Why All Russians Are Responsible for Putin's War

[@VladVexler]

WATCH NEXT: The REAL Reason Russian People Deny Reality kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4aVo2h-qMmDgtE Let's Reveal Putin's Secret Hero kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIitm6WOi9B5eKM THIS explains why Russia starts insane wars kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGe4mniOp7ulrMk Powerful Tactics Putin's Propaganda Uses To Hook You kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZuZh5ptrrGra5Y

[@Erik3E]

I think this video could as well have been announced towards the german government. The greedy MF in power withholding and even stopping other nations to send military help to Ukraine. Might be a video idea for the future to focus on the powers in the west trying tos top the support for Ukraine, "why are they doing it", "who are doing it" etc.

[@tokyo.peking]

Man youbare talking about "reality" ? Whi "accepts" reality ? EU ?? WHO ???

[@w-4258]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnbHeYWFqb6Lobs

[@clankv5942]

Hi Vlad. I have the notion that al former Soviet- orbit countries have not come to terms on racial superiority discourse ("na z i ideology" if you want). Germany made a guilt/ responsibility process. So, I think that Ukraine has a Nzi problem... and Russia, and Hungary, and Slovakia... and Poland... I recently became aware that russians see Germany's process of post WW II or post "Great Patriotic War" (is good to remember the difference in terms), as an induced guilt culture imposed by UK & USA. Could you comment on that? That does not mean that national identity, integration and cultural clashes are not an issue and that wishfuld thinking creates many problems, but the complete ommision of any lessons regarding racial supremacy horrors is something that still impress me.

[@konstantinlozev2272]

Vlad, while I was replying to a comment below on what Russia and the world overall have not processed yet, I thought: We have not even begun to process the tragedy and the politics behind Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What is your view on the impact of that in the current situation?

[@barbaraludwiczak4728]

The point is: Even if you aren't interested in history and politics, these are interested in you. There is no escape from them.

[@VladVexler]

Yes!

[@stephengrimmer35]

"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.“ - Leon Trotsky (apoc.)

[@MaryamofShomal]

Perfect

[@SHGames97]

Wow. So much significance with little words, completely agreed

[@sirlink9611]

Big facts 💯💯💯

[@sebastiangrumman8507]

People like Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Putin do monstrous acts, but we throw the appellation "monster" on them so as to distance ourselves from their acts. "These are monsters, not humans, therefore WE, OURSELVES, could never be capable of such acts".

[@rbgerald2469]

"Murderers aren't monsters, they're men. And that's the most horrifying thing about them." - Alice Sebold

[@Russian.spy1]

Не не … Вы либералы и дураки, а мы умные. Путин ❤❤❤❤

[@Juice_____________007-l9i]

​@@Russian.spy1You and many of your compatriots vastly overestimate yourselves and your knowledge. Google “Dunning Kruger effect”. Do that, come back and then I'll tell you more.

[@SnorriTheLlama]

“There’s a monster inside of all of us” - Silco, Arcane 2021

[@dvdvrkflvck]

​@@Russian.spy1Ватник

[@wilbertvandiemen9162]

Thanks, Vlad! Very informative, as allways.

[@VladVexler]

Thank you so much!

[@belesdan1886]

Too many people in Germany say the don´t want to hear about the holocaust and the world wars anymore. We have to leave it behind us, that has nothing to do with us we must be proud of our country again and vote for nationalist parties. That makes me sad and angry. It is not our fault what happened 80 years ago, but it is our responsibility that it never happens again.

[@anthonybullard4441]

"... And if you've got a ready made answer in two minutes flat to that question, you're wrong." One of my favorite Vlad quotes.

[@pedropinheiroaugusto3220]

As a Portuguese born after a 48 year long fascist dictatorship, I can relate to what is defended in the video. Portuguese dictatorship was only possible, even enduring a 13 year long colonial war with no end in sight, because most people were numb and refuged in a personal shell. When democracy came, after a military coup, people participated in droves but democracy is hard, it demands constant presence, results are slow, and people got disappointed (even though Portuguese democracy is a success story) and now there's danger of populism...

[@_karla._]

Mobilize, Organize, Unionize! Do shit! Don't expect the government to fix it, you have to fix the government!

[@Inoffensive_name]

Danger? What is wrong with policies that everyone enjoys? What is so wrong with policies that are popular with poor people too? Why can't you just engage with us and exchange words rather than announcing "populism bad"? What is so appealing about elitism anyway? Do you think you're part of the Elites or something?

[@_karla._]

@@Inoffensive_name because for example here in germany right wing populism spreads hate about minorities, refugees, islam etc. and say that they ruin the country, all while advocating for financial politics which would completely and utterly put the exact same poor people who voted for the populists in a disadvantage, for example by taking away social housing, privatizing healthcare, or taking away support for the jobless. They rile against minorities to distract the poor from the true financial and political dynamics that make their live worse and worse all while advocating for elitist hardcore-neoliberalism and policies that seem like they were ripped straight out of feudal times. Left wing populism is okay though - if you would even call it populism because it is really not populism if its coming from the left in my opinion.

[@Inoffensive_name]

@@_karla._ Populism just means something that is intended to be popular with most people. I'd recommend using the textbook definitions of political identifications instead of what your specific area refers to it as. Populism has no distinction on any political axis except its own, much less left vs right. But the Left vs Right Trap is best avoided no matter what part of politics your discussing.

[@_karla._]

@@Inoffensive_name so let's say,... if the idea of extrajudicially murdering drug users would be popular then just fucking do it just because it is popular??? Maybe it is only popular because people got convinced by propaganda? Populism is dangerous in my opinion. It is a reactionary tool used to manipulate masses - nothing more.

[@wgwells]

As a humanities and philosophy teacher, I can say this is one of the most important things I have ever watched on KZbin. Well done, Vlad--may this message spread across the world.

[@VladVexler]

That’s such a lovely compliment. Thank you for seeing! In a way this video is a snippet of a long and permanent conversation I am committed to sharing.

[@ivangohome]

Indeed very perceptive. a topic even a truly independent journalist would dare to broach!

[@elspeth8476]

This should be played in schools.

[@AWanderingEye]

A request:@@VladVexler When you make a video that is a piece of that long and permanent conversation please add it to a play list here. Thank you!

[@lynetteray2146]

Interestingly enough, I found Russians living in Central Asia different from Russians in Russia. Russian's in Central Asia were far more inclusive to foreigners and people of a different ethnic background. Part of that was the tough environment that is Kazakhstan. Part of it was simply being raised in a multi-ethnic environment.

[@urikanusher]

Listen, you present the information in a really intelligent and unusual way. The content is also rare. I will repeat the videos and the one you sent. bravo!

[@elysiumfields]

I come back to this video months later and it is still as relevant and impactful as ever. A stark warning and lesson to any and all members of any society on the planet. Thank you for expressing it so succinctly.

[@VladVexler]

My pleasure !

[@jartotornroos4897]

Same here

[@martinschaefer9581]

There is one good russion YT channel which is taking this up: 1420. They are asking seemingly stupid questions to russians on the streetsre, but that way forcing them to think about what is happening instead of retreating from any politics. Reactions quite often confirm what Vlad is saying...

[@marktrain9498]

An amazing channel, by a young man with a courageous, humble heart. I hope that we see more of this “good Russia” someday.

[@VladVexler]

I watch it and Russian language vox pop as well.

[@neilrushworth5958]

They do .

[@lornamorgan3575]

I like that 1420 doesn't ask yes/no questions and seems to shape his questions based on who he is talking to.

[@juliereminiec4937]

The questions that are asked of every day Russians aren't seemingly stupid (1420), some of the answers are rather backwards thinking .....the elderly Russians are guilty of this... The questions are asked to make people think

[@MusicMissionary]

This is so on point. It's all about non-dual thinking. If you insist you're good and the enemy is evil, you can justify any evil act.

[@VladVexler]

That thinking would help us a lot in our democracies.

[@tuntejaable]

This guy is an idiot. Now make a video about why all US citizens are responsible for what happened in Quantanomo Bay. Blaming Russian is just fool.

[@Tuppoo94]

It's especially bad if you honestly think what you're doing is in the people's best interest. This thought can be lawyered to justify the most heinous acts imaginable, because they're all done "for the people's own good". There are very few people who are as dangerous as someone who thinks what they're doing is helping others.

[@thomasayresol]

I'm so glad you did this video on the abdication of responsibility. This has been a problem here in the USA for decades. It seems to be getting worse. The most frightening part for me is watching the public expectations and publicly held standards for leaders in government going in a downward direction. The point of getting elected to public office was to serve the public, to govern. Now we have many leaders that refuse to govern. They don't even pretend anymore. It's all about selfish interests; money and power. But as George Carlin said, "Maybe, just maybe we deserve the leaders we get. After all, we elected them." Forgive me if the George Carlin quote is not exact, but you get the idea.

[@jeffreyhanc1711]

“The owners of this country knew the truth: it’s called The American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.” It’s never the wrong time to quote George Carlin!

[@live_free_or_perish]

Both the citizens and the leadership have become cynical and and self-absorbed. Most of the people I know have a very low opinion of their leaders and too many leaders view citizens as targets for manipulation and deception. We are losing faith in each other and I find it very disturbing.

[@popmilic6007]

This video is a typical way intelligentsia always shares responsibility for an evil with the ordinary people but never does the same for good deeds. I have never found similar analysis where responsibility for an invention, a discovery, a charitable act, a great policy, an artwork, act of collective help or sacrifice, ... has been shared with ordinary people, ... such acts always remain solely acts of individuals or small groups in power or priviledge or luck. Poor have always been an easy target and an easy scapegoat for intelligentsia that wants to signal their moral superiority.

[@thomasayresol]

@@popmilic6007 An act of collective help or sacrifice? How about the civil rights movement?

[@popmilic6007]

@@thomasayresol and who gets the credit for civil rights movement? Groups and individuals or ordinary Americans? In fact the movement is often depicted as a struggle of great groups and individuals against ordinary backwards people. Civil rights movement has never been presented as a collective struggle of ordinary Americans against an oppressive sistem.

[@rgbforever4561]

Hello, This is a thank you I am 16 years old, live in Germany, and i am totally overwhelmed with all current events. I am not able to find true comfort in restricting myself in my knowledge and not taking on responsibility really, but at the same time i tried to push away that responsibility because i couldn't do anything about it, i viewed it and still view it as unfair since i believe in fairness that put me in a moral dilemma i was unable to understand really and still don't claim i do. It is hard for me to accept unfairness to put it in to context. The example in this case would be the lackluster german weapon deliveries at the start of the war. This video gave me an idea that i don't claim to fully understand on what it means to take responsibility and what the difference between taking responsibility and accepting the others actions or opinions. I hope i was able to vaguely put my thoughts in to words that make sense.

[@President.GeorgeWashington]

You're 16? Damn. Go outside and have fun with your friends. Worry about this stuff when you're older. You won't regret it

[@swaslaukinonome]

You will never answer such questions, even if you grow very old. You can practice and find the mix of global and local issues that lead you to the best results. There is no perfect mix, but almost any positive or constructive action is not totally worthless over time. Fatalism is not sustainable.

[@rgbforever4561]

@@President.GeorgeWashington I do, no worries

[@villcrs4110]

If i was you, i was going to put most of my coins into biology. Im 38, at your age i read all of Nietzsche's books. I ended up overthinking all matters without coming in terms. I ended last couple years delving into the history of biology. Aminoacids, DNA, cells eating each other, viruses, sponges, seaworms, jellyfishes, fish, tetrapods, serpents and primates etc....Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Middle Ages, Age of Discovery, Renaissance, Industrial Age, Atomic Age, Information Age, Emergent Age. If you delve more into these events, you will end up understanding that things are as they should be.

[@VladVexler]

Proud of you for such a smart comment. Go gently on yourself and give yourself time to develop. Life is long. Sending positive wishes your way. The world has a lot of stuff going on it, but it is also quite robust.

[@sjoerdglaser2794]

As someone who takes too much responsibility for others. I fully agree that it is impossible to live with it. The human suffering is just too big and my ability to do something about it is just too small. Even the homeless person in the street, I can give him a few coins every few days and have a little chat. But it's hard to do anything else without a major sacrifice on my part

[@BigDaddyCane777]

It's good to see you back. Hope you're feeling better.

[@VladVexler]

Working on it! Thank you!

[@charlesrae3793]

Shakespeare said it well: This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine. Also, I read Ian Buruma's book on Germany and Japan and how they dealt with ( or in Japan's case, didn't deal with) their war crimes. Germany made enormous moves towards recognising their complicity, whereas Japan has never fully come to terms with their crimes.

[@Chilam.]

That's because they became America's lapdog against the USSR and later china

[@Sindrijo]

... and the southern states of the US, where they want to wash their troubled history with mandated lies of omittance like much like a narcissist would. One does not inherit the blame for an ancestor's sins but while the wound still bleeds one inherits the moral responsibility to mend it.

[@bulletsizednuke1100]

One thing that genuinely interests me is why and how did Germany recognize their complicity? Because everywhere else the trend seems to be denial

[@katitadeb]

At least Japan is not bullying around how they once did, meanwhile Russia...

[@Posiman]

@@bulletsizednuke1100 Germans took it as their responsibility to prevent any other world war. Their schools teach extremely extensively about the crimes of the Third Reich and even more extensively about the suffering of people subjected to it. They say over and over again to their children and stiludents that it's their shared responsibility to prevent this from ever happening again. They have this weird relationship where even waving a national flag is considered not wrong, but somewhat iffy and suspicious. And politically they put all of their apples into two ideas: 1) European Union. The notion that a strong, rules-based supernational organisation can prevent wars. Their whole post-war foreign policy was about strenghtening the EU. 2) The idea that countries that have strong trading and business relationships don't go to war with each other. In order zo prevent wars, you have to build on these relationships and mutual economical dependencies. This was their great miscalculation on Russia. Before and even after the invasion when Poles, Czechs and especially the Baltics screamed out of top of their lungs to do something They were still in this denial being like "We only need to explain to Putin how much we need his oil and plastics and how much he needs our money and hi-tech goods". They really didn't want to get their hands dirty on this war, only sending medical kits and protective gear to Ukraine instead of weapons and ammo they demanded. You really could see their anxiety and fear of escalation. They eventually came to their senses but you could see their whole political identity crumbling at that moment.

[@basvoer-qp7qw]

Probably the best video on YT I have seen in a while. Questioning me on (Dutch) politics, thick and thin relationships and the reasons we got ourselves in this mess and almost giving into polarization.

[@FarTooFar]

I worked with an absolutely wonderful russian women who I saw lose her composure and cry only twice. On the first occasion, when her beloved grandmother died; the second occasion, on the morning her country invaded Ukraine. Tears of shame.

[@john1703]

This is what is happening in the UK, regarding Brexit. "We" voted for Cameron, "we" voted in the referendum in 2016, "we" voted for Boris in 2019, Now "we" don't like what "we" were given, so "we" are trying to ignore it.

[@varvarith3090]

Weak are punished for their crimes, strong are rewarded for their crimes.

[@begr_wiedererkennungswert]

It must have been painful to create this thumbnail. Beautifully put, as always. When I watch 1420s videos I get the impression that people also don’t have a clue, what exactly they could do to stop the war, where even to start and whom outside of their closest sphere they could trust. Denying responsibility is a way of self-protection when you feel helpless. (I feel like I’m in a constant dialogue with my dead grandparents since this war started.)

[@VladVexler]

Yes - I also watch Russian vox pop and it’s a very striking pattern. Even among those who are firmly against.

[@thefarmerswifeknits6190]

Currently there is no mechanism for them to organize and coalesce.

[@jpthiran]

@@VladVexler ...and what do they say ?

[@justhome4843]

1420 is a brilliant channel, especially if you watch it with Vlad's commentary in mind and particularly remember that it represents the vox pop of urban Russians. I am noticing very interesting shifts in the 1420 interviews though. A promising shift towards awareness, acknowledgement and a taking of responsibility by ordinary Russians. I see so much pain in that channel that it becomes impossible just to hate and blame, even though that would be so much easier and more emotionally satisfying at times!

[@russetmantle1]

@@justhome4843 What I particularly like about the 1420 channel is that the interviewer asks some very intelligently worded questions that give space for people to express what they really think, albeit usually obliquely. So, for example, one recent question was "which other countries do you think we should denazify?" - a much better way to approach the topic than the underlying implicit question "should we be denazifying Ukraine at all?", which would be far too direct. That said, my absolute favourite so far was "Should we nuke the UK?", which I found absolutely hilarious (I live in London, so I'm allowed to).

[@petertraudes106]

I am in the Netherlands and i have a Dutch friend who studied Russian and who works as a translator. It turns that hè also is a "Putin Versteher" who constantly repeats the Russian propaganda on the genocidal war in Ukraine. I broke up our friendship of more than three decades and i am very unhappy about it.

[@trex3003]

This happened to many Americans from 2016 to the present. Many families were broken up as relatives were lost to the cult of Trump. We keep asking ourselves, "How did they give up their sanity to follow him and turn a blind eye to obvious facts and the truth?. It is maddening.

[@avalon5638]

@T.Rex Not only between Americans. over the whole world

[@sillysad3198]

be happy. you diid a right thing. and you kept your healthy agency

[@dannylojkovic5205]

Its especially insane when a person from the west falls into that line of thinking or tries to justify the war in Ukraine. The common line of argumentation is that the war is the US’s fault or shared responsibility for allowing NATO to expand after the Cold War. However, this line of argumentation denies agency to other Eastern European countries that wanted to join NATO precisely because of their history with the Russians. Further, I see this as a similar line of thinking that WWII was actually the UK and France’s fault since they forced Germany to sign the Versailles Treaty. Sure, it was a bad treaty, but then again, it’s a way of taking away agency from Germany for starting the war and shifting blame in a way. I’d agree more so with the argument that the West could have done more to prevent WWII or the Holocaust, but trying to grant equal blame doesn’t make sense. We could have done more to make Russia into a stable democracy, but we didn’t. That would be a better argument than “oh, Eastern Europe joined NATO. Baker said that NATO would not be expanded but signed nothing, and then other Eastern European countries joined NATO.”

[@hkchan1339]

@@dannylojkovic5205 Western Europe seem to have forgotten that the reason they recovered so quickly after ww2 is because of NATO, sure the marshal plan provided the seed money to start things off. But it’s the guaranteed stability of NATO that really got investors to commit their money to invest in economic recovery. When the iron curtain fell, it’s only fair the same safety guarantee is provided for the new countries to have a chance of a better life with the same safety guarantee of NATO. NATO didn’t expanded East, countries joined eagerly from the east. Just as how Finland and Sweden eagerly joined today after seeing what russia did in Ukraine

[@johnkeogh8163]

Watching two years later and still relevant.

[@VladVexler]

Thank you!

[@somedudeok1451]

@@VladVexler Vlad, you have not explained _in what way_ I am responsible for the fascist in my parliament, beyond stating the obvious that he and I are part of the same culture. That is *not* enough of an explanation! And even if that one argument was enough, it might very well be wrong! After all, the fascist probably lived in very different socio-economic circumstances, he probably had different experiences, a different upbringing and so on. Say we look at two Russians, one in Petersburg and one in the rural periphery. These two people have massively different cultures and it does not make sense to arbitrarily group them together, just because they are ruled by the same government. Please explain this better or tell me where you have already explained this better. Thank you.

[@kathylaing3231]

I had been watching interviews of Russian soldiers by a Ukrainian journalist and was dumbfounded by their answers as to why they ended up in this war. Your video has helped me to understand this with a degree of compassion. This should be taught in all schools everywhere!

[@U.H8]

💛👍🏻💙agree

[@scottishfold7929]

Excellent analysis. I am Italian and there was once a famous singer-songwriter who said something similar "I'm not afraid of Berlusconi himself, but of Berlusconi in me"

[@gerryjamesedwards1227]

It seems obvious, once you say it out loud, that we would be less inclined to tolerate political leadership that goes against our own interests if we bore more of the responsibility for the actions of those leaders. The difficulty is that it doesn't get talked about by the political class as a reason to get involved, as it's the last thing most of them want, and the media that rely on access to the political class don't talk about it either. They make it easy to feel removed from the process.

[@VladVexler]

We are in so much trouble with this, yes, We are in the middle of a huge crisis of trust and alienation from the political process.

[@alihorda]

thing is, how you should bear responsibilities for actions of politicans you didn't vote for and have no legitimate way to remove them?

[@elzarees279]

This was a fantastic video! Both informative, interesting and food for thought. A interesting thing about expanding your thick world: There’s a old mystic tradition that whose entire premise is expanding your sense of empathy and love to all beings. It’s sometimes called “The long night of the soul” because it basically destroys your sense of ego. I’ve been through it in my youth and it is a harrowing experience, very overwhelming grief, sadness and pity combined with a sense off belonging, caring and love for.. well everyone.

[@VladVexler]

Thank you for sharing

[@michaelking9195]

Mr Vexler is making a case for participative politics and for a vibrant civic space - the things that are absent in a tyranny. I think that for justice and peace to prevail, a society needs rules that ensure civic space can't be suppressed - in other words, checks and balances to prevent a would-be tyrant from suppressing it. The Russian invasion of Ukraine shows what happens when a determined group succeed in suppressing civic space.

[@kevinmaccallum336]

"Despise nothing except meanness, selfishness and corruption." ... "Fear nothing except cowardice, disloyalty, and indifference."

[@meh.7539]

I disagree with giving up on politics. Never do that. You can change your level of involvement, you can change your method of involvement, but you can't quit politics because it won't ever quit you.

[@nkristianschmidt]

you can move. No big country works well.

[@KoljaWolfi]

seeing the people retreating to right extremism because of their fears made me take a more proactive stance on politics. informing myself and others and joining a political party.

[@kernowpolski]

Wow Vlad that was an amazing piece of work drawing upon the internal traumas of the politics of Germany, Russia and the West - truly a piece of analysis for the whole of the West and Russia. So much learning, perception and wisdom in such a compact package. Well done and thank you. Stephen

[@VladVexler]

Stephen thank you so much!

[@gjk282]

I must say I felt challenged by the idea of ownership of the action of political adversaries. As a German, it's become commonplace to own our past since the 1970ies or so. But owning your opponent's actions in the PRESENT is an idea that only makes sense after contemplation. Thank you.

[@Krisvandermerwe]

The message is to take responsibility for the politics of your country even if you do not believe in it. Vlad, you are a hard taskmaster.

[@NeilForshaw]

Just giving this video another watch and it's got me thinking. 1. When does responsibility end? Like the vietnam protester is still responsible? Does it extend further afield? Seems like if even the protester doing everything they can to stop the war is still responsible then when does it end? 2. If guilt is not equal to responsibility then what is "responsibility"? What is the consequences of being "responsible" for something? All this rhetoric about "all russians are responsible"... well... what does that do? If they're not to blame therefore you can't punish them then so what instead?! Why are so many people spewing out this rhetoric if it means nothing?

[@1ACL]

Thank you for this. I have been "checking out" lately. It's not a good way to be, and an aware mind will see how destructive it is to self, others, and society. "Checking out" feels horrible! It numbs one. It makes us not human.

[@VladVexler]

I do think that mental health comes first though. And you know, being checked in in an unhealthy way could be worse than checking out.

[@aaronbecker5617]

It can be hard to acknowledge the crimes of your country but it can also clear away the fog so that you can do what needs to be done. Thank you for the thoughtful video

[@VladVexler]

My pleasure

[@justhome4843]

Great thumbnail! I really appreciate it when a KZbinr takes the trouble to say something important and profound with their video thumbnails rather than just engaging in cheesy click bait ;)

[@JadeGreenCanary]

Vlad, as a 19 yo russian who started resenting russian state, culture and language around 5 years ago, what could've i done differently?

[@wa1ufo]

Thank you so much Vlad.

[@gtr9s]

My country is becoming really polarized, is good to think that we are in the end only one nation. Awesome video as anyways.

[@VladVexler]

Thank you

[@joelthomas8156]

I've now watched several of your videos and I am blown away. Such great content that you connect with from both your Russian background but then expound on those philosophical ideas into a greater commentary on humanity as a whole. I am learning more about Russian culture (and more deeply thinking about American culture).

[@VladVexler]

Hi Joel so glad the videos are bringing you value. At the moment I’m not posting as frequently as I would like on the main channel (health reasons), but there is always a regular trickle of casual conversations on the second Clips channel.

[@sarfaraz.hosseini]

Amazing analysis Vlad, I'm reading Masha Gessen's _"The Man Without A Face",_ she mentions fascinating research about atomization in Russia: "The huge country was as atomized as it had ever been, Putin's policies had effectively destroyed public space, the internet had developed in Russia as it had in other countries, but it took on the peculiar shape of a series of information bubbles. American researchers who mapped the world's blogosphere, found that unlike the American blogosphere, or for that matter the Iranian one, which formed a series of interlocking circles, the Russian blogosphere consisted of discreate circles, each unconnected to any other. It was an anti-utopia of the information age, an infinite number of echo chambers. Nor was this true just of the Internet, the Kremlin was watching its own TV, big business was reading its own newspapers, the intelligentsia was reading its own blogs, none of these groups was aware of the other's realities, and this made mass protest of any sort unlikely"

[@VladVexler]

Glad you are reading Masha

[@robrob9050]

Try to read "Managing Consent" by Chomsky. It will give you broader picture...

[@gabriellerose-cb1ym]

Vlad! You are knocking it out of the park lately. This is even more relevant today.

[@hannahg8439]

I think you completely misunderstood Singer's argument.

[@_pawter]

I believe you are wrong.

[@TheMarked1000]

That moment with Khodorkovsky and Hordon is so powerful. The way two grown man from opposed sides cry together, faced with enormous tragedy. Khodorkovsky is extremely sincere in his apologies, he truly feels responsible, despite everything he went through. It would've been extremely easy for him to just dismiss everything Putin is doing knowing what Putin did to him. But he didn't and it's admirable. This is how russians would be able to resurrect.

[@emjizone]

9:25 By this you can begin to understand why I sometimes felt so depressed while everyone around me thinks everything is fine, finds my sadness stupid and adds a little more pain blaming me for being sad for nothing. And of course I'm not the only one experiencing that. And of course, I come out of this madness of feeling for so many other living beings, because it is really hell and yet I myself am still alive.

[@Gazer873]

A healthy empathy might be good. Not suffering endlessly for every creature bc no it would kill you, it would not make you anihilate everyone else (you couldn’t bear it). A healthy empathy is the ability for empathy without being a slave of it. Maybe some understand this concept here. Otherwise i completely agree with you. The collective responsibility is a topic definitly. I like your explanation about that and Thomas Mann‘s words are very true of course too.

[@cosmicfoxglove1047]

I would like to offer the opposite view, that if in one moment we felt all the joy, bliss and happiness of every creature in the universe all at once, we might decide to protect them from annihilation at any cost! More than happiness or suffering, I think the worth of life lies in meaning, autonomy and purpose. Creatures can bear a certain amount of suffering (and even voluntarily submit themselves to suffering) if meaning is present.

[@VladVexler]

Proportion - I had a rant in this video about being sentimentally attached to human suffering. But it confused an already convoluted video so I just cut it out.

[@Gazer873]

@@VladVexler attachment, if you think in buddhist terminology, it is generally agreed on in buddhism that this is never desireable. Sentimental gives that term an additional negative touch. In that sense i agree. But however there is a thin line between overly and poorly empathic, there is the obvious too much and too little of course, but that thin red line … i guess it is somewhere around being empathic enough but still being able to act rationally (e.g. in order to help). So, what is „empathic enough“… to be aware of the suffering, to realize it is suffering, to realize what causes it (the ability to see how oneself would feel in the circumstances at hand), but to not overly emotionally feel it too - that might be the boundary neccessary to remain in the state of being able to help/act (and not break down being unable to help bc it is emotionally too overwhelming). The buddhist definition of attachment also refers to being able to let go (and forgive maybe even) after suffering happened (and attachment to suffering exists too btw). To a certain extent that matters too, oaths of 5000 years revenge are not helpful 😉. So all this touches the concept of the thicker and thinner empathy too. And that too is a matter of acchieving the ability to be empathic in a healthy way, including the aspect of who/what/how far do i define the thicker surroundings (the larger that group is the more evolved id say, but again without unhealthy attachment). Hope this made sense. But its controversial, i get it that you cut it out, some might have misinterpreted that as being too little empathic yourself maybe haha. I get it that you avoided that pandora‘s box.

[@billsvoboda4459]

I agree- feeling all the suffering of others would not drive you to annihilate the others, it would drive you (desperately) to stop all feeling-whatever that took.

[@Phoenix-214]

@@VladVexler I write this because , having watched over half a dozen of your videos, and counting, in the recommended order, I believe you to be a reasonable and thoughtful man. To my way of thinking, you are ignoring the raw practicalities of living in such a society. Let's start at home, here in the nice, safe, democratic Western sphere of influence. I am a Seoul-born Korean-American who emigrated when he was nine months old to the United States. When we, as a collective whole, decided to invade Iraq, I was a child. I still went out on the streets and protested, I did my supposed moral duties, and I genuinely believed in them. For much of my life afterwards up until I was an adult, I continued to do so. And...nothing ever changed as a result. No matter who I talked to, no matter what I did, it didn't save a single life out there, it didn't prevent a bullet from being fired, it didn't stop the widespread suffering and human cost of that war in even the tiniest of ways. I lived surrounded by people who honestly did not care. I grew up in a red state, I would later be forced to return to said red state when I could vote, but would have had no impact simply because of its political makeup. How exactly was I responsible for what happened? I did, essentially, everything in my power and all it did was waste my time, energy, and health. I helped out other people in my immediate vicinity in apolitical ways. Things did not always go the way I wanted them to, but I made a difference, for them. That they are my "thick" relationships is an irrelevance here. They were the only people within reach, the only people I could actually have affected. I could have done nothing about the corporate abuses by the ultra-rich in my birth country of South Korea and I could have done nothing about the mass death and destruction the USA's (And the UK's) misadventures in the Middle East had resulted in. I tried. I really did. And there was a time that I said, with absolute conviction, that I am sorry for failing, but now, I am tired of apologizing for not being good enough to stop it. I'm tired of apologizing for the crime of being human, with human limitations. Now, I am faced with another _personal_ nightmare. I have a friend in Russia, one who can and probably will be mobilized at some point in the coming months. I've paid close attention to the progress of arms in Ukraine and I know that even if he should choose to surrender as quickly as possible, his odds of survival are not good. He is one of those people you talked about. The kind, gentle soul who looks after those around him. He recently saved some kittens from his construction site. He lives somewhere in Rostov-on-Don, in case you're wondering. He'll take time out of his day to spend time with or help others around him. He isn't a fighter. He's a softie, he cares about others. Very empathetic. And before you say I'm only paying attention to this situation because it is part of my "thick" sphere, I will readily point out that I have already contributed hundreds of dollars I honestly did not have to spare to humanitarian aid initiatives aimed at helping Ukrainians, to people who I have never met before and who will simply never know I exist in the first place. I am one more voice in a chorus of individuals pledging resources and support to them. I tried to be as efficient with my distribution of those resources as possible. I wanted as much of it as I could allow for to actually reach victims, families, and refugees. I will never know if what I did saved lives or not, but I know it had an actual effect, and that's enough. I am concerned about this person because, yes, he is a friend, and a fundamentally decent human being, but also because I know him and I thus have actual power in this situation. I can _do_ something about it. But what, pray tell, can _he_ do about Russia? I'll answer that for you: Nothing. He cannot even risk talking about this conflict to other people for fear of being reported and sent off to jail to no good end, for him or anyone else, never mind organizing and starting a movement. If he flees Russia, or otherwise avoids mobilization, _or_ surrenders without a fight, however, he is actively sabotaging the Russian government's war efforts by removing a warm body from their rosters. I fundamentally disagree with you. It is immoral by the standards of the vast majority of post-Enlightenment worldviews to impose a choice like this on anyone, and it is considered insane and unreasonable to hold them accountable for what they do in response. Even a hint of "responsibility," of the kind you so carefully differentiated from actual guilt, is not, in my view, rational. I am an individual. He is an individual. We did not choose where we were born, we both share in the cultures of our countries of origin to an extent, but we have also already _rejected_ a fair number of the parts we don't like. Mikhail Khodorkovsky is almost certainly a good man, and you know what? This isn't on him. I looked him up while writing this post out. He has devoted his life to bravely defying the Russian oligarchy which, in _my_ view, murdered the next potential iteration of Russian democracy in its cradle. Just as you say that your definition of "responsibility" is not the same as guilt, I, in turn, say that my definition of rejection is not the same as dismissing my opponents as evil. If you dig deep enough, everyone has an understandable cause for their behavior somewhere. Even the very worst among us. We are all human, and the capacity for what we so simplistically term "good" and "evil" exists in all of us, as you said. But there is still a point at which is becomes practically pointless to assign blame or to judge others. There comes a point where you must simply act. And if action of a directly interventional nature is fruitless, then the only action you have left which is of any practical consequence is separation. Removal. You keep saying Russians have "outsourced" their politics, and for many of them, there is a degree of complicity, but I'm going to turn this on its head: The _system_ has excluded _them._ You are holding them responsible for refusing to try to break back into it when doing so will almost certainly result in failure and harsh consequences including torture and death, their last days spent alone and miserable and terrified. An individual can choose to stand against the wind, but without support, without protection, that individual will be knocked over by it. (At least, if it's a hurricane-force wind. Bear with me, it's a metaphor, sometimes those get snarled up.) _Nobody_ in history is a pure and simple hero, there is always at least a _little_ nuance and calculation even to the most noble acts of self-sacrifice. It does not help that depressingly often, such gestures amount to nothing at all. For every Martin Luther King, Jr., there are probably ten Raoul Wallenbergs and Witold Pileckis. And even _they_ are not good examples...because we know who they were, and what they did. Eventually, history remembered them...and the world was different because they were there, and they fought to save lives. Thousands of people exist because of them. They still managed to make a difference. What about the average person, not fortunate enough to have the means to save lives, and not fortunate or savvy enough to be visible and influence others? My friend's options all suck. He can dodge mobilization. He will be sent to prison where he will likely be tortured and killed, and his family may fall victim to such abuses as well. He can try to flee. If he gets caught, that's the most likely outcome anyway, or he might be sent off to fight. If he stays and is mobilized, he can, at best, try to surrender. He is not brave enough to actively sabotage the Russian military from within, and given the consequences for doing so, I will not hold that against him. But let's say that I do. Maybe it could save a few lives. Maybe it would be entirely pointless. Is it really worth risking his life over? And since we're talking about moral and cultural responsibility, would him going out and protesting, only to be arrested or sent off to die in Kherson anyway amount to anything, either? Would anyone other than myself and his immediate family even remember him? Most likely not. It matters, even if you should do the right thing regardless of who is watching, because you want to set an example, too. But the example he would set in a pointless gesture like an open protest is that good deeds never go unpunished. (cont.)

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

I love it when individuals are blamed for a collective crime. I love when I am blamed for things I did not do.

[@VladVexler]

This video is against attributing collective blame.

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

@@VladVexler I do not blame individual germans, and I never will. Nor will I blame individual russians. That's just my position.

[@VladVexler]

@@NotOrdinaryInGames that’s the position of the video you’ve watched - it’s against blaming individual Russians!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

@@VladVexler I guess I got you all wrong somehow.

[@TransistorLSD]

@@NotOrdinaryInGames Responsibility isn't guilt.

[@nukkuminen]

I've only just discovered your channel and I so much wish I had sooner as it speaks to me in ways I had probably conceded were no longer possible. I've never lived in Russia but I'm ethnically and culturally half-Russian; some of my fondest childhood memories are of family visits to Russia. You can imagine the kind of dissociation I've been feeling at least since 2014, being acutely aware that there was no room for nuance when discussing Putin's regime's increasing belligerence. This culminated on 24 February 2022, at which point it felt as if a great chunk of my identity was brutally ripped off and violated. It may have been the loneliest experience of my life. Your presentation of Thomas Mann's thought on responsibility reminded me that there is a healthy, if not easy, way for me to gradually reconnect with myself. Thank you.

[@creepyoldlady2995]

After watching your videos, I always feel as if my perspective is a bit broader. Many thanks.

[@VladVexler]

That’s a very fine compliment!

[@nattuglaHK]

Agree. Many thanks ⚘

[@terryhand]

This is a very timely video, I have just emailed a friend explaining why I feel politically homeless. As ever, there is so much to think about here.

[@VladVexler]

I hope to be picking up many threads from it in the future! It didn’t really have to be tethered to Russia at all.

[@ididthisonpulpous6526]

I came across your channel last week and... You are great! You are insightful, considered, and your editing and production to coincide with those attributes is instructive. As a US citizen, I hope, I have been struggling pretty hard lately to balance the issues you are discussing of accepting responsibility for those I disagree with. Thank you so much for your time and insight!

[@VladVexler]

My great pleasure. I look forward to talking about US politics specifically.

[@ПавелКомелин]

This is a Ukrainian propagandist and nothing more. He does not say anything smart and insightful, he simply imposes an agenda that is beneficial to them. Zelenskiy needs more money to launder them and more weapons to sell to other countries. Such as the author of the video receive money from the government for such work.

[@ididthisonpulpous6526]

@@ПавелКомелин Given that he is talking about Russian politics and philosophy I am skeptical as to which of the two, you and him, are likely touting propagandistic notions here.

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

@@VladVexler next time you discuss the topic could you mention something about people trying to embrace this concept, but really only doing so to place themselves on a pedestal and simply bash an opposition for one reason or another? That hypothetical individual would obviously be missing the point.

[@AnexoRialto]

I can think of only 2 countries that have taken responsibility for bad actions: Germany and South Africa. In my adopted country Spain, Franco's dictatorship was just carpeted over in order to placate the military and the pro-Francoist part of society in the transition to democracy. In my native country the USA, no collective responsibility has ever been taken for slavery and that fact still poisons society and politics. Let alone the multiple unjustified military invasions undertaken over the years. The norm is to never make the mental leap and take collective responsibility, but to close our eyes instead.

[@janedagger]

Mr Vexler, I'm resident in the USA and can't help but use some of what you're saying here to examine the polarization and attempts to gain authoritatianism in my country. Your essays... I"m enjoying muchly, thank you. I hope you're doing well and improving on the conditions you had mentioned previously. Be safe, sir. All my love.

[@BojanBojovic]

Thanks Vlad, this is actually a very interesting subject, feeling responsible even if we personally did nothing directly to make others suffer. It correlates well with the illogical state of the collective identity in which people choose to be proud of other people from their tribe because of their achievements, however not ashamed of some bad examples from the same tribe. Somehow it became normal to take the best out of our collective identity but not take the worst, which would be very logical thing to do as you can not have only the parts you like, but when you identify with couple of million of strangers you need to accept all of them as yours, otherwise there is no morality in this.

[@dempsey2025]

Take on, ethically, the feelings of strangers 5,000 miles away from you, not only their suffering, but also their joy, hope, wonder, and creativity, and perhaps empathy is worth it after all.

[@nikkan3810]

Taking on it is one thing, being able to change it is entirely different, unfortunately.

[@draganostojic6297]

I feel the same about Serbia

[@treschlet]

"politics cannot stop working" THANK you. I've been trying to make this point loudly to so many fellow people on the left and middle in the US, those who are in the "both sides suck" camp. The way I put it is as a counter to "it's just a choice between the lesser of evils" where I say "every decision you or anyone has ever made or will ever make, is the choice between the lesser of evils. No human is pure "good." It's our responsibility to, at every turn, every choice, every time an option comes up, to analyze the options and to pick the least evil. This is the only way progress is made"

[@bruceatweed3140]

Thank you for sharing your analysis. Glad I fund it.

[@VladVexler]

Thank you Bruce!

[@sherrillwhately7586]

Checking out is so common here in the USA too. I was mostly checked out until Trump came on the scene. It’s difficult not to fall into political malaise when the system stacks the deck against you changing the defects in the system. My American Tai Chi instructor stays disengaged, doesn’t vote. He thinks he can avoid all conflict by ignoring it. It won’t affect him personally if he doesn’t engage with it.

[@thorr18BEM]

GenX, in the US, was infamous for its apathy, looking down on activists and activism. It was no longer "cool" to be involved in collective actions to improve the world or the country. When questioned, they often responded like modern Russians do with "I'm not into politics" and similar. It was a sort of backlash to earlier activist culture, just as I think Russian behavior is partly a backlash to the memory of earlier political turmoil.

[@walkerck]

@@thorr18BEM Gen X, due to it's numerical shortcomings was made to feel unheard and insignificant. Sandwiched between the much larger numbers of the Boomers and Millennials, Gen X was and continues to be ignored. It is because they weren't listened to or more importantly acknowledged as having a right to an opinion that they festered with resentment. That resentment was often portrayed as apathy, but it really isn't an accurate descriptor. Gen X is very political, they just never have and never will have the votes.

[@alexfortin7209]

GenX is by far the most Entrepreneurial Generation ever because it always had to fend for itself.

[@sherrillwhately7586]

@@alexfortin7209 I’m from the last year of the Boomers. We went from political activism into a kind of religious malaise. Half my friends became Jesus freaks and are now far right wing, and the other half, like me, settled into Eastern Religion and Philosophy, Buddhism, Taoism, etc. That made them/us vulnerable to various kinds of magical thinking and escapism. At the same time our monumental efforts in politics didn’t seem to bear much fruit and there is an underlying cynicism, which I work hard to overcome in myself… because it could become so much worse.

[@nathanaelsmith3553]

The question of blame vs responsibility is an interesting one. The old cliche of "if you had a time machine would you travel back to murder baby Hitler to prevent the war?" is in my opinion best answered with "no - I would rescue him from being brutalized and becoming brutal." We should avoid brutalizing people and so allowing them to become brutal. Like Hitler, Putin had a brutalizing childhood environment and became brutal as a result. I worry that the current economic war against Russia is brutalizing their population and potentially breeding future Putins and future Hitlers. I acknowledge that it is necessary right now but as soon as this conflict is resolved we in the west have a responsibility to help heal the trauma caused to both sides. If we just abandon Russia to suffer the consequences of Putin's actions we will have just kicked the can down the road and created brutalized and brutalizing broken people. History shows this. Nazi Germany's lust for national pride was a reaction to their humiliation after the first world war. It is not just Russians' fault for producing Putin, it is the responsibility of all of us not to produce future Putins.

[@threethrushes]

Russia is a brutalising country. Studied and worked as an ex-pat in Piter, Moscow (and Kyiv).

[@jamesgarner327]

That's one of the things that scare me the most actually, what to do with the young russian vets, once the war is over, they'll be angry disilusionned and believe themselves to be at war with the west, they could easely start militarily assisting many anti-western groups around the world.

[@alcoholfree6381]

Russia has a tremendous alcoholism problem; there are 700,000 deaths a year from alcohol! 35% of deaths are caused by alcohol! Some studies have shown that 50% of the deaths are alcohol related. Alcohol is a neurotoxic agent as is it’s metabolite acetaldehyde. So there is lots of brain damage in Russia. This will undoubtedly influence people’s actions and participation?

[@juliablom3461]

Well said. Thats where we have power as a community.

[@VladVexler]

@@jamesgarner327 They will be in a very bad way

[@artluvr6170]

Another brilliant video! Thank you!

[@VladVexler]

Pleasure!

[@timsullivan4566]

"...and if you have an answer to that question within 2 minutes... ...then you are wrong." Sage advice for all firmly held beliefs regarding seemingly intractable problems.

[@adkepp9585]

Mr. Vexler I have heard, read and seen many good and well-founded statements. What you publish here is simply excellent. Go on like that. I will continue to follow you with pleasure. Greatings from Germany

[@franny5295]

This was a good one Vlad. Not that your other videos weren't but this one was remarkable in the degree that the content is extraordinary. I think this applies everywhere. Not guilt or blame, I personally feel those are counterproductive, but responsibility and embracing that as a society would change the world. All of it and for the better. This is a good one...

[@VladVexler]

Glad you feel like that Franchesca!

[@justhome4843]

@@VladVexler Yes, now that I have seen the video I understand why you took some extra time to work on it and refine it before posting. Thanks for the Q&A videos you posted on your clips channel while we tried to wait patiently for this one. It was worth the wait :)

[@VladVexler]

@@justhome4843 that’s very lovely! I sadly didn’t take much time over it- my health has been pretty poor! So I taped it quickly day before yesterday, and edited a little yesterday! Looking forward to replying to your words on Patreon with gratitude! And will find my way to your comments I haven’t acknowledged yet as well.

[@justhome4843]

@@VladVexler even more brilliant if you didn't take much time over it :) It looks like.a masterpiece from my vantage point! My health has been shocking this week as well, which has severely curtailed my ability to work on my own creative projects so I understand the frustration. I also have lots of people I owe replies to in my life that I just haven't gotten to, so I really don't mind how long it takes you to reply to me on Patreon if you manage to reply at all :) Although of course it's always a joy to interact with you when your health allows. Wishing both of us a better week this week!

[@FalseProphet111]

Felt the Same Here. Great content.

[@ljuc]

"We can't get to terrorist, so we'll refer to hostages as terrorists and get to them". Scapegoating on non-subjected people is not the collective responsibility you talk of. History doesn't have "if" in it.

[@zetristan4525]

Vlad, after watching brilliant video after balanced video from you, this is your best of them all. I ask you, just for this one (and I'm painfully aware of how much effort and sacrifice it can be for you), please translate this 15min video into Russian (and subtitles too, if that's not overwhelming). You are doing an amazingly pure service for the world, often sounding like that inner voice of the divine shining through. So sad it is that someone so sensitive and astute must suffer so crushingly in the course of real life, but indeed many of our sisters and brothers are suffering even worse (loss and torture of loved ones) across the world. I trust you may wake up every day knowing that it is ultimately a deepest joy to be who you are. To be called your brother/sister is the profoundest honour - while you taper your attention in balanced degrees, as you aptly described.

[@zetristan4525]

We could try arrange to do the translation for you, but no-one would capture your razor-sharp thinking in Russian better than you yourself. If Arnold Schwarzenegger be the good cop...

[@VladVexler]

Thank you so so much. I may catch up to doing this. Currently I'm very behind as most of my time goes on medical and health issues.

[@ИльяДмитриев-ц4ч]

Why all people who live in NATO countries are responsible for all NATO wars? Why not?

[@mimimerlot77]

This poses a painfully acute moral question to practically everyone on this planet confronted with politics and groups within their society causing harm to others. Thank you for bringing this up Mr. Vexler! It IS a necessary discussion all over the world not only in the face of war.

[@TheSuperappelflap]

Unfortunately the reality is that this question will only be thought about by a minority in any country. Call them intellectuals or whatever you will. The large majority of the people do not and will not care. This is part of the human condition. You can try to avoid this, but it is the reality of the world we live in.

[@Acekhan201]

A lot of your videos, as good as they are, have tended to feel like history: how we came to this. I find this video particularly engaging because it feels current and even forward looking: how can we stick together and rose toward our best selves, as individuals, communities, and states. I think I will be sharing this around my more political circles. Very provocative in the best of ways.

[@VladVexler]

I am building up to talking about now! About the West now.

[@ferrariguy8278]

I just want to add, along with the superlatives (over content) you've already earned with this video, that you have employed an economy of presentation that is masterful here. There is brilliance in saying just the right amount in the right length of time. Impactful. (I read in your comments this may have been an accident, but it worked... and it couldn't have unless there was a level of prepared academic professionalism backing up that *short work*.) I've found myself in a habit of mentioning-suggesting your channel whenever there's a relevant opportunity.

[@VladVexler]

Yes this is public intellectual communication and my experience of it is really that of leaving 98% out.

[@VladVexler]

and thank you!!!!

[@toniwilson6210]

How hard is it for Russians to see Stalin as evil? Regardless of sentiment and accomplishment, It is difficult for me to see Stalin as a lesser evil than Hitler, and I do not have an irreversible phobia of communism.

[@Cassedy3]

Nuance. Real world isn't a comic book, pure evil and pure good doesn't exist here, and every person is a complicated knot of conflicting ideas, aspirations and actions.

[@toniwilson6210]

@@Cassedy3 Thanks, but I’m still putting those two dictators in a separate category. I’ll call it “evil”, and you can call it whatever you want.

[@ailuros]

It’s not a utilitarian calculus. In Russia people do empathise greatly with the victims of communism, but they can’t label the system itself as inherently evil, mostly because of WW2 memory and resonance of core communist values (equality, international comradery and so on). We are both inheritors of great victory over worst evil possible and inheritors of terrible crimes. This contradiction drives people crazy, and most people have no idea how to solve this puzzle, myself included.

[@toniwilson6210]

@@ailuros I’m not talking about victims of “communism”, but thank you for your response.

[@Cassedy3]

@@toniwilson6210 Sure, whatever floats your boat

The line between good and bad runs through the heart of every human being. That's what Solzhenitsyn said in Gulag archipelago

[@edogould9865]

Nailed it again.

[@os_p]

I don't get it. Maybe there's a linguistic nuance of the English word 'responsibility' that I don't understand, but I don't see any benefit in this concept of collective responsibility. Russian people are not partners in putin's crime (more like hostages). I can be responsible for actions of a government I elected or at could somehow influence - through protests, publications in the free media, in court at least. None of these mechanisms worked in Russia when I was old enough to try them out. This spring I was caught by riot police on an anti-war protest and had to leave my country, only to watch its descent into fascist madness and total devastation, complete now with hundreds of thousands of most talented people fleeing it after the start of mobilisation. You said it yourself here, Russia will need another century to rebuild itself *again*, and it pains me immensely to see what has become of my country and to realise the scale of opportunities lost and lives wasted, yet here you are forcing upon me some extra weight of having an unpaid _responsibility_ to the world by virtue of being born Russian. You are not doing anyone a favour, you are not fixing anyone's problems by offering this perspective, you are just alienating Russians more, as if racism and hatred towards us isn't at all time high without it. Are you expecting North Koreans to be responsible for Kim Jong-un's political actions? Will you ask of them to contemplate their culture, that gave birth to such an ugly regime? Why don't you take a step further and say that we as humans all share responsibility for putins crimes? After all, we share the same human nature, the exact nature that was required for this man to form into whatever monster he is now. To sum up: my country, that had a ton of potential, that gave the world a lot of cultural and technical advancements, is devastated and may cease to exist in the near future. My efforts of building my own life in Russia and gradually rebuilding its political landscape came to waste. Some of my compatriots have committed terrible war crimes, for which the western people seem to see me as an enemy. What do you want from me? Is it to rebuild Ukraine? God knows I will pay to rebuild Ukraine - both in reparations and personal voluntary donations. Is it to stop Putin? Go stop him yourself, you're as good as me, and I tried for 5 years of peaceful protests. Or is it that you as a philosopher seek for some justification for these things to happen at all? You need to find some explanation to retain your system - Russians were just not politically responsible enough (which is true, the majority of Russians weren't present in country's politics, they didn't get a chance to acquire the level of political culture that was available for western countries for centuries), so yeah, Russians were careless, and this is what happens when a nation is absent in its own politics. But the truth is - it was inevitable, Russians weren't free long enough to realise themselves as being capable to influence politics. The old structures of power like KGB were still in place. If anything, it is the western politicians to blame for not being in contact with Russia enough to ensure it is on a correct path. How's that for responsibility? This is an ok take on the matter in vacuum, but given the circumstances, I see it as un-empathetic and tone-deaf. I can't see how it helps anybody, motivates anybody or elevates anybody from their own perspectives. All Russians are responsible for putin's war, but why aren't you responsible too? All Russians should have done more to prevent this disaster, but have you done anything? It is convenient to tell other people to be more conscious and engaged while separating yourself and being totally in the clear, perhaps it even creates some sense of unity for westerners - oh we are not like these politically sterile barbarians, we would've done better, we would not have even fall into this situation. But how is this really helping? I don't get it. I don't know what you think I as a Russian should have done differently, and what am I supposed to do now. This seems to come from the need for isolation, dissociation, not compassion. It wasn't humane. I don't feel the urge to take responsibility after that, just the urge to say 'F that' and go about my own business. I won't do that, because I'm adult enough to remember my own principles, despite the discouragement that was for me this video.

[@666MaRius9991]

Do as us Romanians did in 1989 (you russians seem to live very cozy with dictators)

[@rsmlinar1720]

I agree. People are responsible only for things they themselves can change. Collective responsability never works.

[@Bayard1503]

He has a support of over 75%... and not only in Russia but even amongst Russians living in the EU, they support Putin and the invasion. Yeah, they are also responsible for this.

[@XGD5layer]

​@@rsmlinar1720The point seems to be that peoples are capable of self-determination. That people are not detached from reality, even if others might want to prefer that. "Taking responsibility" would not be "others can punish them all" but "owning up to it"

[@SirPage13]

That was a distinction I had a hard time to grasp as well (non native here too). I do, however, think it sounds very much like you have taken responsibility in pretty much every way you can. You have taken every action you could come up with that you could see would make a difference. Perhaps that is what Vlad means with taking responsibility. And perhaps he means that you can have this sense of responsibility without accepting guilt (something your comment makes a strong case for). You have done all you can - what happens despite that is not something you're guilty of.

[@nenickvu8807]

You're doing good work. The world needs more of this, more genuine ownership and responsibility of the course of events. It's not just politics, so many more levels of participation need to be taken seriously, from economics to environmental to social. Thank you.

[@VladVexler]

Thank you

[@BadUncleIke]

I have been told by people well versed with Chinese culture and what you describe is exactly what is wrong with China as well.

[@brndxt]

Yes, and many Chinese aren't really well versed in their culture, especially the darker side of it.

[@ghlscitel6714]

@@brndxt The so called "cultural revolution" wiped out any knowlege of the cultural heritage in the chinese society. Chinese travel to Japan and Taiwan to learn about their own culture.

[@brndxt]

@@ghlscitel6714 To be exact, the communists have been the wiper of whatever good was left in the heritage.

[@gamechanger8908]

@@ghlscitel6714 Taiwan is culturally Austronesian with their natives and less Han and more remnants of the Manchu with the remnants of the Qing, and saying China has no culture is bollocks. China had it's fair share of similar occurences through the cultural revolution with Qin Shi Huang Di burning books, Buddhist teachings, scholars and teachers. And that man was well known for unifying China. Yet China still kept it's identity, saying the commies destroyed and trying to learn it from their neighbors is propaganda at worse. They still pray to their ancient diefied historical figures like Guan Yu, Taoism and Buddhism is still a religion in the country. And hell Journey to the West a story told centuries before the commies existed is still widely known and passed down in China and there's even an upcoming video game. Tell me how has China lost their culture you cannot erase a culture unless you wipe off it's people at best you could block it off, which is temporary.

[@ghlscitel6714]

@@gamechanger8908 When did you visit Taiwan, China and Japan the last time?

[@JaneSoole]

Watching 3.5.24 Another extraordinary educational journey for me, very very thought provoking. How absolutely essential it is to be engaged in our politics. If we're silent in the face of wrongdoing, or wrongsaying, we only have ourselves to blame when things go wrong. Glad I voted today!!

[@napoleonbootthewendle4905]

Thankyou Mr Vexler. You are changing my entire way of thinking.

[@slackdark]

Hi Vlad, thanks very much for the video. I have some comments/questions: -How would you differentiate blame and responsibility? -Why do you think people like Kasparov or Khodorkorsvy are co-responsible? After all they are strongly opposing the Putin regime. -How USSR comes into the equation? Until 1991 Russia and Ukraine were one nation, do Ukrainian share a part of Russia's responsibility, or is it all after-USSR Russian responsibility? -How would you differentiate the responsibility of the citizen in a totalitarian regime vs democracy? -If the citizens or population is more responsible could the war be avoided?

[@VladVexler]

I will say a bit about half of your questions tomorrow, in the Q&A, as fishes have asked the same thing. Re totalitarian societies- they are not all the same. Some totalitarians regimes make everybody a target; others contain relatively safe groups. This affects extent of responsibility.

[@TayTayT]

Ukraine and russia have NEVER been "one nation"

[@slackdark]

@@TayTayT how do you then take the USSR period into account?

[@IM.13]

@@slackdark With such logic, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Georgians, and a lot of other peoples are one nation. Nonsense, god.

[@DavidJBurbridge]

Hi Vlad It was really helpful to delineate the difference between responsibility and culpability or guilt. The concept of individual Russians (or indeed, individual historical Germans, Brits, Japanese etc.) being to blame for the crimes committed by the empire they are citizens of never sat well with me, but responsibility seems to be a more helpful way of describing that relationship. Is there anything that can help me better crystallize how the philosophical meaning of responsibility differs in relation to blame/guilt/culpability? I'm not educated in philosophy but I would like to better understand what it means to be responsible and how the individual should treat responsibility.

[@johnfire100]

There is a saying here in germany. Never import Austrian politicians... hard lesson to learn.

[@davidknapp5403]

Life is not a generality... Life is lived in details.. Vlad,,, you bring the importance of just how important the details, are!!! Great job!!

[@mashdown3]

"Let's not face evil with our back to it".

[@Makujah_]

What do you mean by "responsible"? Do I feel shame? Of course I do. I always felt shame and a need to prove that I'm "not like some of those other russians" to the larger world. I'm emotionally tired of this shame after all these years, but I feel it. Do I feel like I have to somehow pay for Putin's crimes? Not even remotely. I am his victim too, and has been most of my life. Yet I feels like the world now hates me for where I was born. And where I was born, the powers that be don't like me either. I'm scared and feel like there's no empathy for me in anyone outside of my "thick world"

[@ANDREASDEUTSCH]

I understand you and I'm sorry, but I feel sorry for the Ukrainians much more. You suffer only shame and misunderstanding, they lose their homes and lives. As a citizen of another country, I do not feel hatred towards you, but I do feel hatred towards the Russian fascist regime, which must fall. The question, however, is what will happen after that.

[@RidlleForest]

Are you seriously? It's sounds like another "poor me" from a 'good russian."I live in Kyiv. Do you realise how ridiculous you sounds for me? All, normal russians in prisons, in oposition or in front lines in ukrainian ranks. The is no peace solution. I think you should rewatch the video. You clearly didn't get it. You complaining on the internet and doing nothing to change something. 0 empathy towards you. I can post this on my twitter and ukrainians gonna laugh about your"problems".

[@_pawter]

I'm an Australian with an interest and some small knowledge of your country. I will soon revisit so I am always careful of what I say. I assure you that there are a significant minority of people in the West who have not become mindless haters because of the tsunami of hate-filled propaganda that has flooded our media. I have Russian friends who are as conflicted as you and feel universally "hated": this is NOT TRUE but they cannot go outside Russia to see this fact.

[@communitygardener17]

​@@ANDREASDEUTSCH During the Viet Nam years we had the saying that " you are either part of the problem or part of the solution." We were moved by the Conscientious Objector poem by Edna St Vincent Millay: I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death. I hear him leading his horse out of the stall; I hear the clatter on the barn-floor. He is in haste; he has business in Cuba, business in the Balkans, many calls to make this morning. But I will not hold the bridle while he clinches the girth. And he may mount by himself: I will not give him a leg up. Though he flick my shoulders with his whip, I will not tell him which way the fox ran. With his hoof on my breast, I will not tell him where the black boy hides in the swamp. I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death; I am not on his pay-roll. I will not tell him the whereabout of my friends nor of my enemies either. Though he promise me much, I will not map him the route to any man's door. Am I a spy in the land of the living, that I should deliver men to Death? Brother, the password and the plans of our city are safe with me; never through me Shall you be overcome.

[@robford3211]

@Makujah As soon as you say that I am not responsible for Putin crimes you take responsibility away from you. Putin sits in Kremlin : he does not commit crimes in Ukraine. The lady reading the news who says it’s special operation does not commit crimes. The man that says that he is not political also does not commit crimes The police man arresting Ukrainian supporter is also not committing a crime he is just “ doing his job “ and the tech guy living in Tbilisi comfortably because he hates Putin is also not committing a crime but as long as there a Monster on the right and a Good guy on the left our beloved brother Putin will stay in Russia for a very long time .

[@ristalika1882]

Я не согласна, что проблема в моральных оценках связана у россиян с тем, касается проблема их близких людей или людей из внешнего круга. Я знаю множество ситуаций, когда россияне не верили родственникам и друзьям из Украины, которые тем звонили и говорили вещи в духе «нас бомбят ваши войска». Мои собственные родственники, ближайшие родственники поддерживают войну и политические репрессии, при том, что сами имеют украинские корни и знают, что от репрессий могу пострадать лично я. Это не «мораль в отношении только близких», это полная аморальность в сфере, которая затрагивает любые политические вопросы. Как только им кажется, что вопрос касается политики, они закрывают глаза на любое зло. А ещё очень забавный момент, что больше всех сейчас чувствуют личную ответственность те люди, которые меньше всего виноваты в произошедшем - открытые оппозиционеры, те, кто на митинги ходили, кто рассказывали о преступлениях режима и боролись с ним как могли.

[@benismann]

вот вот.

[@DoloresJNurss]

As a Christian, I see this as so true in my own community! Whenever we hear of somebody doing something horrible in the name of Christ--beating up an unbeliever, molesting a child, torturing someone as a form of exorcism--we're all too quick to say, "Well, if they did that they're not really a Christian, are they?" and act as if it has nothing to do with us. But how did we, as a community, let it be possible that Christ's teachings could be twisted so badly from His intent? The people who do these things absolutely burn with zeal for the same God we do, but somehow we taught something that led to this horrible misinterpretation. If they're not our responsibility, whose responsibility are they? I had a dream that forced me to this truth. In the dream I met Jesus in a hospital, lying on a gurney in a hospital gown, his hair shorn off. Jesus said to me, "Of COURSE they are Christians! They are part of my body--see?" And he lifted up the hem of his gown to reveal an enormous, pus-dribbling ulcer on his calf. I woke realizing that I can't just ignore an ulcer in the body to which I belong!

[@Delgen1951]

This is true, even more so in todays world. How do we as Christians reconcile acts like this with Jesus's Love and care for the Chruch, i do not know, but I try to help with the love of Jesus, and show the grace to others that HE has shown to me. It is hard to do but i do the best I can.

[@ReaperCH90]

You could be a pastor.

[@mountainman8775]

If they’re that extreme, it’s simple: they’re not really part of the body of Christ. Nor are a huge percentage of your fellow church members, I’ll wager. It’s a misinterpretation of scripture to think that your fellow church members, just because they attend, are part of the body of Christ. The church, the spiritual church where the gospel has dominion and an outlet in the world and in world history, is a place where standards are impeccable. You’re right of course to question what can we do ourselves, what more so that others don’t go astray. Concerning the standards of the church and Christ’s body on earth however, why not dream a bit higher, have faith in the perfect standards of your gospel and trust that something more perfect is meant in scripture of this church-body, than the standards we see to-day in our churches.

[@catbiscuits4424]

@@mountainman8775 Is the pus dribbling ulcer a real part of the body? Perhaps... Perhaps not. There are arguments both ways but its not important because in either case the body has to act in order for the wound to be healed.

[@vopcracker3193]

Finally, one of you says it -ONE - of you says it. It'll take so much more to erase your religion's hypocrisy. You oblivious monsters talk a lot about original sin, yet refuse constantly to acknowledge yours. In God's name, Christ has torn families from each other, inflicted meaningless genocide, immolated centuries of history and culture just to build false idols in the image of God themselves, mutilated bodies for pleasure's sake, degraded and denied countless individuals and left generational scars. Personally, I would've abandoned the faith a long time ago. If you want to keep it, I'd start writing another 99 Reasons like Martin Luther did. Otherwise, Christianity will die with white supremacy. Not a whole lot tells me it doesn't deserve to where I'm standing.

[@valentynknyaziev3524]

Thank you for this video

[@nickbozman6948]

Well said. Kindest regards. Keep up your good commentary.

[@irynaprotasova5588]

thank you for this video. for me it's curious that these thin relations have thickened in Ukraine since the war started. I once asked a random woman from a city 1000 km away if she knew where i could get a certain car part for the army. she said she didn't, but would buy it for me if i found it. i can't be certain about how other people see it, but my interactions were primarily pragmatic. there were very few people who expressed too much compassion for the pain. perhaps because compassion is something that you offer to someone in pain when you yourself aren't hurting. in Ukraine it's a given that we have been hurt, to a greater or lesser extent. so the attitude is very pragmatic - how do we solve this. that kind of involvement is probably not possible for outsiders of Ukrainian society unless they have some ties to this society. but I guess that is the thick ethics extended further. since so many people sent their lone children away from bombarded cities, they could only have faith that someone would take on responsibility for their child that they could no longer fulfill

[@Asptuber]

Very interesting comment. I know too little about Ukrainian internal politics, and don't speak or read Ukrainian (or Russian). I just have a feeling from visiting Ukraine as a tourist every 2-3 years since 2006 (but not even the whole country, mainly Lviv, Kiev and the mountains) of a country that already on the first visit seemed extraordinarily welcoming, and then only got progressively more "civilised", and from the start focused on good and fun things. It is very hard to describe this sense of pride combined with openness a visitor gets. But in some ways what you describe isn't so surprising: if even a foreigner without the language feels this caring niceness° it means that there is somehow something embedded in the culture that forms a strong base for mutual support. °These things are so hard to describe, it's the small thing like old ladies in small shops far from the tourist trails that see to it that you get the best local cheese/dried sausage, but also random Ukrainians (also on holiday) in Lviv that tell you about a new exhibition. Just how people interact with you as a stranger, especially outside the main tourist venues. Even without language you feel weirdly (pleasantly!) included.

[@irynaprotasova5588]

​@@Asptuber Wow i just always find myself surprised when people have visited my country as early as 2006 :) I'm very happy that you had a good experience here :) An interesting thing about Ukrainian language - instead of "tourist" and "visitor" people very often use "guest" -as in "guests of our town". And the Ukrainian culture is really extra when it comes to guests - it is the host's utmost duty to give them the best treatment at any expense) Weirdly, I encountered the same attitude in my friend's family, who immigrated from Vietnam to America. She insisted she would sleep on the couch while we would take her bed. and then, for a large part we were governed by countries that would rather have Ukrainian identity disappear, so caring for one another was the only way to survive. Also, the farther East you go, the more of it you see - a cashier helped me pack my groceries in Mariupol, "so that the veggies don't get squished") That never happens in Western Ukraine))

[@Asptuber]

@@irynaprotasova5588 2006 isn't that early - I think my mum visited Kiev in 1982 or such, her remark was that after Moscow (and even Latvia, it was some kind of weird soviet-finnish friendship thingie) it was like coming to another world: Sun, actually pretty places in the city, people smiled, there was food, the food was edible! It's hard to imagine Ukraine being even more friendly than what we've experienced in the West + Kiev. Your grocery story is *exactly* the vibe I'm talking about. Maybe it happens less often in the West, but that feeling that people are generally thoughtful and kind is definitely there.

[@alexeytsybyshev9459]

This argument only works by generalizing some tendencies in Russian society and ascribing them to all Russians. ​ You are responsible only for the things within your influence. Many Russians did maintain a sense of morals in their thin interactions; did try to participate in politics via protest, elections and activism --- did what was in their power to avert the catastrophe. Ascribing the responsibility to them despite any of those efforts is willful blindness. Understanding the capacity of your neighbour for evil is not the same thing as accepting responsibility for it.

[@Arushi701]

I think what he's trying to say is not distancing yourself from it. Like it's not your fault but accepting that this is a terrible thing and your culture/country is involved in it. Just because you aren't involved in politics doesn't mean you are not a part of it. The people who are doing this are able to do this because of the indifference of the common people. You alone haven't done anything, but your culture as a whole is part of it.

[@nelo4047]

Why arent you in the trenches, serf?

[@taisikus]

Thank you, Vlad. I am from Russia and I am fully agree with your thoughts and words. Do you make videos in the Russian language that I can show them to my russian friends who doesn't speak English good?

[@hermundarntzendale641]

Hi, Vlad. Great videos! Really interesting to watch. You mentioned the four Russian democratic opportunities, do you have a video about these?

[@bassbich]

Дякую

[@VladVexler]

My pleasure.

[@BurningQuestion]

I'm not responsible for any of this shit nor am I going to feel any guilt and noone has the right to seek justice on me. But I do feel it is my responsibility to speak and act against the regime which I have been doing for 10 years. I have always stood up against the concept of collective responsibility. I find it to be barbaric idea that only leads to persecutions of innocent people. And I know that from years of experience that almost drove me to suicide. For humanity to ever move on and progress we need to stop thinking in terms of countries/ nations and change our view of the world divided by philosophies, ideologies and values.

[@Alexandra-rb1bl]

"For humanity to ever move on and progress we need to stop thinking in terms of countries/ nations and change our view of the world divided by philosophies, ideologies and values." - What a beautiful thought. And seems so obvious

[@ikihaku]

Yes, my fellow self-aware friend, I've written and said literally the same word by word for years. Those who want to place labels and assign collective responsibility may go f**k themselves. The responsibility can only be personal and attributed to the actors. One can't be blamed for the actions of another.

[@companyjoe]

I don't think the idea was to play the blame game. The word responsibility should be thought of more in the way a leader of a large company. If their employee(s) fail miserably it is up to the leader to accept the final responsibility no matter how great they are at their job. After all, they hired the wrong people. Or they hired the wrong managers to hire more people. The mistake and the blame may be on the employee but the responsibility is carried by a leader. Only in this case you don't get to fire yourself, you are not really the CEO because this analogy is not perfect, you just have to figure out how you yourself might have been the fumbling worker given all the good as well as the bad in your culture because it is all within you.

[@BurningQuestion]

@@companyjoe Russian culture isn't my culture tho. I reject most things about it if not all, now that I think about it. Unless we're talking about appreciating literature, music etc, that part of the culture I do enjoy sometimes.

[@jaazz90]

@@companyjoe I was born in 1990s, the things I remember in my childood are poverty, street gangs, video rental stores, deadly ice patches on public sidewalks, endless amount of dirt. I've despised both Russia as a state and Russia as a culture, for Russian people were angry, poor, stupid and vicious. While still in Russia, I did what I could against it - thinking back, I'm lucky I got out of it in one piece. I personally know people who have been killed, others imprisoned and tortured, simply for asking wrong questions, poking their noses in feudal lords' business, or organizing protests, all while russian "society" cheered it on and implied we got what we deserved. One thing video got right is thin vs thick relationships, but in reality when thin doesn't exist at all, there's no hope of reigniting it, you simply do not belong to the culture anymore. I refuse to accept any more responsibility for simply being born in Russia than a german citizen would, whos politicians were happy to ignore increasingly erratic Kremlin over last 20 years, feeding authoritarian hellhole more and more money, ignoring minor "inconveniences" like Georgia war, Crimea, poisonings of Litvinenko, Skripal and Navalny, same exact mistake they are continuing to do with China and Islamistic governments.

[@President.GeorgeWashington]

I am an American who fought in Ukraine, and I do not have a drop of eastern European blood in me. I agree with the majority of your content, a d i have learned a lot from it, but on the case of "all Russians are responsible for the war" I disagree. Given that 99% of human DNA is identical, I do not look at you and think for a second "Vlad, you are responsible because you're ethnically Russian." That would mean I judge people based on their ethnicity rather than their ideas, culture, and their morals. I fail to see how saying all ethnic Russians are responsible for the war is any different than me telling a Mexican American that he's responsible for the current violence being waged by Sinaloa cartel. I also wonder, does the burden of responsibility apply to humans who have a small percentage of Russian blood? Or do they not have enough Russian blood to bare the burden of responsibility? What's the cut off point for this burden of responsibility? Where is the rule book? In my eyes, it really is as simple as "you're either a moral, intelligent, and ethical person, or you are not" you're ethnicity does not matter a damn. While I think these lofty ideas about "ethnic responsibility" are well-intentioned, they unnecessary and confusing. Essentially, its identity politics. Something that should remain in the 20th century. I believe the people who support the invasion of Ukraine are responsible for the suffering of Ukrainians. An American citizen with the surname "smith" who cheers for Putin is more responsible for Ukranian suffering than an American with the surname "Federov" who is opposed to the invasion. The case could be made that Russians living within Russia are responsible in the sense that they have the ability to do sabotage their governments unjust war, but then again, heroes are rare in all countries. One could also argue that certain elements of Russian culture enabled Putin to start and continue this war. A video that exposes those cultural elements would be far more interesting and thought provoking than resorting to identify politics. Whenever we see human suffering, we should all feel a sense of responsibility and a commitment to prevent such acts. The burden of responsibility should not apply only if your skin color, nationality, or ethnicity matches that of the perpetrator.

[@s4uss]

Dude, people who live in their own country (or those that identify with that country's values in some way) are at the very least partly responsible for what this country does, this is just inescapable. You can be an "idiot" and apolitical as much as you want, this doesn't absolve you from responsibility of the country you live in - that also affects your own life and the lives of your relatives and future generations. People living in their countries shouldn't rely on some "benevolent miracle", that there will one day have a dictator that does good instead of bad things, this is insane way to think about it and live. People themselves must obviously take action - it's their country and future after all - the issue is that russians are so bad at taking action, that it's worse than in any other country.

[@dsjwhite]

That is a wonderful piece Vlad. We are all, to some degree, culpable because we all know it doesn't have to be like this. What do we do in the face of so much human suffering? I hug my grand children just as any grandfather in the world. Keep going please.

[@VladVexler]

Hugging grandchildren is a wonderful contribution to the world!

[@SimpsonPetrov]

I agree with what you've said. And have a question: who do you think more responsible: People in Russia who didn't know what is going on, and what it can lead to, because they've been fooled by propaganda, as you've described in your previos video. Or people in Europe who not only knew about dangerous anti-democratic processes going on in Russia, but also in the same time continued to supply Russian military with money? It is the fact that Europe Oil and Gas export money is the main source of russian millitary spendings, that been used for all the terrible things you ve described.

[@VladVexler]

I think the Putin regime has been formally and informally incorporated into the global world. So the responsibility can’t just be on Russians. Russians can’t even asked to take sole responsibility for what is in part a global network. So, your comment is insightful.