Four Kinds of Russians Back Putin’s War in Ukraine, ‘the Stupid, the Obedient, the Evil and the Corrupt,’ Eidman Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 21 – It is possible and indeed more appropriate to divide Russian supporters not in the two groups that the Kremlin does, the patriotic and the anti-patriotic, but instead into four, “the stupid, the obedient, the evil and the corrupt,” according to Russian sociologist and commentator Igor Eidman.

            The most numerous of these, he suggests, are “the constitutionally stupid, slaves of propaganda ore more precisely tele-zombies” (gordonua.com/blogs/eydman/rossiyskih-storonnikov-voyny-mozhno-razdelit-na-chetyre-bolshie-gruppy-glupye-poslushnye-zlye-i-prodazhnye-1605662.html).

            Russian propaganda is so internally self-contradictory that the only people who are capable of believing it are those whom psychiatrists call “the constitutionally stupid.” They are the backbone of the regime,” and they are found most commonly among pensioners or those close to retirement age, homemakers, and people with relatively little education.

            The second group, the obedient, don’t really need propaganda. “They don’t even need to be deceived,” Eidman says, because “they just don’t think about what’s really going on” and so don’t need the support of “propaganda myths.” They are convinced that those in power are always right and supporting them is the best of all possible choices.

            The third group includes those who are simply evil, the sociologist says. “It is the most dangerous category,” but at the same time, it is not that large, only about 15 percent. But members of this group are the most “active and aggressive” and so get the most attention even though they are outnumbered by the others.

            Such people hate everything and everyone they see as “other” than their own small group. They are ideologically “imperialists, fascists and xenophobes.” They believe that “Ukraine and Ukrainians need to be destroyed,” that carpet bombing is appropriate and even nuclear weapons could be used.

            “Most of these evil people are middle-aged men,” including both present and former security agency officers. Not accidentally, Putin and his entourage are to be found precisely in this group, Eidman says.

            And fourth, there are the corrupt, those who “don’t care about anything but money and privileges” and support the regime in order to continue to receive them. “Among them are the majority of propagandists, senor officials, patriotic stars and businesses, and quite a few security officials.