this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2024
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You have all the powers that Putin currently does. Everyone completely loyal to Putin is now loyal to you. Enemies of Putin are enemies of you. Putin no longer exists, and there has been a clean and absolute transfer of power to you. The economic, military, social and political situations are the same as they now are. You are not inhabiting Putin's body, you are just you. You're magically transferred to the Kremlin. The world at large doesn't know your past life, to them you have magically appeared as the new ruler. To everyone who knew you before, you just vanished.

Edit: no one knows your past life YET. They'll quickly figure it out. You will not lose any support based on your actions in your past life.

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[–] frankPodmore@slrpnk.net 167 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Try to learn Russian really quickly.

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 43 points 3 months ago

You're the president, just make English the official language. Now it's their problem.

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 25 points 3 months ago
[–] neidu2@feddit.nl 80 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)
  • Give Volodymyr a call
  • Pull out of Ukraine and Georgia
  • Hand over Putin to ICC
  • Instruct the loyalists that democratic reform is coming, and nobody is to be given the window/tea treatment.
  • Call Navalnys widow and tell her to prepare her political aparatus
  • Announce an election in 6 months (should be enough to prepare everything, I guess?) with international observers encouraged to participate
  • Realize that I have no fucking idea how to ensure that elections on that scale are free and fair, so I ask for assistance from aforementioned observers.
  • Pull an epic prank on Lukashenko. Possibly involving potatoes.
  • Realize that I am in no way fit to run a country, and start planning my (safe) exit. Once the election results are in I'll be gone without a trace.
  • Repeal putins laws
  • Start releasing political prisoners
  • Last thing I do before leaving is calling this guy named/called Misha whether he's fine with Murmansk, or if he wants the city to have a new name.
[–] superkret@feddit.org 76 points 3 months ago (2 children)
  • Get murdered somewhere around step 4 at the latest
[–] sanguinepar@lemmy.world 30 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Fortunately for OP, they didn't use numbered bullets, so they're safe!

[–] jimmux@programming.dev 6 points 3 months ago

Regular bullets work just as well, if you happen to fall on one during a quick exit from the upper floor.

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[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 26 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Sounds like a good way to get a pro Putin oligarch elected. Even with fair elections they have a lot of support.

[–] ASDraptor@lemmy.autism.place 12 points 3 months ago (3 children)

There will be an epidemic of falls through windows. It will affect oligarchs and will spare the population. There is a cure: leaving the country after having relinquished all your money to the government.

Oligarchs problem solved.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Sounds like how Stalin got his start. "If I just kill this small group of bad people things will be better."

Oh no, the people who replaced them are corrupt too. Ok, this next wave of executions will surely send the right message.

[–] ASDraptor@lemmy.autism.place 15 points 3 months ago

"The murdering will continue until corruption decreases"

I think it's a good plan. I either stop corruption or I run out of people (which technically will stop corruption too).

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[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 52 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 32 points 3 months ago

Just asking for a friend

[–] chooglers@lemmy.ml 52 points 3 months ago (19 children)

two chicks at the same time

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago (2 children)
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[–] kambusha@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

"That's it? If you were in charge of Russia, you'd do two chicks at the same time?"

[–] brygphilomena@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago

Damn straight. I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I were a dictator I could hook that up, too; 'cause chicks dig dudes with countries.

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[–] Eccitaze@yiffit.net 40 points 3 months ago (5 children)

~~assign everyone a government mandated fursona~~

Freak the fuck out.

Pull back from Ukraine, Crimea, and Georgia, and negotiate an immediate ceasefire.

Call as many political scientists and scholars as possible and get their advice on how the fuck I can design a reformed system of democratic governance that is robust enough to withstand the inevitable attempts to undermine and corrupt it.

Find the multitude of stashed billions from the various oligarchs and seize it, use the money to invest in overhauling Russian society--improving infrastructure and education, improving the standard of living, etc.

[–] awesome_lowlander@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 3 months ago (2 children)

You'd probably be tossed out a window before the day was over, TBH.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago

Yeah, people forget that tyrants never stand on their own. They are propped up by a complex system of corruption that benefits from the tyrant's decisions. They will defend this system and the head authoritarian. Not out of love, devotion or loyalty, but to protect their own sources of ill gains. Just like a Mafia, it holds up on a shared complicity of its members on the crimes being committed. This is why generals force low level officers to witness the violations and tortures, and corrupt politicians tie in their underlings in the money laundering schemes. If everyone has something to lose, then everyone conspires to keep the corrupt system going.

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[–] FeelThePower@lemmy.dbzer0.com 30 points 3 months ago (1 children)

transfer collective power of russia to hexbear and see what happens

[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago

Chaotic neutral

[–] AbsoluteChicagoDog@lemm.ee 29 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Get the fuck out of Russia

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[–] papalonian@lemmy.world 28 points 3 months ago

Probably get assassinated if I'm being real

[–] MTK@lemmy.world 27 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Probably shit my self.

Not because it's scary or something, just because I have so much power that I can shit myself and no one would dare say anything.

I think i'm starting to understand dictators

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 22 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Ideally, I'd call up Zelenskyy, ask if he wanted to hang out, have a beer and offer him the job.

Realistically, I'd be doomscrolling on Lemmy, have a wank, get drunk and go to bed.

[–] kambusha@sh.itjust.works 18 points 3 months ago

Don't stand too close to windows.

[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

For starters:

Arrest Putin and all his enablers.

Stop all hostilities with Ukraine.

Return all prisoners.

Help rebuild Ukraine.

Develop Russia into what it can be. It's the largest country in the world, lots of land and resources. Build it up responsibly and sustainably.

Recognize the positive achievements of Russia while trying to avoid past mistakes.

[–] MadBob@feddit.nl 7 points 3 months ago

It’s the largest country in the world,

It's a federation. You could balkanise Russia into dependencies.

[–] Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Contact Zelensky directly, and offer the following peace terms:

Ukraine gets it's land back, everyone gets their own people back, war crimes are investigated. Inform him that if he takes the deal, I'll start issuing orders to surrender immediately, and we can sign whatever document and do whatever ceremony when people aren't dying. Delegate the orders to withdraw and surrender.

Call Trump and talk to him about future relationships with Russia. Immediately publish the phonecall so there's evidence of him violating the Logan act.

Then I'd schedule a to see a physician so I can get some Healthcare, and start bringing in real experts so I can fix the domestic problems Russia is facing. This'll probably include a translator because I don't speak Russian. My overall goals with the reforms would be restructuring the central government to be an extremely robust democracy, abolishing corporations and replacing them with cooperatives, putting together better (especially IT) infrastructure, and dismantling Oil production. Russia is already a place where online piracy thrives, so I'd probably lean into that, and make state-sponsored programs that make information freely available to the entire world.

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[–] uebquauntbez@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago

Invite DJT, Bibi and several other leaders to my dining room, on 14th floor, with great view as with many, many windows ...

[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 12 points 3 months ago

Finally. All these years of Hearts of Iron are going to pay off big time.

[–] CaptainBasculin@lemmy.ml 12 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I would want to be the sort of leader with tons of weird facts around himself, so

Offer a ceasefire with Ukraine, try to make peace with as little losses as possible. It's not really my priority to make war, my priority is filling my wikipedia page with as many different shit as possible.

Abolish physics laws one day, then legalise it again.

Introduce Mann Co's CEO policy for the position of Vice President. (Whoever can beat the current VP via one on one unarmed combat becomes the current VP, no matter who.)

Legalise gambling between 03:00-07:00 and ban it between any other time interval.

Define tax evasion as a taxable income source, as long as they detail how they commit tax evasion so future laws can patch it.

Take putin's legalising piracy one step further and fund open source piracy software openly. Offer developers full time residency and shielding from law if they encounter legal troubles.

Make a deal with another country's leader to declare war and make peace right afterwards, breaking the records for fastest declaration of war, shortest war and the fastest peace treaty. Maybe declare multiple wars in a similar fashion to try to keep lowering the records.

Recognise all micronations, with the exception of those around Antartica.

Claim Antartica is owned by polar bears and define all claims made there as illegitimate claims.

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[–] SlapnutsGT@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago

Ctrl+A, Delete

[–] spacemanspiffy@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago

Stop the war.

Apologize.

Find someone else to run the show.

[–] scbasteve7@lemm.ee 9 points 3 months ago

I really don't like that level of responsibility. Probably just put the country under anarchic rule, and head back home.

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 months ago

Resign. I can't handle that kind of responsibility

[–] Boozilla@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago

I'm not saying I'd demand a functional set of Doctor Doom armor, but I'm not saying I wouldn't.

[–] Azal@pawb.social 7 points 3 months ago

This... is difficult.

See, the oligarchs love Putin because he keeps them wealthy and comfortable at the cost of his people. If I come in and start helping my people, it'll come from the oligarchs, then they'll turn on me. Which comes to the other Putin thing, he's absolutely feared in Russia. Someone annoys him, polonium tea. To those that are absolutely loyal to him, he has an iron fist with a velvet glove. To those not in positions of power, the glove isn't there. That's what his power is.

I'd like to think I'm cutthroat if it were in the name of good... but we're talking Ex-KGB with top tier paranoia, deservedly earned. I'm pretty sure Putin-Me would have a "self inflicted gunshot" to the back of the head within hours.

[–] GooberEar@lemmy.wtf 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I would have ice cream for supper, that's for sure. If I started getting fat, I'd start taking the new weight loss shots to trim down. I'd offer everyone in the country ice cream for supper and then I'd also offer them weight loss shots if they got fat from eating ice cream.

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[–] BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago

Let a hell of a lot of people out of prison and throw a Pussy Riot concert for them.

[–] h3mlocke@lemm.ee 7 points 3 months ago

As I, Ivan IV, now stand as the undisputed ruler of Russia, my first act shall be to consolidate power by crushing any remaining dissent among the boyars. I will strengthen the central government, expand our territory through conquest, and establish a centralized, autocratic rule to ensure the absolute authority of the Tsar. The people will be brought to heel, and the Orthodox Church will be harnessed to support my reign. Russia will become a vast and powerful empire, feared by all, as I reshape it according to my vision.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

Oh my god, first things first, repair relations with Ukraine. Secondly end the war. Thirdly repair relations with the west.

Then begin the task of figuring out why a random white guy in Ohio suddenly became the ruler of russia.

Also, stay away from windows and tea. I imagine MANY russians would attempt to take the life of an American who's ruling their world.

But also, I'd actually make attempts to improve the health and happyness of people in russia. And increase tolerance towards gay people. It's like the 1980s over there in that regard.

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