At the human level there are probably plenty of low-tech techniques to keep yourself safe like deleting messages or using coded language.
It’s sad to watch Russia descend into totalitarianism.
On the contrary, this is evil genius. Once the rumour spread that happens, people stop communicating about the war.
At the human level there are probably plenty of low-tech techniques to keep yourself safe like deleting messages or using coded language.
99.9% of the population wont take any risks (e.g. even receiving text messages about the war). They will closely monitor their phone and block anybody who dont do the same.
Fear, as you say, is the purpose.
I would add that multiple aspects of Putin's attack plan for Ukraine relied heavily on its ability to instill fear.
Putin's regime expected Zelenski to flee at the sight of Russia's military at the border, they expected border cities to promptly fold at the sight of Russia's army, they expected Ukraine's army to surrender once Russia's army gained some ground, they expected all NATO and neighboring countries to stay quiet and did nothing when threatened, implicitly or explicitly, by them.
But thankfully their bluff was called, and Putin's regime was exposed as the fascist paper tiger they are.
Let's rephrase it then: Putin can't jail everyone and still expect to have any semblance of support.
Sorry, where?
No, it is a terror approach. Random people will get the news and panic about being the next to be catch in a police round-up.
Second, it is supposed to intimidate others and force the to unsubscribe from telegram channels that post alternative view on current events. Hence, effectively blocking people from getting info.
Purchasing two flight tickets out of Russia right now, using rubles that have now devalued 50%, will cost a monthly salary of a senior developer. Booking hotel for two weeks abroad will cost the same. Half of all the flights out were now shut down.
Those who are lucky to still keep their jobs (many people are not) — those are competing the clock as their chances to get out reduce every single minute. People who lost jobs and have no liquid money investments are totally f*d.
I closely know at least two people who have relatives in Ukrain and now have no resources to support them, and they get fear-mongered into submission by new criminal laws and these random border controls.
Me and many others write more about it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30580767
I agree. I wonder how many times they found what they're looking for?
Maybe slow and clumsy is part of the goal. It's a deliberate interruption that signals someone is paying attention. They probably have all sorts of classified network capture whatever, but that's not visible. It's the difference between your boss monitoring your email, and your boss sitting down at your desk and scrolling through your email.
Russia will only prosper when Putin is gone, which is at least 10 years from now.
Also, I predict that Russia may be allowed to sell its oil and gas again, but the proceeds will not go to Russia: they will be directed towards rebuilding Ukraine.
Descend INTO? Excuse me, but what part of Russia isn't already totalitarianism?
The propaganda is strong and it’s not clear to me that the veil is becoming more transparent.
Down here when children break something and the parents ask "Who did that?", they will often reply "It was already like that". With a bad excuse like that everybody knows the children broke it. Strangely enough, almost always the discussion comes to an immediate end with that, except the parents will have a certain smile like "I have been fooled here".
There are sometimes even court cases that are hopelessly lost and this happens. The lawyer is pressured to do anything he can, and comes up with such bizarre stories, that lawyers and judge will know how the situation is.
In the case of a single party dictatorship, I think it also exists to show party members what the approved line is, which allows local authorities to operate with some degree of autonomy, as long as they can tie it back to the general narrative the leadership wants to promote. This can be used as a way of allowing some degree of variation in governance while still providing the party leadership with plausible deniability if a policy fails (or the ability to claim ownership if it succeeds).
People are fooled though. There are people in and outside of Russia who firmly believe the Russian narrative. (If you don't believe that, check the recent manifestations in Serbia)
Not the type of book you asked for, but i can recommend Propaganda by Edward L. Bernays. A hugely influential (series) of book(s).
In India, I recall laughing at the so called "love jihad" conspiracy theories that claimed that massive number of Muslim men are conspiring to wed hindu women to convert them to Islam. But now, this is a hot button election topic and anti-miscegenation laws are being passed and married couples are being harrassed and forcibly separated. The marital data contradicts this conspiracy but no one gives a shit.
It's worth noting that anti-semitism in nazi Germany emerged after 1920 on the basis of 2 separate absurd conspiracy theories. Jewish complicity with the allies and racial origin theory around the sunk island of Atlantis. It took only about 10-15 years for this theory to be bought by an entire nation.
> The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them. For quite six years the English admirers of Hitler contrived not to learn of the existence of Dachau and Buchenwald. And those who are loudest in denouncing the German concentration camps are often quite unaware, or only very dimly aware, that there are also concentration camps in Russia. Huge events like the Ukraine famine of 1933, involving the deaths of millions of people, have actually escaped the attention of the majority of English russophiles. Many English people have heard almost nothing about the extermination of German and Polish Jews during the present war. Their own antisemitism has caused this vast crime to bounce off their consciousness. In nationalist thought there are facts which are both true and untrue, known and unknown. A known fact may be so unbearable that it is habitually pushed aside and not allowed to enter into logical processes, or on the other hand it may enter into every calculation and yet never be admitted as a fact, even in one’s own mind.
https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwel...
Pretensions are part of totalitarianism.
Their borders are still pretty open, no? Just watch as they will close them down soon.
Some people I know are leaving (though panic is never a good thing). Some told bizarre stories of how they were questioned at the border. And yes, some were asked to unlock and hand over their phones.
The borders are open all right, no reason to close them. People opposing the regime are going away, the best possible outcome for dictator. No need to waste a lot of time and manpower on finding dissent if it just disappears on their own. And so population becomes a bit more docile, ignorant or even cooperating.
This was happening in former communist countries too - not everybody who spoke up against the regime went to jail. Some were just thrown to western Europe and forbidden to come back.
The active and popular rebels only.
The common dissident, was not free to leave, he had to shut up and work.
When all young ambitious people leave, your country goes even more to shit than the shit it's already in. Of course they block the borders!
A country can be non-democratic without being totalitarian.
If what you are doing does not bother the government you may be able to say "see, it is not that bad, they are not telling me what to do in the totality of social, economic and political life"; if, on the other side, you do something they disagree with, the distinction between totalitarism and non-democracy disappears.
In other words, to me the difference between being able to control and attempt to control are not that different. If it is possible, eventually somebody will attempt it. This is where checks and controls, division of power, etc. are useful.