What's so bad about Russia's politically aware youth?
March 1st 2008 23:29
If I told you Russia doesn't have a great national image, few of you could argue with me. In a game of Word Association, if I were to say 'Russia' the responses I'd get would undoubtedly include 'vodka' 'communism' 'poverty' and 'corruption'. So if this is what people think of when they think of Russia, it's little wonder the idea of youth forming political organisations that support the current President, Vladimir Putin are often viewed with the same prejudice. I however, think labels are for soup cans and that stereotypes have this funny habit of being inaccurate, so I set off on a trawl through Google to find out a little more about Russia's pro-Putin youth movement.
When I want news from Russia, I head for Russia Today[/LINK]. This is a 24 hour news channel live from Moscow that broadcasts completely in English. It covers international stories, Russian goings on and has interviews and political commentary from international sources. I find it to be professional and interactive so I've deiced to include some stories about Russia's pro-Putin Youth movements I found on their site.
The largest of said youth movements is Nashi Russia (Our Russia) which thinks Vladimir Putin has done well for Russia, specifically "[President Putin has brought] stability and the opportunity for modernization and development of the country" (Link). But Nashi isn't solely focused on backing the current President and his policies, it also has a broader goal of getting Russia's future leaders involved in voting as a whole. Similar to the Vote or Die campaign that's cropped up in the US to encourage youngsters to vote, Nashi Russia has employed comedians to raise awareness of voting.
Nothing too sinister about that, but keep in mind we are talking about the Great Bear that is Russia, so it's not all 'hooray' and 'well done'. [LINK=http://donoevil.propeller.com/story/2007/07/28/russia-creating-youth-groups-similiar-to-hitlers/]This article sites no references but likens Nashi Russia to Hitler wannabes. Honestly, the only time I'm going to be interested in this article again is when I run out of toilet paper, but in the interest of presenting both sides of the story, I've included it.
Russia has apolitical youth, but that's changing. Young people are lining up behind political candidates and encouraging others to do the same. If this happened in any other country, we would view it with mild interest and mumble something like 'good for them'. Because this is happening in Russia however, we seem to think it is a sign of bad things to come. Why is that?
When I want news from Russia, I head for Russia Today[/LINK]. This is a 24 hour news channel live from Moscow that broadcasts completely in English. It covers international stories, Russian goings on and has interviews and political commentary from international sources. I find it to be professional and interactive so I've deiced to include some stories about Russia's pro-Putin Youth movements I found on their site.
The largest of said youth movements is Nashi Russia (Our Russia) which thinks Vladimir Putin has done well for Russia, specifically "[President Putin has brought] stability and the opportunity for modernization and development of the country" (Link). But Nashi isn't solely focused on backing the current President and his policies, it also has a broader goal of getting Russia's future leaders involved in voting as a whole. Similar to the Vote or Die campaign that's cropped up in the US to encourage youngsters to vote, Nashi Russia has employed comedians to raise awareness of voting.
Nothing too sinister about that, but keep in mind we are talking about the Great Bear that is Russia, so it's not all 'hooray' and 'well done'. [LINK=http://donoevil.propeller.com/story/2007/07/28/russia-creating-youth-groups-similiar-to-hitlers/]This article sites no references but likens Nashi Russia to Hitler wannabes. Honestly, the only time I'm going to be interested in this article again is when I run out of toilet paper, but in the interest of presenting both sides of the story, I've included it.
Russia has apolitical youth, but that's changing. Young people are lining up behind political candidates and encouraging others to do the same. If this happened in any other country, we would view it with mild interest and mumble something like 'good for them'. Because this is happening in Russia however, we seem to think it is a sign of bad things to come. Why is that?
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