Opinions on Russians

[Inese]

I dont write much because all know my opinion about Russian and their country!! They are not really European they are brutish and are criminals and thefts, drink too much and have no good moral.

They are expansionist and like to rule over other nations ... i.e. a very European characteristic.

And this is good no joke???? Expansionism and want to rule over other nation ---- hm yes like my nation!! You must be a big fan of Hitler because he was the master of expansionism and ruling over other nations!! Hmm sorry i forget that he wanted to attack your England too ( or better England attacked Germany and Germany defended itself with attacking England !) this make him not so nice of course!!! : Big hypocrisy is it what you say sorry i must say it like that! If imperialists and expansisonits take other countries it is "strong" and "european" for you but if they want to take your country they are evil and must get punished!!! Really what is this for a thinking please???

According to all respectable sources, Russians are a European (Slavic) people.

Minority are unmixed slavs. I can respect slavs like Slowenia or Czech or Poland but not mixed mongrel slavs like most of Russians....

I strongly dislike Russia/Sovjet and it probably has alot to do with my finnish ancestry, my relatives defended their land against Sovjet with their blood and bullets.

They raped and burned their way through northern Finland

Modern day Russia I associate with corruption, decadence and poverty. Those russians who come to Sweden aren't really the sharpest knives in the box so to say, they bring criminality just like the arabs and Jugoslavs.

up up up Absolute true this is my opinion and my experience too!! Our both countries have the bad luck that Russia is our neighbour...Finnland is a little bit more lucky because Russians did not made you a part of USSR like our baltic countries but i complete understand the feeling!! Lucky to see that i am not alone with the real experience with Russians.

[Loki]

Like the U.S.A they were using Nazi scientists.

Nazi scientists with Russian names? That's a first.

Russian resilience is indeed reflected on their population that has been declining for the last 20 or so years.

No, you've got it the wrong way around. They are resilient in spite of this demographic decline. Or perhaps even because of. The best in humans are usually brought out under extreme duress and persecution.

They have lots of resources- but they barely have the know-how, have awfully corrupt politicians and no democratic tradition.

What is so good about "democracy"? I mean, the type of "democracy" that was promoted by Condoleezza Rice. There is nothing good about that. The word "democracy" is just another whiz word used to convince ordinary people of the correctness of wrongful acts of state.

When, BTW, was the last time you saw something marked "Made in Russia" ?

When will Russia be allowed into the WTO?

Fine. Sorry but a Slavic language and a white skin alone does not make you European.

Your arbitrary idea of Europeanness is not authoritative enough to be accepted generally.

I don't think so. China would provide the counterbalance. Many people seem to underestimate China (and India)...

I would rather have a nation populated by Europeans as a counterbalance, than non-European ones (China and India).

The fact that WW3 never erupted is because Americans and Russians were able to act rationally even in the fact of extreme threats. I am not sure if this would have been the outcome, had the USSR been controlled by Chinese or Indians.

[Maelstrom]

I dont write much because all know my opinion about Russian and their country!! They are not really European they are brutish and are criminals and thefts, drink too much and have no good moral.

Minority are unmixed slavs. I can respect slavs like Slowenia or Czech or Poland but not mixed mongrel slavs like most of Russians....

In order to establish who is mixed and or what is European, various factors need to be taken into account.

It is possible that a Finn might not be considered European. Is it something that is exclusively genetic?

Likewise if it is simply geographic I, along with many other members born to the colonies may be excluded. Should I take offence to your criticism of expansionist powers because I am the result of such a phenomena? No.

Herein lies the crux of the matter and the answer to the problem at hand. It is found right in front of you: The Apricity Forum: Cultural & Ethnic European Preservation

European, by this definition at least, is not geographic nor exclusively* genetic, but rather cultural and ethnic. I do believe that the Russian people would fall into such a category.

As for your statement about mixed individuals, I must admit that I don't think it holds much merit. There are numerous theories floating about, one of which is the Mongoliform Influenced Europe theory. Note that Latvia is included within that border.

But hey, Inese, you don't look at all Mongoliform to me. I can't say the same for all of your countrymen, for I haven't seen them all. Bearing that in mind, I have also seen photos of Russian individuals that do not look anything but European, though I cannot say that is true for all Russians.


* - I am in no way condoning racial mixing by any means.

[Manifest Destiny]

Without Russia, we would have missed out on the hotness of Maria Sharapova and the comedic genius of Yakov Smirnoff (he was actually a Jewish Ukrainian, but the Russian-dominated USSR is the reason we had the "joy" of his presence).

I actually have mixed feelings about Russians (not all Slavs, but Russians specifically). As it has been pointed out, they are are a resilient people who have contributed much to science and technology during the Cold War and Space Race. On the other hand, the Russians who come to America are often far from being ideal immigrants...

[Eldritch]

I'll put this one under the rim of my thinking hat and comment on it later.

[Groenewolf]

I will first post mine own opion about Russia. First of all Russia did indeed had a strong spaceprogram. And managed not only to put a man in to space first. But also to keep a spacestation running up there longer then anyone else.

And Putin has done many things to lift Russia up in the world of international politics. And in theory Russia could cover Europe's eastern flank against both China and the Islamic world.

However we most also consider that Russia had tried to expand their borders to the west. And there is the policy of Russification.

For the rest of Europe a powerfull Russia does not nessarly has to be a good thing.

[Psychonaut]

I've only met three people from Russia so far. All three of them were Jews who came here during the 80s. They were pleasant enough people, but were all walking examples of the "angry atheist" stereotype.

[Absinthe]

"Despise" is a strong word.

My general opinion of Russians is negative, based on my actual encounters with them in Greece and other countries.

Collectively speaking they tend to:

live on organized crime, be loud and rude, dress horrendously tacky, be aggressive, be overly materialistic and chase easy profit and make sure they show off that newly acquired wealth

As a nation they bully their neighbours in a way that's too over the top for the rest of us "civilized" Europeans (quotation marks in purpose).

They brought misery and suffering to Eastern Europeans by forcing Stalinism on them.

Their inability to learn and/or speak proper english and thus communicate with the rest of Europe is appalling (with few exceptions, of course), and their backwardness, combined with the hilarious ways by which they are trying to incorporate western capitalist elemets in post communist-Russia is also a sign of regression.

I despise Orthodox Christianity, greek included, and this is one more reason not to like them.

That been said, of course there are exceptions. I've met tons of stereotypical Russian gold-digging sluts, but I've also met two russian girls, one of them in my finnish classroom, that are exceptionally modest, intelligent and hard-working. They put most greeks to shame.

[Jamt]

Some Russians are brutal as hell. Life does not tend to mean a lot to them, be it others or their own. Russians in Sweden is something that criminals threaten people with: You pay us or you pay the Russians. Maybe it is a result from the Mongol invasions and the cruelty of communism. Anyway there is “something” that divides them from other Europeans. On the other hand I have heard that they have a similar veneration for forests and nature as Scandinavians do.

[Manifest Destiny]

Russians in Sweden is something that criminals threaten people with: You pay us or you pay the Russians.

They can "threaten" me with this Russian all day long: