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| | While not generally recognized as an outstanding public speaker before crowds, Putin is known for heart-to-heart talks, somewhat akin to U.S. President [[Franklin Roosevelt]]'s fireside chats, on a wide range of topics and issues of interest and concern to the Russian people his using the [[television]] format. | | While not generally recognized as an outstanding public speaker before crowds, Putin is known for heart-to-heart talks, somewhat akin to U.S. President [[Franklin Roosevelt]]'s fireside chats, on a wide range of topics and issues of interest and concern to the Russian people his using the [[television]] format. |
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| | + | === Views on abortion === |
| | + | Putin rejects any constitutional protections to [[abortion]], as existed in the United States prior to the ''Dobbs'' decision, but does not have the power to ban abortion under [[Russia]]'s constitutional system. Putin has supported and enforced [[pro-life]] laws in Russian which would be invalidated by [[pro-abortion]] courts in the United States. In 2017, he said that he will allow societal (including church) views to guide him on the issue:<ref>[http://fortune.com/2017/12/14/vladimir-putin-russia-abortion-pro-choice-press-conference/ An article biased in favor of [[abortion]] but useful for its quotations]</ref> |
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| | + | :“In the modern world, the decision is up to the woman herself,” Putin said, and indicated that additional pro-life proposals “must be careful, considered and based on the general mood in society and the moral and ethical norms that have developed in society.” |
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| | + | Putin's "the decision" is an ambiguous phrase that could include the decision to have the pregnancy in the first place. Also, Putin is very pro-[[Russia]] and if thinks abortion is lowering the birth rate in a harmful way, then he could abolish it based on national interests. |
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| | + | ===Views on wokism=== |
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| | + | Putin told the Valdai Club in October 2021,<ref>https://www.rt.com/russia/538121-putin-children-swap-gender-monstrous/</ref> |
| | + | [[File:Putin popularity.PNG|right|300px|thumb|Vladimir Putin's Popularity rating rose to 83% during the Russia-Ukraine war.<ref>https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news-2022-03-30/card/putin-s-approval-rating-jumps-after-invasion-poll-shows-fm8f4uSdiVfTxORQOE0v</ref>]] |
| | + | {{quotebox-float|"We see with bemusement the process unfolding in countries that have grown accustomed to viewing themselves as the flagships of [[Progressive|progress]]. Of course it's none of our business what is happening - the social and cultural shocks that are happening in some Western countries. Some believe that aggressive blotting out of whole pages of your own history, and the requirement to renounce the traditional interpretation of such basic values as mother, father, family, and the distinction between sexes are a milestone towards a renewal of society...we have a different point of view. We believe, at least the overwhelming majority of Russian society, that we need to rely on our own spiritual values and our historical traditions. |
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| | + | On the culture of our multi-ethnic nation, the proponents of so-called 'social progress' believe that they are bringing a new consciousness to humanity. Something that is [[political correctness|more correct]]...The recipes they come up with are nothing new. Paradoxical as it may seem, but this is something we saw in Russia. It happened in our country before and after the [[October Revolution|1917 Revolution]]. The [[Bolshevik]]s followed the dogmas of [[Marx]] and [[Engels]]. And they also declared that they were going to change the traditional lifestyle, the political, the economic lifestyle, as well as the very notion of [[morality]], the basic principles. Fully, healthy society they were trying to destroy, century-long values. Revisiting the relationship between people. They were encouraging informing on one's own beloved and families. It was hailed as "the March of Progress" and it was very [[Popular Front|popular across the world]]. And it was supported by many. |
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| | + | As we see it is happening right now. Incidentally, the Bolsheviks were absolutely intolerant of other opinions different from their own. I think this should remind you of something that is happening...it is with puzzlement that we see the practices Russia used to have, and that we left behind... The fight for equality and against discrimination turns into an aggressive dogmatism on the brink of absurdity. When great authors of the past such as [[Shakespeare]] are no longer taught in |
| | + | schools and universities because they did not understand the importance of gender or race. |
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| | + | And [[Hollywood]]. There are leaflets reminding what you should do in the films - how many personalities and actors you've got, what kind of color, what sex, and sometimes it's even stricter than what the Department of Propaganda of the Soviet Communist Party Central Committee did. And the fight against racism, which is a lofty goal, turns into [[cancel culture]] and reverse discrimination. Racism in reverse. It tears people apart. Whereas the true fighters for [[civil rights]], they were trying to eliminate those differences....[[Martin Luther King]] said "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." That is a true value. ...in Russia, most of our Republics simply do not care what skin color you have. He or she, that's not that important, because each and every one of us is a human being. That's the most important thing. |
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| | + | The discussion about the rights of men and women has turned into a total phantasmagoria in a number of Western countries...Those who risk saying that men and women still exist, and that this is a biological fact, are virtually ostracized...And this is not new...In the 1920s, Soviet culture-warriors invented a so-called ‘[[newspeak]]’, believing that in this way they would create a new sense of consciousness and redefine people’s values...This is not to mention things that are simply monstrous, like when children are taught from an early age that a boy can easily become a girl and vice versa...In fact, they are indoctrinating them into the alleged choices that are supposedly available to everyone – removing parents from the equation and forcing the child to make decisions that can ruin their lives...This is borderline crime against humanity - all under the guise of "progress."<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6sIZ8-C1vw</ref>}} |
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| | + | === Views on communism and the Soviet Union === |
| | + | [[File:Solzhenitsyn and Putin.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Russian President Vladimir Putin presents [[human rights]] activist [[Alexander Solzhenitsyn]] with an award. Solzhenitsyn set in motion the movement that toppled Soviet communism.]] |
| | + | Putin famously said, "Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain."<ref>https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/vladimir_putin_452527</ref> |
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| | + | Putin has before called the [[Bolshevik]]s traitors for Russia's defeat in the First World War.<ref>https://www.rt.com/politics/putin-accuses-bolsheviks-treason-877/</ref> However, he has also expressed that "[he] liked Communist and socialist ideas very much and [he] like[s] them still." and compared the Soviet code of conduct to the [[Bible]].<ref>http://www.newsweek.com/russias-putin-says-he-always-liked-communist-socialist-ideas-419289</ref><ref>https://pjmedia.com/faith/tyler-o-neil/2018/01/17/putin-soviet-communism-is-very-similar-to-christianity-party-rules-are-a-bible-excerpt-n101328</ref> Putin also has compared communism with Christianity.<ref>Newman, Alex (January 16, 2018). [https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/item/28051-communism-very-similar-to-christianity-putin-claims Communism “Very Similar” to Christianity, Putin Claims]. ''The New American''. Retrieved January 17, 2018.</ref> Putin has been accused by Western media of embracing the tactics of Soviet dictator [[Joseph Stalin]].<ref>https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-stalin-model-20150611-story.html</ref> In addition, he implies in an interview with [[Larry King]] dated September 8, 2000 that his Christianity isn't actually sincere by stating in Russian that he "believes in the power of man" or "I believe in human beings." Though a few years later, his faith became more genuine.<ref>https://www.quora.com/Is-Vladimir-Putin-personally-religious</ref> Furthermore, around October 2017, he hosted the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students Communist event and gave a speech that strongly implied that he adhered to Communism.<ref>http://www.trevorloudon.com/2017/10/non-communist-putin-opens-major-international-communist-youth-festival/</ref><ref>http://www.trevorloudon.com/2017/07/russia-to-host-major-international-communist-youth-festival-on-putins-instructions/</ref> |
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| | + | Since passage of Sen. [[John McCain]]'s [[Magnitsky Act]], also known as the Russia sanctions bill which was signed into law by [[Barack Obama]] in an attempt to cripple the Russian Federation, Russia has been driven back into competition with the [[military-industrial complex]] It has provided arms and materiel to various communist groups, including [[Angola]], and has voiced a desire to reconnect with Latin America shortly before the FSLN regained power in Nicaragua and has supported [[Nicaragua]] via foreign aid, shipping tanks, and even posting a GLONASS tracking station on the Caribbean coast, alongside similar arming of North Korea.<ref>https://westernfreepress.com/is-vladimir-putin-a-communist/</ref><ref>https://www.trevorloudon.com/2017/12/is-vladimir-putin-a-communist/</ref> Putin is a close ally of the [[Venezuela]]'s Marxist Dictator [[Nicolás Maduro]] which he defends internationally.<ref>https://www.dw.com/es/la-alianza-estrat%C3%A9gica-de-maduro-y-putin/a-46618225</ref><ref>https://www.infobae.com/america/venezuela/2019/06/06/vladimir-putin-volvio-a-respaldar-a-maduro-y-dijo-que-sus-asesores-militares-cumpliran-las-obligaciones-de-rusia-en-venezuela/</ref> He also indicated that he still keeps his KGB card while citing his contemporaries within the KGB had discarded theirs after the USSR's fall.<ref>https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/putin-his-communist-party-membership-card-i-still-keep-it-home</ref> |
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| | + | === Views on Islam === |
| | + | In January 2018 Putin said that "[t]raditional Islam is an integral part of the Russian cultural code". He also vowed to support Islamic religious education.<ref>https://themoscowtimes.com/news/putin-calls-for-revival-of-islamic-education-in-russia-60276</ref> |
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| | + | Putin has openly endorsed the right of the Chechen people to cultural hegemony in the Chechen Federated Republic of the Russian Federation under [[Ramzan Kadyrov]].<ref>https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/03/26/putin-insists-on-russian-law-in-chechnya-while-supporting-muslim-president/</ref> Kadyrov has de facto established Islamic rule in the region and was condemned by the international community for slaughtering gay citizens.<ref>https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chechnya-ramzan-kadyrov-gay-citizens-massacre-chechen-leader-do-not-exist-russia-vladimir-putin-a7675906.html</ref> Chechen authorities have imposed a compulsory Islamic dresscode for women.<ref>https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-12705300</ref> |
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| | ==Foreign relations== | | ==Foreign relations== |