• mcv@lemmy.zip
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    19 days ago

    Russia is no more a “brutal dictatorship” than the US is, or the UK, or any number of other capitalist shithole countries that call themselves “democracies.”

    Surely you must recognise how ridiculous that claim is.

    Sure, Trump would love for it to be true, and he’s certainly trying to, but even in the US, you can still publicly say this, while in Russia, you’d be headed for prison. Putin’s political opponents frequently fall out of windows or catch some polonium poisoning.

    These things are not the same, and pretending they are, makes you blind to how much worse they can still get. Russia is absolutely more of a brutal dictatorship than even the US, but especially than most European countries.

    I’m not denying the toxic influence of money either, but that’s still not comparable to the hold Putin has over his country and his media.

    • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
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      19 days ago

      Surely you must recognise how ridiculous that claim is.

      You seem to endlessly fall back on this, have you noticed? Just raw Appeals to Personal Incredulity.

      • mcv@lemmy.zip
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        19 days ago

        I always start out believing people are capable of critical thought and self awareness, until they prove otherwise. Plenty of that in this discussion, unfortunately.

        Should I just accept that you’re incapable of critical thought or grasping meaningful nuance?

    • LemmeAtEm@lemmy.ml
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      19 days ago

      Putin’s political opponents frequently fall out of windows or catch some polonium poisoning.

      Hmm… I wonder what happened to the original leadership of BLM? And hey, what are Fred Hampton and Mark Clark up to these days? Has Gary Webb published any articles recently?

      These things are not the same, and pretending they are, makes you blind to how much worse they can still get. Russia is absolutely more of a brutal dictatorship than even the US, but especially than most European countries.

      Oh believe me, I am well aware how bad they can get, you’re just completely unaware of how bad they’ve already been. You believe all these lies about how terrible Russia is, looking at it only through the lens that western propagandists have carefully cultivated for you without realizing that every accusation they’ve levied on their enemies is a confession about what they themselves have been doing all along. You’re as intellectually domesticated by US imperialist interests as any diehard Kremlin-supporting Russian citizen, only you have the benefit of being on the side that enjoys global hegemony without even understanding what that word means. You’re all up in arms about the lies of the media of an enemy state without having even an ounce of self awareness about the lies of the media you’re consuming, the very same media from which you think you’ve learned how uniquely bad the enemy’s media is.

      • mcv@lemmy.zip
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        19 days ago

        I don’t even live in the US. I live in Europe, and I’m concerned about the freedom and safety of my fellow human beings, and I’m disgusted by how US imperial interests have suddenly decided to embrace Putin and is turning against Europe.

        My side is not enjoying global hegemony. I only wish Europe asserted itself against wannabe hegemons like the US and Russia, but political leaders here are too cowardly for that.

        I see American media increasingly parroting Putin’s viewpoints, because of this American realignment, and that’s what you’re asking me to blindly accept? No, fuck that. You talk a lot about others being controlled by propaganda, but I don’t see an ounce of self awareness in you.