you make good points, but I think the issue is that people here don't just want a more free country. they also want to live in a strong, advanced country that they can have national pride in. they wish it were America, or Britain, or wherever they were born in, and failing that they want a country as similar as possible.
Russia is none of those things, and if you are not 100% ethnically Russian you are fucked. One of my friends, who was born in Moscow, grandparents born in Moscow, educated as a doctor in Moscow, and owns property in Moscow has people come up to her on the metro and say "you don't belong here, leave". Why? She has a more olive skin tone due to some distant ancestry.
The only pride Russia has is from the past, and they try hard to go back to it and the days of communism. It's truly frightening if you are an average person with any self awareness.
Historically, Russia goes through cycles of "strong men" and then near total collapse. It will be no different with Putin as he has murdered everyone who could possibly run it and when he eventually goes it will be a mess.
I lived there three years and still have friends and family there. Most of my American friends, Even those who studied Russian their whole lives and actually are sympathetic to the regime left as there is just no way to make a life there. As it is now, I support several Russian friends who are fleeing to avoid the draft.
The reality is very different than what is in your mind. Russia has always been one of the most harsh places to exist in the world and there's a reason life expectancy of men there is so low.
you make good points, but I think the issue is that people here don't just want a more free country. they also want to live in a strong, advanced country that they can have national pride in. they wish it were America, or Britain, or wherever they were born in, and failing that they want a country as similar as possible.
Russia is none of those things, and if you are not 100% ethnically Russian you are fucked. One of my friends, who was born in Moscow, grandparents born in Moscow, educated as a doctor in Moscow, and owns property in Moscow has people come up to her on the metro and say "you don't belong here, leave". Why? She has a more olive skin tone due to some distant ancestry.
The only pride Russia has is from the past, and they try hard to go back to it and the days of communism. It's truly frightening if you are an average person with any self awareness.
Historically, Russia goes through cycles of "strong men" and then near total collapse. It will be no different with Putin as he has murdered everyone who could possibly run it and when he eventually goes it will be a mess.
I lived there three years and still have friends and family there. Most of my American friends, Even those who studied Russian their whole lives and actually are sympathetic to the regime left as there is just no way to make a life there. As it is now, I support several Russian friends who are fleeing to avoid the draft.
The reality is very different than what is in your mind. Russia has always been one of the most harsh places to exist in the world and there's a reason life expectancy of men there is so low.