• Marxism-Fennekinism
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      2 years ago

      It does look like it has a Russian license plate:

      Doesn’t stop it from being racist though. Imagine taking a picture of a black gang member and insinuating that it’s the standard among all African Americans.

      • mekhos
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        2 years ago

        How is it that so? Russia isn’t a race.

          • mekhos
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            22 years ago

            For sure, we shouldn’t judge 145 million people based on this photo. However I don’t see the “lol Russia bad America good” context that you mention in this image.

            • Marxism-Fennekinism
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              2 years ago

              The idea that Russians do things jankily or don’t care about safety are common US stereotypes about them. For example, /r/anormaldayinrussia on Reddit.

              • @k_o_t@lemmy.ml
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                2 years ago

                eeeehh, i don’t know 🤔

                soviet russia had some of the most advanced technical education curriculum in the world, with most jobs being also in the engineering field; this partially carried over into modern russia, which still has a very strong focus on technical subjects in its education system, so A LOT of russians were not only raised by engineers, but also educated, to an extent, as engineers

                this factor, combined with underfunded, subpar quality infrastructure and goods and a poor population practically forces people to demonstrate engineering ingenuity and creativeness with severely constrained resources in order to get by or have fun, which, distorted by the subs you mentioned, creates a superficial perception of “jankiness”, which in reality, again, is nothing but engineering creativity within constrained resources

                i don’t think it’s really offensive and i don’t know anyone who thought that overextrapolation of engineering creativity onto the entirety of the russian population was offensive, most just think it’s kind of amusing, maybe even proud really, bc you have to appreciate the ability to get by and have fun when life is so shitty, idk if that makes sense…

                the perceived lack of regard for safety is also a combination of poor safety regulations (caused mainly by corruption) and, because life is so hard, people really just stop caring at a certain point, bc if everyone were wholly concerned with ensuring safety at all times, the little time people have to actually enjoy themselves would be wholly consumed by that worry for safety

                i agree that this post is a poor example of what i from now on will call russian engineering ingenuity, because, well, tying stuff down with a rope is hardly creative, and a pretty standard practice really, emerging thousands of years ago probably

                plus, on this occasion, it’s a goddamn funeral, these people just don’t have the money to get a catafalque and the person driving a car prolly works as a taxi driver, therefore has an uber sign on the car…

              • mekhos
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                12 years ago

                Oh right, I confess, I have had a chuckle as some of those vids, but yeah it’s pretty mean to say all of Russia is like that always.