Russophobia: why do so many people in the west hate and fear Russia?

[Bill Ryan]

There's been quite a lot of interesting discussion about this in the alt media, and I've been meaning to post about it for some time. The prompt for me today was a short new video by Gonzalo Lira, shared at the foot of this post.

But you definitely don't need to watch Gonzalo's video to have an opinion about this. As he states right up front (and rightly, too), the Russians have been masters of literature and classical music, having produced some of the most exalted artistic works in human history. And in science, they have had (and still have) some of the very brightest and best minds on the planet.

A month ago I posted a segment of a Scott Ritter interview in which he shared how when he was on a lengthy UN assignment in Russia many years ago, he discovered that the Russians he met there, and in some cases got to know extremely well, were (a) very human, (b) most likeable, and (c) shared many if not all of his personal values.

His experience there changed his entire view of the Russian people — having been trained as a US Marine to hate them unquestioningly.

Do listen to this, starting in at 25:05. I promise you that this 10 minute segment is 100% solid gold.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=EFpKmbjhuk0

As I've mentioned once or twice before, I've been to Russia a couple of times attending conferences, and visiting various interesting people whom I organized to spend time talking with. I still have Russian friends, and every single person I met, without exception, was just the finest human being.

Here's Gonzalo's video — but the more important one I think is Scott Ritter's above, starting at 25:05. Once more, I do MOST highly recommend that.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Er3pfCP2_vU

[Mike]

I can only speak for my friends and family. And I've never heard any of them once say anything hateful about Russia. Never once have they waved an angry fist in the air and declared, "You know what's pissing me off today? Those Goddamn Russians! I hate 'em!"

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard them say anything at all about Russia...good or bad. It's on the other side of the world, and people here have their own problems to deal with.

The people that do hate Russia here in the U.S., or think they do, are mostly just regurgitating government propoganda. They're feeling and saying what they think they should be feeling and saying. But even those types are rare, at least in my orbit. In fact I can't recall a single time coming across anyone ranting and raving about the "evil" Russians. People will blame them when it's politically convenient but it's not any kind of real, deep hatred or anything. It's just the superficial variety

Obviously with the situation in Ukraine there is now more anti Russia sentiment than usual. But even that is overblown. It's mostly anti-Putin sentiment.

[thepainterdoug]

Thanks for posting this Bill. My favorite art and classical music is Russian, Rachmaninoff my favorite composer.

I play Ice Hockey with many Russians over the years and still do. All of them are fine people.

However this is not now or ever about the people. This is about governments and power brokers, not citizens.

it's all brainwashing and propaganda that have people hating Russia, even to the point of wanting Russian cats removed from cat shows.

Did you ever hear of anything more embarrassingly stupid?

[DeDukshyn]

I watched a video clip of a cop pulling over a guy for running a stop sign or something, and then the guy tried to blame it on Putin ... lol. The vilification of Russia has become so commonplace an normalized, people actually are starting to think they can blame everything bad that happens to them on Russia, because we all know from watching the corporate media that Russia is to blame for everything bad ... gas prices too high? Russia. Extreme inflation? Russia. Food shortages? Russia. Freedom convoy? Russia. Free speech threatened? Russia.

I just can't believe how stupid people are in general to not see how all this scapegoating is only being projected on to us so we don't have to realize the huge nefariousness of our current western media and our "leadership" ... if you can call it that.

[Harmony]

In my own family I have never heard a bad word about Russians being any different than any other "group" of people in the world. I do know other people who had very bad experiences in their past that were from neighbouring countries to Russia during times of conflict.


During times of conflict terrible things can happen to any country. In Australia many people who came back from WWII had sad stories about their treatment from the Japanese soldiers and they found it hard to say something good about the Japanese because of what happened to them. The following generations in Australia don't seem to carry that fear any more. With all the wars, there was a portrayed enemy when you think back through history, and for each country they were "taught" to "see" an enemy. Sometimes defensive action was warranted other times better ways could have been used to solve problems.

Now many folk have realised how their soldiers were "used" to manipulate the power struggles in the world by sometimes unknown powers. That does not take away from many very brave and self sacrificing, honourable missions soldiers and secret spies, the woman and men in their home countries holding the line to keep their families safe permformed. Each were doing what they thought was best and right in that time. Most families, including my own have members that were or are in the military and did their duty for their countries.


I doubt wheather there is any innocent Nations in the world that haven't manipulated or been manipulated. I think that is what Project Avalon is all about, uncovering what is really going on.

[gini]

These anti Russia sentiments seem to be artificialy created by some politicians & medea in the last years for obvious political reasons.
For a succesfull war the leaders need the population to hate the enemy.But as far as i can see its not working,they overestimated their power to get the people hot for a worldwar.
People had enough of war and hating another nation is an outdated old fashion thing, and thats where the leaders underestimate the people,thats their lesson;they lost touch with everyday reality and they wanna hold on to their powers to continue their old way of living,they cant give up ,or it will be their downfall.so for them its everything or nothing,so they try to drag us all into this wordwar until they realise that it wont work anymore.,their old world is on its way out....;
and the new world has arrived already --

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=3-oLjVmy8Fo

[Isserley]

I doubt anyone with a half-functional brain would hate or fear Russian (or any) civilians. On the other hand, to start a war governments are trying to brainwash people - create an invisible enemy. I want to believe that it is getting harder for them to do that today.

[shaberon]

Posted by thepainterdoug (here)
...even to the point of wanting Russian cats removed from cat shows.

Did you ever hear of anything more embarrassingly stupid?

Equal to, yes. It definitely has contenders. But top shelf product is so strong, that, no, it is hard to tell if any of them could possibly be "more".



Similarly, if I removed Russia from the thread title, it would be left as why do so many people in the west hate and fear?


And then we can turn around and ask, do Russian people sit around and do that? I doubt they do.

I have had the ability to encounter various breeds of bigotry, but I personally have never heard anything about Russia. I have never really asked either, I don't know, it could have been sleeping.

My current outlook is becoming that it is hype because the important part is not the Russians, but, whatever is actually in Ukraine.

It may have been the pinnacle potential of one world dominance, at least according to Brzenski.

The Security Council has been treated to a session of video statements from evacuated civilians and all of the context that goes with it.

Operationally I believe we are seeing Project for a New American Century--i. e. such as can be shown to be projecting interest in all of the countries hosting similar bio-labs--evidently combined with some British business that is in Ukraine. This kind of thing does not have much public support. And so I have yet to become aware of anything other than a press-regurgitated political propaganda. It does say that the item in charge of the country has a 30% approval rating, and then we are left with a generally-accurate presumption there probably is a 15% extremist minority that really believes these beliefs, and I have just never met any.

Ukraine is a spectacular Totentanz combining what would ordinarily be distinguished as Nazism and Zionism. We have that, in a sick mess with medical stuff, which you may identify with Jesuitry and Catholicism. There are some hateful forces out there, but, almost by definition, they fail to "represent the people".

Because Fascism is Capitalism, we can see such an explanation from what I think is Romanian:


Fratele meu sclav la fascistul capitalist roman sau gunoi anglo saxon,in curand Dacia va fi eliberata de capitalismul fascist sclavagist marca Roschild iar noi vom fi liberi sa incatusam si sa trimitem scarbavnicul fascisto-capitalist acolo unde ii este locul in lagare de munca asa cum ne-a pus el scursura pentru mizerabilul lui profit personal pe sclavia,lacrimile,durerea si chinul nostru al clasei muncitoare ! Mama Rusia ne va elibera din nou de fascistul capitalism asa cum a facut-o in 1945 !



Clearly, beginning with the Boer War and ever since, all western aggression has been an act of Capitalism.

No question about it/they having extremist hatred, but I have never seen anyone display Russo-phobia in any way. There might have once been a dislike of Soviet Communists, which faded away in my era. Right now I think it is a massive cover-up stage.

[mizo]

Met many Russian people worked with a few, made memorable connections never found any issues or problems as like most citizens worldwide, if I'd had to pin down any unique traits: I would say they're usually straight talkers with a self-deprecating sense of humour that I have always found rather appealing.

[Matthew]

Deliberate divisiveness in bad-faith. The fear machine switched from Covid to Ukraine overnight. Russia is the 1980's cold-war villain which tPtb invoked as a divisive scapegoat to cover their own shenanigans over the last few years; Russia is the boogie man behind anything amiss apparently. I think the reason there is Russophobia is because people have been told to think that by a carefully orchestrated media/government conspiracy.

[T Smith]

This one is easy to answer, IMHO. It's not a complicated question and it seems to me there is really a very simple explanation.

Q: Why do so many people in the West hate and fear Russia?

A: Because they've been programmed to.

It's as simple as that. The question of why they have been programmed to hate and fear Russia is little more complicated and complex...

[Agape]

To me it looks like work of intel agencies and from bigger part, their own legal and rogue intel operations ,
people always fear domination being taken upon them, silent acquisition of power .

There seem to be elements in their society, big men who want to be feared and respected, perhaps : declared equal to their American counterparts ,
perhaps they want to be talked to and understood like most of the other men in the world and while their soul is ignored they seem to stay in off site watching the game.

Quite like the rest of big people around waiting to be mothered with love so those smiles melt and face masks fall off on faces of future delegations of Peace.

Is it it all they ever swore to,
after WWII and since.

How deep a resentment with anyone who has lied to us even once , with a government that failed to love its own people ,
with hand landing on your innocent face in a slap.


Can’t be called “collective karma” forever 🙏


It’s a choice of each individual on this Planet to express their Soul and Will accordingly in harmony with their own intelligence now in this moment or any other.


Hatred is purely a result of ignorance and mutual widespread illiteracy even unwillingness to learn about the rest of nations and people on this Planet,
lack of interest in the ecosystem by creating more borders and making cooperation difficult and politically dependant , ignorance breeding hatred and fear.


Just realize one thing: there are no two individuals on the Planet that would be completely the same including twins. Everyone is unique.

We all are unique and all our human ancestors have migrated many times all over the world and changed tribal and civilisation markers many times before they claimed the historically latest territory and ethnicity , not quoting their Jewish aunt on grandmothers side


Dissolve borders and world shall rest in peace.

💫

[Waldo]

My brother went to work for Hugh's Aircraft after graduating from college in 1979, he stayed there until he retired at 56 and by then it was Directv. When he was getting his security clearance to work on SDI in the Hugh's days I would call him at work and in my best Rusky accent I would say "This is Boris calling, do you have the information for me?" He would get upset and say shut up they could be listening and I would reply OK comrad I'll call you later.

I can tell you that after living in SoCal all his life and doing what he did he is an off the charts Trump hating neolib, just as bad as the neocons, he even accuses me of being a Putin puppet and even reminds me of how I used to call him at work as proof of me being a communist Putin lover, I'm serious he actually believe that. He told me when he retired he was going to become a news junkie and I assume he is an MSNBC addict. I recall talking to him years ago after he retired about Russia and in an arrogant angry way he told me "We kicked Their Asses". I think he still lives in the cold war mindset and on top of that has become an extreme lefty. At one time I feared the evil empire but after doing some reading of history and understanding the nature of man I personally do not think Putin is the bad guy in all of this. I agree with Scott Ritter, people no matter where they happen to live just want to raise a family and enjoy life. I have some dear friends that are Russian and they are wonderful people.

[Strat]

It's kind of boggling to hear this. Nobody speaks of Russians unless they're regurgitating the news and those people are in the minority. People have been hating on the US (and my people and culture, under the guise of "it's the gov't not the people" same old tired line) since internet forums were invented, I think Russia is just now getting a taste of that.

This 'problem' is just like the 'ism' problems in the US - it's rarely a problem but the media/internet shoves it in your face and tries to make it a problem.

Scott Ritter speak for yourself. I know plenty of Marines that will gladly set you straight, suggesting that Marines are trained to hate is completely unfair.

[Satori]

To state the obvious, most often people hate and fear (x, y and z) because they've been told, and perpetually indoctrinated, to hate and fear (x, y and z).

[I am B]

My chick is a rather successful Russian Youtuber, yet
so far she barely got a single random "Slava Ukraine" Comment. The rest is but people empathising, being thankful for her doing her thing despite the context, and talking about how unfair it is to make every Russian person justify or apologise personally. The shared guilt it is.

Although it is true I've personally heard some nasty comments on the street (literally), I believe it is proof of the non compliance principle. "There are no wars if there is no one fighting them."

As much as the situation is not completely biased right now imho, I wonder though how that could completely change in a big turn of events. A small nuke and a sprinkle of perfectly calculated propaganda like they do, and they could have 99% of the people wherever they wanted. Fear makes people manipulable. And it goes for both sides.

[shaberon]

Posted by Waldo (here)
My brother went to work for Hugh's Aircraft after graduating from college in 1979...

I think it is a mini-game like the revolving doors of politicians with the defense industry.

That probably would have happened to me. If I had been more of a "serious" person, I would have chased "better" jobs like that making weapons and so on, and I can easily believe that someone who does, folds themself into an anti-Russian, anti-Communist, or any other prevailing mood of the place. Again, this falls back into the foundation that our legal systems, businesses, and so on, are made of Satan, and you can find out about that one way or another, like Mr. Ritter. Coddled in California, you probably wander the valley of delusion and never do.


I just saw an ad that a local brewery is throwing a party as a fundraiser for Ukraine. On the face of it, that is neutral to good, presuming in some way it means humanitarian assistance for civilians. One cannot be sure if it means one way or another, anything like "this donut was brought to you by anti-Russian hate"--the only way to find out is to walk in and ask around. A small business doing this is possibly more honest than some big company, for example, pouring money into AIDS research and yet following discrimination and favoritism and so forth anyway. Less duplicity when someone doesn't have various departments or other companies to be doing additional work.

Around here, I am sure there is some echelon of defense industry supporters, who might throw such a party; or, it could be the honest kind. I cannot personally monitor them all. If I am able to find something that is artificially hateful, I can trample it. I cannot affect the flow of professional propaganda, but I can accomplish a lot by confrontation of an individual, or even a group, I am not sure how large. The difficulty is flushing them out of their hidey holes. This is kind of easy with respect to Zionism, but, so far, I have yet to encounter Zio-Nazism leading to Russian prejudice.

The U. S. govt. that seems to back it, is rushing to a whirlwind of difficulty. UK and EU govts. appear to be able to steamroller anyone in their way. But they are the ones who started Catholicism and Zionism. So again I suspect whatever is deeply rooted, is mostly over there, whereas outside of the PNAC mentality, the sentiment is not very American, if it is really even there at all.

[Denise/Dizi]

Posted by Strat (here)
It's kind of boggling to hear this. Nobody speaks of Russians unless they're regurgitating the news and those people are in the minority. People have been hating on the US (and my people and culture, under the guise of "it's the gov't not the people" same old tired line) since internet forums were invented, I think Russia is just now getting a taste of that.

This 'problem' is just like the 'ism' problems in the US - it's rarely a problem but the media/internet shoves it in your face and tries to make it a problem.

Scott Ritter speak for yourself. I know plenty of Marines that will gladly set you straight, suggesting that Marines are trained to hate is completely unfair.

I couldn't agree more.

I have grown long tired of those in media outlets, telling me how I feel about anything... Or how I SHOULD FEEL, Based upon their opinions, beliefs, or worse.... deliberate negative narratives...

I do hope that all members of all nations, begin to think for themselves, rather than to continue to buy into propaganda... and even more so, begin to recognize propaganda for what it is

To Russians, I do not hate nor fear you... Nor do I want to war with you....

It is all, very much out of control... And people are beginning to get tired of such grandstanding... It's time we have some REAL LEADERS...

Hopefully, there will come a day, when the population at large who can "get along", will wake up and hold their "Leaders" to the same accountability. Why do we have those in positions of power, who refuse to "Get Along"? Would the general population go to war and kill others for the same reasons? Or work harder to demand peaceful interactions?

[graciousb]

What we would do without an ''enemy?" Status quo demands it. "If my sons did not want war, there would be none.'' Rothschild quote 1812. (Enemies are invented).

[Antagenet]

Hatred = a combination of fear and envy