Russia Saving Europe?

[Annie]

Russia sounding a lot like the Soviets of old:

Russia's crumbling economy provides stiffest test yet for autocratic leader - Telegraph

Russia's crumbling economy provides stiffest test yet for autocratic leader
Subjected to more than a century of propaganda masquerading as news, Russians often seem to live in a different reality from the rest of us

By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow
Last Updated: 7:46AM GMT 17 Nov 2008

And sure enough, at a time when their country is locked in its worst financial crisis in a decade, they are more optimistic about the economy than they have ever been. According to opinion polls, 57 per cent reckon it is flourishing, up from 53 per cent in July.

The survey's findings are a triumph for the state, proving that the Kremlin has not lost its touch when it comes to manipulating fact. Obeying orders from the top, Russian television has banned the use of words such as "crisis", "decline" and "devaluation". Coverage of the mayhem in the country's stock market, where shares have fallen by 75 per cent since August, is scant.

Instead, just as in Soviet times, Russians are told how bad everything is in the West. The US, Russians are told, is in irreversible decline, while desperate Britons are throwing themselves into the Thames. The Queen, facing imminent penury, has been forced to pawn her diamonds and, according to one tabloid front page, we can no longer afford to bury our dead.

It has fallen to Russia, one television commentator gravely intoned, to come to the rescue of Europe. Russia, another newspaper declared, was set to become the continent's lender of last resort...

 

[mightypeon]

Russia Rodina Slanow! (Russia, homeland of the elephants!)

That kind of stuff has a long and funny tradition, however, due to the fact that resources dont just disappear, russia may still be better of than a number of western countries.

 

[Diuretic]

That's funny - a journal for the Telegraph denigrating a tabloid in Russia.

From the script of Yes Minister, a very funny British television show. "Jim" is Jim Hacker, the Minister; Sir Humphrey is a permanent head of department and Bernard is the Minister's press secretary.

Jim: I know exactly who reads the papers. The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country. The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country. The Times is read by people who actually do run the country. The Daily Mirror is read by the wives of the people who run the country. The Financial Times is read by people who own the country. The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country. The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about people who read the Sun.
Bernard: Sun readers don't care who runs the country as long as she's got big tits.

The Telegraph has a well-deserved reputation for idiocy.

Having said that I wouldn't be surprised if ordinary Russians were being fed a line. But they do have access to the internet and can probably work out they're being fed bullshit. Not that it will help, Russia is labouring under an authoritarian government, Putin is still in charged, the president is his puppet.

 

[Annie]

...

Having said that I wouldn't be surprised if ordinary Russians were being fed a line. But they do have access to the internet and can probably work out they're being fed bullshit. Not that it will help, Russia is labouring under an authoritarian government, Putin is still in charged, the president is his puppet.

Really? Thank God you cleared that up for everyone here.

 

[Diuretic]

Really? Thank God you cleared that up for everyone here.

Thanks Kathianne, that makes me feel quite humble.

Feel free to cite me elsewhere, it will definitely strengthen the points you sought to make in your post.

 

[tigerbob]

Russia sounding a lot like the Soviets of old:

Russia's crumbling economy provides stiffest test yet for autocratic leader - Telegraph

Don't know about the Soviets, but it's starting to sound like The Onion.

I wish I could read cyrillic script.