"Putin’s famed propaganda system has always been less about ginning up enthusiasm and more about spreading doubt and uncertainty, proliferating so many versions of “the truth” that people feel lost and turn to an authoritarian leader to guide them through the murkiness."
In response to that the entire western marketing industry with the know-how to make phone calls to random telephone numbers can set up an automated system with prerecorded messages for Russian telephone numbers debunking all those many versions of the truth.
The above quote comes from an article in The Atlantic by Peter Pomerantsev, which recounts the story of The Horbonos family in Lukashivka in the north of Ukraine that ended up with 5 soldiers from the Russian army in their basement.
The soldiers are motivated to work in the army because they are loaded with debts.
Now, have the voice-response system call random Russian telephone numbers with debunking popular propaganda items with internal logic and facts. At any moment during the message the listener can skip to the next item, ask for more detail or leave a reaction. Based on those reactions the system can be improved and the person will get a call later.
After navigating the entire system with all the information with details the system asks if the listener perhaps has debts that keep them awake at night. If so, please leave the payment information after the beep. Then Western citizens or governments can pay the doctors bill or utility bill on their behalf. On the condition that the listener is prepared to first do the same for someone else with money they will receive. If so, they will receive the information about bill to be paid and the money.
The amount of the bill to pay for someone else is less than their own bill, so they can't use what they get to pay it. They also get a telephone number from the other citizen whose bill needs to be paid. And they get to hear a recording of the message of the other asking to pay the bill. So they can double check it before paying it.
The news about this system will be legendary and will spread like wild fire. People will look forward to getting the call.
The price of all these bills is peanuts compared to what is now being spent to fight Russia.-- rrr, Jun 06 2022 ‘We Can Only Be Enemies’ by Peter Pomerantsev in The Atlantic https://www.theatla...ian-support/629714/One family’s experience of Russia’s invasion offers a path to the end of the war. [rrr, Jun 06 2022] The real answer is a special, charitable bulk rate for people around the world to call Russians. The personal touch of having international activists callling strangers in Russia over and over, while the money they spend on the phone call is donated to Ukraine.-- 4and20, Jun 06 2022 I'm sure the average Russian will deliver the exact same response as the average western citizen would when receiving a robot calling them informing them of a way to escape from dept.-- xenzag, Jun 06 2022 Hello, this is an automated call. Do you have debt? We can arrange for all your debts to be cancelled. But first you need to send $100 to this bank account number. After you have paid the $100 then all your debts will be cleared. No, don't hang up! This is totally genuine and we want to help you...-- pocmloc, Jun 06 2022 Ah, the call will not be about their debt. It will be a script with interactive information debunking misconceptions about the war aka 'special operation.'
Only those with some doubt and curiosity (or bored/drunk) will let the call continue. If it's just 10% of the population, it is still worthwhile.
And only those who are really curious about all the details 'pass the exam' and will get the reward.-- rrr, Jun 06 2022 //Only those with some doubt and curiosity (or bored/drunk) will let the call continue.//
A while ago we had a pretty interesting discussion going on about how much of Russia's problems were because they're all drunk on vodka. I'd suggested at least some and possibly quite a few. Interestingly enough didn't get a lot of pushback on that theory.-- doctorremulac3, Jun 06 2022 What I understood from Russian women married to Dutch men in the Netherlands is that the alcohol issue is a problem for many women in Russia, for decades already.
It is up to the women to run both the household and provide for an income for the entire family. Part of their income needs to be handed over under physical threats to buy alcohol for the head of the household, their husband.
They fell in love with the boring Dutch men they found. A bit too traditional and/or shy for the taste of the local Dutch women, unlucky in love until they ended up on specialised dating websites. A match made in heaven, very happy together.
Although the women are sometimes a bit too assertive and 'feminist' to these traditional men. After all, they were ready to survive alone, not too shy to just emigrate easily.
At the parties where I spoke with the Russian ladies (dancing a lot "it's our culture", talkative) their men were sitting quietly next to the buffet table nomming a bit from the exagerated buffet with all the potatoe, mayonaise and egg based nommies. Staring at their feet.
Family approves: daughter found a nerd in the west, well done.
It could be that the younger generation in Russia is less alcohol induced.-- rrr, Jun 08 2022 random, halfbakery