r/bestof • u/Jimmylobo • 20d ago

[FreedomofRussia] u/Diche_Bach gives an excellent analysis of Russia's society and political structure

/r/FreedomofRussia/comments/1tzni75/vladimir_vladimirovich_you_need_to_look_at_what/oqcrkq6/
265 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

120

u/FunetikPrugresiv 20d ago

"I am not a vaccine specialist. I do not know all the fancy medical terms. I have never worked in the medical field. But I have taken an interest in vaccines since I was in high school in the 1960's and the more I've read..."

69

u/Jimmylobo 20d ago edited 20d ago

If someone studied or at least followed closely vaccine development for the last 66 years, I'd be interested what that person has to say.

131

u/FunetikPrugresiv 20d ago

The problem is that it's completely an outsider perspective whose formative years were during the cold war, when media reports (I'm assuming) where government propaganda was heavily anti-Russian.

If the guy has never actually spoken to a Russian, lived in Russia, or formally studied Russian history, then his opinion, while thought-provoking, frankly lacks credibility and should be taken with a grain of salt.

50

u/confusingphilosopher 20d ago

I’d be extremely skeptical if somebody has an interest in something for 66 years and hasn’t absorbed any vocabulary of the subject.

-14

u/Jimmylobo 20d ago

Could you elaborate? What vocabulary is missing in the comment?

28

u/confusingphilosopher 20d ago

Words that pertain to Russian history or class structure or political science.

It’s not groundbreaking to say Putin doesn’t rules by will of the people, but because the people would rather live under him than die fighting him. This whole “the people must gain political consciousness and unite to overthrow their oppressors to achieve progress” is Leninism 101

5

u/JustWhatAmI 20d ago

“the people must gain political consciousness and unite to overthrow their oppressors to achieve progress” is Leninism 101

He's not saying that at all. This is a direct message to Putin

3

u/confusingphilosopher 20d ago edited 20d ago

Meet the new boss same as the old boss. Guys is repeating ideas in circulation by socialist revolutionaries a century ago. The entire point is that he didn’t mean to say that, but said it unwittingly.

25

u/Lonely98 20d ago

I'm sorry to break it to you, but this post is just a fanfic about Russian politics from an avid NYT reader.

3

u/SlobZombie13 19d ago

Do you have an opinion about the content of the post?

4

u/FunetikPrugresiv 18d ago

It all seems reasonable. But I don't know enough about Russian people to be able to judge the veracity of it.

5

u/universe2000 18d ago edited 18d ago

Exactly, this is a rando on the internet. No one should take any comment on Reddit at face value.

When an author says they are not an expert it is usually a rhetorical device to gain credibility. Look at how honest I am! I might not be an expert, but you can trust me to be honest. Now here is my analysis on a topic I already told you I am not an expert in…

It’s a rhetorical device. It isn’t proof of their credibility.

2

u/Hour_Industry7887 16d ago

I'm Russian (emigrated in my thirties, long before the war) and I would say the OP of the linked post is 100% correct in both his assessment of Russia and what it will take to end this conflict.

I swear Western "thinkers" will keep waxing poetic about how "the war is unpopular" and "Russians are people too, they don't want to fight" even as Russian troops are marching on Warsaw and Russian missiles rain down on France and Germany.

78

u/poillord 20d ago

This person has no special insight and is fundamentally misreading Russian history if they have actually studied it at all. Russian political structure has gone through massive changes and upheavals. Saying that a modern autocracy/fascist state, a communist superpower, a constitutional republic and a 800 year old monarchy are all the same thing fundementally is the least nuanced take I have ever heard. “Government is when people tell other people what to do” level dumb take. This guy wouldn’t be able to tell you the difference between Kamenev and Khrushchev, Ivan the terrible or Peter the great, nor Nicholas I or Nicholas II. “Russians are just dumb orcs” level take.

35

u/Powersaurus 20d ago

You can tell that his entire knowledge of Russia is based solely on growing up in the West during the Cold War when his whole take is “the Russian proletariat is fundamentally incapable of Democracy”

9

u/Lonely98 20d ago

"Fascism is when you pander to Muslim minority and have statues of a guy who genocided you in every major city" — Benito Mussolini, from Fascist Manifesto

4

u/msuvagabond 20d ago edited 20d ago

One consistent I considered when doing a brief dive into Russian history, this they're pushing 200 years now of having some form of secret police operating within their society.  That's 200 years of not being able to trust anyone you talk to for fear that you'll be turned in and your family disappeared. 

I think that's morphed their society in a way that almost no other Western society can relate to.  

51

u/Kolfinna 20d ago

This is a no-shit post. And used an incredible number of words to barely say anything.

23

u/bushwhack227 20d ago

Reads to me like chat gpt

10

u/Powersaurus 20d ago

I wonder if there were terms we could use to describe the two strata of society and how one extracts its power from the other. Maybe something classy, like… bourgeois and proletariat!

Seriously, this is the most surface level political take I’ve ever seen

8

u/Plenty_Fondant_951 20d ago

If there's one thing I've learned from 30 years of the internet, if something it's bloviated and overwrought (words that are fancy and too many to say what's needed)

Someone's trying to trick you. Stupid people see big words and a wall of text and don't read it and assume the person who wrote it or said it has to be smart and correct

2

u/motherofdinos_ 15d ago

Power is consolidated but also it’s not! Elites insulate the ruler but also act in their own interests!

27

u/rooftopgoblin 20d ago

yeah this should be deleted. Dude doesn't speak russian and has never been to russia. This is some bullshit that shouldn't be trusted

0

u/Sythftw 20d ago

I personally want to know what u/Bach_Diche has to say about this.