So well said. "Information deserts" indeed. Here we are with all the technology to easily provide any human on the planet a full range of information and opinion. But we don't.

The idea that a rural "MAGA" fool is as limited as a rural Russian should set off loud alarm bells. There is some small hope in the expansion of broadband in the US. For Russians...?

There is the fact that younger Russians demand technology. They can seek more information accordingly. But the truth is that Russians will only rise up when the suffering is worse. Much worse.

I have a friend from Russia who has naturalized here. One day she said: "You need to understand the Russian mentality. When I lived there, we thought life was terrible, it will always be terrible, it will never get better."