Why Do the Russian People Like Putin So Much?

In spite of all the fraudulent elections and the utter disrespect for freedom of speech and human rights that characterize Putin’s regime in Russia, he has very high approval ratings in the country. Simply put, the absolute majority of people love him. In order to understand the reasons for this seemingly strange attachment of the Russian people to a KGB guy with zero charisma and totalitarian tendencies, please consider the following:

1. In the 1990ies, FSU countries went through the period known as “bandits’ wars.” It was the time when criminal organizations engaged in brutal struggles over the property that use to belong to the state but was now massively privatized. Now that these criminals have served their purpose, Putin has jailed some and pushed others into exile. Many people see him as a politician who has brought back law and order rather than a member of an organization that is responsible for unleashing the gangsters to begin with and then clamping down on them after they stop being useful.

2. Putin uses the money he gets from peddling Russia’s vast supply of natural resources to keep people somewhat fed and provided with basic social services.

3. He also conducts a huge patriotic, imperialist propaganda campaign that allows people to feel proud to live in such a big and powerful country. Putin routinely ridicules Western politicians in a very public manner, and it makes the Russian people who saw the loss of former colonies as a huge trauma to feel vindicated.

4. Putin is openly dismissive towards his wife. In a culture of domineering women and weak men, a strong, powerful male politician who doesn’t allow his wife to walk all over him is very appreciated because he embodies fantasies of many people of both genders. One of the reasons Soviet people hated Gorbachov so much was that he was obviously in love with his strong and powerful wife.

5. The reason why people don’t value the loss of the freedom of speech is their memory of the late eighties when there was a lot of freedom and a lot of speech but all that eventually degenerated into the bandits’ wars.

Putin is still pretty young, which means that there are many decades ahead of us of his regime in Russia.