I highly recommend this clip for anyone interested in learning more on Russia's present-day politics.
Basically, the 12-minute clip focused on a pro-Putin youth movement in Russia led by Vasily Yakemenko.
The movement, Nashi, demonstrates against what they see as a growing power of Nazism/Fascism in Russia.
This group is sponsored and advocated by the Kremlin. The clip does a great job depicting the sentiments of Russia's youth and what they stand for. One of those being the growing influence of the United States in Russia. In the clip, Yakemenko and some youth stated that their fear that Russia will become a colony of the United States like Ukraine.
It is so interesting for me to see that the majory of the younger generation support Putin. The surprising part of all this is the fact that support for Putin has proven consistently high. The percentage of Russians approving of their president's performance has barely contracted since Putin came to office with a 79% positive rating.
It seems to me that the youth may not be looking at the larger picture. Of course, they are benefiting from this "open" democratic society, but if they took a minute to look beyond themselves, they would see that not much has changed since Gorbachev's reign. First, the "disappearances" of detainees in the custody of Russian federal forces in Chechnya is a major human rights crisis that the Russian government and the international community must address. But, of course Putin has not addressed this pivotal issue. Hence, the war in Chechnya is still going on! Second, the killings of journalists are not investigated and are treated like an every day occurrence. Until these and many more key issues are addressed and solved, Putin's Russia is just another reflection of the Stalin regime in my eye.
Link:
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=1a7c4150ea13e0996c864b8df4783e26ceb9ef0d
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1 comment:
Wow, I had no idea! Thanks for sharing this clip. To take it to an extreme, they sound like the Hitler's Youth group in that the teenagers are turning from impartial citizens to brainwashed political activists. I was particularly surprised by the strong imperatives to have babies, going so far as to denounce condoms. If they actually listen to that, Russia will end up with a bunch of unwanted children. The video did seem a bit extreme, like it was only showing the most extreme parts to get the most reaction from its viewers. However, true or not it was slightly frightening.
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