If Vladimir Putin has been tolerated for so long, it is not only because of the prowess of a propaganda which ended up detaching the Russians from real life. His compatriots tolerated him because of the tacit social contract which bound them to their leader, and which suited them. This contract can be summed up as follows: I will gradually deprive you of your rights and freedoms, in exchange for which I will ensure that you can gradually benefit from the benefits of the consumer society.
The Russians accepted this contract without hesitation for two reasons. The first: even at the height of the so-called “liberal” 1990s, those for whom individual rights and freedoms were important did not reach 10%, according to sociological surveys of the time. And if something isn’t important to you, why not sacrifice it for something that is?
This important thing is the second reason to accept the contract offered by Putin. The average Russian is a thousand miles from the highly spiritual creatures, detached from the material world, which propaganda likes to portray. In fact, there is no more material than an average Russian for the simple reason that he has never led a decently settled life on the material plane.
Ninety years of waiting for access to material goods
Here is the story in a nutshell. After the turmoil of 1917, which culminated in the Bolshevik coup, Russians were told: “Arm yourself with patience, because we must make a world revolution.” Via