Sunday, June 28, 2015

Polls in Russia: A Facebook comment on Putin's sky-high popularity polls


John Brown I've never believed in "polls," no matter in what country (we all know Gertrude Stein's reputed quip http://www.bartleby.com/73/989.html (I paraphrase), when asked, "What is the answer?" to which which she responded, "In that case, what is the question." ) The results of "polls" are especially dubious in Eastern Europe, including in Poland smile emoticon, given the tragic past of these countries, where expressing your opinion publicly could mean causa finita est. So if, in today's Russia, you're a publicly patriotic grazhdanin (citizen), what else would you say -- remembering "what happened " to those who have "spoken out" -- to a poll question (even in a "controlled environment) about VVP, other than the harmless answer, that "nash" (our) president is "odin iz nashikh" (one of ours); I don't know the actual poll questions. When, as a friend who lived in Russia for many years liked to say, there is a moment of silence during a conversation at a social gathering, in France it is interrupted by the words, "c'est un ange qui passe"; in Russia --by the frightened look on faces -- that "there's a policeman downstairs."
12 mins · Edited · Like · 1 · Remove Preview

image from

Additional comment: Of course, times have changed, the Russian Federation (soon to be reputinated as the Russian Empire?) is -- slava Bogu -- not the CCCP.

But I'm willing to bet -- despite my absence, for over a decade, from a country whose people and culture I much admire [quite frankly, I can't afford Moscow prices in order to travel there any more] -- that the "fear" (STRAKH) quotient is still part of the national mentality (granted, whatever such a mentality is).

No comments: