I would love to hear the thoughts of this leftist community, not least any comrade in Russia. In the US it's so hard to get any serious Russia news/analysis because of the propaganda here- you have red guys that love Russia & Putin to own the libs, and you have blue guys that hate Russia & Putin because it's their favorite boogeyman. I ask because I personally don't like Putin for his war on gayness (wake me up when we get to war of gayness) but I understand that countries in the US's crosshairs are those that make their history under the least self-selected circumstances. I was looking at some stats when this question came to mind:
UA
RU
So material conditions have definitely improved under Putin, which is a miracle considering the fall of the USSR and the disgrace of Yeltsin, which makes me think there are probably people out there who like Putin for rational reasons, besides owning the libs. I would love to hear your thoughts either way.
He’s allied with all the countries that we love, and currently doing what we wish China and Iran would do right now: fighting a war with the USA. Out of convenience? Yes, but we judge people by what they do, not by what they would do. The only thing that really sucks about him is his queerphobia. He and Medvedev are fucking relentless about that. And his deification of the tsar and his family. And his general negativity toward communism. He blamed Lenin and Stalin for the Ukraine War when it began.
He doesn’t really fit into the mold of an American politician at all. Doesn’t fit with the Democrats because of his queerphobia, doesn’t fit with the Republicans because Russia has a better social safety net than the USA, and he’s also closely allied with China. His dealings with regard to Israel and the Gulf Countries are kind of bizarre though.