And how easy would it be for someone to circulate the story that the skaters didn't really want to be there, regardless of the actual truth (yes or no)? It's called covering your a**. Playing both sides.
Pretty easily. Only the person himself can know what he really thinks.
However, even if someone just tried to cover their asses by making up a cover story, that already a sign that person is not 100% on board with what is going on. If you fully support the cause, the president and the devil himself, you don't need to spread stories to "the other side".
Mishina didn't have to talk about how excited she was to sit close to Putin so she could get a better look at him. She could have just said, "Yes, honored to be here as a representative of my country" or something innocuous like that. Instead she's in full fangirl mode. But we're supposed to believe that she is potentially one of those who didn't want to go?
I'm sure for some of them meeting the president would have been a big deal regardless of their stand on Ukraine. And some of them might indeed wholeheartedly support the war, that's true too.
Hello.
The Majority of Russians Support the War.
The only good thing that came out of this war, is me discovering the existence of political science.
The fact is, it's impossible to know what the majority of Russians thinks. In autocracy during a wartime there's no such thing as trustworthy sociological statistics. Not only some 97% of the people refuse to answer any question coming from anyone he perceives as an official; when the remaining 3% answer - they try to "hit" what the questioning wants to hear, and on top of that - the one who collects the data is not free either and under pressure to provide the result requested. And then there's the process of joining the majority, when people take a stand based on what they perceive the majority is based on the information provided.
The facts are, Russians are not protesting in millions, but they also don't volunteer to the army in droves. And with all the autocracy and repressions, Putin is afraid to start a general mobilization - so he doesn't trust the majority of Russians supports the war either.
THAT is not related to the fact that Russians as a nation are responsible and they will have to be held accountable and pay for it, regardless of someone's private opinion.
What would have happened if they had declined or come up with some excuse in order not to attend? Would they have been sent to a gulag for twenty-five years?
Another thing I learned recently is the dynamic of political protest and the crowd psychology.
It is HARD to go against the flow. It's hard even when you live in an open democracy with freedom of speech. How many of us are capable of saying our boss "No, I'm not going to work overtime"? How many of us are capable of saying "I don't like my cousin so I'm not going to come to the family dinner"? Is any of these a question of life and death? Absolutely not, and yet statistically only some 10% do that.
Now put on top of that the age of the athletes, the state of war, their dependency on the support from the state, the pressure from the federation, the employment possibilities and lack of basic knowledge of laws and what is possible and what is not, even in the corrupt system of Russia. And cherry on top: the new laws that allow up to 15 years in jail for any protest.
So realistically, no, they wouldn't have been sent to gulag, but a)most of us wouldn't have had the courage to decline either under the circumstances; b) maybe gulag no, but a real possibility of having their lives ruined and c) they actually might believe they would have been arrested even if realistically - not really, but to know that one must have the knowledge and resources they might not have.
But there is no reason at all to think any of the skaters objected. Maybe later they will try to make a case that they did and I’ll listen. At this moment the logical assumption is that they were at best indifferent to the symbolism of being used by Putin at this moment.
That's true, and all Russians will have to answer some questions one day. I hope for them they are in peace with their own thoughts and beliefs, and will be after this nightmare ends as well.
But it's not fair to judge them either way now. I wish more protested openly, both athletes and common people, however, we're not in the position to demand that or draw conclusions about their real thoughts.
I can know about myself, and I can fully admit if
I lived in Russia now, with all my thoughts and views, the chance of me going to a protest would have been around 30%. And that's given I am aware of the legal ways to protect myself and I'm financially independent. The chance of being on the wrong side of the statistics is low, but the price of it is very very high.
And for the same myself 10 years younger with the same political views but with the finances and knowledge I had back then, the chance of me openly protesting would have been 1%. And no offence to anyone, but I think the percentages would have been similar for the vast majority of all of us.
BTW there's a new law being passed now, defining repressive measure against anyone defined as "foreign agent". It's not a new thing but it is being expanded now to include potentially literally anyone. For example, if an FSUer went to protest, in addition to the punishment for the protest, they would also potentially be in danger of being defined as "foreign agents" for the mere fact of being registered on a forum with foreign posters. Just for our collective information.
Putin himself decided to use the occasion to defend Valieva, so obviously that’s not just a grandpa-oops issue for him.
I have my opinions in regards to Russia and Belarus suspension, as well as WADA, Valieva and etc. However, it's an absolute fact in Russia (much like in other autocratic/totalitarian states) sport is used for political purposes.
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