MYTHS ABOUT RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS

A viral tweet claims that most recent Russian immigrants are just "Amazon refugees" who left only because of sanctions and personal inconvenience.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a thread debunking idiotic drivel, so here we go.

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https://twitter.com/CaolanReports/status/1958424109680832857

Let's talk about Russian immigrants, their motivations, and their finances.

I'll start by saying I've got no idea who this frat bro is, but you’d have to be detached from reality to think Russians left in search of better delivery services or a better online shopping

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Artemy is spot on, and he was not the first one to notice this link. After WWII, German philosopher Theodor Adorno was trying to understand why so many of his fellow Germans endorsed Hitler's rule. He created a set of survey questions he called the "F-scale" (from "Fascist").

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https://twitter.com/Leonov_mr/status/1897391819044135386

These questions were indirect measures of how predisposed a person was to authoritarianism.

They measured tendencies to submit to the strong, dominate the weak, and project inner frustrations onto an outward group. His findings generated much controversy because...

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I've read this new anti-Guriev thread and reviewed the original sources.

Disclaimer: I'm a sociologist who is contractually obligated to hate economists.

But honestly, I think it's a big nothingburger.

Let me explain why.

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https://twitter.com/_justjoined/status/1826365192948908357

In 2020, two PhD students released a working paper titled 'Silence the Media or the Story? Theory and Evidence of Media Capture.'

They used mentions of the Panama Papers as a measure of changes in perceived corruption, which I think is a neat idea.

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One of the biggest points of disagreement between Ukrainians and Russian anti-war liberals seems to be the issue of “our boys.”

Let's talk about it and discuss the historical context.

What is the issue of "our boys?"

1/ In September 2022, Russian pop star Alla Pugacheva posted a statement in support of her husband, who had been declared a "foreign agent" by the Russian government.

She expressed her solidarity with her husband, wishing "an end to the deaths of our guys for illusory goals."

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This post about "what Russians must do to be accepted by Ukrainians" betrays a misunderstanding about Russians. It's not 2022 anymore.

As I see it, Russian liberals no longer seek an alliance with Ukrainians or seek their approval or validation.

Let me explain why.

1/ After the start of the full-scale invasion, many Russians experienced a period of intense soul-searching. Great crimes were being committed in their name. They felt like their identity had become toxic.

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For us, specialists in Katz Studies, the recent line of attack against the FBK represents a significant development.

Let me explain.

It represents a significant departure both in style and in substance from the Katz we know and love.

1/ An important thing about Katz is that there used to be two of them: YouTube Katz and Twitter Katz.

YouTube Katz is an intellectual and a strategist. He reads deep books on history and politics and summarizes them for his audience.

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"Estonia gave 1.4% of its GDP to Ukraine in aid."

I'm sure you've seen this talking point. It's often used by Kaja Kallas supporters when they want to argue about how pro-Ukraine she is.

But is it true?

Let's talk about Estonia's creative accounting methods.

1/ Assume you've got a bunch of Cold War howitzers. You ship them to Ukraine. What's the value of the shipment?

An obvious answer is probably its resale value: how much you would be able to sell the same package for in an open market.

That's NOT how Estonia sees it.

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IS THE WAR FUNDED BY RUSSIAN TAXES?

Let's discuss it.

Let me give you one question that can help you identify a fake expert on Russia.

Ask them whether the individual income tax primarily contributes to the federal budget in Russia.

It does not.

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https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1768348988372353116

Most Russians pay a flat tax rate of 13%. If they earn more than 5 million rubles ($55,000), they pay more, but very few people do.

The tax is collected by the federal government and then allocated to local budgets: 15% goes to municipal budgets and 85% to regional ones.

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THOUGHTS ON ZADORNOV

Thank you to everyone who explained the "Nu Tupyje" meme to me.

I've read up on the Russian stand-up comedian Mikhail Zadornov and listened to some of his monologues.

I want to share some thoughts.

Get more air into your chest, let's get started.

1/ Many of you disagreed on whether his anti-American jokes were genuine or if he was actually making fun of Russians.

Jokes targeting Americans are fairly common among Australian stand-up comedians, especially those aiming to make a name for themselves in the US.

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NAVALNY AND AUSTRALIAN ANIMALS

To the best of my knowledge, Russian dissident Alexey Navalny has never been to Australia.

And yet he seemed fascinated by our unique wildlife.

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Back in 2019 he suggested that a wombat would be a better governor for a Russian region than "Putin's morons".

"A wombat is better!" he proclaimed.

Let's put an end to this falsehood about Navalny.

I've heard many times that Navalny's team views Ukraine as a competitor for Western funds and that they have attempted to obstruct Western aid to Ukraine.

This is false.

Let's examine the evidence.

1/ People who support this idea provide three pieces of evidence:

Volkov's interview from September 2022,
Navalny's "cost of a Javelin shot" tweet from April 2022,
Navalny's interview from March 2015.

Let's consider them in this reverse chronological order.

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Why can't Russians overthrow their regime as Ukrainians did in 2013/14?

Let me answer without invoking Russians' alleged "slave mentality."

I'll also explain why the question itself does not make any sense.

But we need to understand precisely why the Ukrainians won.

1/ Revolution of Dignity of 2013/14 was a momentous event in Ukraine's history.

Ukrainian society has defended democracy from an authoritarian ambitions of a supremely corrupt leader.

More than 100 Ukrainians gave their lives to this cause, more than 1,000 were injured.

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