Poll: Do you feel less empathy and compassion for the Russian civilians who got killed in the recent terror attack

[noname223]

There happened a terror attack in Moscow today.

Sorry but I have to admit I feel less compassion for them. When I see how many of them support Putin and his war. This is the fear and pain Ukrainians have to feel every single day. Does it also affect innocent people? Of course but there is a saying "sow the wind and reap the whirlwind"
For me it is similar to the war crimes against the German people for example in Dresden during WW2 against the civilians. I see where the perpetrators are coming from. However, I am not sure how questionable this mindset is. If I was attacked I would not have the same opinion. Especially if a loved one of mine died.

Nevertheless, I will still go with yes except when someone makes a good case against it.

 

[sserafim]

I'm ambivalent. It's not the Russian peoples' fault that Putin is evil. Why should they be punished for the crimes of their country?

 

[noname223]

I'm ambivalent. It's not the Russian peoples' fault that Putin is evil. Why should they be punished for the crimes of their country?

Due to the fact the polls show that Putin's popularity increased since the 24h February 2022.
There are only a few people who openly protest. I know there are punishments and I would be a coward too. But most of them are complicit passively and not fully innocent.

 

[Forever Sleep]

Due to the fact the polls show that Putin's popularity increased since the 24h February 2022.
There are only a few people who openly protest. I know there are punishments and I would be a coward too. But most of them are complicit passively and not fully innocent.

It's hard to judge though don't you think? If protesting something meant you could come home one day and find your parents missing- would you still do it? It's hard to really know what growing up there would be like. So much would be censored. You'd grow up believing your country was in the right. How many of us follow through with actions on our convictions? I expect most people wouldn't feel too comfortable if they witnessed factory farming and animal slaughter first hand. Yet- we know it goes on and still happily devour meat. I'd say most of us are hypocritical to some extent. (Me included.)

I just wish they'd throw our world leaders and war mongerers into a pit and let them fight it out between them rather than involving civilians.

 

[KafkaF]

No, as far as I'm concerned innocent civilians are innocent civilians. I will always have compassion for them dying.

And, no, I do not blame them for passively standing by while their authoritarian regime commits war crimes. Most people would do the same under the same circumstances.

 

[noname223]

It's hard to judge though don't you think? If protesting something meant you could come home one day and find your parents missing- would you still do it? It's hard to really know what growing up there would be like. So much would be censored. You'd grow up believing your country was in the right. How many of us follow through with actions on our convictions? I expect most people wouldn't feel too comfortable if they witnessed factory farming and animal slaughter first hand. Yet- we know it goes on and still happily devour meat. I'd say most of us are hypocritical to some extent. (Me included.)

I just wish they'd throw our world leaders and war mongerers into a pit and let them fight it out between them rather than involving civilians.

I think most young people with access to the internet are aware of what is going on. With access to the internet the propaganda becomes transparent to a certain extent. In theory you could still leave the country. Interestingly the support for the war is the highest in Moscow in the highly educated demographics. They know what is going on but usually they don't have face the cruel reality of war.

The war is more criticized in regions with ethnic minorities where all the soldiers get recruited. But it is true complaining about their behavior in my privileged position is sort of cheap.

 

[heaaaaa]

There happened a terror attack in Moscow today.

Sorry but I have to admit I feel less compassion for them. When I see how many of them support Putin and his war. This is the fear and pain Ukrainians have to feel every single day. Does it also affect innocent people? Of course but there is a saying "sow the wind and reap the whirlwind"
For me it is similar to the war crimes against the German people for example in Dresden during WW2 against the civilians. I see where the perpetrators are coming from. However, I am not sure how questionable this mindset is. If I was attacked I would not have the same opinion. Especially if a loved one of mine died.

Nevertheless, I will still go with yes except when someone makes a good case against it.

No, but I do feel more distant to them. Unlike an American shooting, or an American terror attack, I won't see any survivors interviewed on TV, or any tributes to the victims. I won't see much about it on my social media feed unless I actively search for it. Nobody irl has mentioned it to me, and if they did they would not express much sympathy for the victims.
I don't think I can blame Russian civilians for the actions of their government, especially when their elections are fixed, but there is a saying: "Every nation gets the government it deserves."
I don't know how true it is, I just like how ominous it sounds. Should American civilians be held responsible for the deeds of their government? Bin Laden thought so. Do we in the West deserve our surveillance states? We didn't have any choice in the country of our birth, or any input on the development of laws permitting government surveillance. Do pigs born in stables deserve to eat slop?

 

[noname223]

I think we all can still agree on one thing: I would not like to be in the skin of these terrorists right now. They probably already regret to have survived the attack. I read and saw some censored video footage how they tortured and humiliated them in front of soldiers. I could not read a paywall article but they seemingly cut of a body part of one of them.

If they already tortured Nawalny in a digusting way what will happen to them. I could imagine only the (Mexican) Mafia is treating their enemies worse.

 

[locked*n*loaded]

I don't feel any empathy or compassion for them. If they're not happy with their government, let them change it then, and not just blindly go along with whatever the government does. America did just that when under control of the British. Of course people are going to die. It was bloody and it was ugly. That's what war is. It was a sacrifice for the greater good. I figure the Russian people have the government they deserve. And they've been LARGELY spared the horrors of war that their creep of a leader is inflicting on the Ukrainian people. maybe ISIS will inflict a little more poetic justice on them.

 

[Pluto]

I don't know much about the event in question, but it's easier to feel compassion if people are viewed as individuals rather than members of a collective.

People happen to be born into a particular region at a particular time, conditioned by the education system, subjected to media propaganda and well aware of the terrible consequences of dissent.

The comparison to the millions of Nazi German soldiers who were sent to their deaths is valid. Each one paid the ultimate price for simply being born as a boy into the German state at that time. Definitely tough luck.

 

[DreamEnd]

Russians can't protest, they can't criticize the government, there is literally nothing they can do to change anything at this point. Some of course are brainwashed by propaganda and the evil west but generally they are almost as helpless as citizens of North Korea. So to all those blaming Russians for not doing anything it's really pathetic. Do you expect the people under communism of maos China or ussr to rise up too? All of them would get shot, if anything like that would ever happen in Russia there would be mass arrests or even shootings. Many Russians are brainwashed but many other Russians know the truth and are truly helpless to change anything at all.

I don't feel any empathy or compassion for them. If they're not happy with their government, let them change it then, and not just blindly go along with whatever the government does. America did just that when under control of the British. Of course people are going to die. It was bloody and it was ugly. That's what war is. It was a sacrifice for the greater good. I figure the Russian people have the government they deserve. And they've been LARGELY spared the horrors of war that their creep of a leader is inflicting on the Ukrainian people. maybe ISIS will inflict a little more poetic justice on them.

They literally can't do anything. They don't have access to guns to overthrow anything. What can they do? Fine gather millions of people to protest. What's that gonna do? They already did that in 2021? Result? Navalny dead fbk labeled extremist organization. It's almost like North Korea. There isn't much you can do at all. You would need an internal change coming from the people in the police force or fsb and we all know well enough what happens to whistleblowers month after they tell the truth. A spontaneous heart attack or suicide would be in order, almost always

 

[Malaria]

Russians can't protest, they can't criticize the government, there is literally nothing they can do to change anything at this point. Some of course are brainwashed by propaganda and the evil west but generally they are almost as helpless as citizens of North Korea. So to all those blaming Russians for not doing anything it's really pathetic. Do you expect the people under communism of maos China or ussr to rise up too? All of them would get shot, if anything like that would ever happen in Russia there would be mass arrests or even shootings. Many Russians are brainwashed but many other Russians know the truth and are truly helpless to change anything at all.

More or less my take on this. On some level, doesn't it seem like expecting them to be able to protest and whatnot come from a priveleged viewpoint? Some people can't afford to protest or stand up for what they believe in because either they could get killed, or their loved ones will get killed because the government will view that as "guilt by association". I see this happen a lot in Venezuela, any time someone protests, the government hires people to not only attack them, but also their family, including children.

 

[DarkRange55]

I don't think it's completely comparable but how many of you Americans and European protested your government's or America's wars in the middle east? All the drone strikes killing innocent families and stuff. Yeah, it's an ocean away in an unfamiliar place but in the EU and US, they aren't going to torture the average person for protesting that. I'm saying this because most people in general even under safe conditions aren't going to protest. Now add the fear of you and your family being tortured.

I completely agree with @KafkaF - innocent civilians of any nation or race dying is just sad and unfortunate.

 

[Pluto]

When it comes to protesting, it's also important to be aware of survivorship bias. A small number of historical protesters - say, Ghandi - were effective and successful. We don't count the thousands who were murdered after accomplishing nothing because they are all in mass graves somewhere.

People here often object to the argument that such-and-such a formerly suicidal person (say, Elton John) overcame self-harm tendencies, therefore the rest of us are just being lazy or pessimistic. It's much the same thing.