Russian President Vladimir Putin
Photo: REUTERS
Former Ogonyok editor-in-chief, who lived in the United States for 10 years, Vitaly Korotich, with KP.RU political commentator Alexander Gamov.
… – Vitaly Alekseevich, here is interesting information: Vladimir Putin won the Russian presidential elections held in the United States. Ella Pamfilova spoke about this. There 56.82% voted for Putin. How do you explain this?
– First of all, in the United States only our citizens voted.
– It is empty.
– All this means that those who live there did not emigrate from Russia, but are still in Russia. They left, for one reason or another, and are refugees in the United States. It’s convenient there, it’s good there. And at the same time, they are worried about Russia and vote for Putin. They also believe that it will be better if Putin remains president. Russians read American newspapers, they listen to all those cascades of nonsense that rain down on them.
– And they hold on…
– When I touch this, I realize that it is impossible to see, impossible to read. Although I only get an echo. Then I receive news from Ukraine, where, in principle, everything American is retold. And as soon as a person finds himself in this rain, sorry, sewers!?
– And how?
– It’s very difficult to do this. But the people (we are talking about those who voted for Putin – AG) survived. This means that they believe that our country exists and will exist. And Putin…
If they wanted to stay in the United States forever, they would not have voted or they would have voted against him. But they vote for him. They believe things will get better. And they probably believe they will come back.
– Why then did they leave and not rush back?
– You see, living in America is convenient in its own way, people receive money, some social amenities, at least some of those who left. Some of them, especially the elderly, generally feel more or less calm.
But at the same time it is uncomfortable. They feel like they are in a foreign land.
And this is not the emigration of those first post-revolutionary years, nor the postwar emigration. This is a purely economic emigration. Russians who went there and want to sit on something there suddenly begin to understand that they will not be left out. That Russia remains and this is the only place where anyone needs them.
This (voting results in the Russian presidential elections in the USA – AG) is a very important result.
– Tell me, please, is there anyone among them who, perhaps three years ago, in connection with well-known events, fled there and then came to his senses…
– You know, propaganda is a very vile thing. It clogs the brains and puts pressure on them.
And when people leave, they think: that’s it, I’m done, now I’ll live well, America will support me… And suddenly they realize that no one needs them. Suddenly they realize that they are immigrants there.
Then, broadly speaking, they realize that this is not the same thing at all. This is approximately the same as immigrants from other countries, especially neighboring countries, walk around Moscow and other cities and look for work.
They are people who are not at home. And when they open their mouths and begin to express their discontent about something, they are told: then come back, why did you come here?
They are constantly made to understand that they are not at home, that they are not at home, that they are not at home.
And then they begin to understand that, in fact, they are waiting for them at home.
And they vote like this. 56% – more than half. This means that the people who left were not gone forever.
– 56.82.
– These people already think that in Russia someone needs them more than in the United States.
Also, the United States is now working on the immigrant problem… And Trump, by the way, says that if he wins the elections, in general all immigrants will be expelled to the hell of the United States, why did they come ? go home and live at home.
And now it is something very profitable for everyone, and in our house, by the way, to understand who you are and where you live. And if you are going to live somewhere, then you must have some small piece of this planet where you will be at home, where they are waiting for you and where you can be the master. In the United States you can live, you can even get a pretty good job. But you will never be in charge there. You will always be a stranger there. And all the time you will think, in principle, who your daughter will marry, if you took her with you, or who your son will marry. Because a decent family, well, generally speaking, won’t accept them.
God wants you and I to feel like we are at home, and that this is the only place on the planet where someone needs us.
You see, at one point I lived there for many years, I could have become an American citizen, I could have become anyone…
– Yes, by the way. How was it there?
“Something was spinning inside me all the time.” The language is not the same. There you can speak your native language and it is good. But after six months of teaching in English, I got tired. And then in a month I made about two hundred dollars on the phone, or even more. (I called Russia to speak in Russian. – AG)
And then I realized that enough was enough, I had to go home. And I went.
And many people I know do the same.
And someone does not act like that, but sits and waits. But they vote for Putin. Because they need a Russia in which they feel good. God grant that they wait for this Russia. And it would be even better if you came here and helped build it.
– Who did Korotich vote for? At least he held a couple of presidential elections there, right?
– I’m not for anyone. Only American citizens vote. I didn’t take citizenship.
– When you were there, who did you give preference to in the Russian elections? Who did you vote for the Russian candidates?
– I didn’t vote there. This is probably not good. But I was in Boston, there is no Russian consulate there. It was necessary to go to Washington or somewhere else. And then there was no electronic voting.
I had students, I had jobs. And I had some sympathies of my own.
And I will tell you that, in principle, I would have voted for Putin even then, because I needed some kind of reliability. But the United States cannot provide security to an emigrant. Now Russia is beginning to offer more and more security to its citizens. God grant that this feeling does not disappear.
– We had a good conversation today… Thank you.
– Thank you!
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