Putin's watches worth much more than what he earns

[Renaissance]

Thank you for the long rant! I was hoping for this kind of input to get a better perspective on the state of public opinion concerning Putin's presidency. I tried to express to the young man that the US is not as perfect as he may be thinking. Another strange coincidence of the conversation was his mention of an aunt who works for the World Bank. I kind of realized at that point that his view was probably not the typical everyday Russian citizens'.

One more data point is that Russian's who come to America, and who think it is great no less, are 'Westernized' and must have little understanding of what the US has done to Russia. These people would seem to fall into the category that Siberia described in terms of not really knowing the suffering previous generations endured. I've seen the same dynamic play out in regards to Venezuelans living in the US who had a low opinion on Chavez when he was alive and in power.

Thanks Keit and Siberia for your posts. I too found them helpful.