With the Ukraine war, I'm seeing something that at first surprised me. It revealed a big blind spot of mine. I should've known better. Humans are naturally tribal. It's in our DNA. And that's ruling much of our attitudes on this war. We want to believe our side is right. Is smarter. Is better informed. Sees what the ignorant masses don't see. Isn't influenced by the propaganda and disinformation. Because they're our tribe and our survival depends upon them being better.
While I think you probably overstate the number of times you have seen people state the "Putin is not such a bad guy" I think your overall experience is not unique. It is very difficult to find any information to counter the preferred narrative. I recently started listening to a podcast called "Russians With Attitude" just to get something other than the standard narrative. It's imperfect, sure. But when people like Mika Brzezinski say, out loud on national television, that it is her job to tell people what to think, what other choices do I have?
While I think you probably overstate the number of times you have seen people state the "Putin is not such a bad guy" I think your overall experience is not unique. It is very difficult to find any information to counter the preferred narrative. I recently started listening to a podcast called "Russians With Attitude" just to get something other than the standard narrative. It's imperfect, sure. But when people like Mika Brzezinski say, out loud on national television, that it is her job to tell people what to think, what other choices do I have?
You and me both: neither of us as smart as we think, but thankfully, both human and able to keep on watching and thinking.