Ask me anything about Russia.

[BuildTheRussian]

A bit more specific question here... what exactly is this?

You mean the lines on the road? These are rumble strips.

[hbelkins]

Do Russians hate the US and its people as much as western Europeans do?

Western Europeans? Since when have western Europeans hated the US?

This is just an approximation, but sometime around 12:01 pm on January 20, 2017.

Oh, bull crap. The stereotype of the "ugly American" existed long before then.

[Rothman]

Do Russians hate the US and its people as much as western Europeans do?

Western Europeans? Since when have western Europeans hated the US?

This is just an approximation, but sometime around 12:01 pm on January 20, 2017.

Oh, bull crap. The stereotype of the "ugly American" existed long before then.

Somebody got triggered.

[index]

Do Russians hate the US and its people as much as western Europeans do?

Western Europeans? Since when have western Europeans hated the US?

This is just an approximation, but sometime around 12:01 pm on January 20, 2017.

Oh, bull crap. The stereotype of the "ugly American" existed long before then.

If you're looking for another interpretation, it could reference the "everything was fine before Trump" crowd. As much as I despise him, everything was not fine before him, as much as 54 year old wine moms on Facebook and Twitter might want you to think. I will not go into exactly what I think isn't fine since that isn't a debate anyone needs to have right now, including myself.

I have a strong disdain for pretty much every president though, including our current one, so make of that what you will. At least that means I don't have any bias for any one of them.

[webny99]

A bit more specific question here... what exactly is this?

You mean the lines on the road? These are rumble strips.

No, I was actually curious about the large overpass structure and the building on the left. I've never seen anything quite like it.

[index]

Does Russia have any well-known towns/cities that with the same feel as American mountain towns in the Appalachians, in that they're nestled in between/right up against the mountains?

Some of the more popular mountain towns in North Carolina are Waynesville and Boone (I currently live there).
Respectively, not my photos, for reference:




And you really get this in a lot of West Virginia's mountain valleys with towns that are very sort of crammed in there, like Iaeger, Welch, etc.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Do Russians hate the US and its people as much as western Europeans do?

Some of them hate it, but nowadays most Russians are neutral towards it, or in other words, don't care.

People equate governments with their people. Most average Americans don't give a crap about Russia, or China, or anyone else in their daily lives. The inverse is true of your average Russian or Chinese citizen, or any other nation.

[BuildTheRussian]

A bit more specific question here... what exactly is this?

You mean the lines on the road? These are rumble strips.

No, I was actually curious about the large overpass structure and the building on the left. I've never seen anything quite like it.

It's a bridge for pedestrians. They're safer than crosswalks across highways.
The building on the left is just a house, there's a small village on the left.

[BuildTheRussian]

Does Russia have any well-known towns/cities that with the same feel as American mountain towns in the Appalachians, in that they're nestled in between/right up against the mountains?

Some of the more popular mountain towns in North Carolina are Waynesville and Boone (I currently live there).
Respectively, not my photos, for reference:




And you really get this in a lot of West Virginia's mountain valleys with towns that are very sort of crammed in there, like Iaeger, Welch, etc.

Gorno-Altaysk

[Scott5114]

One thing that Russia has a reputation for in the United States is cyber crime, like fraud/stolen credit cards, hacking/cracking, and spamming. (On my website I have a filter that automatically rejects blog comments that contain any Cyrillic characters that do not resemble Latin characters, because the presence of them pretty much guarantees a message is spam. Out of an abundance of caution, I don't accept orders from Russia, either.) Do these things affect the average Russian much, or are they mostly directed overseas? Is there any appetite in Russia for the government to crack down on these sorts of things, or is it just something that's tolerated as the way things are?

We've all heard of "polonium tea" and Russian political figures disappearing under "mysterious" circumstances. How much do you worry about the government not liking something you've written somewhere like here or on social media? Or is that sort of thing mostly likely to happen to high-profile politicians and dissidents and not really your average Russian? (Feel free to ignore this question if you don't feel comfortable answering it.)

How difficult is it to keep the pronunciation of similar-looking Cyrillic and Latin characters straight?

[BuildTheRussian]

One thing that Russia has a reputation for in the United States is cyber crime, like fraud/stolen credit cards, hacking/cracking, and spamming. (On my website I have a filter that automatically rejects blog comments that contain any Cyrillic characters that do not resemble Latin characters, because the presence of them pretty much guarantees a message is spam. Out of an abundance of caution, I don't accept orders from Russia, either.) Do these things affect the average Russian much, or are they mostly directed overseas? Is there any appetite in Russia for the government to crack down on these sorts of things, or is it just something that's tolerated as the way things are?

We've all heard of "polonium tea" and Russian political figures disappearing under "mysterious" circumstances. How much do you worry about the government not liking something you've written somewhere like here or on social media? Or is that sort of thing mostly likely to happen to high-profile politicians and dissidents and not really your average Russian? (Feel free to ignore this question if you don't feel comfortable answering it.)

How difficult is it to keep the pronunciation of similar-looking Cyrillic and Latin characters straight?

1. Our government isn't going to target some average Joe, unless that Joe is a politician they don't like, like Alexey Navalny for instance. Though there was controversy a few years back, when people would get arrested for reposting certain memes on VK (our equivalent of Facebook), usually those making fun of the president. The government no longer does that however.

2. As I've said again, the government doesn't really care what the citizens are talking about. I doubt anything bad is going to happen because of me posting here.

3. For me, it's not difficult at all. I've been learning English for about 9 years at this point, and my memory is very good.
For the average Russian who only knows some basic English words, or worse, doesn't know it at all, it'd be pretty difficult.

[Roadgeekteen]

What is Russia's pacific coastline like compared to the more famous regions of the country?

[Scott5114]

One thing that Russia has a reputation for in the United States is cyber crime, like fraud/stolen credit cards, hacking/cracking, and spamming. (On my website I have a filter that automatically rejects blog comments that contain any Cyrillic characters that do not resemble Latin characters, because the presence of them pretty much guarantees a message is spam. Out of an abundance of caution, I don't accept orders from Russia, either.) Do these things affect the average Russian much, or are they mostly directed overseas? Is there any appetite in Russia for the government to crack down on these sorts of things, or is it just something that's tolerated as the way things are?

1. Our government isn't going to target some average Joe, unless that Joe is a politician they don't like, like Alexey Navalny for instance. Though there was controversy a few years back, when people would get arrested for reposting certain memes on VK (our equivalent of Facebook), usually those making fun of the president. The government no longer does that however.

With my first question, I was referring more to non-governmental criminal organizations based in Russia that do things like hack into computers and install ransomware, steal sensitive information, take control of computers to send out automated spam emails, etc. It seems like most of it has a profit (rather than political) motive, and thus the government isn't involved with most of it. Is there much push to do anything about those non-governmental groups, and do they target victims inside of Russia as often as they do overseas?

[BuildTheRussian]

One thing that Russia has a reputation for in the United States is cyber crime, like fraud/stolen credit cards, hacking/cracking, and spamming. (On my website I have a filter that automatically rejects blog comments that contain any Cyrillic characters that do not resemble Latin characters, because the presence of them pretty much guarantees a message is spam. Out of an abundance of caution, I don't accept orders from Russia, either.) Do these things affect the average Russian much, or are they mostly directed overseas? Is there any appetite in Russia for the government to crack down on these sorts of things, or is it just something that's tolerated as the way things are?

1. Our government isn't going to target some average Joe, unless that Joe is a politician they don't like, like Alexey Navalny for instance. Though there was controversy a few years back, when people would get arrested for reposting certain memes on VK (our equivalent of Facebook), usually those making fun of the president. The government no longer does that however.

With my first question, I was referring more to non-governmental criminal organizations based in Russia that do things like hack into computers and install ransomware, steal sensitive information, take control of computers to send out automated spam emails, etc. It seems like most of it has a profit (rather than political) motive, and thus the government isn't involved with most of it. Is there much push to do anything about those non-governmental groups, and do they target victims inside of Russia as often as they do overseas?

Oh, sorry, I must've misread the first question. Our government tries it's best to track down these hackers. However it's not as easy as you may think, and they often remain undetected for years. These attacks aren't strictly directed at Western countries. Sometimes you can find similar bots advertising on Russian forums too.

[BuildTheRussian]

What is Russia's pacific coastline like compared to the more famous regions of the country?

It's very mountainous and deserted (in the sense of that it's empty). The only known city on the Pacific coastline is Vladivostok. Moscow and St Petersburg is pretty flat on the other hand.

[thspfc]

Do Russians hate the US and its people as much as western Europeans do?

Western Europeans? Since when have western Europeans hated the US?

This is just an approximation, but sometime around 12:01 pm on January 20, 2017.

I don't want to derail this thread, but come on now. If I can keep the last few years in their appropriate context as someone in my early 20's, I would expect anyone older than me to be able to do so even more so.

There's simply no comparison between Western Europe and a Cold War rival like Russia in terms of feelings towards the US. To frame it as if Western Europe is suddenly somehow the pinnacle of hatred towards the US, as if it's comparable to a true long-standing rival like Russia or China, is simply untenable, bordering on bizarre.

Lol what? I never said anything of that sort. Of course they don't hate us to the point where they could realistically bomb us. Our government mostly gets along with those of western Europe.

Seriously, when did I ever say that there's a viable comparison between the Cold War and western Europe/USA in 2021?

[thspfc]

Do Russians hate the US and its people as much as western Europeans do?

Western Europeans? Since when have western Europeans hated the US?

This is just an approximation, but sometime around 12:01 pm on January 20, 2017.

I don't want to derail this thread, but come on now. If I can keep the last few years in their appropriate context as someone in my early 20's, I would expect anyone older than me to be able to do so even more so.

There's simply no comparison between Western Europe and a Cold War rival like Russia in terms of feelings towards the US. To frame it as if Western Europe is suddenly somehow the pinnacle of hatred towards the US, as if it's comparable to a true long-standing rival like Russia or China, is simply untenable, bordering on bizarre.

Some people just have to be political brainlets on here at all costs. It's what they do.

It's no wonder Russians laugh at us and think we only understand them in stereotypes. They should.

The incorrect stereotype here was against Western Europe, not against Russia.

What was the incorrect stereotype? Western European civilians hate the United States. I didn't think that was a secret.

[webny99]

I don't want to derail this thread, but come on now. If I can keep the last few years in their appropriate context as someone in my early 20's, I would expect anyone older than me to be able to do so even more so.

There's simply no comparison between Western Europe and a Cold War rival like Russia in terms of feelings towards the US. To frame it as if Western Europe is suddenly somehow the pinnacle of hatred towards the US, as if it's comparable to a true long-standing rival like Russia or China, is simply untenable, bordering on bizarre.

Lol what? I never said anything of that sort. Of course they don't hate us to the point where they could realistically bomb us. Our government mostly gets along with those of western Europe.

Seriously, when did I ever say that there's a viable comparison between the Cold War and western Europe/USA in 2021?

The way your question was worded, it sure sounded like Western Europeans set the bar for hatred of the US, but as far as I'm concerned that couldn't be further from the truth.

[thspfc]

I don't want to derail this thread, but come on now. If I can keep the last few years in their appropriate context as someone in my early 20's, I would expect anyone older than me to be able to do so even more so.

There's simply no comparison between Western Europe and a Cold War rival like Russia in terms of feelings towards the US. To frame it as if Western Europe is suddenly somehow the pinnacle of hatred towards the US, as if it's comparable to a true long-standing rival like Russia or China, is simply untenable, bordering on bizarre.

Lol what? I never said anything of that sort. Of course they don't hate us to the point where they could realistically bomb us. Our government mostly gets along with those of western Europe.

Seriously, when did I ever say that there's a viable comparison between the Cold War and western Europe/USA in 2021?

The way your question was worded, it sure sounded like Western Europeans set the bar for hatred of the US, but as far as I'm concerned that couldn't be further from the truth.

If my question was concerning all of history, I would have worded it in past tense: "Do Russians hate America as much as Soviets hated America in the 60s?"

Right now, in 2021? From a governmental perspective, western Europe certainly does not hate America the most. From a civilian perspective, I would say they do. Like it or not, it's fair to assume that citizens of the majority of other countries wish they lived here. Then you have a lot of countries such as Russia, who are indifferent. I think Canada would fall into that category, as there's a wide range of Canadian opinions on the US. Finally you're left with people that don't like us. Disproportionately it seems like it's Dutch citizens who are the loudest, not sure what that's about, but they're far from the only ones.

[Scott5114]

From my experiences talking to Western Europeans online, they don't hate the United States. If anything, they feel sorry that we have to put up with the sort of nonsense that we do when it comes to the lack of government services that they're used to their own government providing. But in general they don't have much negative to say about Americans, even if they don't care for our government that much.

This is obviously just one city in one country, but here's an article from a Norwegian-language learning channel where they ask random people on the street in Trondheim what they think of Americans and the USA. However, their answers are not too out of line with what I see other European people post–and yes, that includes the Dutch people I've met online.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDsRqUJj6H8

[zachary_amaryllis]

to the OP:

lets talk turkey. i'm a fat guy, which means among other things, i like to eat. tell me about some russian food that you think i should try, assuming i can find it stateside.

[BuildTheRussian]

to the OP:

lets talk turkey. i'm a fat guy, which means among other things, i like to eat. tell me about some russian food that you think i should try, assuming i can find it stateside.

Pelmeni are pretty good, basically round meat dumplings.

[Roadgeekteen]

Western Europeans don't hate Americans, they just hate our government and certain aspects of the culture such as guns and extreme American exceptionalism. But Americans also hate our government, and many hate guns and other aspects of America.

[thspfc]

From my experiences talking to Western Europeans online, they don't hate the United States. If anything, they feel sorry that we have to put up with the sort of nonsense that we do when it comes to the lack of government services that they're used to their own government providing. But in general they don't have much negative to say about Americans, even if they don't care for our government that much.

This is obviously just one city in one country, but here's an article from a Norwegian-language learning channel where they ask random people on the street in Trondheim what they think of Americans and the USA. However, their answers are not too out of line with what I see other European people post–and yes, that includes the Dutch people I've met online.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDsRqUJj6H8

There was no hate in that video, but there were at least many things listed that they don't like about the USA/its people.

[Roadgeekteen]

From my experiences talking to Western Europeans online, they don't hate the United States. If anything, they feel sorry that we have to put up with the sort of nonsense that we do when it comes to the lack of government services that they're used to their own government providing. But in general they don't have much negative to say about Americans, even if they don't care for our government that much.

This is obviously just one city in one country, but here's an article from a Norwegian-language learning channel where they ask random people on the street in Trondheim what they think of Americans and the USA. However, their answers are not too out of line with what I see other European people post–and yes, that includes the Dutch people I've met online.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDsRqUJj6H8

There was no hate in that video, but there were at least many things listed that they don't like about the USA/its people.

If I was asked what I thought about the US I would say plenty of things I don't like, doesn't mean I hate America.