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Yeah exactly. You're the only one inmune to propaganda, it's everyone else who is brainwashed. It obviously couldn't happen to you since you're smart, and "normal Russian people" aren't.

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I guess the question comes down to who is responsible for one's own sanity. The individual, the community, or the state? Anyways, I would argue that attributing Putin's popularity to brainwashing is not that solid of a theory. Perhaps Putin is popular because Russians want a strong leader in the wake of previous leader who were seen as weak.

We can't know without better introspection and data to ground the discussion.

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