyone that could do so that it's a testimony to Russian resilience that it still exists.

You can judge how well a country is doing on different criteria. There's no question that the Russian government is doing well. For some reason I think quality of life and happiness are more important. That place goes back to whipping boy status if you look at it that way.

From what I can gather, most Russians have no respect for the law or what they think are weak democracies and without an authoritarian government the place would be in utter chaos, like it was for long periods in the 90s.

Gotta love the whole "those people can't handle democracy" argument that gets tossed around. I don't know if you realize how you sound but it makes me cringe.

Or I could go with my usual sarcastic "yeah, you're totally right, those mobsters can't handle freedoms".

[Spartan Dax]

..... without an authoritarian government the place would be in utter chaos, like it was for long periods in the 90s.

Gotta love the whole "those people can't handle democracy" argument that gets tossed around. I don't know if you realize how you sound but it makes me cringe.

Or I could go with my usual sarcastic "yeah, you're totally right, those mobsters can't handle freedoms".

Razor has made that argument on several occasions. Doesn't make it true obviously.

As for lawlessness, it's corrupt to the core, what do you expect?

[Zeekar]

From what I can gather, most Russians have no respect for the law or what they think are weak democracies and without an authoritarian government the place would be in utter chaos, like it was for long periods in the 90s.

Gotta love the whole "those people can't handle democracy" argument that gets tossed around. I don't know if you realize how you sound but it makes me cringe.

Or I could go with my usual sarcastic "yeah, you're totally right, those mobsters can't handle freedoms".

Actually I'd say Razor is probably right in this case. You cant simply switch from a totalitarian regime to a democratic one and expect people to be perfectly fine with it. It takes ages. Slovenia has had democracy for 25 years now and while its slowly improving id still say a lot of people here still arent ready for it.

[thebomby]

This is true on the one hand, but also ignores Russian history and geography on the other. Russia is big with a large population and it has, for the most part, a cold climate, similar to Canada's but without the Oceanic influence. Russia has never had a history of democracy and has been invaded so often by just about anyone that could do so that it's a testimony to Russian resilience that it still exists.

You can judge how well a country is doing on different criteria. There's no question that the Russian government is doing well. For some reason I think quality of life and happiness are more important. That place goes back to whipping boy status if you look at it that way.

From what I can gather, most Russians have no respect for the law or what they think are weak democracies and without an authoritarian government the place would be in utter chaos, like it was for long periods in the 90s.

Gotta love the whole "those people can't handle democracy" argument that gets tossed around. I don't know if you realize how you sound but it makes me cringe.

Or I could go with my usual sarcastic "yeah, you're totally right, those mobsters can't handle freedoms".

Man, I come from South Africa. The black population had no vote until 1994, and the transition to democracy, while smooth for such an extreme history, has not been smooth, nor is it getting better. The largest part of the black population still votes for the party that was once the guys who fought for liberation, 22 years later, no matter how corrupt and inept they are, because many of them feel they owe those politicians something. Changing people's attitudes takes time, and it only happens if they want it to.

So, while Russians are obviously able to handle democracy conceptually, the place and system they live has no history of it and the bit they had in the 90s was an chaotic, inept kleptocracy. I know Russians who lost almost everything in the crash of 1998. No one there wants that kind of mess again.

[RazoR]

By the time russia is ready for your candyland view of democratical system world communism would have already won.

10 years ago i'd say central europe is the closest to actual democracy but now i don't honestly know.

[Fara]

Russia serves as our favourite whipping boy in terms of derp, but Russia is doing quite well, all things considered. The west's sanctions over crimea have had less effect than was desired, Putin is still popular, as in actually popular, not like dear leader and Russia has more influence globally now than it had two years ago and despite the fact that Russia is chaotic as fuck, the recent american political circus has only made Russia look more positive and much stronger than it otherwise would. Russia played an excellent role during the american elections, shitposting on Russian media amongst the best that FHC could ever offer but never confirming or denying anything. Russia has stopped its population decline, for what reason I don't know and their economy is doing somewhat better because oil prices are up again. Putin simply held out long enough for the arabs to fuck themselves and now he's looking, along with Russia, decidedly less like a poorfag than he was a year ago. Russia stuck by its buddy Syria, which gives the important message that they aren't fickle like the west is, and although everyone here was belittling the Russian effort, including an aircraft carrier that looks more like a locomotive than a ship, the Russians are there and they're actually getting experience in using all their war junk, from the TOSS to the Tu-160.

I don't see the Russians doing all that much wrong geopolitically compared to the west, tbh.

its amazing what a country like italy could achieve if its people would be happy with 300-500$ a month.

it really also depends how far those 300-500$ a month go. Most people dont need much more than a roof over their head, full belly and decent set of clothes.

It mainly ignores that the cost of living in Russia is far lower than in the west. I worked in Turkey in 1993 for 400 Deutche Marks a month and lived on that quite comfortably. Roof over my head, food and going out. What it means for Russians is that imported technological goods are very expensive, but as anyone on a budget knows, you can make do quite easily by being just slightly wise in what you buy.

no shit, you have determined that higher wages go with higher cost of living. It still doesn't change the fact that the higher wages generally leave more money in the pocket after housing/food/clothes for all the nice things in life (like coke&hookers). Just check disposable income comparisons, I got the first google link for you even: http://www.nationmaster.com/country-...lary/After-tax

It's almost like people in countries with high wages are better off

[Joe Appleby]

Russia serves as our favourite whipping boy in terms of derp, but Russia is doing quite well, all things considered. The west's sanctions over crimea have had less effect than was desired, Putin is still popular, as in actually popular, not like dear leader and Russia has more influence globally now than it had two years ago and despite the fact that Russia is chaotic as fuck, the recent american political circus has only made Russia look more positive and much stronger than it otherwise would. Russia played an excellent role during the american elections, shitposting on Russian media amongst the best that FHC could ever offer but never confirming or denying anything. Russia has stopped its population decline, for what reason I don't know and their economy is doing somewhat better because oil prices are up again. Putin simply held out long enough for the arabs to fuck themselves and now he's looking, along with Russia, decidedly less like a poorfag than he was a year ago. Russia stuck by its buddy Syria, which gives the important message that they aren't fickle like the west is, and although everyone here was belittling the Russian effort, including an aircraft carrier that looks more like a locomotive than a ship, the Russians are there and they're actually getting experience in using all their war junk, from the TOSS to the Tu-160.

I don't see the Russians doing all that much wrong geopolitically compared to the west, tbh.

its amazing what a country like italy could achieve if its people would be happy with 300-500$ a month.

it really also depends how far those 300-500$ a month go. Most people dont need much more than a roof over their head, full belly and decent set of clothes.

It mainly ignores that the cost of living in Russia is far lower than in the west. I worked in Turkey in 1993 for 400 Deutche Marks a month and lived on that quite comfortably. Roof over my head, food and going out. What it means for Russians is that imported technological goods are very expensive, but as anyone on a budget knows, you can make do quite easily by being just slightly wise in what you buy.

no shit, you have determined that higher wages go with higher cost of living. It still doesn't change the fact that the higher wages generally leave more money in the pocket after housing/food/clothes for all the nice things in life (like coke&hookers). Just check disposable income comparisons, I got the first google link for you even: http://www.nationmaster.com/country-...lary/After-tax

It's almost like people in countries with high wages are better off

WTF Zambia. Also y'all need to check that link. If you click the countries, you'll see prices for everyday items so you can compare cost of living. However the price for 1.5L of water is off for Germany, they claim $0.69, but it's €0.19. The exchange rate doesn't cover that. They probably included the cash refund.

[Fara]

Russia serves as our favourite whipping boy in terms of derp, but Russia is doing quite well, all things considered. The west's sanctions over crimea have had less effect than was desired, Putin is still popular, as in actually popular, not like dear leader and Russia has more influence globally now than it had two years ago and despite the fact that Russia is chaotic as fuck, the recent american political circus has only made Russia look more positive and much stronger than it otherwise would. Russia played an excellent role during the american elections, shitposting on Russian media amongst the best that FHC could ever offer but never confirming or denying anything. Russia has stopped its population decline, for what reason I don't know and their economy is doing somewhat better because oil prices are up again. Putin simply held out long enough for the arabs to fuck themselves and now he's looking, along with Russia, decidedly less like a poorfag than he was a year ago. Russia stuck by its buddy Syria, which gives the important message that they aren't fickle like the west is, and although everyone here was belittling the Russian effort, including an aircraft carrier that looks more like a locomotive than a ship, the Russians are there and they're actually getting experience in using all their war junk, from the TOSS to the Tu-160.

I don't see the Russians doing all that much wrong geopolitically compared to the west, tbh.

its amazing what a country like italy could achieve if its people would be happy with 300-500$ a month.

it really also depends how far those 300-500$ a month go. Most people dont need much more than a roof over their head, full belly and decent set of clothes.

It mainly ignores that the cost of living in Russia is far lower than in the west. I worked in Turkey in 1993 for 400 Deutche Marks a month and lived on that quite comfortably. Roof over my head, food and going out. What it means for Russians is that imported technological goods are very expensive, but as anyone on a budget knows, you can make do quite easily by being just slightly wise in what you buy.

no shit, you have determined that higher wages go with higher cost of living. It still doesn't change the fact that the higher wages generally leave more money in the pocket after housing/food/clothes for all the nice things in life (like coke&hookers). Just check disposable income comparisons, I got the first google link for you even: http://www.nationmaster.com/country-...lary/After-tax

It's almost like people in countries with high wages are better off

WTF Zambia. Also y'all need to check that link. If you click the countries, you'll see prices for everyday items so you can compare cost of living. However the price for 1.5L of water is off for Germany, they claim $0.69, but it's €0.19. The exchange rate doesn't cover that. They probably included the cash refund.

hey its the first link because I was too lazy to go to gapminder or other statistic sites. You always have to think about stuff like average income =! median income and exchange rates and whatever the fuck, but the overall implications are still valid.

[erichkknaar]

WTF Zambia.

That's just the like 20 people in the government who control the copper contracts skewing the numbers.