Finally, people are starting to wake up. Here is an article that repeats almost verbatim everything I’ve been telling you for years: whatever Putin does is not reactive, he’s not responding to any actions of the West, his actions are motivated by internal needs.
I have no doubt that eventually the truth will sink into the lazy brains of even the staunchest defenders of the idiotic “If Putin sneezes, it must mean that Americans provoked him into it.” It’s a pity this is taking so long but lessons of obsessive, diseased patriotism take a long time to unlearn.
Remember where you heard all of this first.
Clarissa's Blog 
Sorry, haven’t been here for that long. what internal needs can justify all that Putin is doing?
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I saw Putin back in 2011-12 (on TV, obviously), and he was humiliated and hurt by how much he was hated in Russia. People would whistle at him whenever he appeared in public (in Russia it’s a sign of great disrespect), and it was clear that this was painful to him. And since then his approval ratings have gone from 39% to 86%.
Putin wants to be loved. By Russians, by the West. He’ll go to any length to gain that love.
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If Putin was so hated, how was he elected? What made him hated after getting elected?
\ Putin wants to be loved. By Russians, by the West. He’ll go to any length to gain that love.
I would exchange “to be loved” for “to stay powerful.” To gain not love but influence and fear of the West with USA.
On another topic, yesterday I watched к/ф Зеленый фургон. The main role is played by Дмитрий Харатьян, whom I’ve previously seen in Гардемарины, вперёд!
You’ve probably watched it, but in case you haven’t – I loved the movie very much and recommend it. Beautiful songs, good actors and lots of good humor. Btw, another main character, a village policeman helping the newly arrived 17-year-old начальник одесского уездного отделения милиции, speaks Ukrainian.
Don’t know why, may be it is simply because I haven’t watched many movies, but so far old Russian/Soviet movies were the ones to make me feel something while watching. Probably since it’s also connected to history of my family.
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The elections to the Russian parliament in 2011 and the presidential elections in 2012 were shamelessly and massively falsified. There were thousands of videos and testimonies about the falsifications published online. People kept coming out to protest in great numbers between December of 2011 and May 2012. In May of 2012, protests were violently suppressed and it was made illegal to gather in groups greater than half a dozen. Those protesters are still in jail today, by the way.
And I insist that what Putin is looking for is love. He wants to be loved, admired, adored. Power without love is not what he pursues.
Old Soviet movies are great because they are very professionally made and star talented actors. There is nobody in Hollywood who could hold a candle to these actors. There’s no school of acting in the English-speaking world any more. Our drama students at the famous Yale Drama were honestly pathetic at acting. All they knew was how to look pretty for stills.
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\ There’s no school of acting in the English-speaking world any more.
Why? Is it truly more profitable to produce McDonald-level movies only? But in food, there are both fast food joints and expensive high-quality restaurants. I am sure there is a large market for good movies.
Which country makes good movies now? Somewhere in Europe?
Now saw this, don’t know if you’ll like:
Ethnic Solidarity Without Militarized Nationalism: Insights from Jewish Eastern Europe
http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2015/05/14/ethnic-solidarity-without-militarized-nationalism-insights-from-jewish-eastern-europe/
Ri J. Turner is a rabbinical student by day (at Hebrew College in Newton, MA) and a Yiddishist by night. They have written for the Jewish Daily Forward (both English and Yiddish), Zeek Magazine, JewSchool, Afn Shvel and other publications.
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High culture was always the purview of a tiny minority. Making a film is expensive and nobody will finance it to reach a small audience of people who are capable of appreciating art.
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\ High culture was always the purview of a tiny minority. Making a film is expensive and nobody will finance it to reach a small audience of people who are capable of appreciating art.
May be, you haven’t understood me. I loved Зеленый фургон, Гардемарины, вперёд, Russian Sherlock Holmes, V boy idut odni stariki, etc. but are they high art? In previous comments, I meant such movies, and now am unsure whether you mean something else by “high art.”
If they are high art, they were extremely popular, not “the purview of a tiny minority.” Many people still remember them, unlike numerous mediocre movies that everybody forgets a year later (if not less).
Of course, most Soviet movies were probably bad, but there were some iconic ones and I don’t know where to look for newer movies of similar quality.
If they are not high art, I find it hard to find movies on the same level anyway.
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A movie is very very rarely a work of art. But actors who star in it are sometimes real artists. In the USSR, most actors performed on the stage, and that’s where they created their art. I have no reason to love the USSR but I can’t think of any place with such a phenomenal cohort of talented actors.
So I also don’t know where to find anything of a similar quality. I can’t watch any mediocre acting because I’ve been spoiled by these great actors. This is why I never watch movies.
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Some comments:
I find the references to Russia violating some Helsinki accords very hypocritical (when placing myself in Russian imperialist’s shoes 🙂 ) According to Helsinki accords there was a country called USSR (which is one of the incarnations of the Russian empire, but that last part of course is not written anywhere). That country had certain borders. By waging cold war against the USSR that ultimately caused the dismemberment of the USSR / Russian empire, and thus changing its borders the West has violated the Helsinki accords.
I also have problem with revanchist and imperialist propaganda being depicted as something relatively new and inspired by Putin. In some sense the pro-Western mainstream Russian free press of the 90-ies and early 2000 was not an adequate representation of the statistically averaged attitudes of the people… And the West was all too happy to hear about the rise of democracy-mindedness. It validated the West in its own eyes and mind – these people want to be like us (cross “us”, in reality there should be “idealized image of us in our own eyes”). And, from the viewpoint of those personally involved, if one got a grant for “developing/ improving democracy in Russia”, that democracy should better improve, or else the grant will not be renewed. 🙂 Or at least there has to be a lot of “democracy noise”…
So calling the exploration of the motives behind the actions of the Russian state “Putinology”, as if Putin is not a valid representative of the Russian spirit (statistical average), is a misnomer.
Now, completely regardless of any Russian imperialism, the US is not doing a good job of being the world leader. The US failed to prove it wrong that absolute power corrupts absolutely. So the world does need a pole or two more, to counterbalance the US. Russia may not be very suitable for that role, but there is general need for more geopolitical poles, so it should not be surprising that someone is trying to fill the void. Especially someone wh0 has been a pole for a while…
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I agree completely that the West screwed up massively and pathetically when it bought into the stories of how there was now democracy in Russia (Ukraine, Belarus, etc.).
Theoretically, I also wouldn’t mind to see if there might be an alternative to the US in terms of world leadership. But it’s got to be a country that has managed to feed its own people and repair its own roads. And it can’t be minuscule because feeling a small crowd is no big deal. And we’ve got to recognize that there’s nobody like that on the planet except for the Americans.
In some remote ideal future, I’d love to see some Pan – Hispanic entity play that role. But there’s obviously an extremely long road for Hispanic people to travel in terms of getting their own shit in order. For now, nobody is better than the Anglos at pretty much everything.
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