For the past few days, I’ve been binge watching content from many Russian expats and others who still remain in Russia giving us an insight into their lives.
Not all Russians align with their Regime
Ok, that might not be surprising to the vast majority of people around the world. Even in small countries in opposite sides of the planet such as the Republic of Ecuador where I was born, there are multiple ideologies for and against their incumbent government. Closer to home, here in the USA, we see the same – although it tends to be [incorrectly] categorized as a binary political system.
The reality is that the world is a lot more complex and Russia being the most expansive landmass in the world would not be an exception. In case it was not obvious enough not all Russians agree with the Putin regime, especially those who were born and raised with Putin being the only de-facto head of state they have ever met.
Even during the small stint where Dimitry Medvedev was president from 2008 to 2012, Putin was the sole Prime Minister for that period. Any other periods there were at least a couple of prime ministers for each presidential term. You might not be surprised to learn that Medvedev also serve as Prime Minister when Putin got reelected in for 2012, and he has remained in power ever since.
In case you were not aware, Putin also changed the constitution, so it moved from four-year terms to six-year terms. He also started his fifth term in May 2024. Putin was a relatively unknown figure until December 1999 when Russian President Boris Yeltsin “kind of” suddenly resigned and Putin became acting president. Which means that Putin has been in power of Russia for 24 years, 7 months, 4 weeks.
A quick political history of Russian Presidents
Yes, this is important to understand the Russian people. Because even if they are not aligned with the regime ruling supreme from the Kremlin, they have no choice but to comply. There are unwritten rules in Russia and in other countries about what is considered acceptable and what is considered provocative. I’ll be quoting those voices; you make your own determination of what they mean.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union communist rule spanned from December 1922 to December 1991 – Before Mikhail Gorbachev took power, the head of state (to include all Soviet Republics) was known as the “Premiere” or also as “General Secretary.” Gorbachev also held this title until it changed to the “President of the Soviet Union.” He is the only person who held that title, because the Soviet Union ended with him. I know I am oversimplifying a bit, for the sake of brevity.
The Soviet Union was a totalitarian rule, and during Gorbachev's term he started something known as “perestroika” which was meant to restructure the political and economic systems of the Soviet Union because it was very clear that it had stagnated. He also came up with “glasnost” which was meant to be an openness and transparency on Soviet issues. This – perhaps well-intentioned – concept actually resulted in the exponential erosion and subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union. Which was actually a good thing, though many people did get adversely affected.
What does that mean? It means that people in Soviet times for more than six decades – to many, their entire lives since birth were under totalitarian rule. They did not know anything else other than what the government approved for them to ascertain as truth. Any dissent, or even hit of dissent (even if that was an erroneous perception) was punished severely. This means that nobody over the age of 33 by the time I write this article grew up under the Soviet regime.
That means that people in their late 30’s to mid-50’s would have had a better understanding of how different the world is outside the Soviet Union. Many people older outside that demographics will either have a sense of nostalgia for the Soviet Union times – however harsh the period was or would be already programed to display obedience and had an understanding that dissent is futile and should just accept their fate – whatever the ruling class has determined for them… and be grateful to have what they need to survive.
Younger generations are more likely to be more curious and to explore outside their borders – even if it is via the internet. However, they also very well understand what the punishment for dissent is even though the Soviet Union fell in the 90’s.
Post Soviet Union
- Boris Yeltsin was the first president of the newly formed Russian Federation from July 1991 to his resignation on 31 December 1999. Before that he was the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Russia for about a year. Yeltsin brought a lot of western culture to the Russian Federation. I can write about him extensively in a different article. But for this I’ll just say that the first McDonalds opened in Russia in January 1990… well before Yeltsin took office.
- Vladimir Putin as previously mentioned has been the ruler of Russia ever since, even though Medvedev has his stint from 2008-2012. At that time the Prime Minister had more sway on policy – some might be surprised to remember that Putin held the role of Prime Minister at the time. And once he got back to become a president the Prime Minister role had a lesser powerful stratum. Yes, I am oversimplifying a bit. I can write for hours about what this means. But the point is that nobody has said “no” to Putin in almost a quarter of a century.
Understanding this context then it is not surprising to have a lot of voices inside Russia who would welcome a change to the highest office on their land. But the truth is that most people are not comfortable (euphemism for fearful) or potential repercussions for speaking out. Call it coincidence if you will, but anybody who dissented with Russian policies somehow found themselves behind bars or an accident occurred to them.
There is no shortage of examples of people who got in trouble (incarceration or had to flee) for answering a question on street interviews that dissented with the official narrative approved by the state.
I’ll be writing more details about this topic on my Patreon page under “Special access Articles.” – There are conversations that are not intended to all audiences, that way people won’t simply “stumble upon” them.
Here is the link to my Patreon Page
HALF Life Crisis | Because life is what we make of it... | www.hallifecrisis.com | Patreon
But that begs the question, what is indeed approved by the Russian Federation to be spoken in public. Their constitution Afterall has “free speech” as one of their tenants. And “free speech” means that sometimes you’ll say something that will be akin to speaking “truth to power” and this can be a catalyst for positive change.
The Russian People
There is a huge division in Russia right now since the so called “special military operation” that started in February 2022, when the Russian military crossed the border into the Ukraine – and combat operation remains there to this day.
I’ve written a series of articles about the Ukraine Russia Conflict, and I’ll be adding a new one in the near term. It might be posted by the time you read these words. The previous were when Ukraine was unable or unwilling to cross the border into Russia, but after more than two years of fighting inside Ukraine, the Ukrainian military is now fighting back inside Russia.
Read all the articles here
Ukraine & Russia Conflict… 2 years later - Half Life Crisis
Ukraine & Russia Conflict… over 485 days later - Half Life Crisis
Ukraine & Russia Conflict… a year later - Half Life Crisis
Ukraine & Russia Conflict… 334 days later - Half Life Crisis
Ukraine & Russia conflict… 302 days later - Half Life Crisis
And this is the catalyst that had gotten a lot more Russians to wake up to the reality they face. Russia is divided between the “Z” pro-war people and everybody else. It might be surprising for some people to realize, but the truth is that Russia is on the extreme-right of the political spectrum. And how it gets there is harder for some people to grasp, because the Soviets actually fought extreme-right during World War II.
But surprise-surprise. The extreme left (as it was communism) and the extreme right are very much in principle – if you speak out of turn you and everything you ever loved will be punished. How severely depends on if you happen to be inside their territory or if there are any safeguards to prevent it – or at least prompt a second glance into it. In other words, often their own people inside their own borders have high risk of being punished with impunity, but others outside this construct (technically) won’t – because there are laws that will look into it, and could prompt international incidents.
This Ukraine-Russia armed conflict has several hundreds of thousands of Russians to flee. And yes, a lot of them were men because they were otherwise going to be drafted to fight (and likely die) in Ukraine. Their reasons for leaving vary, but the fact they are gone does not mean they are safe. There is a level of discrimination and distrust of them just because of where they were born. And when you think about it, that works great for the Russian regime, because it validates their Western “Russophobia” narrative.
Russia has turned the tables on the west by granting temporary residence even if a westerner does not understand the language or history to come into Russia, if they feel that the so called “woke” culture is out of control in the West. And yes, a lot of right-wing folks have indeed gone to Russia to “escape” the West. They of course become some sort of “celebrity” in Russia as they speak openly against their countries of origin, to include the USA. And those are proudly boasted in official Russian Television.
Here is a video of one such example of an American who even tattooed himself with a “Z” – in support of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Credit to the NFKRZ YouTube channel. This is the first video I saw of him but was not the last.
Dumb Americans moving to Russia (youtube.com)
He loves Russia, but he like many others who are speaking out on YouTube channels (which by the way is either banned or severely slowed down in Russia at the time I’m writing this) allow you to see through their eyes a glimpse to this larger picture.
As I said, I have binge watching their content because there are countless stories that do not ever make it to the news cycle. And it is interesting also to see how their perception of geopolitical events has been changing. For some it ranged from “it is not my business” – to “I had to flee to save my life.” Many others remain, but are hoping to leave the country, but they are unable.
And before anybody jumps and say “what about Ukraine” – yes, even these content creators speak about the fact that Ukraine has it a lot worse, and they do not agree with this war either. But the truth is that there is only one person in the world who can end this war today. But that person is obviously unwilling to do so. Meanwhile, Russia remains divided. If you’re a pro-war “Z” then you can speak all you want, but if you’re not “Z” you have to be very creative to express your opinion.
Which brings me to a common trend conclusion. As a Latin person I can identify a lot with the Russian people when it comes to their sarcasm, sense of humor, “making do” of sometimes bad circumstances, etc. Why is that? Because we are all PEOPLE! I’ll be writing an article about it in the future because there is a lot to talk about in those similarities and differences. Sure, there are unique cultural differences, but that can be fascinating in its own right too. I truly want to bridge the gap between our similarities.
Let me finish by saying that when you understand that the world is a lot more complex than whatever media ecosystem is controlling as the “approved” narrative – you’ll discover that there is a much larger world out there. And yes, although a lot of us sometimes feel like we are screaming into a void, the truth is that there is somebody who is listening to what we are saying. Maybe there is not much they can do with the platform (or lack thereof) they have right now, but eventually these voices will resonate.
If you want to learn more about what I mean by this particular topic without having to use euphemisms, please read the next part of this and other articles I’ve posted on our Patreon page. Until then, just remember that not every Russian is in favor of their Regime, but they very well understand cause and effect for what they can or cannot say out loud. For them their lives also changed almost “suddenly” – this is a lesson for any other country who today enjoys freedom of speech but might be persuaded to suffer in silence and pipe down in their own environment. HLC