About war in Ukraine

[Alexgarm]

So, President Biden has just rightfully declared the Russian actions in Ukraine a genocide: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/worl ... raine.html

Meanwhile, more and more reports of atrocities and war crimes are pouring in.

Any new stance on this, BGA? Or are you sticking to the "everything has been said " message and total inaction?

Did Biden say anything about USA and NATO bombing Belgrade in 1999?
Because he is indeed very good at war crimes.

[MikhailT]

Let me add some information about opinion polls.
First, I am absolutely sure that the results depend on the region or community in which the survey is conducted. I took a screenshot of a poll in a Telegram channel talking about Russia for Russians. https://imgur.com/WJNoVAd (Hope I used photo hosting correctly). The results are opposite. Further, in my area there are no personal vehicles with Z stickers. I have seen cars with an insane amount of stickers, but there were no Z among them. There is municipal public transport. There is it. In my personal environment, I would rate the ratio 40 to 60. And the people who supported the war in other times were not the most balanced.
Second, opinion polls are used as a means of propaganda. People tend to join the majority. And this property is used, showing which side the majority is on. For doubting people, there is a more subtle game. The results of state polling centers do little less than the results of "independent" centers. So "independent" inspire confidence and the results are presented as an axiom.

If only 40% supported the war in Russia, Putin's approval rating and government rating would have plummeted. This was not the case, the support of the government and Putin actually went up to 83%, since the war started: https://www.levada.ru/en/ratings/

Even if we accept that people are too scared to express their anti war position, how is it that large majority of them still support the person who started it? I suspect that the anti-war position for many Russians is much more amorphous, they oppose the war in principle, but who is responsible for them in another question.

An article that talks about why people repeat the words of propaganda. https://cepa.org/vladimir-putins-people-or-are-they/
The next step is to use the retractions in propaganda. And so circle after circle.

[nairobiny]

For those us us playing a live game, you can choose whether to go ahead once you see the players who have accepted, so if you don't want to play with Russians you don't have to. But in a turn based game if you create the game, a Russian can join and you have no choice but to play, unless they agree to terminate the game - this means that you are then forced to play the game or take a penalty if they choose not to terminate.

So join other people's tables or restrict your tables to friends only, if you have any.

[19832]

For those us us playing a live game, you can choose whether to go ahead once you see the players who have accepted, so if you don't want to play with Russians you don't have to. But in a turn based game if you create the game, a Russian can join and you have no choice but to play, unless they agree to terminate the game - this means that you are then forced to play the game or take a penalty if they choose not to terminate.

So join other people's tables or restrict your tables to friends only, if you have any.

Also, when you create a new game table , you have the opportunity to express your preferences. In the Table configuration,there is such a line with the text "no presentation yet". replace the text with something like: "УБЕДИТЕЛЬНО ПРОШУ РУССКИХ НЕ ПРИСОЕДИНЯТЬСЯ К ЭТОМУ СТОЛУ"("I ask Russians not to join this table")
and it is very unlikely that any of us (bloody Russians) will want to enjoy your company after that.

[Pushkiin]

An article that talks about why people repeat the words of propaganda. https://cepa.org/vladimir-putins-people-or-are-they/
The next step is to use the retractions in propaganda. And so circle after circle.

I "love" how they question probability based statistical research, and their solution is to use snowball non probability approach, which is basically involves the recruitment of subjects from among their acquaintances. In other words, finding contacts through groups that already have similar views. This article is helpful to articulate how some of the folks may think about the war, but it does not counter in anyway statistical data. The support of Putin in Russia has alway been strong, the anti Ukrainian attitudes since the annexation of Crimea were strong as well, so there is very little reason to doubt why the majority of Russians would not support the "military operation" in Ukraine, especially since we do have statistical data that shows this support.

Let me ask you this. Why is it in Belorussia with the authoritarian regime being in place, propaganda and imprisonments only a small minority expressed support for the war? Why are Belorussians willing to sabotage and cause logistical problems for the Russian army but Russians themselves are not (at least we see very little evidence of that). Russian chauvinism, patronizing and colonial attitudes in Russia towards Ukraine are widespread and they are also responsible for what is happening today. Even those who oppose the war, still tend to frame their opposition in very amorphous terms and are not willing to discuss even a minimum level of collective responsibility of the Russian people.

I would also say that being against the war in Ukraine is not enough, Russian people need to reflect and rethink how they related and relate to Ukraine and Ukrainian people. The reflection and reckoning with Russian imperial and colonial legacy has not happened in Russia, so it's not surprising to me that Russian people had no problem with accepting Putin's conception and definition of Ukraine and and Ukrainian identify and his reasons for the war.

[MikhailT]

An article that talks about why people repeat the words of propaganda. https://cepa.org/vladimir-putins-people-or-are-they/
The next step is to use the retractions in propaganda. And so circle after circle.

I "love" how they question probability based statistical research, and their solution is to use snowball non probability approach, which is basically involves the recruitment of subjects from among their acquaintances. In other words, finding contacts through groups that already have similar views. This article is helpful to articulate how some of the folks may think about the war, but it does not counter in anyway statistical data. The support of Putin in Russia has alway been strong, the anti Ukrainian attitudes since the annexation of Crimea were strong as well, so there is very little reason to doubt why the majority of Russians would not support the "military operation" in Ukraine, especially since we do have statistical data that shows this support.

Let me ask you this. Why is it in Belorussia with the authoritarian regime being in place, propaganda and imprisonments only a small minority expressed support for the war? Why are Belorussians willing to sabotage and cause logistical problems for the Russian army but Russians themselves are not (at least we see very little evidence of that). Russian chauvinism, patronizing and colonial attitudes in Russia towards Ukraine are widespread and they are also responsible for what is happening today. Even those who oppose the war, still tend to frame their opposition in very amorphous terms and are not willing to discuss even a minimum level of collective responsibility of the Russian people.

I would also say that being against the war in Ukraine is not enough, Russian people need to reflect and rethink how they related and relate to Ukraine and Ukrainian people. The reflection and reckoning with Russian imperial and colonial legacy has not happened in Russia, so it's not surprising to me that Russian people had no problem with accepting Putin's conception and definition of Ukraine and and Ukrainian identify and his reasons for the war.

If the question about Belarus is not rhetorical, but to me personally, then I do not know the answer to it. The reason is that I am very far from Belarus (in a region that also rebelled in 2020), I do not personally know a single Belarus, I am not familiar with the situation in Belarus.
I can speak with confidence only about the situation in Russia. Enormous funds were allocated and continue to be allocated for propaganda. Using some of this, villas were built on the Cote d'Azur, but a system was created with the main funds that could change the minds of people, direct their thoughts in the right direction. The system works extremely efficiently! It is curious that a huge number of women are very belligerent. I draw this conclusion by reading the comments on YouTube and Telegram. This can be explained by the fact that every kitchen now has a TV, and the kitchen is the sovereign territory of women, where they spend a lot of time.
And even with all this, among my circle, I see a huge discrepancy between the statistics (which you cite) and what I can see with my own eyes. Your links are very interesting to me and I'm watching around. I provoke taxi drivers, hairdressers, sellers to talk, I watch stickers with symbols of war. Among the more than 400 contacts on my phone, only one person posted an avatar with a similar symbol.
I think that statistics like this is another way to manipulate people's minds.

[KongKing123]

[...]

Did Biden say anything about USA and NATO bombing Belgrade in 1999?
Because he is indeed very good at war crimes.

Just what we needed: some whataboutism trolling. Go away.

[Pushkiin]

If the question about Belarus is not rhetorical, but to me personally, then I do not know the answer to it. The reason is that I am very far from Belarus (in a region that also rebelled in 2020), I do not personally know a single Belarus, I am not familiar with the situation in Belarus.
I can speak with confidence only about the situation in Russia. Enormous funds were allocated and continue to be allocated for propaganda. Using some of this, villas were built on the Cote d'Azur, but a system was created with the main funds that could change the minds of people, direct their thoughts in the right direction. The system works extremely efficiently! It is curious that a huge number of women are very belligerent. I draw this conclusion by reading the comments on YouTube and Telegram. This can be explained by the fact that every kitchen now has a TV, and the kitchen is the sovereign territory of women, where they spend a lot of time.
And even with all this, among my circle, I see a huge discrepancy between the statistics (which you cite) and what I can see with my own eyes. Your links are very interesting to me and I'm watching around. I provoke taxi drivers, hairdressers, sellers to talk, I watch stickers with symbols of war. Among the more than 400 contacts on my phone, only one person posted an avatar with a similar symbol.
I think that statistics like this is another way to manipulate people's minds.

My question was not rhetorical. My point is that that there is something at the core of Russia that made people more susceptible to propaganda than in Ukraine or Belorussia where billions of dollars were also spend to perpetuate a particular discourse in mass media. Yes, it's important to be anti-war, but more questions should be asked by Russians to prevent future wars. These questions have to do with the Russian imperial, colonial legacy, widespread chauvinism, and belief of messianic role of Russia in the world. I think, you as Russian, should be asking how can I prevent future war of this type from happening. You should be asking what is it about my country that made the war possible. And, lastly what are you willing to sacrifice that's important to you to make the war stop. To say that the cause of war is paid propaganda and Putin and his friends is not enough because it does nothing to prevent future wars. Your definition of who is at fault does not make Russians folks to reflect on their own history, complicity and agency in this conflict.

Talk to your friends and colleagues about the Holodomor, about Soviet atrocities in Ukraine, the mass displacement of Ukrainians, the mass imprisonments on cultural grounds, talk about how Ukrainian language was forbidden in Russian empire and than see how supportive they are of Ukraine. You can counter the statistics I provided with your personal experience, but I do think more than anything it's time for Russians to reflect on their history, so that future wars of this kind don't happen again.

[tboard]

I have a few questions for the Russian people: How can you support an evil dictator who murders those who openly oppose him? Is this what you really want for your country? How can anybody even think to take your side in all of this when you have a murderous dictator as a leader?

У меня есть несколько вопросов к русскому народу: как вы можете поддерживать злого диктатора, который убивает тех, кто открыто выступает против него? Это то, чего вы действительно хотите для своей страны? Как кто-то может даже подумать, чтобы принять вашу сторону во всем этом, когда у вас есть кровавый диктатор в качестве лидера?

[Alexgarm]

I have a few questions for the Russian people: How can you support an evil dictator who murders those who openly oppose him? Is this what you really want for your country? How can anybody even think to take your side in all of this when you have a murderous dictator as a leader?

У меня есть несколько вопросов к русскому народу: как вы можете поддерживать злого диктатора, который убивает тех, кто открыто выступает против него? Это то, чего вы действительно хотите для своей страны? Как кто-то может даже подумать, чтобы принять вашу сторону во всем этом, когда у вас есть кровавый диктатор в качестве лидера?

I have a few questions for the USA/China/Israel/Countryname people: How can you support an evil dictator who murders those who openly oppose him? Is this what you really want for your country? How can anybody even think to take your side in all of this when you have a murderous dictator as a leader?