How do Russians see the current events going on [Video]

Can anyone really answer adequately why canceling Russia is such a good idea, without resorting to some stock answer that the TV, radio and internet media are saying every day?

I cannot. Based on precisely these sort of reports from TV, radio and internet, and further based on my incredible amount of acquired wisdom and ability to smell out bull—t lies from the media, I see no reason to cancel Russia.

Graham Phillips, and Englishman who has followed the problems in Ukraine and Russia carefully and on the ground for many years, has this new video to give a view of the situation that the West simply does not want to hear.

Of course, the cries from those watching Western media is very different:

But what about what President Putin is doing to Ukraine? He is trying to recreate the Soviet Union!?!?

Oh, really? Well… let’s see. First, let’s start with a few existential facts.

1. There is no plan or desire to become the Soviet Union again. – The country is very definitely a market economy, and if anything, government run projects are getting “smarter” because the government is relying more and more on free-market principles to drive projects that otherwise would resemble your local Department of Motor Vehicles for efficiency. The movement is not smooth, but I have seen the development of document services centers (Russia is still highly bureaucratic) that are quick, efficient and with friendly people working there.It is this way now. It was not this way in 2014.To throw all that away for becoming communist and bloated is not attractive to anybody. The presence of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the comment that President Putin made about missing the Soviet Union (badly restated) has to do not with wanting pogroms and church closures and a really clunky standard of living.The comment, rather, refers to the nightmare of instability in Russia that took place in the 1990s after Communism fell. When it did, it left behind a very disrupted, corrupt shell of a country, and there are precious few people who remember that time that look at the end of Communism as a cause for celebration. These were dangerous times, even deadly times, and there were many hungry people and a few extremely clever superrich both from inside and outside the country, taking advantage of everyone. President Putin’s longevity in office has to do with his ability to manage and apparently slowly deflect and undo this lawlessness. This leads me to point number two.
2. Russians value their freedom greatly, but they also rely on authoritarian leadership and will not respect anything else. – This is a conundrum for Americans because our political tradition was quite the opposite for most of our nation’s history until very recently – probably about the year 2001. For Americans more and more the rhetoric even among conservatives is authoritarian – “The government exists to take care of us.” This is totally the reverse of the vision of the government as outlined in the US Constitution. It is an admittedly urban view, for high population centers do require more central administrative powers to keep the lights on and the streets clean and the crime down. This must be taken into consideration. But Russia was an empire led by nobles, grand princes and Tsars for almost one thousand years.Communism got rid of the nobility, but what did it replace it with? “A dictatorship of the proletariat” – in other words, the term dictator remained in use and it remained preferred. They just wanted different people to be dictator. The vision of a council, or Совет (Soviet) as that dictator rather than one person was an interesting idea but it was the total opposite to the vision of the American government, which was a “bottom-up” ruling model, with civil servants sent to serve their localities. (how times have changed!) At any rate, the notion of “someone strong in charge” is central to Russian tradition. Even in a constitutional republic, the need for a strong leader is so prevalent that President Putin keeps getting re-elected, not because he is squashing other contenders with polonium and secret assassinations, but because no one has shown the abilities that he has to do everything he does.The vast majority of Russian people I speak with know that this is a problem, that who comes after Putin is a matter of worry, because no one has become visible as the kind of leader Russia needs as she continues her transformation into a modern civilization state. There is no answer to this question, and while elections are often viewed with cynicism (“Of COURSE we already know the winner!”) I think you would be hard pressed to find a large number of Russian people who know someone who can lead the country the way they need it led, who is not Vladimir Vladimirovich.For myself, I admire Vladimir Putin, greatly. I appreciate his intellect, his candor and I also feel sad because I think he would very much like to step down but knows he cannot. He is caught in this problem as well as the rest of the country. No one knows the solution.Parenthetically speaking, I still actually like Volodymyr Zelensky very much. I know there are significant issues with the man, reported now as “proof” that he is a very bad guy. I read these, but perhaps I am still too swayed by my enjoyment of him as a comedic actor to really absorb these present stories about him as serious facts to consider. To be fair, the information being given me about him being super rich and using drugs and so on may be totally correct, but it amazingly showed up only now, after the conflict began. You see? The timing breeds caution.After all, not so long ago he was considered “The Trump of Ukraine” for his rise to power against the establishment of his nation. My point of view is that it is a shame that these two leaders are at such extreme odds, and for Zelensky’s part, I still blame the US / NATO swan song that is so alluring to atheists, one of whose number is Mr. Zelensky himself. This is a pity.
3. The attitude of Russian people in Russia toward Ukraine and her people appears very different from the absolute prejudice I viewed among the “Russophiles” and Ukrainians in the USA.I was one of those Russophiles myself until I started paying attention. The American Russophiles are often NOT actually even Russians, or they are so far removed from their country of origin that they don’t even handle their last names traditionally.That was in America, and I heard awful berating of Ukrainians there by such people. I stopped it a long time ago and will never do it again.In other words, I grew up.In Russia, though, Ukraine’s push for the West is a source of consternation for many, memed in the idea of a three-headed dragon (Russia, Belarus and Ukraine) where the Ukrainian dragon wants to use a different toilet than the other two heads. Forgive my language, but the three-headed dragon has only one ass. So the other two look at the rebellious head in disbelief and amazement. That is how this is viewed – “why are you wanting this when you are the same as we are?” goes one consistent argument.But also, Ukraine is the motherland of Russia itself. And this does indeed break down into a debate about whether Ukraine as a country is “real” or “fabricated.” For the Ukrainians, it is obviously real. For most Russians now, it is also obviously real, and has been.

   The conflict between the two regions is very complex and at this point, any attempt to explain it would almost certainly not be accurate. I can only say that the Ukrainians who are anti-Russian are often extremely passionate about their position, and they are also often quick to simply say “you would not understand” if they tried to explain it to me. I at first did not believe this, but now I do. Living here sort of salts the brain a bit and one comes to start to “feel” where the problems lie and, yes, they are not explainable.

All in all, there is more information and evidence I see experientially as well as read and hear to support Russia’s side and views about this conflict. The West is in hysteria and will not look at this now, but eventually it will have to face the truth or die trying to resist it. This is a psychological breakdown of catastrophic proportions, and it makes me very sad for all the people caught in this mess in the USA, Canada and Europe – both those who believe the nonsense and those who don’t who themselves risk being canceled.