I’d argue it’s an objectively true statement that, of all the people alive today, Putin has singlehandedly caused more death and suffering than anyone else. The gap between him and whoever is second is likely orders of magnitude. Yet, when I read discussions about him, Russia, or the war in Ukraine, I almost never see the kind of hateful, nasty, and mean comments directed at him that I regularly see aimed at Trump, Elon, or even ordinary Republican politicians. Why is that?
Bonus question: Why be so nasty about it in the first place? There’s nothing wrong with criticism, but I struggle to understand the need for such meanness. Even when I agree with the sentiment, reading comments like that feels toxic. It poisons my mind too. I don’t like being angry, and I avoid it for practical reasons as well. Anger clouds my judgment, and I think it does the same for others and thus should be avoided.
Putin has singlehandedly caused more death and suffering than anyone else.
And your proof of this is… what?
I almost never see the kind of hateful, nasty, and mean comments directed at him
Because Putin is not a product of the US. Trump is, and, to a large extent, so is Musk.
Yeah as bad as he is, Putin isn’t event the worst Russian dictator if we’re going by body count. Stalin is still miles ahead.
Putin is a scumbag, but he still has a long way to go to even beat George Bush Jnr, and he doesn’t even scratch the paint on Henry Kissinger’s record levels of crimes perpetrated against humanity.
Stalin is dead
Paraphrasing someone relevant: That’s just percentages.
And your proof of this is… what?
The war in Ukraine has so far caused around 300k deaths. I can’t think of a person alive who’d be responsible for more deaths than that.
The (so-called) “War On Terror” unleashed by George Bush has caused about 900,000 dead. That is just the death DIRECTLY caused by warfare and not the far, far greater number of people dead through indirect causes such as starvation and disease as a result.
Or does it only count in your book when the people dying “look like us”?
Or does it only count in your book when the people dying “look like us”?
No that totally counts. Why do you need to imply I have some racist agenda here?
Because Americans are stupid and easy to play
I utterly reject your premise
Pretty sure you are measuring using the wrong indicators.
There is little reason to talk shit of Putin as he is so hated, just as no reason to discuss water being wet.
Don’t start “whataboutism”. Those other people suck too. No reason to rank them.
There is little reason to talk shit of Putin as he is so hated, just as no reason to discuss water being wet.
Wouldn’t the same be true about Elon and Trump though, especially when talking about Lemmy.
That’s Whataboutism.
Putin probably gets plenty of hate on Russian language social media. English language social media is going to be full of criticism of English language influencers.
There’s a huge contingent, even here, who loves both those guys, but maybe more importantly, they’re supposed to be on our side. Hell, Trump is the president! Putin is the dictatorial ruler of an enemy country, we expect that he’s going to do and say stuff that’s terrible.
Putin killed away all critics early?
Because people don’t like jumping out of windows to their death.
Putin is a fascist dictator and you expect him to act that way. Democratically elected politician in democratic country should behave differently and when he doesn’t, it obviously result in some outrage.
Can’t say for sure, but my theory is that people sorta accept that Putin is a hated person. Most people in Western countries - or rather people not in Russia - hate the guy, therefore people don’t necessarily feel the need to elaborate on their dislike of him. Whereas people like Trump, after all, he got voted in so clearly some people must like the guy. Therefore people push back harder against him to convice others to do the same.
I think most of who you’re hearing are Americans. I might hate Putin with all my heart, but he leads a different country. There isn’t “chain of command” between me and him.
Edit/more blathering:
I try to avoid the virulent speech (not always successfully I admit) about Americans’ choice in leadership. And to a large degree, at home, even that is outside my “sphere of influence”, but I at least have an opportunity to be heard by other parts of the electorate here.
And by the way, I think supporting Trump is supporting Putin. I hope I’m wrong, but I do believe that.
We can piss and moan about Putin (and we do, I’m not sure what you’re missing TBH), but investing time and emotional energy, it makes sense to start at home, where we at least should have some influence on self-determination.
There isn’t “chain of command” between me and him.
I mean, sure their is.
Putin
POTUS
SCOTUS
Senate / House
. . . . You.
And that answers OPs question.
I get angrier when I think of Musk or Trump because, bafflingly, my peers have been fooled into giving these frat boys control over parts of my life.
Not so much Putin. Yet.
Granted he is probably more objectively evil.
Putin also has seemed to stfu and back away, musk and trump just word vomit constantly
Another fascinating question is why Netanjahu is receiving more hate in the West when they’re basically doing the same thing, only Putin has even less of a reason and is killing more people. (Ukrainians didn’t massacre Russian civilians or take them hostage, either)
Recency bias. Also anti-semitism. I don’t mean that in the sense that any criticism of Israel is necessarily or logically anti-semitic. I mean it in the historical sense. Any time Western societies starts hating on Jews, we really, really need to reflect hard on why.
I know, we all think we are objective enough to separate the Jewish identity from the Israeli identity, but I’m not so sure. Jews are definitely not so sure. It would be interesting to see a study on the correlation between having general anti-semitic views and having negative opinions about Israel.
Expectations.
People don’t expect a country that’s supposed to be a close ally to do actual pure evil.
Russia has always been in a different category. It’s oscillated between being an outright enemy and being a distant, somewhat-ally the West is suspicious of. Either way, Putin was never someone you trust.
When someone betrays your expectations, you have a stronger emotional response.
When you feel like your country is actually helping with evil acts, that’s another layer of emotional response.
But if someone you feel like you can’t do anything about and has always been bad anyway is being evil, again… Well it’s a bit of a “no shit, Sherlock” moment. Doesn’t spark anger in quite the same way.
Maybe because we don’t get the psyop that putin is not an evil bastard, so we do not feel wronged when we hear about him.
kim and trump get plenty but since they have been pretty impotent all around they don’t get as much play. Its about who seems to be inclined to do harm and has the most potential to.
The majority of people hate Putin, just like anything else you will find people justifying terrible stuffs. Putin is a war criminal and caused a ton of suffering but Israel caused more death and suffering than Russia
Israel caused more death and suffering than Russia
Irrelevant and not true.
As of 5 November 2024, over 45,000 people (43,391 Palestinian[1] and 1,706 Israeli)[19] have been reported killed in the Israel–Hamas war
Russia’s military casualties, the officials said, are approaching 300,000. The number includes as many as 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 injured troops. The Russian numbers dwarf the Ukrainian figures, which the officials put at close to 70,000 killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded.
And that doesn’t even include civilians.
You’d accidentally fall out a 10th floor window.
