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Comment by mr_luc | Hacker News Reader

I think that this article could end up being cited a lot. It has a very believable thesis. I'd like to see it put to the test, and then condensed down and hopefully inform news reporting a bit.

If we accept that, as a member of the super-wealthy post-USSR kleptocracy engaged in an endless Presidency, Putin is naturally most concerned about maintaining domestic power, then the thesis is: massive uprisings in their largest ex-Soviet neighbor, against a Russian-allied President, where the public floods into the President's palace and becomes even more enraged at evidence of their wealth (a golden loaf of bread; a pirate-ship restaurant), make it impossible domestically that Putin not respond with a show of force.

As the article says, he and his chums have palaces too.

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People like you completely miss the point on Russia. You cannot accept that it is indeed a democracy, that people are not brainwashed. And that pretty much the contrary of what western media portrays is happening there. Trust me, i've been there.

They are not brainwashed to the same extent that the people of North Korea are brainwashed, but the majority of them do get all of their news from (State-owned) TV channels and uncritically subscribe to the ruling party's ideology.

Like Neocons in the US.

BS. People use the internet. Most people support the goverment, why is hard to accept that ? Democracy only works for north americans when they like the leader....

They're brainwashed to the same extent that many people in the US are brainwashed.

The wonderful thing about modern propaganda is that it has become so subtle we often mistake it for our own opinions.

As a European when I watched CNN for the first time at the early stages of the Iraq war, I first wasn't sure whether it was supposed to be satire or fiction. It took me a while to realise that this is what many people think of as "news" in the US. Makes me wonder what I miss in our own news media -- you only spot bold faced lies when you have a trusted reference you can compare them to.

It's not restricted to TV there it's all the same in internet.

Could you provide a reliable source with a more or less unbiased information about Russia then? And please don't mention Russia Today :)

Because any I've been reading a lot of information on the matter from a large number of sources, and couldn't help but draw a conclusion that Russia is indeed a pseudo-democracy trying hide its totalitarian essence.

I'm sorry -- but Putin employs professional trolls to comment, often in teams of 2 or 3, often speaking amongst themselves to first divert and then control the conversation, on forums just like this one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9269760

That makes it a bit difficult to respond in good faith to people who chime in with vague, 'you people believe the western media too much' comments.

But I'd be interested in knowing your response to concrete things I mentioned in my comment. For instance, how wealthy is Putin? How about his close allies? And how did they make their fortunes? And is he in an endless Presidency, or not?

(None of which is to say that Putin hasn't been a fantastically successful President; he reintroduced the stability necessary for Russia to succeed, which it really has during his Presidency ... but the problems with success via concentration of power in one man are age-old, and a common one is a foreign policy, motivated by entirely domestic concerns and a desire to stay on top, that appears irrational on the international stage).

I'm not a professional poster. I already shared my twitter handle. From there you can find my entire social media presence. This is my personal oponion..

I just think its a tell tale when people disregard opinions like mine as enemy propaganda.

Its like a sign of the hyve mentality. Contrarian opinions are always right in cases like this.

Looks like their propaganda is working then.

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