47. Russia (俄罗斯)

Russia is clearly the number 2 Why does Ciro Santilli say that China is a dictatorship? (中国不是独裁！) in the world by population / GDP and the #1 nuclear arsenal, so here we go.

Ciro has always been curious about how Russia can be both oppressive and a appear democratic, unlike China which doesn’t even try to pretend. This is what he gathers:

  • the government controls all major media. If any media says bad things against them, the government finds pretexts to create lawsuits or increase taxes against such companies. Therefore all people end up thinking that the government is good.

  • just like China, they emphasize the threat of the foreign countries, especially the US, as a justification for having an oppressive power.

  • the government puts pressure on any significant opposition candidate. One technique is to find some reason to put them in jail for two months, which by Russian law forbids them from participating in further elections. Only candidates that don’t really stand a chance are left as a fake opposition. But if you reach some prominence, you start taking the same risks as politicians, although you are more likely to face more brutal illegal gangster violence threats as you are less visible

See also: Communist Youth League of China (中国共产主义青年团)

While we are at it, some interesting news:

The Russians have very different style to the Chinese, who are much more subtle, and just put people in jail or handicap them in several ways without killing them.

Other political murders or attempts:

Some other interesting political suppression lists:

Other random stuff:

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