Putinism in Russia means much more than supporting Vladimir Putin. It means the civic crippling of all strata of a society that has been systematically and purposefully depoliticized for twenty years. Here, state power has had a monopoly on truth and politics for so long that anyone who opposes it (opposition MPs, celebrities, entrepreneurs, social activists or civic organizations) looks a priori a loser, pathetic and ridiculous. In the best case, you declare someone a poor lunatic, subject them to harassment and provocation, take away their property, cut their career opportunities, force them out of the country – in the worst case, kill them. In the last few centuries, Russians haven’t experienced even ten years of real freedom, and the fear of “don’t stand out, it can end badly” has become second nature to them. So it’s no wonder they could easily be hooked on paternalism and so-called learned helplessness.
Today, every consideration, no matter what it is, is based on the primacy of strength. Hence the now widespread protective reflex of identifying with strength, power and state authority: If our country actually attacked Ukraine, then that was necessary; those up there know better than we do; now you have to support the president without ifs and buts. In particular, officials of all stripes, from university rectors to governors to school principals, rushed to swear their oaths of “special operation” with the slogan “For the victory, for the president”. This is not surprising given that for years the civil service has been recruited primarily from opportunists without ideas or initiative.