Putin as a master manipulator

[Omega21]

I detest Putin, but I understand why Russia clings to him after barely surviving Yeltsin.

Putin was appointed by Yeltsin.

I'm aware of that. That doesn't negate the fact that the average Russian life is much better under Putin than Yeltsin.

"much better" is too strong a term. A little bit better for ordinary people. And much better for magnates, Putin accomplices, and a number of government officials. Living standards in Russia are lower than in Baltic states. Under Putin social inequality has been increasing tremendously, currently being one of the highest in the world.

Actually, the GINI coefficient has not been rising, it has been steady since 1999.

https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/russia/indicator/SI.POV.GINI

Also, the average wage boomed ever since he took over (a lot to do with gas and other fuels they export)



Since 2013, the wage has fallen and risen back to about $670 (it rose in rubbles), due to the rubble crash that happened because of sanctions.


Fun fact:

The USA has a larger Gini index than Russia, meaning that the society is more unequal.

[Omega21]

Actually, the GINI coefficient has not been rising, it has been steady since 1999.

https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/russia/indicator/SI.POV.GINI

Also, the average wage boomed ever since he took over (a lot to do with gas and other fuels they export)


Since 2013, the wage has fallen and risen back to about $670 (it rose in rubbles), due to the rubble crash that happened because of sanctions.


Fun fact:

The USA has a larger Gini index than Russia, meaning that the society is more unequal.

Your information is misleading because you ignore rise in prices and inflation rate. A liter of gas cost 6 roubles in 2002, and now it costs about 45-50 roubles, almost  8 times as much, and so on. In 2009 according to your data increase in salaries was about 3%, while inflation was about 11%  https://www.inflation.eu/inflation-rates/russia/historic-inflation/cpi-inflation-russia.aspx i. e. Real income was negative.
I should never have thought there are many Putin backers on the forum.

I'm not a Putin backer, that's why I said the economic growth is mainly due to the gas and fuel exports, not specifically him.

It still is true that he is the best leader they had in a long time, and people are on average better off than they were pre 1999.

[Omega21]

I'm not a Putin backer, that's why I said the economic growth is mainly due to the gas and fuel exports, not specifically him.

It still is true that he is the best leader they had in a long time, and people are on average better off than they were pre 1999.

It is true that for some people Putin is the best leader. Some people are better off.
You making unsubstantiated generalizations in Putin's favor and state your are not Putin's backer. Putin's approval ratings have plunged of late. Many people support his foreign policy and disapprove of his domestic policy. During recent regional elections some candidates directly endorsed by Putin were defeated.

As far as I can see, a Gallup poll from '17 shows him around 80% approval. I bet if I dig deeper I would find some figures of around 70%, but that's still a solid result for him, and much better than almost any politician nowadays.

He takes advantage of situations to his favour. Kosovo was declared independent, he uses the precedent as an excuse to do the same with Crimea (a region that is similar to Kosovo, in terms of the Serb:Albanian / Ukranian:Russian population ratio). He does it as the West stands by and watches it.

The truth is when he retires Russia will probably be less powerful on a global scale, plain and simple.

I am not a supporter of his, I simply understand that the sh**t he does to further his own goals is also done by the West.

If he meddles in elections, the same was done by the US at least as many times in other countries. The point is, you can't blame him for playing a game that everyone else is participating in.

[Omega21]

Kim Jong Un has 99% approval rating and? Imagine any Republican president rating with only Fox News available or Democrats with MSNBC.

But I agree the West was soft on Russia in 2014.

The difference is that this was done by an International polling agency and Russia is much more free than NK, so the results are certainly more accurate. Of course, there is propaganda being served to the people by Putin and his circle, more so than in the US, but it's very similar.

The difference is that in the US, there is propaganda coming from more than one side. Conservative media spew what the NRA and Republicans tell them, while the Liberal media spew what Democrats tell them (oversimplified). Point being, you can choose which propaganda you listen to, but in most cases both of the arguments being made are not 100% correct and you can choose between party 1 and party 2, but the truth always lies somewhere in the middle.

And yes, they were certainly soft, but to their defence there was not really that much more they could do once sh**t hit the fan. Russia was scarred by the economic woes it faced after, but Putin knew that this would happen beforehand and still went through with it.

[Omega21]

As far as I can see, a Gallup poll from '17 shows him around 80% approval.

This information is completely incorrect. His current (October 2018) rating is 45%. This is common knowledge in Russia.
https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-45741068
Another piece of pro Putin' s propaganda, fake high ratings.

Dude, I don't know if you have any issues, but calm down.

Gallup is an American consulting agency that publishes in-depth polls on a lot of issues.

In 2017 they published a huge poll on a lot of different topics (http://www.gallup-international.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2017_Global-Leaders.pdf), and Putin's approval rating was almost 80%.

I don't know what it is in 2018, but the poll I cited is not "fake ratings".

[Omega21]

As far as I can see, a Gallup poll from '17 shows him around 80% approval.

This information is completely incorrect. His current (October 2018) rating is 45%. This is common knowledge in Russia.
https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-45741068
Another piece of pro Putin' s propaganda, fake high ratings.

Dude, I don't know if you have any issues, but calm down.

Gallup is an American consulting agency that publishes in-depth polls on a lot of issues.

In 2017 they published a huge poll on a lot of different topics (http://www.gallup-international.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2017_Global-Leaders.pdf), and Putin's approval rating was almost 80%.

I don't know what it is in 2018, but the poll I cited is not "fake ratings".

Dude, I would strongly advice to read Russian polls. According to ВЦИОМ (fully controlled by federal government) Putin's rating was about 85%  in 2014, when he occupied Crimea https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2014/05/15/vciom-rejting-doveriya-putina-dostig-859. Since 2016 it has been steadily dropping to reach 45% in 2018. More indipendent Levada Center gives 37%.  https://www.levada.ru/2018/10/08/doverie-pyatoj-chasti-rossiyan-poteryal-vladimir-putin-za-proshedshij-god  
In December 2017 according to ВЦИОМ his rating was 74% https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-42892410
I don't know why Gallup provides fake ratings. Perhaps it was infiltrated by Putin's agents. Even Russian agencies   give a more truthful picture.

Yeah man, just stop with the conspiracy theories, it is not good for your health.

Yeah, there are spies in a lot of places but thinking that Russians are massively infiltrating American companies and that Putin has used a Russian version of MK Ultra to turn Trump into a pawn is kinda crazy.