It’s not a biography in any shape or form, that wasn’t Losurdos goal. He specifically criticises how Stalin is portrayed in media and history.

economics being a social science doesnt make it less real

how is capital flight the unions fault

What you just said is completely incoherent

Your analysis is completely vibes based exceptionalist doomerism that presents Putin as this great magical glue that keeps Russia from collapsing any second. Do you hear yourself? It is no better than the Western propaganda that you refer to, which claim that Putin is personally responsible for every piece of the Russian social and economic fabric, writing every day that surely this time Russia will collapse if only Ukraine gets a billion more $ and drone strike Putin's house. Consider that maybe Russia is more complicated than a constantly collapsing country held together purely by the will of a single autocrat. This is all I'm asking.

Can you please chill with the dramatic doomerism about Russia.

The yellow jackets was a specific movement in 2018-2019 that was mainly about cost of living/gas prices (ergo the vests, which are you are required to have in a car). That was 5 years ago. Right now, the NFP parties, unions and other leftist orgs are protesting against Macron.

Russia will collapse any day now, trust me

Pure doomerism.

Interestingly, GDR was getting quite progressive on lgbt issues around 1989. In the USSR, some gay rights groups were formed around the same time. The problem with perestroika and glasnost was that reactionary currents/topics/speech far outweighed any progressive movements.

Maybe a bit of both? I wouldn’t underestimate the reactionary ideology part though. After 1991, "traditional values" have firmly replaced socialism to explain why Russia is better than the west. Since the country was brutally transitioning to capitalism, there had to be an ideological reasoning for the suffering (blaming marginalized people of course). The Orthodox Church had a lot of influence on it, as well as patriarchal criminal gangs that were very prominent in the 90s and very connected to the ruling class. So it’s not like the people on top are disconnected from the reactionary elements, they came to power through them and continue to benefit from it.

Is there a part that doesn’t care? Maybe. There are quite a few oligarchs who have permanent residencies in europe, or send their kids to study there. But to me it is kinda like Republicans sending kids to Ivy League but then saying that they teach Marxism or something. Benefiting from privilege doesn’t necessarily mean than you’re not culturally conservative.

i feel like its mostly libertarians