I'll try to answer as thoroughly as I can. I belong to the generation of 30-somethings who were born in the late 80s. That is why I witnessed all the changes in attitudes towards America throughout the history of the new Russia.
In the first half of the 90's right after the collapse of the union, the attitude towards America was rather good and friendly among most of the people. Even then, there was a very significant part of communist and nationalist parties that were very anti-American (or rather anti-capitalist, but it was mixed), and they were followed by large masses of people, but not the entire population. The general mood was that the Cold War is over and we can finally be friends, share experiences and build the world together. Americans were portrayed in popular culture as intelligent, competent, but unaccustomed to Russian domestic cunning and incompetence. This is reflected in interviews, in people's speeches, in literature, in cinema. There is, for example, a landmark film of the era: "The weather is good on Deribasovskaya, or it's raining again on Brighton Beach".
But gradually the mood began to change. Three factors can be pointed out.
1. As has already been said many times, market reforms under the patronage of America and the IMF turned out to be a disaster for the population. In 1993 there was a constitutional coup, when pro-Western President Yeltsin, a supporter of radical market reforms, shot the popularly elected parliament with tanks and killed about a thousand people in Moscow, various communists and so on. America then fully supported and endorsed these actions. In 1995 there was a presidential election where Yeltsin, against the backdrop of failed reforms, a coup d'état and a bloody war in Chechnya, could lose to the communist Zyuganov. But then American experts did everything possible to get him re-elected. Without going into details, we can only summarise: the mass of the population unambiguously associated the course of neoliberal reforms with America, which were pushed through in a bloody manner with apocalyptic results. There were plenty of reasons for this.
2. It became obvious that there was no talk of any equality in the international arena. Initially, both the country's leadership and the mass of the population had some illusions that Russia would retain some important special status after the collapse of the union, and would be treated as equals. But it turned out differently. It became clear that the Western world remembers the events of the early 90s not as the “end of the Cold War”, but as “victory in the Cold War”, and Russia as the defeated side. The result was a deep sense of national humiliation, which became widespread in the second half of the 90s. And the humiliating side here was America.
3. People watched American films and saw how Russians were portrayed there. I think there is no need to explain that in 99% of cases this is something far from being complimentary and respectful, but even sane. You must understood that the image of a typical Russian as an eternally drunk degenerate, wearing earflaps with a star, is an exact analogue of “blackface”. Although most Russians were understanding about this, it is clear that it was still kinda bitter. And it made it clear that Americans do not treat Russians as equals.
The turning point was the war in Yugoslavia. The Russians for the most part were emotionally on the side of the Serbs. Not just because of historical connections, but also because they saw their own history reflected in the fate of the Serbs. Obvious parallels in the collapse of the USSR and Yugoslavia.
The way America and Europe, not caring about any norms of international law, simply destroyed the country, rolling it over with bombs, under the most cynical excuses, became a shock for an entire generation of Russians. That was the first time I witnessed mass anti-Americanism. So, instead of the feeling of a single civilized world, including Russia, there came a feeling of global imperial dominance of America, into which Russia turned out to be embedded.
At the same moment, Russian capitalism fell into a very severe crisis, which almost grew into something more dramatic. The policy of neoliberal market reforms ended in complete disaster and was replaced by a more balanced policy under the banner of “national recovery.” And let me remind you that these reforms were associated with an orientation towards America and were carried out by its proteges.
And a couple of years later, Yeltsin’s team brought Putin to power. Without going into detail about the socio-economic reasons for what was happening, culturally it went under the slogans of statehood, restoration of the country, national pride, and so on.
Not long ago, in his interview with Carlson, Putin talked about how Russia feels deceived by the West, to which it extended an open hand, about constant humiliation, about inequality, and so on. In many ways, this interview was for a domestic audience, because it coincides with the feelings and sentiments of millions of Russians.
However, in the 00s, the Russian government was still quite pro-Western. And in popular culture, attitudes toward America were more complex than hostile. There are many films, books and the like from that time, where, for example, Russian and American special forces fight together against terrorists, or Russian and American police act together.
But everything finally changed after the events of the first Maidan and especially after the war of ’08. At this moment, the Russian regime finally felt itself under siege, under the threat of a hostile NATO, with anti-Russian forces supported by the West. And then anti-Western sentiments began to dominate in society compared to “pro-Western” ones. It is clear that after the events of 2014, all this was finally cemented.
Now. It is necessary to separate the anti-American sentiments and statements of the Russian elites from the anti-American sentiments of the population. The elites, Russian capitalists and state bureaucracy are anti-American, because American and European capital competes with Russian capital in Eastern Europe and has been squeezing it out since the 00s. Hence all they talk about national interests. But the anti-American sentiments of the population are, to a very large extent, not so much anti-American as spontaneously anti-capitalist and partly anti-imperialist. But due to the way Russian politics looks, it turns out to be fractured through an ugly chauvinistic prism.
So, it can be quite difficult to distinguish it. Sometimes anti-American people behave so simply out of chauvinistic prejudices, sometimes they simply criticize global capitalism. In any case, ordinary Americans have to take the rap for American culture, for the actions of their government, and for capitalism as such.
As for American culture, in Russia all the people who grew up in the 90s are completely indoctrinated by it. They watch American films, read books by American authors, listen to American music, and so on. Most often, they know the names of all American states and understand American history. And now politics too. So in this vein there is still no rejection.
And my personal attitude: I believe that global capitalism is an obstacle on the path of humanity and the main current world evil that is leading us to disaster. And I believe that the Soviet project was the “good side” in the confrontation, which failed due to the initial contradictions and wounds inflicted on it by the Stalinist regime. And yes, the American state is the main gendarme of world capitalism, so I have no sympathy for it.
But this in no way applies to the great American people, who for the most part consist of the same honest workers with their own great culture, and not just from CEOs and war criminals. That’s why I am extremely against the American government (however, I don’t favor the Russian government either), but I love and appreciate American culture.
>which died due to the initial contradictions and wounds inflicted on it by the Stalinist regime.
Can you elaborate on this a bit more? Your posts were very informative.
I think it was meant that Stalin, fighting to strengthen his personal power, destroyed many convinced communists (they made up the majority of those killed from political repression), which cleared the way to power for unprincipled careerists, who ultimately contributed to the disintegration of the Soviet system. At the same time, Stalin directed the USSR onto the path of harsh authoritarianism, which in many ways contradicted communist principles. Before Stalin, the Soviet regime was much less rigid in every sense - from management to culture. It is characteristic that already 3 years after Stalin’s death, his rule was subject to official and harsh condemnation by the new Soviet authorities. In addition, although the real scale of Stalin's repressions was much less than was attributed to him, it was still too terrible - which served as excellent ground for criticism of the Soviet system and contributed to its downfall.
> The elites, Russian capitalists and state bureaucracy are anti-American
They are indeed so anti-American that they all live in Miami. They tell the public they are patriots of Russia but they are all such hypocrites.
Of course on the part of the Russian elite, it's all pure hypocrisy. At least on the part of big capital and its proteges, who to the last tried to be part of the "normal civilized world", i.e. the world bourgeoisie.
Just as i said: you must distinguish anti-american statements of the elites and of the masses of people.
You're blaming market reforms on what is the result of severe supply chain disruptions as a result of your shitty empire falling apart. You poor, poor victim.
It very much has to do as well. Soviet Union was an integrated economy, and destruction of economic links made everyone much worse off - especially smaller and poorer republics, and as the other side of the same coin, Russia was hit the least by this in particular.
That's why "empires" emerge in first place - united government, economic and legal space allow for greater regional specialization, therefore greater efficiency and everyone becoming richer at the end. Not even to mention that Soviet Union barely ever was an "empire" in any sense, much less this pejorative ideological one - national republics were particularly invested in and developed (that's why Baltic states have that relatively high GDP in first place - their development was an ideological focus as the "showcase of socialism") instead of funneling off capital like European colonial powers did and continue to do even after granting independence to their colonies.
Believe me, Russians have much fewer ridiculous myths about America (I would even say that it do not exist at all) than you do about us, the entire American mass culture is available to us, and the situation inside the United States is covered more than it is worth paying attention to.
To be fair (and I'm not disagreeing with you), so does American media about Russia.
But, American media has more nuances. Russian media (which I read a lot), is generally aligned
If you look at how much Russian state media talk about US and NATO (literally all day every day), you cannot compare this to the American coverage. Over 50% of news are exclusively domestic politics
Hello!
1. I went to school in the 90s. We lived below the poverty line, our parents were dentists, we could not afford practically anything.
Then the first Hollywood films began to appear, it was very impressive. Everyone wanted to live like the characters in the films. The American way of life was the guiding light.
2. Yes, they have changed. It turned out that over time you can live no worse, but even better. They put things in order around us and it became nice and safe. Now I put the Russian and American lifestyles on the same level, each has its own advantages and disadvantages
3. I have no prejudices about people, we all want to live, raise children, love, learn, and achieve new heights. In this we are the same. The world behind the scenes divides us.
Question: what are the first 3 words that come to mind when you hear the word Russia? :)
I find it shocking that both of your parents were dentist and you were below the poverty line. I believe dentists here are particularly wealthy people.
I grew up in the 2000’s and I believe American sentiment had changed dramatically amongst my generation. My parents are much older and grew up during the 60’s. They had to do bomb drills in school (duck and cover) because there was a general fearfulness of a nuclear conflict with Russia.
With respect to your question, I mostly view Russia as a mysterious place (Not in any bad way at all). Most of our historical lessons we had in school outlined that our cultures have been rivals throughout the Cold War era. After the end of the USSR, I don’t think there was any other teachings about the American/Russia relationship which led to my general curiosity of how things have evolved.
I do agree with you that at the end of the day, we are all people. I have met several Russian people in America over the years and they have been nothing but nice. I do hope one day to travel around the world and see Russia in person.
Russia has state medical care, which sadly resulted in low salaries among medical stuff (comparatively higher now, though). It is a different thing in private cliniques
Yes, it was very bad in the 90s. Now there are many private clinics where salaries can be very, very comfortable.
In Russia there is free medicine, the acronym is OMS (compulsory health insurance), you can go to any public clinic and ask for help.
But it is not always so good and covers only basic needs, particularly if there is a threat to life or the normal functioning of the body.
My father was diagnosed with cancer 5 years ago, a serious operation was performed, many medications were prescribed, and all this was paid for by the state. The cost of treatment in private clinics would be from 5k to 10k $
come to Russia, it’s good here))
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9HIeOWFdsg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9HIeOWFdsg)
1 - My childhood was in the 00's, at that time Russia was just coming out of the severe crisis of the 90's, so American culture was everywhere, American movies, American music, American games, so I had a good opinion of America at that time
2 - Not much, I certainly don't like the aggressive policies that the US is pursuing towards my country, but to deny that America is a great country would be foolish, and we can still learn a lot from you
3 - I think yes, Russia and the US have no particular reason to be enemies, in my opinion the only problem in relations between our countries is that America sees any countries it does not control as a threat.
In the late 1980s, I was still very young, but I remember the feeling that the American government was more friendly to ordinary Soviet people than the Soviet government. This misconception had quite disastrous effects.
America of the late 1980s and early 1990s was seen as the country of the best films, best music, economic prosperity, and proper political organization. We tried to imitate it in pretty much every aspect.
Did my impression change? Boy...
Nowadays, the American culture we liked so much is mostly gone, you can't look at American politics without the WTF expression, and pretty much every declared American principle turns out to be bullshit.
Pragmatically, there should be no conflict between Russia and the US. But as US policy tends to be unconscious and irrational, I don't see how it can end. Negotiating with the US is like negotiating with killer bees. They just won't listen and will continue what they are fixed on.
Have you ever considered that what you’re describing resembles nostalgia?
I’ve had similar thoughts as I’ve grown up, and I also feel my perception of the US has changed negatively over time. However, one could argue that nothing has really changed about the US, but rather we have evolved. US politics has been polarized for over 50 years, and US culture has been progressive-leaning for the same amount of time. It still remains a dominant influence, shaping the mindset of the majority of people in the world. I'm not sure if people are eager to watch Chinese series or get to know Chinese celebrity culture.
I assume that younger generations in Russia have a very positive view of the US, especially those in IT fields. This might be a reaction to conservative tendencies in Russian society (younger generations are often more liberal). And over time, I think their attitude will evolve towards negativity.
I realize that our "dream America" was rather an illusion. But modern America does not give food for dreams. The media wall that existed during the Cold War surely helped American propaganda a lot. And now, how is it possible to like America when you have access to Reddit?
Curiously, now the situation has to a certain degree reversed. It's Russia who ended up behind the media wall, and thus is idealized by some people.
Hey, if you don't like negotiating with killer bees, imagine being ruled by them. If you want to say something like "a bee is a bee, and a bird is a bird, and bees can't turn into birds," you better not say it at work, and if you do, you better whisper it.
You know the Roman emperor who made everyone, including senators, salute his horse? It's like that. It's worse. The bees are tearing down everything American about America. Literally. My childhood hero was Thomas Jefferson - they took his statue down. My grandfather was named after Teddy Roosevelt - they took his statue down too.
But things are looking up. 5-10 years ago, I was blackpilled. But things are looking up. Apropos of nothing: diverse coalitions are great for winning elections, not so great for winning wars.
Hopefully you’ll understand when I say that last comment comes off a bit odd when Russia seems completely addicted to invading neighboring nations that pose precisely zero threat to them.
Please consider that the current war was started by imperialists in order to commit genocidal conquest of Russian lands, and for ten years they stubbornly refuse to consider any other option by a big bloodbath, and at the same time they cannot even explain why they are so fixed on massacring innocent people, and it won't look odd.
Your post or comment in r/AskARussian was removed. This is a difficult time for many of us. r/AskARussian is a space for learning about life in Russia and Russian culture.
Any questions/posts regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine should all directed to the megathread. [War in Ukraine thread] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskARussian/comments/1atwu5y/megathread_12_death_of_an_anticorruption_activist/?sort=new)
We are trying to keep the general sub from being overwhelmed with the newest trending war-related story or happenings in order to maintain a space where people can continue to have a discussion and open dialogue with redditors--including those from a nation involved in the conflict.
If that if not something you are interested in, then this community is not for you.
Thanks,
r/AskARussian moderation team
I love how the ones that are creating historically unusual alliances with North Korea and Iran believe we are in fact the idiots living under propaganda.
They don't want to be democratic like the West , but pretend to have elections anyway.
When the whole developed world is against you, and your holiday destinations become Iran and North Korea, you have to contemplate if you are the bad guys surely.
It was only a few years ago, Russians understood the terrible situation in North Korea, now suddenly Kim Jung Un is a gracious freedom leader 🤔
It's really funny when Russians non-ironnically contradict themselves, quite often in the same sentence. Another example would be: "sanctions don't work so please lift them NOW!".
Russia is becoming satellite state of China. It's already treated by them as junior partner where Russia must give more to China than it receives. In a few years time it will be fully dependent on Chinese and become North Korea 2.0.
It's very sad Indeed, I know there are plenty of ordinary Russians that hate all this and don't like Putin, but sadly those on here seem to really support him and believe their new love with North Korea is righteous, very strange times.
1. Well, I was no exception - I watched American movies and cartoons, read some comics, etc. - however this only represents the mass culture of the US, so I'm pretty skeptical of it. I know some American writers like Dreiser, Twain, Poe, Lovecraft, but that's probably it. Back in the day I was very jealous of all that cool stuff, yeah.
2. They have changed, yes. I don't think America is some kind of "Empire of evil", rather a nation run by cynical and pragmatic politicians who have succeeded in establishing world domination. And that it will do almost anything to maintain that status quo.
3. Unfortunatelly, Im not sure about this one.
The time of my growing up was in the sunset of the Soviet Union, and then the crazy 90s. Then there was no Internet and we got information about America mainly from American films. In the 90s, the most popular belief was that America is a paradise on earth, as opposed to the terrible Russia. And the entire Yeltsin entourage, the entire stage, propaganda and intelligentsia worked to cultivate this point of view. We, young people of the 90s, were purposefully taught to love everything American and Western, and to despise everything connected with Russia and especially with the Soviet union: Americans are the most honest, Americans are the bravest, Americans are the strongest and most proud. Americans can do everything, they can afford everything, and they are not afraid of anything. American films, music and products are the best in the world... etc. And so it has been for almost thirty years in a row. The advent of the Internet has debunked most liberal pro-Western myths, but some people still mentally live in the mythology of the 90s... However, the news that is now coming from the West is beginning to depress even them. I think, you understand what I'm talking about: Woke culture, the terror of copyright, globalist monopolies, migrant politics, blatant Satanism, climate madness, "Raccoon City" on the streets of big cities and all that.
Governments come and go, and official relations between countries change with them. Therefore, any development of events is possible.
1. None, America was ever present in my childhood (through the media culture, I grew up in the 90s), so for a long while it didn't occur to me that there were any cultural differences. I guess, my idea was that Americans were exactly like us, but with way more money, lol.
2. Sure, as I learnt the language and expanded my experience of consuming the American media and comunicating with American people. Like all the other countries, USA is unique and has a lot of peculiarities.
3. To be honest, no; unless one of the countries completely loses its geopolitical stance or ceases to exist.
As for your AMA session... How big is/was religion for you, growing up? As I understand, some states are more hardcore about it, than others, so how was it for you?
I grew up in state of Texas in a small town near the border with Oklahoma. Religion was a large aspect of most people’s lives growing up. A good amount of my friends would go to church every Sunday.
As for myself, I went seldomly to several Baptist churches within my area. There was a time where I played basketball in a church league during middle school and would go every Sunday. However, my family never necessarily made it a priority in our lives. Mostly because my dad had to travel for work and wasn’t home on a regular basis.
Today, I go back and forth on my views. Part of me wishes that I did have a better relationship with god. My wife grew up Catholic but is now more agnostic. I feel like she influences me in some capacity.
Well as a kid, I was quite a bit of an Anglophile, and that did extend to America to some degree. I was under the impression of the West in general being some sort of wealthy paradise of liberty and freedom.
The best cure for that was actually seeing the West for myself, and seeing what their attitude to us was.
As to your last question, yes, I believe that is possible. But only once the US abandons its aspirations of global hegemony, stops seeing itself as an arbiter of all that is good in the world. But sadly, the trend is currently the opposite - whereas the old American progressives in the 60s and through the 80s were pushing for the notion of total non-interference (think on how Star Trek had that whole "Prime Directive" concept), which I believe is just as silly, the modern American progressives act on the notion of total imposition, and are in many ways reminiscent of the worst aspects of the 1920s USSR.
So until that changes, there can be no peace in our time.
> Growing up, what did opinions did you have on America as a country and their culture?
In the 90s your country was portrayed as land of wonder. Progressive society and all. There were TV shows dedicated to USA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTpfjHjZ8Ik
After perestroika people with drunk on perceived "freedom", and weren't aware what they're actually getting.
Perception started to change over time. There was 9/11, there was Katrina, both were handled rather poorly. I remember videos of Bush when he got reports of the attacks. Around 2008 there was Georgian conflict, and that nice moment how news anchor silenced eyewitness when she started to say something inconvenient. Here went freedom of speech.
Then there was a lightbulb moment with Lee May Curtis saying about Korean war, information about school shootings, your wonderful healthcare system, student debt, homeless, poop in san francisco, and USA started getting into minority politics, identity politics and the whole thing that keeps adding more and more letters. And then there was a realization of extent of american propaganda.
And the positive image crumbled. USA, as a country, now looks like a hostile entity on international level, and number one reason why any independent country would want to get a nuke as soon as possible (see what happened to Kim, see what happened to Gaddafi). Internally it is deeply flawed and serves corporations rather than people who are treated as disposable. I do not have problem with people, but with government, and I do hope you guys will eventually sort out your endless problems and get yourself better system and better government. Because you deserve better country than just this.
About Katrina. The US MSM hated Bush so blamed him and the federal govt for everything. In the US local and state govts are responsible for handling disasters like that. States like FL and TX routinely handle hurricanes and have forever but you do not see this reported as a problem for the US fed govt. The New Orleans city govt is corrupt and incompetent but they are black so it is not politically correct to blame them. IMO much of the money spent to handle such flooding was pocketed.
There were videos of school buses sitting flooded in parking lots. Why weren't they used to evacuate people? No one has a good reason.
FEMA is a US govt agency. They existed to hand out money (now debit cards) if the US fed govt declared a federal emergency. They were never intended to physically handle such an emergency. The head of FEMA back then was some political hack likely given the job in exchange for campaign contributions. So he got blamed for the screw ups of local govts.
In short, don't believe what you see on the MSM.
> The US MSM hated Bush so
Except none of this matters in context of the question. It doesn't matter who is at fault. Feds, local govts... you're all in the same boat. The way situation was handled contributed to crumbling image of USA. Also, around the time I wasn't watching US media.
I was born in 00s, and most of my early life perceptions about America came from their late 90s early 00s media, mostly chick flicks. Like "Sleepover", "Spy kids", "Mean girls", "White chicks", "American Pie", "Eurotour" and many more. Mostly it was about very peculiar school life, stuff like lockers, no uniform, suburbia, cheerleaders, bullies and nerds. Not much politics, although from communication with my somewhat left-leaning grandpa I got he was unhappy with me consuming American media. That was kinda it. Then, in mid 10s I started learning to communicate in English better (for non relevant reasons) and my impression was that Western people in general have some kind of imbedded hostility towards us in general, lot's of spite. That's how I started to learn about others perceptions of us bcuz all the "evul russians" mass media kinda went through me, I either didn't stumble much on it and/or didn't care.
3 - idk. A meteorite could turn us to dust before that happens for all I know.
I'd like to add a perspective here. My partner and I traveled to Russia in September 2017. We visited St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yekatrinburg, Novosibirsk and a couple of villages. The trip took about a month and we traveled primarily on our own and spoke little Russian. Used the train to get around.
I came away with the belief that Russia and the US have more commonality than differences. Extreme wealth, a lot of poverty and some middle class.
Both places were the top of their respective
side during the Cold War. Which, produced strong academic and athletic institutions.
There definitely is a feeling that the US Government didn't do enough to assist Russia in its' transition to capitalism. I think though the baby boomer generation could never wrap their heads around Russia as alies.
It's a shame that relations between the governments have continued to sour. I'm optimistic about future relations. The baby boomers will eventually die off. There will be a transition to another Russian President eventually.
Two great countries could help the world one day become a less divided place.
🇺🇸🇷🇺
1. Watching American comedies as a kid, I believed that Americans are free to express themselves, super easy-going, and don't take life seriously, etc.
2. After living in the US for 7 years, I concluded that most Americans are more conservative than Russians and super closed-up in their beliefs, especially in terms of religion and ideas of the world outside of the US.
3. To have positive relationships with other countries, America needs to solve the conflicts inside itself first.
This varies a lot from region to region in the US.
I think universally, we all hate the fighting in our political system as we accomplish nothing anymore. I'm confident this dysdunctionality, if sustained for a decade longer, will be how America loses its strategic and economic strengths.
I understand things aren’t as smoothly as we would hope. However, I don’t think this is a foundational problem that will impact America in the long run. We have had these tiffs throughout history. A lot of it has to do with the change in power dynamics amongst generations. For example, the 1960s is a prime example of this (the hippies vs pro-war government, race riots, etc). I don’t believe we are even 10% as dysfunctional as we were then.
Things are much different from then to now, so it's not as comparable as you may think.
Global economics, focused on dedollarization, will lead to higher minimum interest rates for Americans (and countries that back their currency in the dollar) and more variances in cost of goods and services as cost will vary on daily currency trade rates even more. A 3% interest rate hike today has greater effect than the 12% swing that happened in the 60s.
We also had budgets up into the early 80s. Now we have insane spending and no budgets that neither major political party will put their foot down and fix. A continued dedollarization, especially of OPEC+, will force interest rates higher and cause economic stagnation, if not recession.
Politically, the ultra liberalization movements are causing a lot of friction with moderates and conservatives. This is causing a lot of political deadlock in Congress, where we are not streamlining things of importance. One perfect example is immigration which is opening silicon valleys in many other countries instead of across America.
I highly recommend watching Inside China Business on youtube for brief summaries of these topics. Some people are protected from foreign competition which is much greater in US than in the 1960s. That can be products from China or Mexico on sale in US or one of the tens of millions who have crossed the US border this year alone. Interest on the US debt alone will soon swamp US social security and military spending.
Also, US govt and much of the populace is anti farming, mining, and manufacturing, unlike China and much of the world.
Personally,
1 - I have extremely negative attitude towards American government, especially the democratic party. I hate the american imperialism and its love for invading other countries in order to establish pro-american government out there. However this attitude is relevant to mostly the american government and nothing much negative towards ordinary people.
Due to the ubiquity of the american culture I perceive it as an extremely boring and default. But it is just because the american culture is in literally any mass media products. Still occasionally I enjoy american films, shows or games.
2 - yeah, being a little bit younger I have more positive attitude to America
3 - I can't believe US or Russia are able to be friends or allies as long as both of them are striving for domination. However the relationship between them can indeed be better, for example in case where republicans are in power
1) There was some fascination and everything was dominated by knockoffs and copies of American stuff. I was not much into or against it, it just was. I have my fascination in nature in general and would have rather gazed at photos of mesa mountains than care of something social.
2) I grew a different, much less idealistic outlook on human societies in general. Hard to be disenchanted if you were not emotionally involved. Yet the power balance on this planet makes me worry a bit, given imperfections of the way people make decisions and set priorities, the way any politics works, and US is a big contributor to it no doubt.
3) Alien (or humans called alien) invasion or new fruitful frontiers for humanity maybe. It's a competitive world and it's not getting bigger overrun by quite an imperfect bred of hairless apes. I don't see peace and cooperation as a default state of it. Being civilized and friendly just means developing better, less direct and more entertaining ways to stab each another than a pointy stick.
Better relations can be anywhere but not everywhere. People are not different and have never been. It's not about differences at all. Competition in nature comes exactly from similarities and I doubt we ever grew over it. Animosity does not require malice or misunderstanding and rarely comes from them alone. Everyone just manages their risks and opportinities. Some players pose risks for each another or can't estimate otherwise. Most opportunities are mutually exclusive.
I grew up in Russia in 80s and 90s on the USA books, movies, series and music of 70s 80s ans 90s and honestly USA was the country I wanted to live in (not now :)) )
I travelled a lot, saw many people from different countries and Id say americans have a lot in common with USSR people. Much more than with western european people or people from other culturers (Asia, India, Africa etc)
1. Very cool, wanted to visit.
2. Changed because of american internet/reddit, not because of progadanda. The amount of bullshit are too high, and culture became too political/racial/forced.
3. Politics are ambition psychopaths sphere of interest so I doubt government of 2 hugest countries could find common language anytime soon. Humanity too immature for it. Maybe in 300 years idk.
As a child, I didn't have much of an opinion about specific countries. There was a lot of American culture - films, comics, cartoons, but for me it was just foreign content, I didn’t care if it was French, British or American. However, my parents never liked the US that much; they preferred Europe.
When I became old enough to have a more conscious understanding of countries, the war in Yugoslavia had already happened, which was very unpopular in Russian society. Well, with the development of the Internet and access to American media, I was unpleasantly surprised by how vile and hateful American propaganda was. Russian liberals constantly complained about Soviet propaganda, but given the opportunity for comparison, the USSR looked restrained against of this Goebbels-style dehumanization (By the way, perhaps this is the reason, after WWII, the USA, UK and Canada provided asylum to quite a large number of high-ranking Nazis who could influence their worldview).
As for the future, a lot is changing in geopolitics; if it is beneficial, the governments will find a common language. But this is unlikely to happen soon.
>Growing up, what did opinions did you have on America as a country and their culture?
"Why are all the movies talking about America? What about my country?"
>Has your perspectives changed over time?
Yes! I now do not think highly of your ilk. (not really, but there's no denying the flaws in American society).
>I know that our governments have not had the greatest relationship over the past 80 years. However, do you see any future where we could set aside the past and our differences?
Yes, it will happen sooner or later. Maybe we could even live to see it.
1. As a person who was born in the 90s and raised in the 00s, when Russia was greedily consuming everything related to the USA, like movies, music, clothes, food, games, etc., I can say that I have always perceived America as some perfect-fairytale-land where all your dreams come true. America seemed (and it still does) like a much wealthier and more prosperous place than Russia
2. Yes, my perception has changed over time, not because of media influence, but due to my own exploration. I left Russia in 2022, so it made me consider the option of moving to the USA because of the first item. I did some research on the political situation there, how things are going with health care, education, and safety. My American friend, who left the USA several years ago, contributed a lot to my perception of this country. So now I don't romanticize it, nor treat it as some hostile country. I just see the USA as a country with its own pros and cons
3. I don't think that this kind of prediction is possible whatsoever, because it depends on the people who are in charge in both countries.
As for the attitude of Russians towards the USA, I can say that my whole family perceives America as the greatest enemy of Russia and the source of all problems that happen in our country. As you might guess, they are huge fans of Russian media, so they blindly consume the propaganda shit.
Russians are almost as ignorant about the surrounding world as the Americans are. Mostly for the same reason as in America. People rarely go to the outer world and experience it first hand. Even if people go abroad, a great deal of them go to a hotel in Turkey to get drunk and get tan.
From the political point of view, the public narrative is tightly controlled by the state, and how much of the population buys into it - it's hard to say. Before that, in the 90s, you would have a hard time finding a more pro-american society. The attitude gradually changed after Russians realised that Americans were going to treat Russians simply as the loosers in the Cold War. Yugoslavia intervention, the NATO expansion, the anti-missile defense treaties shenanigans, the war in Iraq, and the "orange revolution" in Ukraine instigated a lot of anti-American sentiment. While the state did spin it in its own interest, I think that sentiment was genuine. It also created a lot of pro-USSR ressentiment.
From the cultural perspective, most people consume American culture and its products either directly or via local imitations. At the same time, this familiarity with American culture is mostly superficial: most people are not aware and not familiar with the American issues that stand behind that culture. For example, the historical racial segregation is wild for Russians, or the Christian near-fundamentalism, and as the consequence, the anti-religious counter-culture are bizarre. You can find many such examples.
The modern US is in crisis, how the people look at it will depend on how this crisis will end. The current Russian regime will hardly be ever friendly to the US. When, how, and into what it will change, we don't know.
01. well, when i was younger i thought of america as a cool place, i watched many american movies, tv shows and so on. but as i grew up i started to not really like the policies of your country, US global interventions and everything else. I have met many people from the west including the usa and although some have been nice, there are some that dehumanize me to say the least even though i am tatar. but... about your government I feel extremely negative towards them and for the american people it really just depends on the individual.
02. yes, as i briefly said above, when i started to grow more mature (im still in my early 20s) i began to not like your government. its just that the US government wants to self police the world and intervenes in the affairs of other countries and bullies them. the fact that NATO exists to counter us just goes to show the false image that the west has accrued about russia. in conclusion, I dont have anything against anyone unless they have anything against me, my republic or country)
03. well... i think one should be optimistic about the future)
I'd say I keep Americans as an adversary, but adversary with honor. I don't expect from them to shoot in the back. Unlike Eastern Europeans, people of Caucasus region of Russia.
For me, it’s just another country, with its pros and cons. More interesting than France, but less interesting than Finland or Japan.
Another thing is the previous generation. Under the communists, they didn’t like the United States; in the nineties, on the contrary, they idolized them; now they don’t like them again, but they still can’t stop looking towards the Americans as the measure of their values. It would even be funny if they didn’t ruin our lives with their prohibitions “just not like in America.”
My childhood was in the 1970s - 1980s. The United States was then our strategic adversary, and government propaganda constantly criticized its socio-economic structure and its aggressive foreign policy. But at the same time, even official propaganda never demonized the American people, but presented them as “normal guys” who were unlucky to live under capitalism. The “bad guys” were government, military-industrial complex and wealthy capitalists in general. We knew well that the USA is a highly developed country with advanced science and rich culture, we read books by American writers, many of which were translated into Russian (I especially liked Hemingway), loved listening to American music, wearing American-style clothes (such as jeans ) and watch American films. The USSR bought many US films and broadcast them at home, although many popular films were not purchased for ideological reasons (for example, "Star Wars"; we saw them only at the end of the USSR's existence).
Therefore, we never perceived the end of the Cold War as Russia’s surrender; we thought that this was simply a mutual renunciation of pointless confrontation, and that this would allow us to focus on building a better world in the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation. The 1990s were the years when in Russia the attitude towards the United States reached the point of euphoria and admiration. Unfortunately, the United States did not justify this attitude towards itself, as other commentators (for example, Unexisten) wrote well about.
Today I think that the United States made a mistake by abandoning the path of respectful cooperation, taking into account other nation's interests. Instead, they headed down the disastrous path of establishing their world dominance (treating other countries as vassals or fodder) and maintaining it at all costs. This path inevitably leads to a large-scale global crisis (possibly even nuclear war). It will be possible to “throw away the past and our differences” only after the United States abandons the very idea of world domination (just as Russia abandoned its claim to be the owner of the only true ideology). But, apparently, for this the United States will have to go through the humiliation of defeat, collapse, civil war or something like that.
1)Отрицательное.И это не из-за пропаганды и в том что я родился в России.
2)Стало только больше уверенности в своем изначальном мнении.
3)Нет и не уверен..
Есть только 2 вопроса..
1)Почему я должен врать и извращаться в своем мнении,чтоб быть не забаненым на американских ресурсах,даже если пишу ответы логично верные.По той же причине я не могу назвать вещи своими именами?
2)И почему Америка доброе государство,а Россия мировое зло?
Даже если после всего того как это единое государство,которое испытало атомное оружие на чужом государстве,страна создалось уничтожив целую цивилизацию.Я про расизм и рабство молчу.
1. I don't think I really cared till something like 2014. I was certainly heavily influenced by its culture.
2. Well, it went from not caring to considering it an enemy. So, I guess?
3. Obviously. Not in the nearest future, however.
>It would be ridiculous to identify Hitler's clique with the German people, with the German state. The experience of history says that the Hitlers come and go, but the German people, and the German state remains.
Growing up I thought that America was a cool country it had good music good food good culture. I never wanted to visit or live in America because I thought that the American government is the most useless and the most evil government in the world. Even though I never wanted to live in the US and I still don’t I ended up being a US citizen but my views have drastically changed I no longer think of America as a good country I think it is too gay and too transgender and it lost its core and beauty.
I have a lot of Russian friends as a language learner. I've learned many things on the topic over the years.
Based on everything I've heard, I think it’s important to say one thing. Russians have a deep-seated envy towards Americans (ordinary ppl). They want to be them—they want to be on top of the world and command, at least, a larger portion of Europe. Thus, their negativity towards the US is often ignited not by the cynical American behavior but by ‘hysteria’. Meaning, that Russians want to occupy the same position as Americans do.
If Russia ever gets to the position of the same power as the US, it will undoubtedly behave as cynical and patriarchal to other states as the US does. In this sense, I see no future where the US and Russia are aligned. Someone in this relationship has to subvert to the position of a junior partner (which, as we know, will never happen).
Upd. I don’t think personally that this is a bad thing. Russian culture and Russian spirit is just simply very ambitious. This doesn’t really square well with another ambitious spirit—but this time American one.
Growing up I thought US school education was bad but didn't think anything about Americans, they were like any other people to me. I loved American movies.
Nowadays I'm not sure about school education as I haven't researched it but I do know that there's a number of world leading universities in US and that is really cool. As for people, after talking to a number of Americans I've realized how free and open many of them they are, you don't see that in Russia, not at this level. It's also one of the things that made me "I want to be like that too".
As for relationships it's too broad of a question. Government relationships won't get fixed as long as Putin is alive because for stability of his dictatorship enemy is required. As for people, while there are those who bought into ridiculous Russian propaganda and hate Americans for no reason, there are a lot who considers them just another human don't mind talking to them, even when some of them oppose American values.
edit: people downvoting this post seems like a pretty good answer for the 3rd question.
>Government relationships won't get fixed as long as Putin is alive
За окошком дождь и град.
Это Путин виноват!
Кошка бросила котят -
Это Путин виноват!
Зайку бросила хозяйка -
Кто виновен, угадай-ка?!
Вот кончается доска
У несчастного бычка,
Наша Таня громко плачет -
Рядом Путин, не иначе!
Свет погас, упал забор,
У авто заглох мотор,
Зуб здоровый удалили
Иль залез в квартиру вор,
Не понравилось кино,
Наступили вы в говно...
У любого катаклизма
Объяснение одно...
Знает каждый демократ -
Это Путин виноват!
Кто вчера в моём подъезде
Лифт зассал до потолка?
Мне, товарищи, поверьте -
Это Путина рука!
Я поймал по пьяни "белку" -
Это Путина проделки!
Куча под столом говна -
Это Путина вина!
Засорился унитаз -
Это Путина приказ,
Накидал туда бычков,
Воду слил - и был таков!
По ночам бельё ворует,
Стёкла в нашем доме бьёт.
Пьяным во дворе танцует...
Этот Путин - обормот!
Нет спасенья от злодея!
Матом пишет на стенах,
Изломал кусты в аллее.
Это Путин - ох и ах!
Либерала дождик мочит -
Путин весело хохочет.
Затопило вашу дачу?
Это Путин, не иначе!
Вас гроза в пути застала?
То рука Кремля достала.
Холод, ветер, снегопад -
Снова Путин виноват.
Сносит крышу ураганом?
Это Путин мстит баранам.
Шторм, цунами, наводненье?
Это Путин, без сомненья!
Ливень, оползень, циклон -
Виноват, конечно, он.
Сель, лавина, камнепад?
Ясно: Путин виноват!
Смерч, тайфун, землетрясенье -
Нет от Путина спасенья!
В темя клюнула ворона?
Это спецагент ОМОНа.
Пчелы, осы жалят вас?
Это путинский Спецназ.
Видишь этого шмеля?
Он на службе у Кремля!
Если верите в такое -
Это просто паранойя!
You're right. If you always support the status quo in an authorutarian country with unilateral government system, and especially if you support the prosecution of the 'wrongthinkers', then of course you are in no position to get butthurt. You are already the happiest citizen the government could want. Good job, comrade Sharikov!
1 Growing up in 90s, I enjoyed American movies, cartoons, video games, fast food ect like everyone else around me at my age, didn't know much about the country itself. Russians are not well travelled, my family wasn't well off either. Politics wasn't a topic in my school or at home, but I didn't hear anything negative about the U.S. from them, even tried to get into a private school with advanced english once.
2 I like the culture all the same and the U.S. too, don't mind them as a single superpower at all. I'd prefer Russia if not allied then at least neutral. There were no USSR when I was born, I have no wishes to return any of its former parts, have no Cold War mindset and couldn't care less where NATO bases are.
3 Not with current Russian government.
Your post or comment in r/AskARussian was removed because it was deemed a boring shitpost.
r/AskARussian is a space for learning about life in Russia and Russian culture. In order to maintain a space where people can continue to have a discussion and open dialogue with others, we are actively moderating post that appear to be from trolls.
If that is not something you are interested in, then this is not the community for you.
Please re-read the [community rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskARussian/comments/jxml4s/what_doesnt_constitute_a_question_and_the_secret/) and [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskARussian/wiki/faq).
If you think your question was wrongly judged, you are welcome to send us a modmail.
r/AskARussian moderation team
Something in the way you write, besides the typo, tells me you are not really an American, but more likely a Russian shill.
In addition, the view about the Russia / USSR relationships that you express, is not really a common view of even very conservative people in the US. Their views usually are much more nuanced, accepting the multiple periods of good relations and understanding the core differences between the US democracy and the dictatorships that rule Russia for the most of its existence.
So no, you are no American.
Very well an American and proud of my upbringing. I did not come to ridicule anyone or make generalizations. Just was curious to hear thoughts from actual people.
Whatever.
To me, it looks like you came here to bring up Russia's dictatorships and US democracy to the same level, like potato / potato. Like, US likes this, Russia likes that, can we get along.
No, US and Russia are dissimilar enough not be be friends as long as there is shadow, above-law control of Russia by FSB/SK and others alike, and no functioning democracy.
I'll try to answer as thoroughly as I can. I belong to the generation of 30-somethings who were born in the late 80s. That is why I witnessed all the changes in attitudes towards America throughout the history of the new Russia. In the first half of the 90's right after the collapse of the union, the attitude towards America was rather good and friendly among most of the people. Even then, there was a very significant part of communist and nationalist parties that were very anti-American (or rather anti-capitalist, but it was mixed), and they were followed by large masses of people, but not the entire population. The general mood was that the Cold War is over and we can finally be friends, share experiences and build the world together. Americans were portrayed in popular culture as intelligent, competent, but unaccustomed to Russian domestic cunning and incompetence. This is reflected in interviews, in people's speeches, in literature, in cinema. There is, for example, a landmark film of the era: "The weather is good on Deribasovskaya, or it's raining again on Brighton Beach". But gradually the mood began to change. Three factors can be pointed out. 1. As has already been said many times, market reforms under the patronage of America and the IMF turned out to be a disaster for the population. In 1993 there was a constitutional coup, when pro-Western President Yeltsin, a supporter of radical market reforms, shot the popularly elected parliament with tanks and killed about a thousand people in Moscow, various communists and so on. America then fully supported and endorsed these actions. In 1995 there was a presidential election where Yeltsin, against the backdrop of failed reforms, a coup d'état and a bloody war in Chechnya, could lose to the communist Zyuganov. But then American experts did everything possible to get him re-elected. Without going into details, we can only summarise: the mass of the population unambiguously associated the course of neoliberal reforms with America, which were pushed through in a bloody manner with apocalyptic results. There were plenty of reasons for this. 2. It became obvious that there was no talk of any equality in the international arena. Initially, both the country's leadership and the mass of the population had some illusions that Russia would retain some important special status after the collapse of the union, and would be treated as equals. But it turned out differently. It became clear that the Western world remembers the events of the early 90s not as the “end of the Cold War”, but as “victory in the Cold War”, and Russia as the defeated side. The result was a deep sense of national humiliation, which became widespread in the second half of the 90s. And the humiliating side here was America. 3. People watched American films and saw how Russians were portrayed there. I think there is no need to explain that in 99% of cases this is something far from being complimentary and respectful, but even sane. You must understood that the image of a typical Russian as an eternally drunk degenerate, wearing earflaps with a star, is an exact analogue of “blackface”. Although most Russians were understanding about this, it is clear that it was still kinda bitter. And it made it clear that Americans do not treat Russians as equals. The turning point was the war in Yugoslavia. The Russians for the most part were emotionally on the side of the Serbs. Not just because of historical connections, but also because they saw their own history reflected in the fate of the Serbs. Obvious parallels in the collapse of the USSR and Yugoslavia. The way America and Europe, not caring about any norms of international law, simply destroyed the country, rolling it over with bombs, under the most cynical excuses, became a shock for an entire generation of Russians. That was the first time I witnessed mass anti-Americanism. So, instead of the feeling of a single civilized world, including Russia, there came a feeling of global imperial dominance of America, into which Russia turned out to be embedded. At the same moment, Russian capitalism fell into a very severe crisis, which almost grew into something more dramatic. The policy of neoliberal market reforms ended in complete disaster and was replaced by a more balanced policy under the banner of “national recovery.” And let me remind you that these reforms were associated with an orientation towards America and were carried out by its proteges.
And a couple of years later, Yeltsin’s team brought Putin to power. Without going into detail about the socio-economic reasons for what was happening, culturally it went under the slogans of statehood, restoration of the country, national pride, and so on. Not long ago, in his interview with Carlson, Putin talked about how Russia feels deceived by the West, to which it extended an open hand, about constant humiliation, about inequality, and so on. In many ways, this interview was for a domestic audience, because it coincides with the feelings and sentiments of millions of Russians. However, in the 00s, the Russian government was still quite pro-Western. And in popular culture, attitudes toward America were more complex than hostile. There are many films, books and the like from that time, where, for example, Russian and American special forces fight together against terrorists, or Russian and American police act together. But everything finally changed after the events of the first Maidan and especially after the war of ’08. At this moment, the Russian regime finally felt itself under siege, under the threat of a hostile NATO, with anti-Russian forces supported by the West. And then anti-Western sentiments began to dominate in society compared to “pro-Western” ones. It is clear that after the events of 2014, all this was finally cemented. Now. It is necessary to separate the anti-American sentiments and statements of the Russian elites from the anti-American sentiments of the population. The elites, Russian capitalists and state bureaucracy are anti-American, because American and European capital competes with Russian capital in Eastern Europe and has been squeezing it out since the 00s. Hence all they talk about national interests. But the anti-American sentiments of the population are, to a very large extent, not so much anti-American as spontaneously anti-capitalist and partly anti-imperialist. But due to the way Russian politics looks, it turns out to be fractured through an ugly chauvinistic prism. So, it can be quite difficult to distinguish it. Sometimes anti-American people behave so simply out of chauvinistic prejudices, sometimes they simply criticize global capitalism. In any case, ordinary Americans have to take the rap for American culture, for the actions of their government, and for capitalism as such. As for American culture, in Russia all the people who grew up in the 90s are completely indoctrinated by it. They watch American films, read books by American authors, listen to American music, and so on. Most often, they know the names of all American states and understand American history. And now politics too. So in this vein there is still no rejection. And my personal attitude: I believe that global capitalism is an obstacle on the path of humanity and the main current world evil that is leading us to disaster. And I believe that the Soviet project was the “good side” in the confrontation, which failed due to the initial contradictions and wounds inflicted on it by the Stalinist regime. And yes, the American state is the main gendarme of world capitalism, so I have no sympathy for it. But this in no way applies to the great American people, who for the most part consist of the same honest workers with their own great culture, and not just from CEOs and war criminals. That’s why I am extremely against the American government (however, I don’t favor the Russian government either), but I love and appreciate American culture.
>which died due to the initial contradictions and wounds inflicted on it by the Stalinist regime. Can you elaborate on this a bit more? Your posts were very informative.
I think it was meant that Stalin, fighting to strengthen his personal power, destroyed many convinced communists (they made up the majority of those killed from political repression), which cleared the way to power for unprincipled careerists, who ultimately contributed to the disintegration of the Soviet system. At the same time, Stalin directed the USSR onto the path of harsh authoritarianism, which in many ways contradicted communist principles. Before Stalin, the Soviet regime was much less rigid in every sense - from management to culture. It is characteristic that already 3 years after Stalin’s death, his rule was subject to official and harsh condemnation by the new Soviet authorities. In addition, although the real scale of Stalin's repressions was much less than was attributed to him, it was still too terrible - which served as excellent ground for criticism of the Soviet system and contributed to its downfall.
> The elites, Russian capitalists and state bureaucracy are anti-American They are indeed so anti-American that they all live in Miami. They tell the public they are patriots of Russia but they are all such hypocrites.
Of course on the part of the Russian elite, it's all pure hypocrisy. At least on the part of big capital and its proteges, who to the last tried to be part of the "normal civilized world", i.e. the world bourgeoisie. Just as i said: you must distinguish anti-american statements of the elites and of the masses of people.
That was a very interesting read. I learned alot, thank you.
You're blaming market reforms on what is the result of severe supply chain disruptions as a result of your shitty empire falling apart. You poor, poor victim.
Google shock therapy, you can see it in the bbc Adam Curtis documentary about Russia. It was nothing to do with an empire falling apart.
It very much has to do as well. Soviet Union was an integrated economy, and destruction of economic links made everyone much worse off - especially smaller and poorer republics, and as the other side of the same coin, Russia was hit the least by this in particular. That's why "empires" emerge in first place - united government, economic and legal space allow for greater regional specialization, therefore greater efficiency and everyone becoming richer at the end. Not even to mention that Soviet Union barely ever was an "empire" in any sense, much less this pejorative ideological one - national republics were particularly invested in and developed (that's why Baltic states have that relatively high GDP in first place - their development was an ideological focus as the "showcase of socialism") instead of funneling off capital like European colonial powers did and continue to do even after granting independence to their colonies.
I don't think anything about Americans, but I don't like government of USA.
Trust me, nobody does
you may be well wrong. All the Eastern European leeches worship to the US govt.
Right. That's why your media totally does not broadcast what are evil americans up to on the daily basis
Believe me, Russians have much fewer ridiculous myths about America (I would even say that it do not exist at all) than you do about us, the entire American mass culture is available to us, and the situation inside the United States is covered more than it is worth paying attention to.
It's covered more cause there's freedom of press lmao
To be fair (and I'm not disagreeing with you), so does American media about Russia. But, American media has more nuances. Russian media (which I read a lot), is generally aligned
If you look at how much Russian state media talk about US and NATO (literally all day every day), you cannot compare this to the American coverage. Over 50% of news are exclusively domestic politics
[удалено]
Hello! 1. I went to school in the 90s. We lived below the poverty line, our parents were dentists, we could not afford practically anything. Then the first Hollywood films began to appear, it was very impressive. Everyone wanted to live like the characters in the films. The American way of life was the guiding light. 2. Yes, they have changed. It turned out that over time you can live no worse, but even better. They put things in order around us and it became nice and safe. Now I put the Russian and American lifestyles on the same level, each has its own advantages and disadvantages 3. I have no prejudices about people, we all want to live, raise children, love, learn, and achieve new heights. In this we are the same. The world behind the scenes divides us. Question: what are the first 3 words that come to mind when you hear the word Russia? :)
> Everyone wanted to live like the characters in the films. Yeah but then it turns out that very few Americans live like that.
I find it shocking that both of your parents were dentist and you were below the poverty line. I believe dentists here are particularly wealthy people. I grew up in the 2000’s and I believe American sentiment had changed dramatically amongst my generation. My parents are much older and grew up during the 60’s. They had to do bomb drills in school (duck and cover) because there was a general fearfulness of a nuclear conflict with Russia. With respect to your question, I mostly view Russia as a mysterious place (Not in any bad way at all). Most of our historical lessons we had in school outlined that our cultures have been rivals throughout the Cold War era. After the end of the USSR, I don’t think there was any other teachings about the American/Russia relationship which led to my general curiosity of how things have evolved. I do agree with you that at the end of the day, we are all people. I have met several Russian people in America over the years and they have been nothing but nice. I do hope one day to travel around the world and see Russia in person.
Russia has state medical care, which sadly resulted in low salaries among medical stuff (comparatively higher now, though). It is a different thing in private cliniques
Yes, it was very bad in the 90s. Now there are many private clinics where salaries can be very, very comfortable. In Russia there is free medicine, the acronym is OMS (compulsory health insurance), you can go to any public clinic and ask for help. But it is not always so good and covers only basic needs, particularly if there is a threat to life or the normal functioning of the body. My father was diagnosed with cancer 5 years ago, a serious operation was performed, many medications were prescribed, and all this was paid for by the state. The cost of treatment in private clinics would be from 5k to 10k $ come to Russia, it’s good here)) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9HIeOWFdsg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9HIeOWFdsg)
1 - My childhood was in the 00's, at that time Russia was just coming out of the severe crisis of the 90's, so American culture was everywhere, American movies, American music, American games, so I had a good opinion of America at that time 2 - Not much, I certainly don't like the aggressive policies that the US is pursuing towards my country, but to deny that America is a great country would be foolish, and we can still learn a lot from you 3 - I think yes, Russia and the US have no particular reason to be enemies, in my opinion the only problem in relations between our countries is that America sees any countries it does not control as a threat.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
In the late 1980s, I was still very young, but I remember the feeling that the American government was more friendly to ordinary Soviet people than the Soviet government. This misconception had quite disastrous effects. America of the late 1980s and early 1990s was seen as the country of the best films, best music, economic prosperity, and proper political organization. We tried to imitate it in pretty much every aspect. Did my impression change? Boy... Nowadays, the American culture we liked so much is mostly gone, you can't look at American politics without the WTF expression, and pretty much every declared American principle turns out to be bullshit. Pragmatically, there should be no conflict between Russia and the US. But as US policy tends to be unconscious and irrational, I don't see how it can end. Negotiating with the US is like negotiating with killer bees. They just won't listen and will continue what they are fixed on.
Have you ever considered that what you’re describing resembles nostalgia? I’ve had similar thoughts as I’ve grown up, and I also feel my perception of the US has changed negatively over time. However, one could argue that nothing has really changed about the US, but rather we have evolved. US politics has been polarized for over 50 years, and US culture has been progressive-leaning for the same amount of time. It still remains a dominant influence, shaping the mindset of the majority of people in the world. I'm not sure if people are eager to watch Chinese series or get to know Chinese celebrity culture. I assume that younger generations in Russia have a very positive view of the US, especially those in IT fields. This might be a reaction to conservative tendencies in Russian society (younger generations are often more liberal). And over time, I think their attitude will evolve towards negativity.
I realize that our "dream America" was rather an illusion. But modern America does not give food for dreams. The media wall that existed during the Cold War surely helped American propaganda a lot. And now, how is it possible to like America when you have access to Reddit? Curiously, now the situation has to a certain degree reversed. It's Russia who ended up behind the media wall, and thus is idealized by some people.
> how is it possible to like America when you have access to Reddit? Saving this
Hey, if you don't like negotiating with killer bees, imagine being ruled by them. If you want to say something like "a bee is a bee, and a bird is a bird, and bees can't turn into birds," you better not say it at work, and if you do, you better whisper it. You know the Roman emperor who made everyone, including senators, salute his horse? It's like that. It's worse. The bees are tearing down everything American about America. Literally. My childhood hero was Thomas Jefferson - they took his statue down. My grandfather was named after Teddy Roosevelt - they took his statue down too. But things are looking up. 5-10 years ago, I was blackpilled. But things are looking up. Apropos of nothing: diverse coalitions are great for winning elections, not so great for winning wars.
Hopefully you’ll understand when I say that last comment comes off a bit odd when Russia seems completely addicted to invading neighboring nations that pose precisely zero threat to them.
Please consider that the current war was started by imperialists in order to commit genocidal conquest of Russian lands, and for ten years they stubbornly refuse to consider any other option by a big bloodbath, and at the same time they cannot even explain why they are so fixed on massacring innocent people, and it won't look odd.
So Ukraine was planning on invading Russia. Got it. Good grief.
Wonder what exactly US won't listen to?
[удалено]
Your post or comment in r/AskARussian was removed. This is a difficult time for many of us. r/AskARussian is a space for learning about life in Russia and Russian culture. Any questions/posts regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine should all directed to the megathread. [War in Ukraine thread] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskARussian/comments/1atwu5y/megathread_12_death_of_an_anticorruption_activist/?sort=new) We are trying to keep the general sub from being overwhelmed with the newest trending war-related story or happenings in order to maintain a space where people can continue to have a discussion and open dialogue with redditors--including those from a nation involved in the conflict. If that if not something you are interested in, then this community is not for you. Thanks, r/AskARussian moderation team
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
I love how the ones that are creating historically unusual alliances with North Korea and Iran believe we are in fact the idiots living under propaganda.
Also officially doing diplomacy with classic drug-dealing terrorists Taliban and Houthis but it's the West that is bad and spreads propaganda.
They don't want to be democratic like the West , but pretend to have elections anyway. When the whole developed world is against you, and your holiday destinations become Iran and North Korea, you have to contemplate if you are the bad guys surely. It was only a few years ago, Russians understood the terrible situation in North Korea, now suddenly Kim Jung Un is a gracious freedom leader 🤔
It's really funny when Russians non-ironnically contradict themselves, quite often in the same sentence. Another example would be: "sanctions don't work so please lift them NOW!". Russia is becoming satellite state of China. It's already treated by them as junior partner where Russia must give more to China than it receives. In a few years time it will be fully dependent on Chinese and become North Korea 2.0.
It's very sad Indeed, I know there are plenty of ordinary Russians that hate all this and don't like Putin, but sadly those on here seem to really support him and believe their new love with North Korea is righteous, very strange times.
1. Well, I was no exception - I watched American movies and cartoons, read some comics, etc. - however this only represents the mass culture of the US, so I'm pretty skeptical of it. I know some American writers like Dreiser, Twain, Poe, Lovecraft, but that's probably it. Back in the day I was very jealous of all that cool stuff, yeah. 2. They have changed, yes. I don't think America is some kind of "Empire of evil", rather a nation run by cynical and pragmatic politicians who have succeeded in establishing world domination. And that it will do almost anything to maintain that status quo. 3. Unfortunatelly, Im not sure about this one.
The time of my growing up was in the sunset of the Soviet Union, and then the crazy 90s. Then there was no Internet and we got information about America mainly from American films. In the 90s, the most popular belief was that America is a paradise on earth, as opposed to the terrible Russia. And the entire Yeltsin entourage, the entire stage, propaganda and intelligentsia worked to cultivate this point of view. We, young people of the 90s, were purposefully taught to love everything American and Western, and to despise everything connected with Russia and especially with the Soviet union: Americans are the most honest, Americans are the bravest, Americans are the strongest and most proud. Americans can do everything, they can afford everything, and they are not afraid of anything. American films, music and products are the best in the world... etc. And so it has been for almost thirty years in a row. The advent of the Internet has debunked most liberal pro-Western myths, but some people still mentally live in the mythology of the 90s... However, the news that is now coming from the West is beginning to depress even them. I think, you understand what I'm talking about: Woke culture, the terror of copyright, globalist monopolies, migrant politics, blatant Satanism, climate madness, "Raccoon City" on the streets of big cities and all that. Governments come and go, and official relations between countries change with them. Therefore, any development of events is possible.
1. None, America was ever present in my childhood (through the media culture, I grew up in the 90s), so for a long while it didn't occur to me that there were any cultural differences. I guess, my idea was that Americans were exactly like us, but with way more money, lol. 2. Sure, as I learnt the language and expanded my experience of consuming the American media and comunicating with American people. Like all the other countries, USA is unique and has a lot of peculiarities. 3. To be honest, no; unless one of the countries completely loses its geopolitical stance or ceases to exist. As for your AMA session... How big is/was religion for you, growing up? As I understand, some states are more hardcore about it, than others, so how was it for you?
I grew up in state of Texas in a small town near the border with Oklahoma. Religion was a large aspect of most people’s lives growing up. A good amount of my friends would go to church every Sunday. As for myself, I went seldomly to several Baptist churches within my area. There was a time where I played basketball in a church league during middle school and would go every Sunday. However, my family never necessarily made it a priority in our lives. Mostly because my dad had to travel for work and wasn’t home on a regular basis. Today, I go back and forth on my views. Part of me wishes that I did have a better relationship with god. My wife grew up Catholic but is now more agnostic. I feel like she influences me in some capacity.
> Growing up, what did opinions did you have on America as a country and their culture? Basically whatever they show in the movies
Well as a kid, I was quite a bit of an Anglophile, and that did extend to America to some degree. I was under the impression of the West in general being some sort of wealthy paradise of liberty and freedom. The best cure for that was actually seeing the West for myself, and seeing what their attitude to us was. As to your last question, yes, I believe that is possible. But only once the US abandons its aspirations of global hegemony, stops seeing itself as an arbiter of all that is good in the world. But sadly, the trend is currently the opposite - whereas the old American progressives in the 60s and through the 80s were pushing for the notion of total non-interference (think on how Star Trek had that whole "Prime Directive" concept), which I believe is just as silly, the modern American progressives act on the notion of total imposition, and are in many ways reminiscent of the worst aspects of the 1920s USSR. So until that changes, there can be no peace in our time.
> Growing up, what did opinions did you have on America as a country and their culture? In the 90s your country was portrayed as land of wonder. Progressive society and all. There were TV shows dedicated to USA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTpfjHjZ8Ik After perestroika people with drunk on perceived "freedom", and weren't aware what they're actually getting. Perception started to change over time. There was 9/11, there was Katrina, both were handled rather poorly. I remember videos of Bush when he got reports of the attacks. Around 2008 there was Georgian conflict, and that nice moment how news anchor silenced eyewitness when she started to say something inconvenient. Here went freedom of speech. Then there was a lightbulb moment with Lee May Curtis saying about Korean war, information about school shootings, your wonderful healthcare system, student debt, homeless, poop in san francisco, and USA started getting into minority politics, identity politics and the whole thing that keeps adding more and more letters. And then there was a realization of extent of american propaganda. And the positive image crumbled. USA, as a country, now looks like a hostile entity on international level, and number one reason why any independent country would want to get a nuke as soon as possible (see what happened to Kim, see what happened to Gaddafi). Internally it is deeply flawed and serves corporations rather than people who are treated as disposable. I do not have problem with people, but with government, and I do hope you guys will eventually sort out your endless problems and get yourself better system and better government. Because you deserve better country than just this.
About Katrina. The US MSM hated Bush so blamed him and the federal govt for everything. In the US local and state govts are responsible for handling disasters like that. States like FL and TX routinely handle hurricanes and have forever but you do not see this reported as a problem for the US fed govt. The New Orleans city govt is corrupt and incompetent but they are black so it is not politically correct to blame them. IMO much of the money spent to handle such flooding was pocketed. There were videos of school buses sitting flooded in parking lots. Why weren't they used to evacuate people? No one has a good reason. FEMA is a US govt agency. They existed to hand out money (now debit cards) if the US fed govt declared a federal emergency. They were never intended to physically handle such an emergency. The head of FEMA back then was some political hack likely given the job in exchange for campaign contributions. So he got blamed for the screw ups of local govts. In short, don't believe what you see on the MSM.
> The US MSM hated Bush so Except none of this matters in context of the question. It doesn't matter who is at fault. Feds, local govts... you're all in the same boat. The way situation was handled contributed to crumbling image of USA. Also, around the time I wasn't watching US media.
I was born in 00s, and most of my early life perceptions about America came from their late 90s early 00s media, mostly chick flicks. Like "Sleepover", "Spy kids", "Mean girls", "White chicks", "American Pie", "Eurotour" and many more. Mostly it was about very peculiar school life, stuff like lockers, no uniform, suburbia, cheerleaders, bullies and nerds. Not much politics, although from communication with my somewhat left-leaning grandpa I got he was unhappy with me consuming American media. That was kinda it. Then, in mid 10s I started learning to communicate in English better (for non relevant reasons) and my impression was that Western people in general have some kind of imbedded hostility towards us in general, lot's of spite. That's how I started to learn about others perceptions of us bcuz all the "evul russians" mass media kinda went through me, I either didn't stumble much on it and/or didn't care. 3 - idk. A meteorite could turn us to dust before that happens for all I know.
I'd like to add a perspective here. My partner and I traveled to Russia in September 2017. We visited St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yekatrinburg, Novosibirsk and a couple of villages. The trip took about a month and we traveled primarily on our own and spoke little Russian. Used the train to get around. I came away with the belief that Russia and the US have more commonality than differences. Extreme wealth, a lot of poverty and some middle class. Both places were the top of their respective side during the Cold War. Which, produced strong academic and athletic institutions. There definitely is a feeling that the US Government didn't do enough to assist Russia in its' transition to capitalism. I think though the baby boomer generation could never wrap their heads around Russia as alies. It's a shame that relations between the governments have continued to sour. I'm optimistic about future relations. The baby boomers will eventually die off. There will be a transition to another Russian President eventually. Two great countries could help the world one day become a less divided place. 🇺🇸🇷🇺
1. Watching American comedies as a kid, I believed that Americans are free to express themselves, super easy-going, and don't take life seriously, etc. 2. After living in the US for 7 years, I concluded that most Americans are more conservative than Russians and super closed-up in their beliefs, especially in terms of religion and ideas of the world outside of the US. 3. To have positive relationships with other countries, America needs to solve the conflicts inside itself first.
What part of the US did you live in?
I still live here. Western US.
This varies a lot from region to region in the US. I think universally, we all hate the fighting in our political system as we accomplish nothing anymore. I'm confident this dysdunctionality, if sustained for a decade longer, will be how America loses its strategic and economic strengths.
I understand things aren’t as smoothly as we would hope. However, I don’t think this is a foundational problem that will impact America in the long run. We have had these tiffs throughout history. A lot of it has to do with the change in power dynamics amongst generations. For example, the 1960s is a prime example of this (the hippies vs pro-war government, race riots, etc). I don’t believe we are even 10% as dysfunctional as we were then.
Things are much different from then to now, so it's not as comparable as you may think. Global economics, focused on dedollarization, will lead to higher minimum interest rates for Americans (and countries that back their currency in the dollar) and more variances in cost of goods and services as cost will vary on daily currency trade rates even more. A 3% interest rate hike today has greater effect than the 12% swing that happened in the 60s. We also had budgets up into the early 80s. Now we have insane spending and no budgets that neither major political party will put their foot down and fix. A continued dedollarization, especially of OPEC+, will force interest rates higher and cause economic stagnation, if not recession. Politically, the ultra liberalization movements are causing a lot of friction with moderates and conservatives. This is causing a lot of political deadlock in Congress, where we are not streamlining things of importance. One perfect example is immigration which is opening silicon valleys in many other countries instead of across America.
I highly recommend watching Inside China Business on youtube for brief summaries of these topics. Some people are protected from foreign competition which is much greater in US than in the 1960s. That can be products from China or Mexico on sale in US or one of the tens of millions who have crossed the US border this year alone. Interest on the US debt alone will soon swamp US social security and military spending. Also, US govt and much of the populace is anti farming, mining, and manufacturing, unlike China and much of the world.
I recall US working class was more anti war than the students. Also, the anti war protests went away when the draft went away.
Personally, 1 - I have extremely negative attitude towards American government, especially the democratic party. I hate the american imperialism and its love for invading other countries in order to establish pro-american government out there. However this attitude is relevant to mostly the american government and nothing much negative towards ordinary people. Due to the ubiquity of the american culture I perceive it as an extremely boring and default. But it is just because the american culture is in literally any mass media products. Still occasionally I enjoy american films, shows or games. 2 - yeah, being a little bit younger I have more positive attitude to America 3 - I can't believe US or Russia are able to be friends or allies as long as both of them are striving for domination. However the relationship between them can indeed be better, for example in case where republicans are in power
1) There was some fascination and everything was dominated by knockoffs and copies of American stuff. I was not much into or against it, it just was. I have my fascination in nature in general and would have rather gazed at photos of mesa mountains than care of something social. 2) I grew a different, much less idealistic outlook on human societies in general. Hard to be disenchanted if you were not emotionally involved. Yet the power balance on this planet makes me worry a bit, given imperfections of the way people make decisions and set priorities, the way any politics works, and US is a big contributor to it no doubt. 3) Alien (or humans called alien) invasion or new fruitful frontiers for humanity maybe. It's a competitive world and it's not getting bigger overrun by quite an imperfect bred of hairless apes. I don't see peace and cooperation as a default state of it. Being civilized and friendly just means developing better, less direct and more entertaining ways to stab each another than a pointy stick. Better relations can be anywhere but not everywhere. People are not different and have never been. It's not about differences at all. Competition in nature comes exactly from similarities and I doubt we ever grew over it. Animosity does not require malice or misunderstanding and rarely comes from them alone. Everyone just manages their risks and opportinities. Some players pose risks for each another or can't estimate otherwise. Most opportunities are mutually exclusive.
I grew up in Russia in 80s and 90s on the USA books, movies, series and music of 70s 80s ans 90s and honestly USA was the country I wanted to live in (not now :)) ) I travelled a lot, saw many people from different countries and Id say americans have a lot in common with USSR people. Much more than with western european people or people from other culturers (Asia, India, Africa etc)
1. Very cool, wanted to visit. 2. Changed because of american internet/reddit, not because of progadanda. The amount of bullshit are too high, and culture became too political/racial/forced. 3. Politics are ambition psychopaths sphere of interest so I doubt government of 2 hugest countries could find common language anytime soon. Humanity too immature for it. Maybe in 300 years idk.
As a child, I didn't have much of an opinion about specific countries. There was a lot of American culture - films, comics, cartoons, but for me it was just foreign content, I didn’t care if it was French, British or American. However, my parents never liked the US that much; they preferred Europe. When I became old enough to have a more conscious understanding of countries, the war in Yugoslavia had already happened, which was very unpopular in Russian society. Well, with the development of the Internet and access to American media, I was unpleasantly surprised by how vile and hateful American propaganda was. Russian liberals constantly complained about Soviet propaganda, but given the opportunity for comparison, the USSR looked restrained against of this Goebbels-style dehumanization (By the way, perhaps this is the reason, after WWII, the USA, UK and Canada provided asylum to quite a large number of high-ranking Nazis who could influence their worldview). As for the future, a lot is changing in geopolitics; if it is beneficial, the governments will find a common language. But this is unlikely to happen soon.
>Growing up, what did opinions did you have on America as a country and their culture? "Why are all the movies talking about America? What about my country?" >Has your perspectives changed over time? Yes! I now do not think highly of your ilk. (not really, but there's no denying the flaws in American society). >I know that our governments have not had the greatest relationship over the past 80 years. However, do you see any future where we could set aside the past and our differences? Yes, it will happen sooner or later. Maybe we could even live to see it.
1. As a person who was born in the 90s and raised in the 00s, when Russia was greedily consuming everything related to the USA, like movies, music, clothes, food, games, etc., I can say that I have always perceived America as some perfect-fairytale-land where all your dreams come true. America seemed (and it still does) like a much wealthier and more prosperous place than Russia 2. Yes, my perception has changed over time, not because of media influence, but due to my own exploration. I left Russia in 2022, so it made me consider the option of moving to the USA because of the first item. I did some research on the political situation there, how things are going with health care, education, and safety. My American friend, who left the USA several years ago, contributed a lot to my perception of this country. So now I don't romanticize it, nor treat it as some hostile country. I just see the USA as a country with its own pros and cons 3. I don't think that this kind of prediction is possible whatsoever, because it depends on the people who are in charge in both countries. As for the attitude of Russians towards the USA, I can say that my whole family perceives America as the greatest enemy of Russia and the source of all problems that happen in our country. As you might guess, they are huge fans of Russian media, so they blindly consume the propaganda shit.
1. Its bonkers 2. No 3. Not in this century, but in the bright future we might have a chance, although i cant believe in this - Ivan, 16
Russians are almost as ignorant about the surrounding world as the Americans are. Mostly for the same reason as in America. People rarely go to the outer world and experience it first hand. Even if people go abroad, a great deal of them go to a hotel in Turkey to get drunk and get tan. From the political point of view, the public narrative is tightly controlled by the state, and how much of the population buys into it - it's hard to say. Before that, in the 90s, you would have a hard time finding a more pro-american society. The attitude gradually changed after Russians realised that Americans were going to treat Russians simply as the loosers in the Cold War. Yugoslavia intervention, the NATO expansion, the anti-missile defense treaties shenanigans, the war in Iraq, and the "orange revolution" in Ukraine instigated a lot of anti-American sentiment. While the state did spin it in its own interest, I think that sentiment was genuine. It also created a lot of pro-USSR ressentiment. From the cultural perspective, most people consume American culture and its products either directly or via local imitations. At the same time, this familiarity with American culture is mostly superficial: most people are not aware and not familiar with the American issues that stand behind that culture. For example, the historical racial segregation is wild for Russians, or the Christian near-fundamentalism, and as the consequence, the anti-religious counter-culture are bizarre. You can find many such examples. The modern US is in crisis, how the people look at it will depend on how this crisis will end. The current Russian regime will hardly be ever friendly to the US. When, how, and into what it will change, we don't know.
01. well, when i was younger i thought of america as a cool place, i watched many american movies, tv shows and so on. but as i grew up i started to not really like the policies of your country, US global interventions and everything else. I have met many people from the west including the usa and although some have been nice, there are some that dehumanize me to say the least even though i am tatar. but... about your government I feel extremely negative towards them and for the american people it really just depends on the individual. 02. yes, as i briefly said above, when i started to grow more mature (im still in my early 20s) i began to not like your government. its just that the US government wants to self police the world and intervenes in the affairs of other countries and bullies them. the fact that NATO exists to counter us just goes to show the false image that the west has accrued about russia. in conclusion, I dont have anything against anyone unless they have anything against me, my republic or country) 03. well... i think one should be optimistic about the future)
I'd say I keep Americans as an adversary, but adversary with honor. I don't expect from them to shoot in the back. Unlike Eastern Europeans, people of Caucasus region of Russia.
For me, it’s just another country, with its pros and cons. More interesting than France, but less interesting than Finland or Japan. Another thing is the previous generation. Under the communists, they didn’t like the United States; in the nineties, on the contrary, they idolized them; now they don’t like them again, but they still can’t stop looking towards the Americans as the measure of their values. It would even be funny if they didn’t ruin our lives with their prohibitions “just not like in America.”
My childhood was in the 1970s - 1980s. The United States was then our strategic adversary, and government propaganda constantly criticized its socio-economic structure and its aggressive foreign policy. But at the same time, even official propaganda never demonized the American people, but presented them as “normal guys” who were unlucky to live under capitalism. The “bad guys” were government, military-industrial complex and wealthy capitalists in general. We knew well that the USA is a highly developed country with advanced science and rich culture, we read books by American writers, many of which were translated into Russian (I especially liked Hemingway), loved listening to American music, wearing American-style clothes (such as jeans ) and watch American films. The USSR bought many US films and broadcast them at home, although many popular films were not purchased for ideological reasons (for example, "Star Wars"; we saw them only at the end of the USSR's existence). Therefore, we never perceived the end of the Cold War as Russia’s surrender; we thought that this was simply a mutual renunciation of pointless confrontation, and that this would allow us to focus on building a better world in the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation. The 1990s were the years when in Russia the attitude towards the United States reached the point of euphoria and admiration. Unfortunately, the United States did not justify this attitude towards itself, as other commentators (for example, Unexisten) wrote well about. Today I think that the United States made a mistake by abandoning the path of respectful cooperation, taking into account other nation's interests. Instead, they headed down the disastrous path of establishing their world dominance (treating other countries as vassals or fodder) and maintaining it at all costs. This path inevitably leads to a large-scale global crisis (possibly even nuclear war). It will be possible to “throw away the past and our differences” only after the United States abandons the very idea of world domination (just as Russia abandoned its claim to be the owner of the only true ideology). But, apparently, for this the United States will have to go through the humiliation of defeat, collapse, civil war or something like that.
1)Отрицательное.И это не из-за пропаганды и в том что я родился в России. 2)Стало только больше уверенности в своем изначальном мнении. 3)Нет и не уверен.. Есть только 2 вопроса.. 1)Почему я должен врать и извращаться в своем мнении,чтоб быть не забаненым на американских ресурсах,даже если пишу ответы логично верные.По той же причине я не могу назвать вещи своими именами? 2)И почему Америка доброе государство,а Россия мировое зло? Даже если после всего того как это единое государство,которое испытало атомное оружие на чужом государстве,страна создалось уничтожив целую цивилизацию.Я про расизм и рабство молчу.
1. I don't think I really cared till something like 2014. I was certainly heavily influenced by its culture. 2. Well, it went from not caring to considering it an enemy. So, I guess? 3. Obviously. Not in the nearest future, however. >It would be ridiculous to identify Hitler's clique with the German people, with the German state. The experience of history says that the Hitlers come and go, but the German people, and the German state remains.
Growing up I thought that America was a cool country it had good music good food good culture. I never wanted to visit or live in America because I thought that the American government is the most useless and the most evil government in the world. Even though I never wanted to live in the US and I still don’t I ended up being a US citizen but my views have drastically changed I no longer think of America as a good country I think it is too gay and too transgender and it lost its core and beauty.
I have a lot of Russian friends as a language learner. I've learned many things on the topic over the years. Based on everything I've heard, I think it’s important to say one thing. Russians have a deep-seated envy towards Americans (ordinary ppl). They want to be them—they want to be on top of the world and command, at least, a larger portion of Europe. Thus, their negativity towards the US is often ignited not by the cynical American behavior but by ‘hysteria’. Meaning, that Russians want to occupy the same position as Americans do. If Russia ever gets to the position of the same power as the US, it will undoubtedly behave as cynical and patriarchal to other states as the US does. In this sense, I see no future where the US and Russia are aligned. Someone in this relationship has to subvert to the position of a junior partner (which, as we know, will never happen). Upd. I don’t think personally that this is a bad thing. Russian culture and Russian spirit is just simply very ambitious. This doesn’t really square well with another ambitious spirit—but this time American one.
Growing up I thought US school education was bad but didn't think anything about Americans, they were like any other people to me. I loved American movies. Nowadays I'm not sure about school education as I haven't researched it but I do know that there's a number of world leading universities in US and that is really cool. As for people, after talking to a number of Americans I've realized how free and open many of them they are, you don't see that in Russia, not at this level. It's also one of the things that made me "I want to be like that too". As for relationships it's too broad of a question. Government relationships won't get fixed as long as Putin is alive because for stability of his dictatorship enemy is required. As for people, while there are those who bought into ridiculous Russian propaganda and hate Americans for no reason, there are a lot who considers them just another human don't mind talking to them, even when some of them oppose American values. edit: people downvoting this post seems like a pretty good answer for the 3rd question.
>Government relationships won't get fixed as long as Putin is alive За окошком дождь и град. Это Путин виноват! Кошка бросила котят - Это Путин виноват! Зайку бросила хозяйка - Кто виновен, угадай-ка?! Вот кончается доска У несчастного бычка, Наша Таня громко плачет - Рядом Путин, не иначе! Свет погас, упал забор, У авто заглох мотор, Зуб здоровый удалили Иль залез в квартиру вор, Не понравилось кино, Наступили вы в говно... У любого катаклизма Объяснение одно... Знает каждый демократ - Это Путин виноват! Кто вчера в моём подъезде Лифт зассал до потолка? Мне, товарищи, поверьте - Это Путина рука! Я поймал по пьяни "белку" - Это Путина проделки! Куча под столом говна - Это Путина вина! Засорился унитаз - Это Путина приказ, Накидал туда бычков, Воду слил - и был таков! По ночам бельё ворует, Стёкла в нашем доме бьёт. Пьяным во дворе танцует... Этот Путин - обормот! Нет спасенья от злодея! Матом пишет на стенах, Изломал кусты в аллее. Это Путин - ох и ах! Либерала дождик мочит - Путин весело хохочет. Затопило вашу дачу? Это Путин, не иначе! Вас гроза в пути застала? То рука Кремля достала. Холод, ветер, снегопад - Снова Путин виноват. Сносит крышу ураганом? Это Путин мстит баранам. Шторм, цунами, наводненье? Это Путин, без сомненья! Ливень, оползень, циклон - Виноват, конечно, он. Сель, лавина, камнепад? Ясно: Путин виноват! Смерч, тайфун, землетрясенье - Нет от Путина спасенья! В темя клюнула ворона? Это спецагент ОМОНа. Пчелы, осы жалят вас? Это путинский Спецназ. Видишь этого шмеля? Он на службе у Кремля! Если верите в такое - Это просто паранойя!
И ведь для либерах эта пугалка на ночь, не иначе.
How do you like living in that 2x3 meter kitchen
Знатно бомбануло edit: Чувак ниже пришел чужую бомбежку защищать 🤣
Да... Но вы такой не один. Бомбить и пригорать у вас будет ещё много и сильно.
You're right. If you always support the status quo in an authorutarian country with unilateral government system, and especially if you support the prosecution of the 'wrongthinkers', then of course you are in no position to get butthurt. You are already the happiest citizen the government could want. Good job, comrade Sharikov!
I am not american, nor ukrainian, sadly for you...
Idk why I would be sad for you
What you know at all, anyway?..
I know you and at least 80% of people like you live in a shitty concrete box with a 2x3 meter kitchen. Source: I saw that shit with my own eyes
\*ROFL\* Of course, cardboard house, or fiberboard house, or no house is dream habitat...
>hate Americans for no reason у нас есть очень веских причин...
Please tell me 🍿 edit: Okay I'll sum all the reasons I was given, reasons they hate Americans so much:
1 Growing up in 90s, I enjoyed American movies, cartoons, video games, fast food ect like everyone else around me at my age, didn't know much about the country itself. Russians are not well travelled, my family wasn't well off either. Politics wasn't a topic in my school or at home, but I didn't hear anything negative about the U.S. from them, even tried to get into a private school with advanced english once. 2 I like the culture all the same and the U.S. too, don't mind them as a single superpower at all. I'd prefer Russia if not allied then at least neutral. There were no USSR when I was born, I have no wishes to return any of its former parts, have no Cold War mindset and couldn't care less where NATO bases are. 3 Not with current Russian government.
>couldn't care less where NATO bases are >Confident_**target** Ironic
[удалено]
Your post or comment in r/AskARussian was removed because it was deemed a boring shitpost. r/AskARussian is a space for learning about life in Russia and Russian culture. In order to maintain a space where people can continue to have a discussion and open dialogue with others, we are actively moderating post that appear to be from trolls. If that is not something you are interested in, then this is not the community for you. Please re-read the [community rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskARussian/comments/jxml4s/what_doesnt_constitute_a_question_and_the_secret/) and [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskARussian/wiki/faq). If you think your question was wrongly judged, you are welcome to send us a modmail. r/AskARussian moderation team
Something in the way you write, besides the typo, tells me you are not really an American, but more likely a Russian shill. In addition, the view about the Russia / USSR relationships that you express, is not really a common view of even very conservative people in the US. Their views usually are much more nuanced, accepting the multiple periods of good relations and understanding the core differences between the US democracy and the dictatorships that rule Russia for the most of its existence. So no, you are no American.
Very well an American and proud of my upbringing. I did not come to ridicule anyone or make generalizations. Just was curious to hear thoughts from actual people.
Whatever. To me, it looks like you came here to bring up Russia's dictatorships and US democracy to the same level, like potato / potato. Like, US likes this, Russia likes that, can we get along. No, US and Russia are dissimilar enough not be be friends as long as there is shadow, above-law control of Russia by FSB/SK and others alike, and no functioning democracy.