The Russian equivalent to Alexa is a "good girl" but not too friendly, and is totally OK with wife-beating

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/07/28/emotional-socialism.html

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So basically Russia is a British boarding school the size of a continent.

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Google’s bot says, “I wish I had arms so I could give you a hug.” Alisa says, “No one said life was about having fun.”

I have to say I prefer the Russian version.

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With Nekrasov in mind, here’s one of the first Russian jokes I ever heard…

Boris and Igor are discussing their friendship over a bottle of vodka:
“Igor, would you stop a runaway stallion?”
“Hell no, Boris! Those things scare me!”
“And would you run into a burning cottage to save a child?”
“Do I look crazy to you!!??”
“See, that’s why I like you, Igor: nothing feminine about you at all.”

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Russia and a lot of Eastern Europe like Ukraine are basically giant frat houses / criminal gangs. The people can be very friendly and hospitable if you’re one of ‘their’ people or a visitor, but they’re vicious assholes to anyone slightly outside and casual cruelty abounds. Shit relentlessly flows downhill, and unlike the US where that increasingly happens (Trump voters and corporate oligarchs are turning us into Russia), but there’s at least lip service against that, everyone just considers that the normal state of affairs. The golden rule is ‘fuck them before they fuck you, unless you’ve got each other’s backs.’

So what does this have to do with the price of herring in Petrograd? The status of women is pretty much what you’d expect from a frat house or criminal gang. It goes with the rest of it.

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Subbotin describes Alisa as a “good girl” and says the company takes countermeasures to prevent her from being trained on racist, reactionary data

Either he’s misinforming the Western reporter or he’s about to get in big trouble for defying United Russia’s social agenda. Since Yandex, like every other large business, is allowed to operate only at Putin’s sufferance, I would guess the former.

Pretty much. The clan always comes first and less powerful clans and individuals are fair game. That kind of system is never kind to women and visible minorities.

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