cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7701162

I want to ask here too if that’s ok. Still not 100% sure how federation works but would like to get a bigger audience for more viewpoints.

I would love to hear the thoughts of this leftist community, not least any comrade in Russia. In the US it’s so hard to get any serious Russia news/analysis because of the propaganda here- you have red guys that love Russia & Putin to own the libs, and you have blue guys that hate Russia & Putin because it’s their favorite boogeyman. I ask because I personally don’t like Putin for his war on gayness (wake me up when we get to war of gayness) but I understand that countries in the US’s crosshairs are those that make their history under the least self-selected circumstances. I was looking at some stats when this question came to mind:

UA

RU

So material conditions have definitely improved under Putin, which is a miracle considering the fall of the USSR and the disgrace of Yeltsin, which makes me think there are probably people out there who like Putin for rational reasons, besides owning the libs. I would love to hear your thoughts either way.

  • uldo@lemmygrad.ml
    38·
    2 months ago

    I’m from Russia, can’t say that I love Putin, but he’s better than any other possible USA puppet would be, although he until the last moment couldn’t give up on idea that you can trust western countries and work with them on equal terms.

    Most people of older generations like him a lot, because they lived through the Yeltsin years and saw what it was like. A lot of people in younger generations that I know don’t like him, since he’s corrupt, like any other politician in capitalist country would be, which is valid criticism, but anything they are suggesting are much more corrupt pro-westerners shills. So I’m pretty sure that most older people that I know of (like 45+?) are in support mostly because of material conditions which improved while Putin was in power, and yet still can be critical of him and his actions. Although there are exceptions in both older and younger generations.

    Also note, that It’s based on my experience and since I’m, sadly, very online person and haven’t talked with many people it might be a bit different from reality, but I hope it’s at least a bit helpful!

    • happybaby [none/use name]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      Thanks for your answer. If I may ask- what kind of social safety net do Russians have? Do you have free school lunches for children? Free healthcare? Housing guarantee? How is life for pensioners? I mentioned that I am completely propagandized when it comes to Russia, but would love to know how the situation on the ground is. Tbh I suppose it’s a lot like in the US- tough life for 90%, nice life for 9.9%, dream come true for 0.1%.

      • uldo@lemmygrad.ml
        5·
        2 months ago

        As much as I’m aware, there’s free healthcare (not the best quality, but it is free), school lunches for children up to 4th grade but it might differ from town to town, from school to school, no housing guaranties, life for pensioners is so-so, pension is pretty low, around 300$ per month, but most people own their houses from soviet times, so most don’t have to pay rent, so you get enough for food and paying for home services and even some left. Also you can get some bonuses for different reasons, my grandma had bigger pension and lower payment for house services (water, electricity) because she was veteran of war. Also there’s a lot of free activities for people on pension and some general bonuses, like free public transport, but in general life quality for people on pension are bellow average. Also I think I should mention that we have option to study in universities for absolutely free (they even will pay you), if you do get good grades on exams.

        I did a quick search, and there are some guaranties for housing! You can rent it from government and you will need to pay only for services and you can even privatize it. It probably would be pretty hard to get, but might be possible. I guess a lot of social nets here like that - you can get it, but it probably won’t be easy.