Russia’s anti-U.S. sentiment now is even worse than it was in Soviet Union
Thought I would start a thread on this instead of burying the story in the Ukraine thread.
Quote:
By Michael Birnbaum March 8 at 5:16 PM
MOSCOW — Thought the Soviet Union was anti-American? Try today’s Russia.
After a year in which furious rhetoric has been pumped across Russian airwaves, anger toward the United States is at its worst since opinion polls began tracking it. From ordinary street vendors all the way up to the Kremlin, a wave of anti-U.S. bile has swept the country, surpassing any time since the Stalin era, observers say.
The indignation peaked after the assassination of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, as conspiracy theories started to swirl — just a few hours after he was killed — that his death was a CIA plot to discredit Russia. (On Sunday, Russia charged two men from Chechnya, and detained three others, in connection with Nemtsov’s killing.)
There are drives to exchange Western-branded clothing for Russia’s red, blue and white. Efforts to replace Coke with Russian-made soft drinks. Fury over U.S. sanctions. And a passionate, conspiracy-laden fascination with the methods that Washington is supposedly using to foment unrest in Ukraine and Russia.
The anger is a challenge for U.S. policymakers seeking to reach out to a shrinking pool of friendly faces in Russia. And it is a marker of the limits of their ability to influence Russian decision-making after a year of sanctions. More than 80 percent of Russians now hold negative views of the United States, according to the independent Levada Center, a number that has more than doubled over the past year and that is by far the highest negative rating since the center started tracking those views in 1988.
What's the current level of anti-Russia sentiment in US?
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I don't know if its getting worse, I'm sure Russians feel our media is anti-Russian which is true to a point. Seems like its been this way for as long as I can remember.
A very good point. Those are extreme examples - especially in the case of Fox. That said if you have direct knowledge of an event that is reported in the news it is often sobering how inaccurate the reporting of it is.
A very good point. Those are extreme examples - especially in the case of Fox. That said if you have direct knowledge of an event that is reported in the news it is often sobering how inaccurate the reporting of it is.
Yeah at times it's gotten to the point for me that yeah there is a problem going on in Iraq and the Ukraine but how bad it is and what is causing it is up for debate. In other words I don't believe a lot of what is reported from any side.
Russian propaganda is very probably much worse than it used to be, partially because Russians themselves in general do not realize how bad it is. They have a hard time accepting that they would just be lied to. They have the idea that because they have the internet, they would know differently. But of course they don't actually follow alternative sources. Or they just won't believe them when they see them, because the Russian propaganda twists their views so badly.
As for the west, I don't think anti-russian sentiments are even as bad as they were in the 90's. In the west we are used to making a difference between the people and the government.
Rocky: [Addressing the Soviet crowd, translated into Russian line by line by announcer]
Rocky: During this fight, I've seen a lot of changing, in the way you feel about me, and in the way I feel about you. In here, there were two guys killing each other, but I guess that's better than twenty million. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!
Rocky: [Addressing the Soviet crowd, translated into Russian line by line by announcer]
Rocky: During this fight, I've seen a lot of changing, in the way you feel about me, and in the way I feel about you. In here, there were two guys killing each other, but I guess that's better than twenty million. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!
I guess we're splitting up Russian domestic/propaganda issues with the Ukrainian stuff.
Anyways, they seem to have been rounding up "suspects" in the Nemtsov investigation, it looks like one of the suspects has now had a large standoff with police before blowing himself up rather than being captured.
Quote:
A sixth suspect in the shooting death of a top Russian opposition figure blew himself up after a standoff with police in the capital of the Chechen Republic, state-run television reported Sunday.
Beslan Shavanov, 30, was holed up in a building in Grozny when police arrived to arrest him Saturday afternoon, Russia 24 reported. Police surrounded the building and Shavano tried to escape, throwing a grenade at police officers before blowing himself up, the station said.
There are degrees of propaganda, and there are degrees of credulity. The average American can be pretty ignorant about global affairs. But the susceptibility of Russians (and other citizens of autocratic countries) to outlandish conspiracy theories amazes me. Americans who believe the world trade centre attack was an inside job are regarded as whack-jobs. But similarly paranoid theories are common belief in Russia.
Media and public awareness may not be ideal in the West, but at least we have some traditions of skepticism, transparency, and legitimacy. Russia has never had a legitimate civil society, so all they have to fall back on times of crisis are nationalism and xenophobia.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
Id probably hate the USA and the West if I was Russian too, considering its been the foreign policy of the maritime powers to keep Russian growth and influence in check for the past 200 years. Except for brief periods of forced cooperation.
There are degrees of propaganda, and there are degrees of credulity. The average American can be pretty ignorant about global affairs. But the susceptibility of Russians (and other citizens of autocratic countries) to outlandish conspiracy theories amazes me. Americans who believe the world trade centre attack was an inside job are regarded as whack-jobs. But similarly paranoid theories are common belief in Russia.
Media and public awareness may not be ideal in the West, but at least we have some traditions of skepticism, transparency, and legitimacy. Russia has never had a legitimate civil society, so all they have to fall back on times of crisis are nationalism and xenophobia.
I'd be willing to bet the average american is much more caught up with current affairs than the typical communist living in their hole in the wall
I'd be willing to bet the average american is much more caught up with current affairs than the typical communist living in their hole in the wall
Would you describe the typical communist living in their hole in the wall? Please and thank you.
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"An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think." Georg Hegel
“To generalize is to be an idiot.” William Blake
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Do you really want to gauge any country's public opinion on people like that?
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"An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think." Georg Hegel
“To generalize is to be an idiot.” William Blake
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Russia’s anti-U.S. sentiment now is even worse than it was in Soviet Union
