Putin is a Bully and a Troll · 4:20pm Feb 27th, 2022
Hello my fellow bronies,
I normally don't use this forum to discuss my politics. This is not the time or place to do it. But...I feel there is an observation I need to get off my chest to everyone.
So-called strongmen can manipulate both their own people and other nations abroad into ignoring their human rights abuses by projecting an image of strength and pragmatism. Putin is a notable example: since he came to power at the tail end of the 1990s, he's maintained an illusion of intelligence, strength, and tenacity, that has managed to fool even the most rational person into thinking he is a reasonable man worthy of rule.
I think it is safe to say that this image has irreversibly collapsed over the past few days. But there is one speech in particular that shows the real Vladimir Putin that was hidden for so long. Here is a sample of that speech:
The leading NATO countries are supporting the far-right nationalists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine, those who will never forgive the people of Crimea and Sevastopol for freely making a choice to reunite with Russia.
In this speech, we do not see a man who is possessed of intelligence, strength, and tenacity.
We see a man who plays the victim even as he starts a fight with his own smaller neighbor.
We see a man who lies about his actions.
We see a man who uses the word Nazi to defame his Jewish opponent.
I want to be clear about something: there are legitimate criticisms of Ukraine's government and Zelensky. Ukraine's government suffers massive corruption and Zelensky's domestic policy record since he became President is more than a bit mixed. And Ukraine does have far-right organizations in its ranks. But Putin's words are not the statement of a philosopher king, this is the rhetoric of a bully and a troll.
Russia: The Land of Bullies
People will gush about how Putin has managed to maintain power for as long as some of us can remember. But Putin doesn't maintain power through means that are in any way righteous. He maintains power through the bullying of his subordinates and the Russian people.
The pattern of Russian history has been this: corrupt autocrats who bully their people, their cronies, ethnic minorities within their borders, and their neighbors. I want to be clear: this isn't something that is unique to Russia. Looking at you CIA! But in Russia, absolute rule and its consequences have played out especially strongly throughout its history.
You have figures like Ivan the Terrible (the word for terrible can also mean "awesome"), who butchered his nobility and killed his own son in a fit of pique. And then you have Tsar Nicholas II, who was so determined to preserve his autocratic rule, it took his cousin threatening suicide to get him to accept a constitutional government. And Nicholas sabotaged that reform through suppression and manipulation.
The rule of tsars was built on the bullying of Russians, non-Russians, and nations abroad through brute terror. And when that regime was brutalized and bankrupted by the cataclysm of World War I, that tsarist regime collapsed into the dust bin of history.
The communists who replaced the tsar would also use the same bullying tactics to maintain power even as they claimed to be liberating the workers and the peasants: Stalin persecuted the Ukrainians long before it was "rad", deliberately starving millions of them in a genocidal famine known as the Holodomor. He bullied and murdered his own subordinates in several Purges. And when he came out victorious in World War 2 he dragged several nations like Poland and Lithuania into his empire through brutal persecution and terror. And his successors would also force the peoples of Eastern Europe to stay in the Soviet Empire through brutal terror and persecution.
And when that regime of terror had finally bankrupted itself with bad economic policies and war with Afghanistan, it could no longer afford to bully nations into its sphere of influence. And the Soviet Union would itself enter the dustbin of history.
Putin's Behavior Is That of a Bully
Putin is a product of that bullying, brutal, and corrupt Soviet Empire. A KGB agent, he was stationed in East Germany where he witnessed the death knell of communism as East Germans toppled the wall and reunited with their Western brothers. This is what Putin wishes to revive: not the lauded, if ill-fated, ideals of the Soviet Union, but a time period of "when they jump, you say how high."
By the time Putin entered the national scene in Russia, its democracy was already failing, Yeltsin had gone from being a rebellious democrat who stood up to Soviet tanks to a corrupt drunk who sent tanks after his own parliament. Putin's appointment was an act by Yeltsin and his cronies to preserve their power. Putin inherited Yeltsin's failed democracy and brought his own corruption into the mix.
But if you look at the way he has held onto power, you can see the acts of a bully.
He pushes his own subordinates around: Putin earned a lot of points by locking up some of the oligarchs. But he didn't do this because he wanted to fight corruption, he wanted the oligarchs to bow to him and his power.
He bullies and belittles his neighbors and controls their lives: long before he got his fingers into Ukraine, he had already bullied the Georgians because they wanted to be closer to America. If Russia was a nice or good place to be, the Georgians would not have to bullied into staying out of the West's sphere of influence.
He cheats his way into power: he has rigged the political system of Russia in his favor. Not just through fraudulent elections and using Medvedev as his puppet, but by creating sham opposition parties that make him look sane. One of his puppet opposition leaders is a psycho who wants to make vodka free and drunkenly ranted about Condolezza Rice should be...violated by Russian troops.
Threatening his opponents to get what he wants: when someone actually dares criticism, Putin punches them as any bully would. If Putin were truly secure, Alexei Navalny would not have been poisoned.
He takes people's lunch money: Russia is a very corrupt country, and Putin is very happy to live off of that corruption. He has looted billions and billions of dollars from his country's coffers and lives a luxurious life while his country remains in poverty.
He throws a fit and gaslight when his victims have the nerve to fight back: When Finland and Sweden talked about wanting to join NATO, Putin threw a furious tirade, declaring they had no right to do that with the language typical of an abuser.
Putin's means of maintaining power is not through inspiring the people, having a decent domestic policy, and cooperating with others, but through aggression and bullying.
Putin is a Troll
What is worse than a bully is a troll. Bullies are awful people, but some of them are genuinely tough and strong people.
Trolls are even more pathetic because they often are weaklings who hide behind a keyboard. Putin's antics are also that of a nasty troll. Like all trolls, Putin projects an image of strength while being weak. If he were strong, he wouldn't have to boast about his supposed strength, the same way Trump boasts about his supposed wealth.
But Putin feels the need to shamelessly post pictures of himself shirtless. I was reminded of a certain meme.
Instead of legitimate criticism, he has to refer to his enemies as "Nazis and fascists." Again, this is what trolls do when they start losing an argument.
He insults gay people, which is the oldest troll trick in the book. His government outright persecutes LGBT people.
And then there are his incredible lies about the greatness of Russia: Russia as a nation isn't all that inspirational: organized crime rules much of the cities, the economy of Russia is weaker than Canada or Texas, it has a low life expectancy compared to other industrialized nations, the police is a joke, and the army is a den of bullying and cronyism.
And like all trolls that finally get challenged, they end up showing the world how weak they are. Everyone was expected Ukraine to collapse within a few days, but its people have held out pretty well against what is supposed to be a tough army. After all this posturing, Putin proves his army isn't as great as they said.
The moral: Never Trust Those Who Mistreat Others
We all know the moral that "bullying is wrong." And of course, it is: people who mistreat, abuse, and belittle others should never be our role models. But the sad truth is there are adult bullies who hold power over others, even in democratic countries. No matter how they twist their words and manipulate the public, they are monsters who we should never emulate.
Putin has shown the world was a nasty person he is. And now all of us must show him the door.
Sincerely,
Redandready45.
(Fearfully) But I'm a lover, not a fighter.
5640106
Sometimes it's the lovers who have the strongest fighting weapon: pure love.
A single word can change thousands of hearts.
5640130
Thanks. But I'm also a Concesete Subjector.
I read a couple of articles Putin in this war commute war crimes, I think it was attacking civilians or something like that so like some bullies this whole war might bite him so hard in the butt that he will never sit again
And from a article I read this will hurt Russia more since a lot of countries a thinking in removing Russia from something called SWIFT that will hurt Russia economically hard (if I’m wrong you can tell me)
I don’t now the stance of the allies of Russia but let’s hope it doesn’t end in ww3
This article is the perfect answer to that good old
"Why so serious?""why Russians barely smile?" question. And, well, all you need to know about our economy is that our national currency is near identical to Indian in it's value (yeap, the same country that officially invented "garbage rivers").About that "maintained illusion" of our God-Emperor (aka The corpse-Emperor on Golden Throne) - he went nuts quite some time ago, which was shown in his speeches, especially the ones about nuclear weapon: "we'll go to heaven as martyrs, and they'll all just die", - and that shit got a round of applauses from other politics in power..
It's actually quite a scary place to live in, considering all the politics digging our economy further into it's tomb, the police that's more scary than actual bandits, and all the senile madcons sitting on a piles of weapons.. I just hope that all this intervention won't grow into something much more cathartic.
I don't believe in God, but nothing short of divine miracle can save us from this madman at this point.