russias-young-people-are-putins-biggest-fans

I spend a great deal of time researching this subject when I was writing my last novel-I believe Americans (if not Westerners in general) miss the "point" when it comes to Russians and their leaders: The point being that Russians adore powerful, even totalitarian leadership-so long as they bring peace and bread.

Arguably, Nicholas II was one of the "nicest" leaders they ever had-they killed him and all his family. His grandfather freed the Serfs...they blew him up. They still fear/hate Stalin because while he is perhaps the most "famous" Russian tyrant... he also presided over the worst decades of their national history. Putin is popular because despite the lack of "fairness", he's managed to renew Russian prestige with a relatively low body count, has created a "cult of personality" surrounding himself, and engendered a romanticized view of Russia's Imperial past (make no mistake-Slavs prefer to view life through romantic lenses, even when it ain't so).

The older generations seem to have nostalgic feelings for the "positive" aspects of Communism; i.e., everyone having less "uncertainty" even though they probably had less opportunity. We don't notice so much, because it's culturally ingrained... but I'd wager that for many Russians over fifty (maybe even forty), everything seems less structured, less "purposeful". Putin's riding an ironic wave of pre-Soviet history popularity; I believe because for the youth of Russia, their great-grandparents' history/culture is the inverse of their grandparents'/parents' history/culture.

Guess the older people know him better.