Russian Presidential Election, 2018

[ag]

Yes, i willingly participate, and WILL participate. As long as there is even slight possibility to show, that "sane people" exist in Russia - i will do it. BTW, most countries you mentioned as "making considerable progress to democracy rather quickly" had relatively long democratic periods at some moments in their history. Unlike Russia, which NEVER had such periods (except 1991-1999, to most extent). I told many times that historically Russian tradition is extremely conservative. The same can be said about main church, which increased it's influence since period of Communist rule,  army (important institute in Russia), and so on. So, again - IT WILL TAKE CONSIDERABLE TIME for democracy even to take more or less solid roots in Russia, as there is almost no basis for it in Russian society. The process will be slow, difficult and with considerble setbacks...

Well, that makes you a collaborator, part and parcel of the regime. Of course, in no way does it demonstrate your sanity: to most people this looks like greater insanity than that of the true putinists (they do not pretend that somehow their objective is a democracy in Russia: so, they, are, at least, coherent) . So you manifestly fail on your self-declared objective. Participation in this takes Russia away from actual democracy, not towards it. I am not arguing against opposition to the regime, for god's sake: it is just that what you are doing is collaboration.

As for relatively long periods of democracy pre-1980s in, say, Spain or Mexico... I know, I know, they do not teach foreign history in Russian schools properly, really, you are not to blame. Russia is a lot less unique than you believe: it is no worse, really, than the rest of the world And, if it is to get a democracy at some point, it will not get it in some unique Russian way.

[Karpatsky]

Yes, i willingly participate, and WILL participate. As long as there is even slight possibility to show, that "sane people" exist in Russia - i will do it. BTW, most countries you mentioned as "making considerable progress to democracy rather quickly" had relatively long democratic periods at some moments in their history. Unlike Russia, which NEVER had such periods (except 1991-1999, to most extent). I told many times that historically Russian tradition is extremely conservative. The same can be said about main church, which increased it's influence since period of Communist rule,  army (important institute in Russia), and so on. So, again - IT WILL TAKE CONSIDERABLE TIME for democracy even to take more or less solid roots in Russia, as there is almost no basis for it in Russian society. The process will be slow, difficult and with considerble setbacks...

Well, that makes you a collaborator, part and parcel of the regime. Of course, in no way does it demonstrate your sanity: to most people this looks like greater insanity than that of the true putinists (they do not pretend that somehow their objective is a democracy in Russia: so, they, are, at least, coherent) . So you manifestly fail on your self-declared objective. Participation in this takes Russia away from actual democracy, not towards it. I am not arguing against opposition to the regime, for god's sake: it is just that what you are doing is collaboration.

As for relatively long periods of democracy pre-1980s in, say, Spain or Mexico... I know, I know, they do not teach foreign history in Russian schools properly, really, you are not to blame. Russia is a lot less unique than you believe: it is no worse, really, than the rest of the world And, if it is to get a democracy at some point, it will not get it in some unique Russian way.

Russia is not 100% authoritarian state like Nazi Germany - voting can occasionally have some effect. Navalny's close run for the Moscow major seat seriously scared the regime, and in some city opposition candidates have actually won - Yaroslavl, Yekaterinburg, as examples. I would probably agree that in this race to abstain is the more politically correct option, but it is not necessarily as bad as you say.

[Former President tack50]

Yes, i willingly participate, and WILL participate. As long as there is even slight possibility to show, that "sane people" exist in Russia - i will do it. BTW, most countries you mentioned as "making considerable progress to democracy rather quickly" had relatively long democratic periods at some moments in their history. Unlike Russia, which NEVER had such periods (except 1991-1999, to most extent). I told many times that historically Russian tradition is extremely conservative. The same can be said about main church, which increased it's influence since period of Communist rule,  army (important institute in Russia), and so on. So, again - IT WILL TAKE CONSIDERABLE TIME for democracy even to take more or less solid roots in Russia, as there is almost no basis for it in Russian society. The process will be slow, difficult and with considerble setbacks...

Well, that makes you a collaborator, part and parcel of the regime. Of course, in no way does it demonstrate your sanity: to most people this looks like greater insanity than that of the true putinists (they do not pretend that somehow their objective is a democracy in Russia: so, they, are, at least, coherent) . So you manifestly fail on your self-declared objective. Participation in this takes Russia away from actual democracy, not towards it. I am not arguing against opposition to the regime, for god's sake: it is just that what you are doing is collaboration.

As for relatively long periods of democracy pre-1980s in, say, Spain or Mexico... I know, I know, they do not teach foreign history in Russian schools properly, really, you are not to blame. Russia is a lot less unique than you believe: it is no worse, really, than the rest of the world And, if it is to get a democracy at some point, it will not get it in some unique Russian way.

To be fair, wasn't 80s Mexico more o less comparable to Russia today? I do know that early 20th century Spain was sort of like modern Russia but with even more rigged elections, especially outside the main cities.

He does have a point there. Especially in the comparison with Mexico which happened without any breaks I think.

[ag]

Russia is not 100% authoritarian state like Nazi Germany - voting can occasionally have some effect. Navalny's close run for the Moscow major seat seriously scared the regime, and in some city opposition candidates have actually won - Yaroslavl, Yekaterinburg, as examples. I would probably agree that in this race to abstain is the more politically correct option, but it is not necessarily as bad as you say.

Russia is not a Nazi Germany. Volga flows into the Caspian Sea. Washington is the capital city of the United States. Very profound.

The Moscow mayoral elections did not scare anybody. Navalny was allowed to run by the regime (remember, he needed the "signatures" which the government deliberately gave him) because they knew full well that he has no chance of winning, but they wanted to release some pressure. True enough, at least, he, probably, did not explicitly ask for a permission in the Kremlin - they gave it to him for their own reasons. They were not scared - that is why they let it happen.  He got 27% of the vote - nothing to be scared about.  As for the victories in Yaroslavl and Yekaterinburg - and what happened after the elections? Urlashov of Yaroslavl is in prison, isn't he? And Roizman in Yekaterinburg has been defanged through eviscerating the mayoralty, so that all he is good for is scarying the decent folk ("if not us, it would be Roizman!").

В карты с шуллерами не играют.

[ag]

To be fair, wasn't 80s Mexico more o less comparable to Russia today? I do know that early 20th century Spain was sort of like modern Russia but with even more rigged elections, especially outside the main cities.

He does have a point there. Especially in the comparison with Mexico which happened without any breaks I think.

Yes and no. First of all, there was PAN - a party the like of which does not exist in Russia. These people believed Jesus Christ cared about honest elections. They went out, got beaten up, were laughed at - but they, generally, did not ask for a permission to do it in Los Pinos. They knew that God was on their side, and if there were not to be political rewards in this world, they had no doubt about the rewards in the next one. If there were a force like this in Russia, I would have not been so dismissive. There is nothing like that in Russia - alas, even Russian Jesus himself asks for a permission from the Kremlin.

And, then, when the 1988 election happened and the results had to be faked, there were crowds on the street - actual crowds in the street. Actually, when you have a crowd on the street behind you, there is no harm from negotiating either in Los Pinos or in the Kremlin. Still, BTW, PANistas did not - though the left did. But even the left, by then, was real. The ersatz opposition parties, like PPS, died out pretty much at the same time as the democratic transition started. They played no role in that transition.

[kelestian]

Russia had some democracy from 1917 through the 20s.

Only 1917, abot 10 months between two revolutions.