Reader Kathleen was kind enough to leave me the link to this article where Mikhail Gorbachev expresses a harsh criticism of Putin’s recent wave of repressions against the peaceful political protesters in Russia.
It is really tragic that Gorbachev, who did so much to bring down the Iron Curtain and demolish totalitarianism in the USSR, never had the approval ratings of Putin, the former KGB agent who steadily deprives the people of Russia of all the rights they gained thanks to Gorbachev’s courage. Gorbachev was always disliked in Russia. Today he is either hated or despised in the country. Putin, in the meanwhile, enjoys sky-high approval ratings.
As Joseph-Marie de Maistre said after working at the court of the Russian tsar Alexander I, “Every nation has the government it deserves.”
Clarissa's Blog 
Thank you for sharing your opinion on this. You are one of the few people I know who actually has an informed opinion about politics in Russia. For this reason, I am constantly wondering “What does Clarissa think?” when I read articles about Russia.
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Sadly, many Russians prefer serfdom to freedom. That is why Tsar Putin is so revered.
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Not knowledgeable on Russian politics at all… but was some of Gorbachev’s unpolpulariy (then and now) stem from the fact he resided over Russia (Soviet Union) at the point of its most glaring drop in power in the world’s eyes?
While it was a slow drop… before Gorbachev people may have said the Soviet Union was one of the more important nations in the world… and the citizens could have deluded themselves into thinking how great their country, style of living, culture etc. were.
After the late 80’s and early 90’s Russia was not really a threat and now more the laughing stock of the world? (again .. this is my very amateurish analysis considering i was born in the late 80’s.. but I think it could bear fruit)
Essentially the Russian’s are assigning all the negative feelings and resentment that became apparent during Gorbachev’s time in office to him instead or realing they were the result of a corrupt, inefficient, immoral country society which just collapsed?
And Putin is their “great hope” of some return to power? Curious your thoughts.
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Lots of people were predicting the collapse of the USSR throughout the Cold War. With the benefit of contemporary information and the benefit of hindsight, we can see many signs of imminent collapse (economic stagnation, etc) during the 1980s. Understood this way, the end of the USSR was a long time coming, and Gorbachev was merely a milestone along the way, not the destination.
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Might part of Putin’s current popularity be due to the fact that he is cashing in on “USSR nostalgia”/”longing for the glory days of the Motherland”, such as by bringing back old symbols of the USSR, such as the red star and the music to the USSR’s national anthem (with new lyrics)?
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I kind of feel like this was sort of what I was saying in the comment above… but perhaps I didn’t convey it well.
Completely agree USSR was declining for a long time… but I think the issue is while it may have been obvious to people outside.. the average Russian associates Gorbachev with the downfall and Putin with the “old glory” days of motherland.
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RE woman’s day & Russian democracy:
http://11063.diary.ru/p186082499.htm
Предупреждая вопросы: это был санкционированный, согласованный митинг.
…
Сначала были задержаны те, кто раздавал газету с феминистскими материалами. Сперва её редактор, потом ещё двое.
Когда участники стали требовать их освобождения, задержали ещё 16 человек.
Девушек и юношей там было где-то пятьдесят на пятьдесят, и вот тут наши доблестные защитники по-настоящему, я считаю, пожелали девушкам (и юношам заодно) оставаться хрупкими и беззащитными! =) Честно и искренне, не прикрываясь букетиком мимоз, а кладя лицом в асфальт и везя по нему! С Восьмым марта!
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