Poverty in Russia: the real threat to Putin’s reign

The world's media needs to shine a spotlight on the miserable dark place Putin has created in RUssia. It's a shithole with an economy barely the size of Italy's and Putin and his billionaire buddies live like royalty, as if they were all in the court of Tsar Vladimir Putin.

Anymore Russian cannibal stories this year yet?

I never hear Republicans/trolls talk about this, or their extreme homophobia. Gee, I wonder why.

They can relate to them, R3. The idiots in Russia are as stupidly loyal to Putin as the Deplorable are to Trump.

I wonder if Russian trolls even earn £150 a month?

They get paid in vodka bottles, R5.

And still he’ll be president for another 25 years. Because Russia is not a democracy.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Their population growth is in free fall.

Russia now has more prostitutes than doctors, farmers and firemen combined. Sad!

^^ No sad . Be Best.

The number of Russians living below the poverty line has grown by half a million since early 2018, according to official data.

If you liked us in Russia you'll love us in America.

After Trump, what happens to the trolls? Do they lose their jobs overnight?

R1 Wow, I never realized it but Russia's GDP is slightly lower than Canada's and higher than Australia's yet... Russia is Russia...😬

No, "After Trump" you need to ask yourself who Putin is grooming. He will never find anyone quite as stupid to manipulate. he has been having a ball with this. So who is "waiting in the wings?" Not Lindsey. Not Ivanka. Maybe Sean Hannity? Someone like him.

You vairget, R16!!

Why has Russia always struggled? Is it the harsh climate? The DNA of the underclass whose ancestors were serfs? The Tatar influence? The fact that it is 1/8 of the world’s land mass (just too big)? Cultural lack of empathy?

My seed is strong R16

Same for N. Korea. It's one of the darkest countries at night- outside of Africa. They must use candlelight.

And this is the country Trump wants to emulate?

It's the country I want Trump to emulate.

Russians should just give up. Is there a euthanasia option available for an entire country?

Shows that three generations of communism of the sort so admired by Bernie Sanders and other democrats can demoralize and ruin a people perhaps past the point of redemption.

R24 Oh honey, Russian misery and tragedy wasn't even close to just beginning during the communist era

R24 Spare us your Proud Boy inanities. Its been nearly 30 years since the Soviet Union imploded. 30 years of the unleashed unlimited potential of the uber free market capitalist system. 30 years of Dumps gangsta oligarch pals raping the country. The result of your glorious economic freedom is the debased revenant medieval society that is todays Russia. I'm sure its the same lovely society you dream of bestowing on the good ole US of A. Go wank off your incel micro peen to your Ayn Rand porn. Breitbart Trumptard facists are beyond unredeemable.

Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat, r24. Furthermore, he is not a Communist. If you can't distinguish among Democrats, Socialists and Communists, perhaps you should stop posting and start reading.

R27 for someone, not a communist he sure has spent a lot of time in Russia.

R28 So have I comrade..

It’s sad. Russian culture is amazing. The art, the literature even Soviet architecture is something to marvel at

r28, as far as I can tell, Sanders visited the Soviet Union once for ten days. You know who's visited Russia a lot more than that? Donald Trump. And neither one is a Communist.

P.S. In your sentence, the comma should follow Communist, not someone.

R24: For all the faults it had, the late communist era was a far better place for the poor in Russia. Whatever social safety nets were in place completely disappeared when it finally came to an end.

And Democracy might have had a chance in Russia if there had been stronger institutional structures put in place, but sadly it ended up descending into chaos and corruption. That’s the reason why the Russian people support Putin, they remember how bad things became in the 1990s.

Putin and his oligarch pals are rapacious criminals and thugs. It is only the semblance of stability, and the fear of what could happen if they stand up to the Government that keeps the people in line.

R18 watch the last czar on netflix for some entertaininment and insight. Imperial russia opted to keep authoritarian ancient rule instead of going towards the west and modernity when the had the chance. The empire was too disparate and vast to create a singular identity and trade routes were not nearby.

R33 World War I and the death of 8 million Russians helped shit can we.

LOSER country

I find Russia's culture, history, and government incredibly interesting. I wish the country wasn't so tyrannically homophobic, if it was I wouldn't mind visiting.

They went from the misery of the Tsars, to the misery of the authoritarian Communists, to the misery of the oligarchs which is remarkably similar to the Tsars. Must be something in the Russian temperament.

Putin-critical stand-up comic flees Russia fearing for his safety