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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am not Russian but I lived four years in Russia. I am not sharing Russian propaganda, merely how average, everyday, work-a-day “normie” Russians in mid-sized provincial cities generally approve of Putin.

To put it simply, it comes down to stability vs. chaos. Older Russians who have nostalgia for the Soviet Union are not necessarily ideologically communist, they just miss how stable and predictable things were. Others who are not old enough to remember the USSR in that way, but remember the 90s, generally support any type of government that would avoid that level of chaos. The 90s were horrible in Russia and all former USSR countries. And then some people only know the Putin era. So for most nonpolitical, non-ideological people, Putin is the devil you know.

The other thing to understand is that Western liberal democracy just doesn’t always sell that well. Most people have a strong distrust of civic institutions since during the 90s they were hijacked by kleptocrats. Being an activist is not so laudable. 
There’s also the truth that people in Russia are just conservative. Many are religious, including an exponentially increasing number of Muslims, although even non religious people tend to be socially and culturally conservative. American and Western culture is appreciated in small doses and from my experience people didn’t have a problem with Americans. It was similar to how Americans typically view Chinese… yes they are economic and political adversaries but Americans use Chinese products, eat “Chinese” food etc and don’t typically have a problem with Chinese people. That’s how Russians were about Americans. Not everything is about politics…BUT they have THEIR culture and resent excessive efforts to impose Western culture on them. 
Gender roles are accepted and feminism is not valued. People with views like Andrew Tate are pretty typical and it’s considered normal. You may not like it, coming from a Western perspective, but it’s just the way it is.

Those with dissenting views that are more liberal and western-oriented found their own communities in cities but your average everyday Russian doesn’t concern themselves with them, they just want to put food on the table, heat their homes with gas, keep their families close and collect their pensions. It just isn’t worth the risk to get too politically involved. [/quote]

How does the Ukraine war promote stability?  Especially when you now have facilities throughout your country blowing up, subject to sabotage, missile strikes, drone strikes and so on?  How does it promote stability to get the world angry at you and to cause international alliances to defend against you to add members and grow in strength?  How does it promote stability to lose members of your own defensive alliances like CSTO losing Armenia?

I don't understand this Russian view of "stability" that they think they are gaining through support of Putin.  If anything he has led them on a much less stable path.

I am also trying to reconcile this "we think fondly of the Soviet era" and "we resent western culture" with the fact that during the soviet era, things like smuggled-in western music and jeans and other items were highly prized commodities. [/quote]

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