Well, this is destressing... Russian person-in-street interviews on "Should we invade Poland next?"

[Bucky]

Our greatest enemy is propaganda.

I love this YouTube channel, 1420, which does street interviews of ordinary Russians. Over time I've seen a big generation gap, at least in the Moscow and St Petersberg interviews. The people over 40 have bought Putin's "everyone's a Nazi" propaganda. Dmitri Medvedev comes in for some ruthless bashing in the interviews. In the small town interviews you rarely see young people, so the opinions in the hinterlands are lot more uniformly pro-war. The young people in the big cities have a more balanced view of the west and they usually take the pose of "I'm not a political person" before making anodyne statements about "everyone in the world should just get along."

But hoo-boy are the Russians ready to pile it onto the Poles. There's some beef there. One old lady seems to keep on saying some verb that gets bleeped -- even in the captions. From context, I think she's pro-genocide. Putin's propaganda only gets a C- in the west, now that the farce of it all has been exposed. But he's rocking a solid B+ on hardening his own peoples' hearts.

[sarisataka]

1. Poland has long been a thorn in the Russian side

and Russians (generally) would be happy to see the country wiped off the map- again.

However it is fair to say the feeling is mutual.

I recall an old joke-

A Medieval polish farmer is out working in his fields one day, and digs up an old magic lamp. He begins to wipe off the dirt, thinking to sell it at market, when suddenly a Genie flies out, offering the astonished farmer 3 wishes.

"Oh Noble farmer, you have freed me from my prison, and for that I grant you 3 wishes! What say you?"

The farmer thinks hard about his first wish, and finally says "I wish for the Mongol hoard to come invade Poland."

The Genie looks at the farmer, puzzled for a moment, then nods. The entire Mongol hoard then eventually shows up and begins pillaging and looting everywhere. It is a time of great misery and suffering, but the hoard eventually leaves again.

Shaken, the Genie asks the farmer for his second wish, "Oh Noble farmer, now that thou hast brought this country to its knees, what is your next wish?"

The farmer looks around at the devastation, resolve in his eyes, and says "Genie, I want the Mongol Hoard to come invade Poland again!"

The Genie looks at the man in horror, and starts to argue with him, but then just sighs and snaps his fingers. Eventually, the Mongols arrive once more, and re-destroy the surrounding country. It is another time of great pain and misery for the polish people. Eventually, the Mongols depart once more

Shaken by what he has witnessed, the Genie cautiously asks the farmer for his third wish. Without hesitation, the farmer immediately says "I wish for the Mongols to invade Poland one more time!"

The Genie can't believe his ears.
"Oh Cruel farmer, why would you wish such misery on your fellow countrymen? What harm and suffering have they heaped on you to make you hate them so?" the puzzled Genie asks, as he snaps his finger one final time.

The farmer grins at the Genie. "Oh, I don't hate my countrymen, I love my friends and neighbors and this country. But every time the Mongols invade us, they go through Russia twice!"

[xocetaceans]

2. That's interesting, and one must wonder if the opinions have been altered much by the casualty numbers . . .

. . . if the Russian population now knows about them. Is there a current video from 1420 (newer than from nine months ago) that follows up with the same set or a similar set of questions?

[Bucky]

6. Yes, there are LOTS of recent uploads from 1420

I linked to their homepage in the original post. See for yourself.
Most of their video titles are very straightforward. WYSIWYG.

[xocetaceans]

15. Thanks. It is very interesting to see the commentary in those videos. n/t

[gab13by13]

3. First of all

Russia is going to lose the war in Ukraine, maybe the on the street guy should ask that question first?

[Bucky]

7. When you see all the young people say "I'm not a very political person" it tells you

...there are certain questions Russians don't want to answer directly on camera. 1420 is pretty good at asking questions that won't get their interviewees in trouble (altho I'm certain the militsiya and the FSB go thru these uploads anyway, looking for "troublemakers&quot

[getagrip_already]

4. Beware russian street interviews...

All you will ever hear is either silence or something heard directly on state TV.

It doesn't matter what the person thinks, that will be their only response.

Because literally any other response will get them arrested. No matter how subtle, any criticism or even concern will get them arrested. 100% of the time.

They know this. It is publicized to keep people in line.

So it means very little, really.

[Bucky]

9. It can tell you a lot, really, but you have to know how to read between the lines

[getagrip_already]

14. You dont think the russian police know how to listen?

This is a country where a blank piece of paper, or a fake caviar sandwich, or just a shrug at the wrong time, will get you arrested.

If there is a message, those people were arrested. And they became examples to others. It can't happen often.

[Diraven]

5. The way Poland is beefing up it's military lately

Poland could probably steamroll what's left of the Russian Army and take Moscow in a couple days.

[Bucky]

10. True that. If not "steamroll" since the terrain there favors aggressive action, they'd be a very hard wall to crack

But historically the Russian mindset has always favored attacking over defending and bullying over peaceful coexistence.

The real problem with a conflict with Poland is that it would swiftly move into nuclear exchanges. The Russian leadership seems pretty set against crossing that threshold.

[rurallib]

8. I am think Poland is down the list after Moldova and Romania

but on the list nevertheless

[Bucky]

11. And Moldova is still below Georgia on the list.

Fortunately Putin doesn't seem to have the resources to go "shopping" right now.

[rurallib]

12. Maybe trump will help him after he is selected president?

[Bucky]

13. Trump is why Marco Rubio cosponsored the law forbidding an American president from leaving NATO

And it was nice to see a Republican putting nation before party for once

"The United States has maintained longstanding support to NATO. Most recently, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, passed by Congress on December 14, 2023, prohibits the President from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO without approval of a two-third Senate super-majority or an act of Congress. This bill was a response to Donald Trump's repeated expressions of interest in withdrawing from the organization."