What is your perception of Russia?
I am curious...
How do you view Russia? What do you know about my country?
How do you view Russia? What do you know about my country?
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I know alot about Russian history and culture, and was being pushed by my now passed godmother to become krthodox instead of catholic. I said the only way I would do that was by becomming American Orthodox, which is a autonomous church under the (now former, due to excommunication) Russian Patriarch.
I know the old struggles between the Red and White Russian Orthodox Church, and met many White Orthodox believers who were upset with being forced into the Reda after the two churches reunited. I'm sure they are feeling quite vindicated right now.
I didn't like how my old ukrainian girlfriend's church in Alaska had no benches. Everyone just stood. Having to do a liturgy in 17 languages wasn't fun for me. The priest was Bill Clinton's old college roommate.
I hated having to watch on videotape old soviet movies and tv shows with her, and having to force up a belated laugh after she laughed not having the slightest fucking clue what just happened.
I can navigate the ideology easily from soviet times, long exposure since my teens to marxist works, but I'm no Marxist. If I'm reading a synopsis of a writer (I'm going through Konstantin Paustovsky right now) I gotta do a shitload of googling to figure out locations and bios of historical characters and situations.
As to russian culture.... it's mostly shit, and never left the old Obshchina. Even today. Why does russia have the most sky scrappers in Europe (and not just a few)? It goes back to Stalin's penis envy of the US and Western Europe, with American capitalist sky scrappers. So he built the seven sisters Сталинские высотки, but they were all half retarted because the soviets didn't quite know how to build a sky scrapper and it set the building program of russia way behind, and locked future suburban and urban development into using the factories used to build the seven buildings. That was a form of penis envy that helped lock russia into a housing shortage. It's literature is much the same. For every original writer on the world stage you have 50 shit writers. It's why many russians say russian culture is shit.
As to modern russia, it's not a whole lot different from Russian Marxism. It's a oligarchy that adopted social nationalism. Not any real private enterprise- alot on paper just like in Nazi Germany, but it's all controlled by the state and utterly smothered. The banking system is aimed at gaining foreign capital and safe assets immune to sanctions like gold and gems. One fundamental difference between Nazi Germany and the Russian Federation is Russia doesn't lack for oil, but Mr. KGB Putin never built up the mechanical engineers (fuck, even Mexico has) needed to build pipelines and run refineries. Ukraine has had a fairly easy job disabling pipelines, and Russia is deeply dependent on Chinese tech to fix things, and even then mostly can't, beyond China funding pipelines into china.
The claims russia is fighting in Ukraine in krder to rebuild the soviet empire is bullshit. He's doing it because Russia has been in a long term demographics collapse. Putin only goes after easy targets with high indexes of russian speaking populations resident, like North Ossetia. Ukraine in areas like Kiev already was too different to be a realistic thing to wrestle and Putin believed his own bullshiting generals in that they could easily take it- and had their military equipment worked yes, they could of taken it, bht they never would of held it. Only places they are holding have high pro-russian affinities close to the border.
Right nkw we are looking at russia as a net exporter of intelelctual talent, and a importer of finished technological goods from China. The battle for Kursk is a side show, it has no long term strategic worth other than as a bargaining chip in up coming peace talks, and Ukraine can't hold it long term because it is very prone to a pincer attack. Russia is already digging defenses and will still be able to send in a meat army assault.
As fkr Krasnodar, it reminds me a bit of west virginia. I did a study of the region a few years back (had a penpal studying french and english from the city). The small towns resmebled the american rust belt. Similar colonial history. The marxist architecture reminded me of the NIRA archjtecture from the roosevelt era. Very similar ignorant culture of country bumpkins with no real appreciation of the outside world. But you also had a generic middle class elite with western looking apartments and appliances.
Right now Russia moved past Ukraine in dipping into population stocks that don't breed (men over 40, prisoners, foreigners) and have tapped heavily into the active breeding population, and are using them very stupidly as far as long term population growth forcasting goes.
Alot of single women will be around at the end of the war unable to remarry. Many will move to europe, china and north america. Russian heavy industry has a big hole in it. Russian tank reservea has been halved, and the remaining half are the harder to rehabilitate stock. Central Asia will rebel if the war moves on another year and a half, but Ukrainians don't have that much time- they haven't touched their younger generation of men outside of volunteers. Their workforce is still youthful and beckmming increasingly skilled doing jobs that wouldn't usually be open to them due to glass ceilings from senority over them in skilled trades. Plus they have easy access to western technology and expertise. Russia doesn't. China isn't going to flood russia with professors, they will flood russia with skilled labor at a high price. And China is very interested in Central Asia. So excellent chance the region is going to rebel and will get flooded with both western and chinese weapons in response to a increasingly infantry centric russian army moving in to pacify the region. That's a bad war in russia's future that's very likely. We are also very likely to see break away regions of russia in the coming decades. Belarus may be in a good position to de facto shave some of these regions away from Moscow, with Ukrainian aid and NATO intel. We may very well see a russia formed of independent principalities each claiming to be the legitimate successor, much like Italy was in the renaissance. It may be a good thing, something original might form in some of these states that reinvents the soul of russia. It's time to leave the Mir.
I know the old struggles between the Red and White Russian Orthodox Church, and met many White Orthodox believers who were upset with being forced into the Reda after the two churches reunited. I'm sure they are feeling quite vindicated right now.
I didn't like how my old ukrainian girlfriend's church in Alaska had no benches. Everyone just stood. Having to do a liturgy in 17 languages wasn't fun for me. The priest was Bill Clinton's old college roommate.
I hated having to watch on videotape old soviet movies and tv shows with her, and having to force up a belated laugh after she laughed not having the slightest fucking clue what just happened.
I can navigate the ideology easily from soviet times, long exposure since my teens to marxist works, but I'm no Marxist. If I'm reading a synopsis of a writer (I'm going through Konstantin Paustovsky right now) I gotta do a shitload of googling to figure out locations and bios of historical characters and situations.
As to russian culture.... it's mostly shit, and never left the old Obshchina. Even today. Why does russia have the most sky scrappers in Europe (and not just a few)? It goes back to Stalin's penis envy of the US and Western Europe, with American capitalist sky scrappers. So he built the seven sisters Сталинские высотки, but they were all half retarted because the soviets didn't quite know how to build a sky scrapper and it set the building program of russia way behind, and locked future suburban and urban development into using the factories used to build the seven buildings. That was a form of penis envy that helped lock russia into a housing shortage. It's literature is much the same. For every original writer on the world stage you have 50 shit writers. It's why many russians say russian culture is shit.
As to modern russia, it's not a whole lot different from Russian Marxism. It's a oligarchy that adopted social nationalism. Not any real private enterprise- alot on paper just like in Nazi Germany, but it's all controlled by the state and utterly smothered. The banking system is aimed at gaining foreign capital and safe assets immune to sanctions like gold and gems. One fundamental difference between Nazi Germany and the Russian Federation is Russia doesn't lack for oil, but Mr. KGB Putin never built up the mechanical engineers (fuck, even Mexico has) needed to build pipelines and run refineries. Ukraine has had a fairly easy job disabling pipelines, and Russia is deeply dependent on Chinese tech to fix things, and even then mostly can't, beyond China funding pipelines into china.
The claims russia is fighting in Ukraine in krder to rebuild the soviet empire is bullshit. He's doing it because Russia has been in a long term demographics collapse. Putin only goes after easy targets with high indexes of russian speaking populations resident, like North Ossetia. Ukraine in areas like Kiev already was too different to be a realistic thing to wrestle and Putin believed his own bullshiting generals in that they could easily take it- and had their military equipment worked yes, they could of taken it, bht they never would of held it. Only places they are holding have high pro-russian affinities close to the border.
Right nkw we are looking at russia as a net exporter of intelelctual talent, and a importer of finished technological goods from China. The battle for Kursk is a side show, it has no long term strategic worth other than as a bargaining chip in up coming peace talks, and Ukraine can't hold it long term because it is very prone to a pincer attack. Russia is already digging defenses and will still be able to send in a meat army assault.
As fkr Krasnodar, it reminds me a bit of west virginia. I did a study of the region a few years back (had a penpal studying french and english from the city). The small towns resmebled the american rust belt. Similar colonial history. The marxist architecture reminded me of the NIRA archjtecture from the roosevelt era. Very similar ignorant culture of country bumpkins with no real appreciation of the outside world. But you also had a generic middle class elite with western looking apartments and appliances.
Right now Russia moved past Ukraine in dipping into population stocks that don't breed (men over 40, prisoners, foreigners) and have tapped heavily into the active breeding population, and are using them very stupidly as far as long term population growth forcasting goes.
Alot of single women will be around at the end of the war unable to remarry. Many will move to europe, china and north america. Russian heavy industry has a big hole in it. Russian tank reservea has been halved, and the remaining half are the harder to rehabilitate stock. Central Asia will rebel if the war moves on another year and a half, but Ukrainians don't have that much time- they haven't touched their younger generation of men outside of volunteers. Their workforce is still youthful and beckmming increasingly skilled doing jobs that wouldn't usually be open to them due to glass ceilings from senority over them in skilled trades. Plus they have easy access to western technology and expertise. Russia doesn't. China isn't going to flood russia with professors, they will flood russia with skilled labor at a high price. And China is very interested in Central Asia. So excellent chance the region is going to rebel and will get flooded with both western and chinese weapons in response to a increasingly infantry centric russian army moving in to pacify the region. That's a bad war in russia's future that's very likely. We are also very likely to see break away regions of russia in the coming decades. Belarus may be in a good position to de facto shave some of these regions away from Moscow, with Ukrainian aid and NATO intel. We may very well see a russia formed of independent principalities each claiming to be the legitimate successor, much like Italy was in the renaissance. It may be a good thing, something original might form in some of these states that reinvents the soul of russia. It's time to leave the Mir.
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LeopoldBloom · M
@emiliya I'm an atheist, so I'm not going to find much use for Jesus. Observant Jews reject him because he doesn't meet the requirements for the Messiah. Also, the history of Christian persecution of Jews doesn't help.
However, you have to be careful when you take passages in the Tanakh and apply them to Jesus. First, the people who wrote the NT were aware of the Tanakh, so they could have crafted the story to fit the "prophecies." The Gospels were written between 30 and 120 years after the purported events, so there was already an oral tradition. Other "prophecies" are so general as to apply to anything you want.
I also actively dislike Paul. I don't understand why his letters to other church leaders rise to the level of holy scripture. They should be like the Talmud or the Hadith - associated with scripture but not on the same level.
Also, much of what we understand to be Christian dogma, like Jesus dying for our sins, the Rapture, pre or post millenialism, etc. are relatively recent developments. I'd encourage you to check out Dan McClellan's videos on YouTube or TikTok. He's an accomplished scholar and an authority on the Bible in the original languages.
I find Messianic Jews odd. There seem to be two types - the "Jews for Jesus" who start off Jewish and incorporate belief in Jesus, and Christians who incorporate Jewish practices. For example, some Jehovah's Witnesses have seders because the Last Supper was a seder.
Finally, in the US, some of the worst people here are Christian nationalists who are actively working to turn the US into a Christian theocracy. And this isn't the kind of Christianity that's all about feeding the poor and taking care of immigrants. It's the Christianity that murders gay people and puts women in prison for having miscarriages that they couldn't prove weren't abortions. If Donald Trump is reelected, these people will have control of a branch of government and it could get very ugly if they try to impose their fascist agenda on the majority that opposes it.
However, you have to be careful when you take passages in the Tanakh and apply them to Jesus. First, the people who wrote the NT were aware of the Tanakh, so they could have crafted the story to fit the "prophecies." The Gospels were written between 30 and 120 years after the purported events, so there was already an oral tradition. Other "prophecies" are so general as to apply to anything you want.
I also actively dislike Paul. I don't understand why his letters to other church leaders rise to the level of holy scripture. They should be like the Talmud or the Hadith - associated with scripture but not on the same level.
Also, much of what we understand to be Christian dogma, like Jesus dying for our sins, the Rapture, pre or post millenialism, etc. are relatively recent developments. I'd encourage you to check out Dan McClellan's videos on YouTube or TikTok. He's an accomplished scholar and an authority on the Bible in the original languages.
I find Messianic Jews odd. There seem to be two types - the "Jews for Jesus" who start off Jewish and incorporate belief in Jesus, and Christians who incorporate Jewish practices. For example, some Jehovah's Witnesses have seders because the Last Supper was a seder.
Finally, in the US, some of the worst people here are Christian nationalists who are actively working to turn the US into a Christian theocracy. And this isn't the kind of Christianity that's all about feeding the poor and taking care of immigrants. It's the Christianity that murders gay people and puts women in prison for having miscarriages that they couldn't prove weren't abortions. If Donald Trump is reelected, these people will have control of a branch of government and it could get very ugly if they try to impose their fascist agenda on the majority that opposes it.
NoGamesTolerated · F
@emiliya do you understand what ‘perpetually’ means?!?!
perpetually
adverb
1. In a perpetual manner; constantly; continually. ****
Similar: constantlycontinually
2. Seemingly to never end; endlessly; constantly.
3. Without interruption.****
*Take your argument with Mr. Webster or your maker or both.*
1. Does God accept the fact that the Jews broke covenant with him and rejected him as Christ? Absolutely not! Did he call Israel to be his people from all other nations? Yes!!! Indeed he did. And the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Romans 11:29
“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
* that means ‘irrevocable’ sweetie!
2. I bet you’d be surprised to know that God himself said they’d come home to the land of Israel ..they did in May, 1948 by the hand of God and fulfilling the prophecy of Of Amos.
Amos 9:14 - 9:15Amos chapter 9:14
****14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will *plant (bingo) them upon their land, and ****they shall ‘no more’ be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.****
2. Would it surprise you to know that the Bible tells us that all of Israel shall be saved?
King James Bible
*****And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob
Oh yes!!!
I bet you’d be surprised to know that when Jesus comes back, he will set his foot on the mount of olives…oh yes!
And I most definitely think you’d be sure to be surprised that they (the Jews) will mourn at his coming and will know assuredly that he is their messiah that they rejected.
Zechariah 14:4-11
New King James Version
****4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,****
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Making a very large valley;
Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south.
5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley,
For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal.
Yes, you shall flee
As you fled from the earthquake
In the days of Uzziah king of Judah.
****Thus the Lord my God will come,
And all the saints with [a]You.****
6 It shall come to pass in that day
That there will be no light;
The [b]lights will diminish.
7 It shall be one day
Which is known to the Lord—
Neither day nor night.
But at evening time it shall happen
That it will be light.
8 And in that day it shall be
That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem,
Half of them toward [c]the eastern sea
And half of them toward [d]the western sea;
In both summer and winter it shall occur.
9 And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.
In that day it shall be—
“The Lord is one,”
And His name one.
10 All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. [e]Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.
11 The people shall dwell in it;
*****And no longer shall there be utter destruction,
But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
*If you care to know truth and have read the scriptures above, you must surely understand that is when Jesus comes back to rule the earth during the millennial kingdom.*
King James Bible
And I will pour upon the ***house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and ***they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and ****they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zechariah 12:10
Sweetheart your thinking is flawed when measuring up with the scriptures and you are flat out wrong about Israel. Oh yes!! You picked the wrong person to try this nonsense on, truly! I know you probably think that is disrespectful of me but that is truly untrue nonsense.
But you know what? You are indoctrinated and I do not want to debate nor argue with you as I know that Holy book well! God is NOT done with Israel. Not by a long shot!…. I know you probably think you know everything but the Book tells me you don’t know your Bible!
*** Now having said all this you are right about the time God gave the land to Israel (Jacob whom God renamed Israel).**** I blurted that out without giving it any thought. Around 4000 years ago is correct… but the promise to Abraham was earlier.
My very best to you. I highly recommend you dig deep and study the scriptures and learn what God has to say about his people Israel. Oh yes, not saved people yet but very much so covenant people. I could show you MANY more scriptures… oh yes but for time and space I’ll stop with this. Farewell and Godspeed! Please no more. I’m done and will not be replying if you continue. We have both spoken clearly!
PS @emiliya America defeated Germany and Russia helped! Bye Bye. 🙂
And I can write a book too. 😂
perpetually
adverb
1. In a perpetual manner; constantly; continually. ****
Similar: constantlycontinually
2. Seemingly to never end; endlessly; constantly.
3. Without interruption.****
*Take your argument with Mr. Webster or your maker or both.*
1. Does God accept the fact that the Jews broke covenant with him and rejected him as Christ? Absolutely not! Did he call Israel to be his people from all other nations? Yes!!! Indeed he did. And the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Romans 11:29
“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
* that means ‘irrevocable’ sweetie!
2. I bet you’d be surprised to know that God himself said they’d come home to the land of Israel ..they did in May, 1948 by the hand of God and fulfilling the prophecy of Of Amos.
Amos 9:14 - 9:15Amos chapter 9:14
****14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will *plant (bingo) them upon their land, and ****they shall ‘no more’ be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.****
2. Would it surprise you to know that the Bible tells us that all of Israel shall be saved?
King James Bible
*****And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob
Oh yes!!!
I bet you’d be surprised to know that when Jesus comes back, he will set his foot on the mount of olives…oh yes!
And I most definitely think you’d be sure to be surprised that they (the Jews) will mourn at his coming and will know assuredly that he is their messiah that they rejected.
Zechariah 14:4-11
New King James Version
****4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,****
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Making a very large valley;
Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south.
5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley,
For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal.
Yes, you shall flee
As you fled from the earthquake
In the days of Uzziah king of Judah.
****Thus the Lord my God will come,
And all the saints with [a]You.****
6 It shall come to pass in that day
That there will be no light;
The [b]lights will diminish.
7 It shall be one day
Which is known to the Lord—
Neither day nor night.
But at evening time it shall happen
That it will be light.
8 And in that day it shall be
That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem,
Half of them toward [c]the eastern sea
And half of them toward [d]the western sea;
In both summer and winter it shall occur.
9 And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.
In that day it shall be—
“The Lord is one,”
And His name one.
10 All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. [e]Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.
11 The people shall dwell in it;
*****And no longer shall there be utter destruction,
But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
*If you care to know truth and have read the scriptures above, you must surely understand that is when Jesus comes back to rule the earth during the millennial kingdom.*
King James Bible
And I will pour upon the ***house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and ***they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and ****they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zechariah 12:10
Sweetheart your thinking is flawed when measuring up with the scriptures and you are flat out wrong about Israel. Oh yes!! You picked the wrong person to try this nonsense on, truly! I know you probably think that is disrespectful of me but that is truly untrue nonsense.
But you know what? You are indoctrinated and I do not want to debate nor argue with you as I know that Holy book well! God is NOT done with Israel. Not by a long shot!…. I know you probably think you know everything but the Book tells me you don’t know your Bible!
*** Now having said all this you are right about the time God gave the land to Israel (Jacob whom God renamed Israel).**** I blurted that out without giving it any thought. Around 4000 years ago is correct… but the promise to Abraham was earlier.
My very best to you. I highly recommend you dig deep and study the scriptures and learn what God has to say about his people Israel. Oh yes, not saved people yet but very much so covenant people. I could show you MANY more scriptures… oh yes but for time and space I’ll stop with this. Farewell and Godspeed! Please no more. I’m done and will not be replying if you continue. We have both spoken clearly!
PS @emiliya America defeated Germany and Russia helped! Bye Bye. 🙂
And I can write a book too. 😂
emiliya · 22-25, F
@NoGamesTolerated You need to read the Talmud, and see what it says about Jesus. Jews either dislike Jesus and Christianity, or they are indifferent because they are not very religious. Even these have bad things to say about Jesus.
There is new covenant under Christ, and all peoples are a part of it.
There is new covenant under Christ, and all peoples are a part of it.
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Gibbon · 70-79, M
I can only speak from Russian individuals point. I've worked with 2 Russian people in my career and I think their citizens are in general not much different than us. Live our lives as best we can. Get up have breakfast and go to work. Enjoy and take care of our families. I learned like us they were sick of and didn't want to discuss their government. I think at an individual level there isn't much difference between us as citizens. But that's only my experience with 2. I don't know much about the country overall except that some parts are just too damn cold lol
ArishMell · 70-79, M
I have never been to Russia and the nearest I ever was to a Russian was someone I once knew, of Russian parentage (mother at least) - he did have a good singing voice and knew one or two Russian folk-songs she had taught him!
Nevertheless I always try to look beyond what makes the News - such as despotic rulers and their machinations - and to try to know at least something about the country and its people.
So I see Russia as a vast, so very varied, place with a lot of beautiful scenery, huge mineral resources and presumably a range of cultures. Cultures that have given the world great art, too. Nor am I alone in this: we in the "West" condemn Putin's invasion of Ukraine but we still look beyond him and his clique, to still enjoy performances of Russian music, for example.
Yes, Russia has its dark sides, such as a Church with too much political influence, and a widely reported, widespread problem of domestic abuse that has almost been turned into a legal right, partly under Church pressure. Though what country is free from these, or other, social taints? "Let him without sin..." and all that: though what counts is how any country views such sins and moves to stamp them out. Not all do try to end them, but not just the Russian Federation.
.
As for its physical geography and scenery, I have occasionally turned on Google Earth (using a proper monitor, not a portable 'phone, helps!) and taken virtual flights over parts of the country. I have also seen many photographs taken in various parts of the country. Although some towns, particularly along the Northern coast, are still scarred by the derelict ruins of Cold War military installations or old factories (as very likely in other countries too); the land itself has many beautiful areas.
Intriguing ones too: why for example is there still a small town on the Southern island of Novaya Zemlya? There is nothing else there, no roads to anywhere else, no signs of mining or other industry, nor agriculture (maybe some fishing); and apparently the main occupation is looking after the airfield that links them to the mainland.
...
So all in all, a huge, varied and fascinating country if we raise our eyes above bleak headlines about politics and social problems - of which both, the world at large has plenty.
Nevertheless I always try to look beyond what makes the News - such as despotic rulers and their machinations - and to try to know at least something about the country and its people.
So I see Russia as a vast, so very varied, place with a lot of beautiful scenery, huge mineral resources and presumably a range of cultures. Cultures that have given the world great art, too. Nor am I alone in this: we in the "West" condemn Putin's invasion of Ukraine but we still look beyond him and his clique, to still enjoy performances of Russian music, for example.
Yes, Russia has its dark sides, such as a Church with too much political influence, and a widely reported, widespread problem of domestic abuse that has almost been turned into a legal right, partly under Church pressure. Though what country is free from these, or other, social taints? "Let him without sin..." and all that: though what counts is how any country views such sins and moves to stamp them out. Not all do try to end them, but not just the Russian Federation.
.
As for its physical geography and scenery, I have occasionally turned on Google Earth (using a proper monitor, not a portable 'phone, helps!) and taken virtual flights over parts of the country. I have also seen many photographs taken in various parts of the country. Although some towns, particularly along the Northern coast, are still scarred by the derelict ruins of Cold War military installations or old factories (as very likely in other countries too); the land itself has many beautiful areas.
Intriguing ones too: why for example is there still a small town on the Southern island of Novaya Zemlya? There is nothing else there, no roads to anywhere else, no signs of mining or other industry, nor agriculture (maybe some fishing); and apparently the main occupation is looking after the airfield that links them to the mainland.
...
So all in all, a huge, varied and fascinating country if we raise our eyes above bleak headlines about politics and social problems - of which both, the world at large has plenty.
JonLosAngeles66 · M
I lived in West Hollywood, CA which has a very large Russian speaking population. So my observations are of the various people. Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia and Kazakhstan were where the people I knew were from. There were all great neighbors. I'd say most of the immigrants from the former Soviet Union were pretty apolitical. Some of the older people seemed to pine for the glory days of the USSR. They all appeared to get along well. Very social even though they could come off cold at first. They were very welcoming into their homes and generous. They pretty much drank to get drunk. Not much having a beer after work, glass of wine gif dinner. It was drink the cheapest vodka until they were passed out. lol. That being said, that was not an every day occurrence.
I hope Americans can separate people from their governments.
I hope Americans can separate people from their governments.
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KingofBones1 · 46-50, M
Honestly I have known a few Russians in my lifetime. The global propaganda is actually a lot of b******* most Russians like Putin want to be pretty much left alone the only thing that they are interested in rebuilding is a great economy and Russia's greatness on the global stage they are not looking for bloodthirsty world domination all that agenda died in the seventies under Brezhnev. Since perestroika the only thing that most Russians are interested in is living a good and decent life. The Russian military is happiest when it is not at war and no one is shooting at them and they are not shooting in return. The main reason that Putin and Trump got along was because they were on the same page and rebuilding their country's futures not because there was some Grand conspiracy that's all trash. On cultural footnotes the Russian respects a strong back and a strong drive to succeed Russia by nature does not like weeklings nor pansies. The Russian mind plays chess not checkers their perception looks into the future for the long game whereas many Western countries look for short-term gain
Thinkerbell · 41-45, F
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Slade · 56-60, M
@Thinkerbell
Could be running interference for his Joey. Thinking that'll make all the "colonialists" now worship his Joey
Could be running interference for his Joey. Thinking that'll make all the "colonialists" now worship his Joey
walabby · M
I have been to Russia 20 years ago and spent a week there as a guest. I thought that the people were great. They had a terrific sense of humor but liked vodka a little too much. I have always wanted to travel on the Trans Siberian railroad, but that is now either not possible or very unwise.
My opinion of Vladimir Vladimirovich is very low...
My opinion of Vladimir Vladimirovich is very low...
HumanEarth · F
BohemianBabe · M
@HumanEarth Well the media is right about Russia's government being authoritarian. But that doesn't mean they don't have great works of culture.
Longpatrol · 31-35, M
I see the political leadership as animals and circus clowns who hold the people under an unjust subjugation. If the people had their way Navalny would have been President and would have been able to reinvigorate Russia's economy and bring it back to good international standing.
Russia has got immense natural beauty, its got amazing diversity in terms of culture and food and experiences, and its average person is kind and warm.
I very much have travelling the length and breadth of Russia on my bucket list.
Russia has got immense natural beauty, its got amazing diversity in terms of culture and food and experiences, and its average person is kind and warm.
I very much have travelling the length and breadth of Russia on my bucket list.
Lanyx · 41-45, M
I am in Poland, so russia does not have a good reputation. Russia is in an active war, trying to regain her Soviet glory. Long before the war, I tought myself the cyrillic alphabet, and I used in my fictional world. I heard that Siberia is a very nice place to live in. It is only 2km from Russia to the USA.
Yeah, I am having a bit of an unfair advantage.
Yeah, I am having a bit of an unfair advantage.
Tastyfrzz · 61-69, M
I live in minnesota and grew up in northern minnesota. Much of Russia is very similar. Western Russia is actually warmer. Our viking and germanic heritage are very similar. I tried learning the language back in high school but nobody knew it. From what I hear, alcoholism is pretty common over there. The leadership of the country sounds pretty bad. A kleptocracy it sounds like. We might be going the same way. The Russian economy is currently based on war materials and the national reserves are just about gone. When the war does end the economy will go into a great depression. Reparations for war damage will be exacted from the country. Many people have been killed in the war and many have left leaving the industries without enough workers. The war has resulted in boycotts and isolation. The Rubel is a currency that nobody wants. Inflation and interests rates are going to get worse. Basically, Russia is under siege. China is slowly infiltrating and taking over the east. Internal pressures are causing splits in other parts of the country. Poor environmental policies have damaged large portions of the country. Agriculture and the oil industry will collapse. It is inevitable that Russia will fail and there will be another revolution. The people will become even poorer if that is possible. All nuclear weapons and materials will be confiscated. By the time the robber barons and carpetbaggers are done, the remains of Russia will be very small and no longer a threat to the world. It will basically become another Baltic state. The larger portion will basically become inhabited by tribes trying to survive with limited resources in a challenging and changing climate.
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OverTheHill · 56-60, M
CountScrofula · 41-45, M
IronHamster · 56-60, M
AngelKrish · 26-30, M
Russia have unbreakable friendship bond with my country from many years and i hope it will last for eternity...
People of russia don't smile much because they consider smile as weakness of person, Russian people like Indian song "Jimmy Jimmy aja aja ", its quite known..
Russian people like Indian dressing style iike saree....
In winters it gets very cold there, ice...etc
Presently there is war happening between Ukraine plus Nato and Russia, Russia is skilled in fighting and winning long wars... Like past World wars!
People of russia don't smile much because they consider smile as weakness of person, Russian people like Indian song "Jimmy Jimmy aja aja ", its quite known..
Russian people like Indian dressing style iike saree....
In winters it gets very cold there, ice...etc
Presently there is war happening between Ukraine plus Nato and Russia, Russia is skilled in fighting and winning long wars... Like past World wars!
SophSmiles · 22-25, F
ReneeT · 61-69, M
I had visited St. Petersburg quite a few years ago. I found that most of the Russian people tended to keep to themselves. One of the tour guides that led us around town was close to the same age as I was. We talked about how each one felt about the other in the late fifties and early sixties and we discovered that we both were afraid of the same things. It was a whirlwind day and a half, and with the rain falling it made things seem dreary, but that was not the cities fault.
Straylight · 31-35, F
deadgerbil · 26-30
Offthetop · 51-55, M
It's hard to see beyond the brutality that you are imposing on the people of Ukraine. I grew up with your nuclear missiles aimed at me. You got through that and seemed to become a respectable society for a while. Now you are the most hated people in the world and you will be for a generation or two.
dale74 · M
I think if we have a leader like Trump the two countries become great allies and fix a lot of the world that is enslaving women and sex trafficking slavery in Africa pirates on the ocean there's no reason for us to be adversaries the culture of the Russian people and us are very similar
KingofBones1 · 46-50, M
TheRascallyOne · 31-35, M
caPnAhab · 26-30, M
I'm really not interested in a debate.
I've already seen you argue your whole point before, and I think we'll just be repeating ourselves
I've already seen you argue your whole point before, and I think we'll just be repeating ourselves
Roundandroundwego · 61-69
NoGamesTolerated · F
emiliya · 22-25, F
@NoGamesTolerated I very much admire USA, USA as it used to be. I love the American Constitution. In America, they have protected free speech and liberty of their citizens. They got rid of the British and went their own way. As a nation, they have many good people.
The problem is that they interfere in domestic affairs in other countries, start wars, fund wars, and have too many powerful Zionists. Israel is an extension of USA. You have Jews who live in America and other countries, including my country Russia, who treat Israel like a nation they can go back and forth to while Palestinians struggle and suffer. They have allowed all the progressive nonsense to be taught in schools and universities, and this is ruining the West. Progressivism is being incorporated into their capitalism, and this makes America less desirable. They were better when they were smaller. After WWII, America became very powerful and has tried to rule the world.
The problem is that they interfere in domestic affairs in other countries, start wars, fund wars, and have too many powerful Zionists. Israel is an extension of USA. You have Jews who live in America and other countries, including my country Russia, who treat Israel like a nation they can go back and forth to while Palestinians struggle and suffer. They have allowed all the progressive nonsense to be taught in schools and universities, and this is ruining the West. Progressivism is being incorporated into their capitalism, and this makes America less desirable. They were better when they were smaller. After WWII, America became very powerful and has tried to rule the world.
NoGamesTolerated · F
@emiliya I like some of what you said sweetheart but Israel is PLANTED! When you started negative about Israel, you lost me quick!!! God game them this land 6000 years ago.. and told them that it is perpetually theirs. UN just helped them go back to THEIR homeland in 1948 from the diaspora. Read the Holy Bible and see this fact numerous times. That is IF you have any desire to be on the right side of good and evil!
No honey. We, the USA have not tried to rule the world. That will soon be your Islamist friends! We make mistakes but any American that did evil knowingly such as this administration toward other nations will most assuredly answer to God almighty for their evil deeds.
And…we are damned if when they (other countries) ‘cry for help’ when we do and damned if we don’t.
In reality, America has fed many countries and saved Europe in WW2 from Hitler. I am really sorry
You think this way but considering
Your age I understand… the world is indoctrinating the youth to become a one world government, so you may understand it “globalism, The Great Reset, and New World Order!” All these mean one world government and the Bible tells me that there will be a brutal one world dictator! You know not what you ask for. But give it time and when this comes to fruition, I promise you by the authoritiy of God’s own word, you nor will any inhabitant on earth will like it!
Believe me baby! ✌️
No honey. We, the USA have not tried to rule the world. That will soon be your Islamist friends! We make mistakes but any American that did evil knowingly such as this administration toward other nations will most assuredly answer to God almighty for their evil deeds.
And…we are damned if when they (other countries) ‘cry for help’ when we do and damned if we don’t.
In reality, America has fed many countries and saved Europe in WW2 from Hitler. I am really sorry
You think this way but considering
Your age I understand… the world is indoctrinating the youth to become a one world government, so you may understand it “globalism, The Great Reset, and New World Order!” All these mean one world government and the Bible tells me that there will be a brutal one world dictator! You know not what you ask for. But give it time and when this comes to fruition, I promise you by the authoritiy of God’s own word, you nor will any inhabitant on earth will like it!
Believe me baby! ✌️
emiliya · 22-25, F
@NoGamesTolerated God said this closer to 4000 years ago, not 6000 years ago. Jews broke the covenant with God a number of times, and they have rejected Jesus. Is God supposed to be accepting of that? To believe that Israel still belongs to Jewish people is to believe that Jesus is nothing and Christianity is wrong. What are you, a Jew or Christian?
I do not have any “Islamist friends” and believe that too many Muslims have settled in Europe. Israel is a different matter because Jews went there. It may not be wonderful, and I would prefer a Christian Middle East, but the Middle East was Arabized and Islam became the dominant religion. Christians should have retained control of Palestine. They did not, and the consequence is a population that is largely Muslim. During Roman occupation, Jews could have stayed in Palestine had they not engaged in rebellion or left. Many did stay Jewish, and they continued to see Israel as their homeland. This does not mean much when they weren't living there and had settled elsewhere. My ancestors settled in southern Russia. It isn't far from Middle East. Others settled all over the place. What about these Jews who live in US who treat Israel like it is some kind of disneyland they can live in and holiday to whenever they feel like? What are these dual Israeli citizenships all about? It is madness. Israel is surrounded by poor Palestinians who had homes and land stolen from them. They get attacked, and they have their rights impeded by Israel and its citizens. Why doesn't anyone care?
“In reality, America has fed many countries and saved Europe in WW2 from Hitler.”
What? America helped. It took more than one country to “save Europe.” If Hitler had not invaded Russia, Britain, and America would not have defeated Germany.
I do not have any “Islamist friends” and believe that too many Muslims have settled in Europe. Israel is a different matter because Jews went there. It may not be wonderful, and I would prefer a Christian Middle East, but the Middle East was Arabized and Islam became the dominant religion. Christians should have retained control of Palestine. They did not, and the consequence is a population that is largely Muslim. During Roman occupation, Jews could have stayed in Palestine had they not engaged in rebellion or left. Many did stay Jewish, and they continued to see Israel as their homeland. This does not mean much when they weren't living there and had settled elsewhere. My ancestors settled in southern Russia. It isn't far from Middle East. Others settled all over the place. What about these Jews who live in US who treat Israel like it is some kind of disneyland they can live in and holiday to whenever they feel like? What are these dual Israeli citizenships all about? It is madness. Israel is surrounded by poor Palestinians who had homes and land stolen from them. They get attacked, and they have their rights impeded by Israel and its citizens. Why doesn't anyone care?
“In reality, America has fed many countries and saved Europe in WW2 from Hitler.”
What? America helped. It took more than one country to “save Europe.” If Hitler had not invaded Russia, Britain, and America would not have defeated Germany.
hippyjoe1955 · 61-69, M
BohemianBabe · M
justanothername · 51-55, M
twistedrope · 26-30, M
Since the war, I thought "Such a shame. I would have liked to visit there one day." The illegality of homosexual expression has also killed the dream I had of spending extended time there as well.
I enjoyed Dostoevskys works and have some knowledge on its history which sparked wanting to visit, that will not happen now.
I enjoyed Dostoevskys works and have some knowledge on its history which sparked wanting to visit, that will not happen now.
InHeaven · F
Um… Russia would be great if it wasn’t for globalist puppet Putin. I am also of their faith Eastern Orthodox so pretty close to Russian stuff
ElwoodBlues · M
I was in grad school with some very smart very capable Russian expats. Great people under the thumb of a horrible dictator. SAD!!
Gingerbreadspice · F
Worst country I’ve ever been to.
emiliya · 22-25, F
@Gingerbreadspice Which part did you visit?
It isn't cold where I'm from, we have mild winters and very hot summers
It isn't cold where I'm from, we have mild winters and very hot summers
Gingerbreadspice · F
@emiliya Saint Petersburg. It wasn’t freezing, it was August but I remember it being quite wet and windy that day and only about 17C.
Khenpal1 · M
Majority leave in self created bobbles, if gone nobody will miss them.
Greyjedi · M
I think this is a phishy trap. “It’s a trap”
Cowboybob · M
Good people, poor leadership
pancakeslam · 41-45, M
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