Russiaphobia on boingboing is blatantly racist.
Iâd say itâs patriotic, in a very toxic, American way.
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Nah, itâs not a racial thing. There are countries in the same region with a similar racial makeup that are nowhere near as corrupt (though Ukraine is). Itâs a cultural thing, and it all comes down from Putin. Just like Trump is making America more corrupt, but he hasnât had 20 years to do it like Putin has.
And you guys are really super sensitive about this. Itâs not like I think only Russia is bad (Trump is very bad), Iâm just being honest about how Russia is incredibly corrupt because Iâve seen it with my own eyes and you guys are just flipping the f@#$ from this simple, true statement (backed up by countless corruption indexes) with the epitome of âthou doth protest too much, methinksâ.
If youâre so upset about people calling you cheaters, then stop cheating so much. Maybe donât have a national sports program that are olympic gold medalists in cheating. You can rant and rave about âAmerica is bad tooâ, but thatâs not convincing at all - itâs a shitty excuse and Iâll just nod and say yes, America is pretty bad too. Not as bad on any corruption index, but not good, and getting worse under Trump. But that still leaves Russia as incredibly corrupt with a deep culture of cheating from the top down.
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That word:
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Jews are also comprised of several races. So by your logic, is antisemitism not racism?
Well, as I understand it, Jews arenât a race, they are an ethnicity and a religion.
But more to the point - no - there is no Russian race, just as there is no American race. Russian is a nationality.
Not sure what hill youâre climbing to die on or whyâŚ
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Perhaps try Israelis are comprised of several different races. Youâd be closer.
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Itâs not my logic. Go ask someone of Jewish ancestry whether or not they consider themselves to be one race or not. Then go ask the same of folks who happen to be living in one country or not.
Regardless, this is pedantry. Your point - that we should not generalize large groups of people based on the actions of a subset of that group - is sound.
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Iâm not seeing how this helps your argument.
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Fun fact: the âProtocols of the Elders of Zionâ (very popular with Putinâs Know-Nothing supporters and his fanbois abroad) had its origins in 19th century Russia, and was itself plagiarised from an earlier French anti-clerical screed (with evil Jews swapped in for evil priests).
The culture of intellectual corruption in Russia is such that they couldnât even come up with an original BS conspiracy theory without cribbing it from someone else.
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We only steal from the very worstâŚ
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More fun facts: the Protocols were imported into the USA by American military officers returning from the Russian Intervention (where theyâd been introduced to it by their White Russian allies), and then published and promoted by Henry Ford.
Which brings us back to my original point that started this argument. Which, to be clear, was not âRussia is wonderfulâ, but was instead more along the lines of âpeople in glass houses should not throw stonesâ.
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An example, perhaps:
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As before:
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Iâm pretty sure it was just as corrupt under the Communists. Not saying that in any way to mitigate what Putin has done, but I think he was carrying on a long tradition, not starting from scratch in a vacuum.
Yes, but I think an important point to make is that itâs not an individual cultural thing, itâs a matter of context.. I think you get this, but Iâm not sure some of your critics here understand the difference.
For example I could correctly generalize that people in India drive like complete fucking maniacs. However, if I were to say that Indians drive like complete maniacs, that would be wrong. I know a lot of Indians living in the US, and they all drive like everyone else here does, because in this context thatâs what you do. If youâre driving in India, you have to drive like a maniac, because in that context, itâs the only way to get anywhere.
I think the error people are making is in taking your statement that
As a statement about Russians, rather than about the cultural context in Russia.
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Who will stand up for Homo sovieticus?
Where art thou McClary?
Like âblack folks have rhythmâ, âJews are good with moneyâ and âScots are thriftyâ ?
âNazis are evilâ
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