Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/10/08/everything-must-end.html
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I am a Canadian in Russia at the moment.
I was at the pension protests in St. Petersburg.
The Western media only reports part of the story, just like the Russian media only reports some of the story.
First the fact that the current pension ages are far lower than most of the west is never highlighted or even often mentioned: Under the proposed reforms, the retirement age would increase for men from 60 to 65 years of age and for women from 55 to 63.
Second: there were many arrests as the western media noted.
What was not noted was that folks were put in vans by unarmed ( they staged across from my airbnb and I watched the whole thing) and peacefully and then driven to a station on the outskirts of the city and let go.
There is propaganda both ways and it took me a while being here to believe my eyes. Russia and America are two sides of the same coin. Neither is really any better and it’s weird to be so afraid of, as you described, a country in such distress.
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“Bread and Circuses” Give the people both, they follow, until the day you can’t provide them.
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To be fair the life span of someone living in Russia is 8 years less than the US.
So a younger pension age i̶s̶ was a good thing.
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When a large part of a political party’s base is bigots the last thing it should do is mess with pensions or old-age insurance. Something else for the GOP to consider in regard to SSI.
Putin did manage to salvage something here, by convincing the public that the mismanagement of the Russian state was a sin committed by the entire political class, not just Putin
An old trick of autocrats, one that sets the stage for purges of those officials who have become “inconvenient” or disloyal by claiming that they’re “elites” or agents of the “deep state” who have hindered the Dear Leader and betrayed The People.
Now let’s see how the apologists, useful idiots, and the kids from the I.R.A. in St. Petersburg try to spin this one. Take it away, comrades…
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If you guys decide to have a revolution, make sure you get it right this time.
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Uh-huh… welcome to BoingBoing, new comrade. You’re off to a great start with the false equivalencies and straw-man arguments. Tell us more about what pussycats those unarmed OMON and militia cops are.
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"Officials confirmed that Vladimir Putin was unconcerned by the new figures. “Declining popular support doesn’t bother us,” said a spokesman, “Because there’s not actually anyone else you can vote for. Or if there is, we’ll probably jail them. And you.” A second spokesman said that the apparent decline in support was a statistical aberration, which would shortly be reversed. “We have a new calendar coming out very soon. It features President Putin shirtless. Wrestling with a bear. In an icy lake. Russians respond well to this imagery, and we expect to see President Putin’s popularity skyrocket from a record-setting 79% of registered voters to almost double that once the calendar is released.”
The bear could not be reached for comment at press time."
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If this follows the usual sequence of events, this is precisely the right time for Russia to ‘liberate’ another neighbouring country and stir up patriotism in adversity.
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The latest data from Levada… finds that support for all Russian political figures, including Vladimir Putin, has plunged…
Levada offices were promptly torched by unknown actors, who can never be traced or caught.
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Just as I suspected about him… Putin is being kept afloat politically by the old timers. He’s going to be in for an absolutely horrible time once the younger generations starts to take more power.
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If I was a dictator I wouldn’t do that, it makes no sense. Simply fire the people in management, replace with your own, presto you now own a servile pollster. Favorable ratings forever!
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Canadian, Eh? What’s a Gordie Howe hat trick? Where does Gordie Lightfoot vacation in the summer? What figure skater did Gordie Downie compose music for? ( added difficulty, skater not named Gordie ).
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In America there is no possibility of an authoritarian leader slashing state pensions.
“Russia’s state really only excels at one thing: manipulating public opinion (which is why it was so easy for so many Americans to believe that Russian political manipulation changed the outcome of the 2016 election.”
I don’t think the question was whether Russia manipulated the elections, because they did. It should have been worded, ‘which is why it was so easy for so many Americans to be manipulated into changing the outcome of the 2016 election.’
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A nation in distress as in Russia’s case is like a cornered dog. Putin realizes his economy is a mess and he is trying to make us into another Russian nation-state. Russia’s ability to manipulate The U.S. elections and get trump elected is not scary enough for you?
