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Sean Trane View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 04:00
Originally posted by Easy Money Easy Money wrote:

It is odd to me that they are okay with having the same person leading their government until he dies. I'm sure trump is very jealous as he tried to pull the same stunt in the US, but was refuted, barely.


I can see your parallel between Putin & Trump's respective dictatorial traits , and can agree somewhat to it.

However Putin is much more intelligent and +/- knows what he's doing (or tries to do) to keep Russia together , whereas Donald Dump is a dangerous arse that can destroy or separate internally his country, in his constant flee-forward. Let's face it , Dump got president in a freak fluke accident  - not even he would've given himself a chance to get elected. In that regard, Dump is much more like BoJo (the Brutish clown), who never realy envisaged become a politician either, but got there by oppotunism. They're both like Disney's Apprentice Sorcerer.

The problem is that the US is not over yet with DT - I'm still "shocked" as how narrow his loss was. Biden must really think about shaping a new democrat generation (let's face it, he and Sanders are man of the past) and quickly. He's not going to get a second mandate - no matter what he does about Ukraine.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 04:24
Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:

Originally posted by Easy Money Easy Money wrote:

It is odd to me that they are okay with having the same person leading their government until he dies. I'm sure trump is very jealous as he tried to pull the same stunt in the US, but was refuted, barely.


I can see your parallel between Putin & Trump's respective dictatorial traits , and can agree somewhat to it.

However Putin is much more intelligent and +/- knows what he's doing (or tries to do) to keep Russia together , whereas Donald Dump is a dangerous arse that can destroy or separate internally his country, in his constant flee-forward. Let's face it , Dump got president in a freak fluke accident  - not even he would've given himself a chance to get elected. In that regard, Dump is much more like BoJo (the Brutish clown), who never realy envisaged become a politician either, but got there by oppotunism. They're both like Disney's Apprentice Sorcerer.

The problem is that the US is not over yet with DT - I'm still "shocked" as how narrow his loss was. Biden must really think about shaping a new democrat generation (let's face it, he and Sanders are man of the past) and quickly. He's not going to get a second mandate - no matter what he does about Ukraine.


.


Great post. Really. 

@Easy Money: IDK about Russia, but as a Turk, I'm not okay with Erdoğan and his party AKP.  But, we simply have to tolerate them, since 2002. I think they'll lose the next election though.

I read that an American senator said Russia will attack Ukraine. How can one know? How would the Americans think, if a Russian politician claimed that the USA would attack China? You know, there aroused some real tension between the two in the past. I view this as spelling disaster, no matter how well-informed one is about the situation. It is not solely about the USA. Quite recently, we (Turkey) were on the verge of waging war against Greece (or vice versa, I'm not sure). And it didn't happen. The situation seems dangerous regarding Ukraine and Russia indeed, but I can never respect a statement like "X will attack Y".
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 04:49
Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:

Originally posted by Easy Money Easy Money wrote:

It is odd to me that they are okay with having the same person leading their government until he dies. I'm sure trump is very jealous as he tried to pull the same stunt in the US, but was refuted, barely.


I can see your parallel between Putin & Trump's respective dictatorial traits , and can agree somewhat to it.

However Putin is much more intelligent and +/- knows what he's doing (or tries to do) to keep Russia together , whereas Donald Dump is a dangerous arse that can destroy or separate internally his country, in his constant flee-forward. Let's face it , Dump got president in a freak fluke accident  - not even he would've given himself a chance to get elected. In that regard, Dump is much more like BoJo (the Brutish clown), who never realy envisaged become a politician either, but got there by oppotunism. They're both like Disney's Apprentice Sorcerer.

The problem is that the US is not over yet with DT - I'm still "shocked" as how narrow his loss was. Biden must really think about shaping a new democrat generation (let's face it, he and Sanders are man of the past) and quickly. He's not going to get a second mandate - no matter what he does about Ukraine.


.



I agree with most of that.

The trouble is, the west has put the children in charge. We need the grown ups back. Trump and Johnson are a sign of the times. During the pre Brexit debate in the UK, one tory politician proclaimed "The British people are sick of 'experts'"

He was right. No one is interested in facts, they are interested in their own interpretation of reality, based on their personal world view, which more often than not is pretty obnoxious and right wing, or just plain dumb on the left. So unfortunately we're back to who's got the biggest mouth and the biggest flag. They're the vote winners in our failing democracies.

Putin knows this, and this may have some bearing on why he's choosing this time to confront the west about NATO in his backyard; when our leadership is at its weakest. With regard to Biden, an ok guy, with some serious pain and life experience on his resume, but too old, too uninspiring and too weak to counter the tide of moronic nationalism at home, or the dark chess playing of Russia and China abroad.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 05:08
Re all the above posts, Hughes etc: Yes I agree, the US is either in perpetual decline or going through a very troubled period, anti-science, hillbilly nationalism, racism etc, paraphrasing the words of Malcom X, 'the chickens have come home to roost'. trump's ascendency is only an indication of what is happening, unfortunately there is more where that came from, in other words, he's not the only problem, just the eventual outcome.

So yes, putin may see our current situation as a golden opportunity, we shall see. As mentioned before though, the people who will pay the price ultimately are the people of Eastern Europe, as they have already had to endure much during the last century.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 05:12
Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:

Originally posted by Easy Money Easy Money wrote:

It is odd to me that they are okay with having the same person leading their government until he dies. I'm sure trump is very jealous as he tried to pull the same stunt in the US, but was refuted, barely.


I can see your parallel between Putin & Trump's respective dictatorial traits , and can agree somewhat to it.

However Putin is much more intelligent and +/- knows what he's doing (or tries to do) to keep Russia together , whereas Donald Dump is a dangerous arse that can destroy or separate internally his country, in his constant flee-forward. Let's face it , Dump got president in a freak fluke accident  - not even he would've given himself a chance to get elected. In that regard, Dump is much more like BoJo (the Brutish clown), who never realy envisaged become a politician either, but got there by oppotunism. They're both like Disney's Apprentice Sorcerer.

The problem is that the US is not over yet with DT - I'm still "shocked" as how narrow his loss was. Biden must really think about shaping a new democrat generation (let's face it, he and Sanders are man of the past) and quickly. He's not going to get a second mandate - no matter what he does about Ukraine.


.



I agree with most of that.

The trouble is, the west has put the children in charge. We need the grown ups back. Trump and Johnson are a sign of the times. During the pre Brexit debate in the UK, one tory politician proclaimed "The British people are sick of 'experts'"

He was right. No one is interested in facts, they are interested in their own interpretation of reality, based on their personal world view, which more often than not is pretty obnoxious and right wing, or just plain dumb on the left. So unfortunately we're back to who's got the biggest mouth and the biggest flag. They're the vote winners in our failing democracies.

Putin knows this, and this may have some bearing on why he's choosing this time to confront the west about NATO in his backyard; when our leadership is at its weakest. With regard to Biden, an ok guy, with some serious pain and life experience on his resume, but too old, too uninspiring and too weak to counter the tide of moronic nationalism at home, or the dark chess playing of Russia and China abroad.



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People don't search the web to be informed, they search the web for confirmation of what they believe.... and if they don't find it, they think it's a conspiration against "their truth", becayse they'll think that evodence is hidden away
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 05:19
Originally posted by Easy Money Easy Money wrote:

Re all the above posts, Hughes etc: Yes I agree, the US is either in perpetual decline or going through a very troubled period, anti-science, hillbilly nationalism, racism etc, paraphrasing the words of Malcom X, 'the chickens have come home to roost'. trump's ascendency is only an indication of what is happening, unfortunately there is more where that came from, in other words, he's not the only problem, just the eventual outcome.

So yes, putin may see our current situation as a golden opportunity, we shall see. As mentioned before though, the people who will pay the price ultimately are the people of Eastern Europe, as they have already had to endure much during the last century.


Indeed, eastern Europe is in the firing line here. This has implications way beyond Ukraine, and potentially beyond east Europe.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 05:59
Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:


People don't search the web to be informed, they search the web for confirmation of what they believe.... and if they don't find it, they think it's a conspiration against "their truth", becayse they'll think that evodence is hidden away

Of course "the web", i.e., Facebook, youtube and others, tend to give exactly that even to those who don't on purpose just look for information that confirms their prejudices.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 06:06
Re Hughes and putin/trump: I agree that putin is more competent and sly than trump, which in many ways makes him the more dangerous of the two. trump admires putin, but it seems putin thinks trump is an egotistical fool, well at least he got that right.

What I see similar about the two is this current rise in ignorant people wanting an autocratic strong man to run things, instead of rule by representational government backed by law or a constitution. Most western countries moved from monarchies to representational government a couple centuries ago, now we seem to be backsliding the other way. I have really hated to see this happen in my own country, very sad indeed.

Edited by Easy Money - January 20 2022 at 06:09
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 06:29
Originally posted by Easy Money Easy Money wrote:

Re Hughes and putin/trump: I agree that putin is more competent and sly than trump, which in many ways makes him the more dangerous of the two. trump admires putin, but it seems putin thinks trump is an egotistical fool, well at least he got that right.

I'm not sure that makes Putin more dangerous LOL

On the other hand, the recent troubles in Kazakhstan (another one of Russia's puppet allies - not to mention Belarus)  is obviously driven from outside  to force russian military attention away from Ukraine. Not that trhe other ex-Turkestan states (Kirghiz, Tadjik, Ouzbek and Turkmen Istans) are much netter off than their northern Kazakh cousins

The problem is that Russia's "close friends" are maybe not as vile as Morth Korea, but their people are surely worse off than Russians themselves.

Originally posted by Easy Money Easy Money wrote:

What I see similar about the two is this current rise in ignorant people wanting an autocratic strong man to run things, instead of rule by representational government backed by law or a constitution. Most western countries moved from monarchies to representational government a couple centuries ago, now we seem to be backsliding the other way. I have really hated to see this happen in my own country, very sad indeed..


that's the way the pendulum seems to go after the breakdown of the binary world and start of globlisationCry

TBH, I was always a republican by principle (refusing royalty and "blue blood"), but the Republic of France might just go the wrong way very soon (it is a very sick country in terms of politics). Not sure Macron will be able to finish his European Presidency correctly with elections happening diring his 6-months term/turn.

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(you can replace the word "brain" with "mind" if you want)



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 06:40
Originally posted by Easy Money Easy Money wrote:

Re Hughes and putin/trump: I agree that putin is more competent and sly than trump, which in many ways makes him the more dangerous of the two.

Well... American culture is virtually a global issue. If neocolonialism is taken into consideration, it is not plausible to compare the potential danger that an American leader can cause with another from any other country. Trump was indeed a danger for his country, but if he had been elected once more, he could have caused serious global calamities. I believe, if Turkey was as powerful and impactful as the USA, we would have gotten rid of Erdoğan much earlier. Just as you did to your "abomination".
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 07:02
^ The US's ability to create calamity is well known to me, Vietnam, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Iraq etc.
I worked the blue collar trades in San Francisco in the 80s and one would often work with immigrants from Central America who were escaping the turmoil and violence between the contras and sandinistas. Most working people didn't care for either and had plenty of tales to relate about both. The contras were US backed and although the sandinistas were independent at first, it didn't take long for Russia to become involved. This is what the major military powers bring to the world, although in the past few decades the US has been much worse.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 07:02
This is the decline of Western Civilization, as far as I'm concerned. It was good while it lasted.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 07:19
As a Ukrainian myself, born in the USSR, currently living not that far from Kiev, I may say that: 

I personally do not think, believe, anticipate, expect Russia attacks Ukraine in the near future. Russia, it seems, uses the collective common West's fear of the KGB, Stalin and all that stuff. As I have already written here, the post-Stalin USSR was of course totalitarian to a big enough extent, but it was absolutely different from the Stalin era's one. The West, an average westerner still thinks of the USSR and modern day Russia in those categories. The sane former Soviet people do not think that way. I ABSOLUTELY am not afraid of any possible large-scale attacks from Russia. I find the idea (both of attack and of being afraid of it) nonsensical. I sure may be wrong - but this is how I feel about it. I see no reason to feel the other way. 

I have lost my innocence and naivete a long time ago, so I can only envy Snobb. He still believes, "good" big empires in the West do not decide for the smaller countries. Well, dear Snobb, let me remind you that even on a cultural level, I don't think you watch on Christmas or New Year excellent classic legendary Latvian or Lithuanian or Estonian Christmas-time comedies, OK? I do only hope such ones exist... You either watch none or Home Alone or (if you're more into the former USSR) you watch The Irony Of Fate... Big empires are much more likely to produce big movies that the people in the smaller countries have to watch... You watch how an American boy finds his American mum in American New York - don't you think, it is not quite your story, not your country's story, not anything related to your country? 


As the consequence of the previous paragraphs, different countries' inhabitants have different traditions, different typical mentality, different cultures, diffferent languages. For good example, from my posts here one can easily see that I am not a friend of the articles (like "a/an" or "the"). Because in Russian and Ukrainian languages (and almost all other Slavic languages) articles are fully absent. There are many other things that are absent in our culture, our cultures. You're, for example, asking how Russians can live normally with the same leader of the country for two decades? Well, because, since ancient times in Russian states under different names and different political systems ORDINARY PEOPLE AND THEIR LEADERS LIVED IN TWO NONCOLLIDINGLY DIFFERENT SEPARATE WORLDS. There has always been The Kremlin and The Russia. They lived their own separate lives and usually did not care about each other. I understand how this concept is foreign to foreigners from the West. In the East it sometimes works pretty well...

Speaking of Home Alone and Back To The Future and even Grease, I can say that I personally didn't like them from the first watch and still do not like. For one obvious reason: I as the former Soviet citizen can't understand how in the world the movie pretending to give a feast-wise mood, pretending to be a lighthearted comedy dare contain scenes of hazing or/and bullying!?. The whole "Back To The Future" saga is constantly rolling around bullying the protagonist(s). Visual effects were nice, storylines were interesting - bullying stole all the celebration atmosphere for me. Similarly, in Home Alone, it's Buzz versus Kevin which makes the movie unwatchable for me personally. I can't say the same for all of my former or present compatriots, many of them adore those movies - but I know that I am not the only one who feels quite that way and it's right because of the Soviet upbringing. Not to mention that there indeed happened bullying in the Soviet schools, there might happen hazing - but there was no hazing in the Soviet UNIVERSITIES! Like, absolutely not! No systematic, established hazing as such! My father who studied in the 1960s at the Lviv Polytechnic Institute recalled that they had some guys with enormously huge muscles - but those guys never used their muscles to get something/someone other than the girls for sexual relations... "Grease" was definitely a great musical movie - but the scenes of hazing put the movie as such in the black list for me personally... And you, foreigners, probably never noticed those insignificant details, at all.

I can't speak for North Korea or Cuba. I suppose, they are too small and poor in any resources to have very much specific about them. The USSR and nowadays Russia are the largest country/ies in the world, have been and are. There was even a desert in the USSR, not only Siberian frosts! The USSR and modern day Russia have a very specific own set of pretty everything. Own hit songs, own hit movies, own art, own mentality that go with them... The USSR was undoubtedly a phenomenon. It was a separate planet, a separate isolated continent. I've recently heard that finally "Anne Frank betrayal suspect identified after 77 years". That's good.



Meanwhile, the USSR also had its OWN kind of Anne Frank, a Russian young girl that lost all of her family during the Siege of Leningrad... An average modern foreigner knows nothing about the siege, and certainly, knows extremely nothing about Tanya Savicheva. Her diary was not that informative, it was just a few sheets with a few words on each. Nevertheless, it was a no less powerful document... 





It's quite that - the country was isolated for decades, lived its isolated life, created its own isolated culture, own ethical codes, own ranking of values, progressed at its own speed (I mean, had Stalin ruled in the 18th century, we would hardly judge him that strict...). Russia was and is simply an empire. To get the imperial behavior you must at least live in some sort of empire yourself - no doubt, many Americans may find many ways to understand and justify the Soviet and modern Russian activities, because they can draw parallels to what the USA used to do... Some Americans may hate the USSR and Russia for quite the same reason - because they either hate such behaviour in the American policy or believe in American exceptionalism and do not want some other country acted the same way as the USA used to do. With smaller countries it is usually harder - you can't find domestic parallels. 


Edited by Woon Deadn - January 20 2022 at 09:25
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 07:19
Originally posted by Easy Money Easy Money wrote:

^ The US's ability to create calamity is well known to me, Vietnam, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Iraq etc.
I worked the blue collar trades in San Francisco in the 80s and one would often work with immigrants from Central America who were escaping the turmoil and violence between the contras and sandinistas. Most working people didn't care for either and had plenty of tales to relate about both. The contras were US backed and although the sandinistas were independent at first, it didn't take long for Russia to become involved. This is what the major military powers bring to the world, although in the past few decades the US has been much worse.

Thank you for sharing these.

2 things I read:

Chomsky said that Trump is more dangerous than Hitler, just before the previous election.

Oliver Stone, long ago, claimed that the USA didn't actually win any war after the WWII. He said they all were "losses" more than "wins", in that, you didn't benefit from them but instead suffered.

Just sharing these. No comments from me here.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 10:23
Re Hughes: Yes, I get the joke, bumbling fool (trump) could cause bigger disaster than sly devious fox (putin).
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 11:51
Originally posted by Woon Deadn Woon Deadn wrote:

As a Ukrainian myself, born in the USSR, currently living not that far from Kiev, I may say that: 

I personally do not think, believe, anticipate, expect Russia attacks Ukraine in the near future. Russia, it seems, uses the collective common West's fear of the KGB, Stalin and all that stuff. As I have already written here, the post-Stalin USSR was of course totalitarian to a big enough extent, but it was absolutely different from the Stalin era's one. The West, an average westerner still thinks of the USSR and modern day Russia in those categories. The sane former Soviet people do not think that way. I ABSOLUTELY am not afraid of any possible large-scale attacks from Russia. I find the idea (both of attack and of being afraid of it) nonsensical. I sure may be wrong - but this is how I feel about it. I see no reason to feel the other way. 

I have lost my innocence and naivete a long time ago, so I can only envy Snobb. He still believes, "good" big empires in the West do not decide for the smaller countries. Well, dear Snobb, let me remind you that even on a cultural level, I don't think you watch on Christmas or New Year excellent classic legendary Latvian or Lithuanian or Estonian Christmas-time comedies, OK? I do only hope such ones exist... You either watch none or Home Alone or (if you're more into the former USSR) you watch The Irony Of Fate... Big empires are much more likely to produce big movies that the people in the smaller countries have to watch... You watch how an American boy finds his American mum in American New York - don't you think, it is not quite your story, not our country's story, not anything related to your country? 


It's quite that - the country was isolated for decades, lived its isolated life, created its own isolated culture, own ethical codes, own ranking of values, progressed at its own speed (I mean, had Stalin ruled in the 18th century, we would hardly judge him that strict...). Russia was and is simply an empire. To get the imperial behavior you must at least live in some sort of empire yourself - no doubt, many Americans may find many ways to understand and justify the Soviet and modern Russian activities, because they can draw parallels to what the USA used to do... Some Americans may hate the USSR and Russia for quite the same reason - because they either hate such behaviour in the American policy or believe in American exceptionalism and do not want some other country acted the same way as the USA used to do. With smaller countries it is usually harder - you can't find domestic parallels. 

I agree.  The more Russia claims that they do not wish to attack Ukraine, the more the lying Western media spreads fear of imminent attack. Russia does not want to attack Ukraine. That said,  Putin's message spreads beyond Ukraine. Putin does not want bordering countries to point nukes at Russia. Putin helped Kazakhstan put down a violent coup...Less than a month ago.  

Yesterday, Biden basically said, that Nato/Russia could not stop Russia from conquering Ukraine. Biden went on to say that it would cost Russia. How would it cost Russia?  Through war?  Or through sanctions?  War would cost Russia, Ukraine, USA, and Nato countries.  War costs are self explanatory. 

 Sanctions would cost Russia, USA, and European countries like Germany. How so? Germany depends on Russian oil and Natural Gas.  To counter that, USA would ship oil and Natural gas across ocean to Europe, thus driving up record setting American inflation. At least 15 American tankers have already delivered their energy payload to Europe. Thus Biden's administration throws gas on the American inflation fire.   Inflation hurts the poor...not the rich. The rich don't care if they pay double for gasoline.  However, the man who cuts lawns is decimated by gasoline prices doubling. Folks on fixed incomes hurt when food, gas, and Electric bills skyrocket. The rich don't give a hoot. The rich own stocks, land, and homes.  Stocks, land, and homes have outstripped the inflation rate. Thus, the Rich become richer and the poor become poorer. 

Several score of American tankers won't heal Europe's total loss of Russian oil and gas. It helps Europe but won't stop European inflation. Perhaps that why France's leader- Macron asked yesterday, "for EU plan to ease Russian tensions..."We should build it among Europeans, then share it with our allies in the framework of NATO, and then propose it for negotiation to Russia.” 

That said, I don't think Russia will invade Ukraine. However, like I said at the beginning of this thread, " if NATO/USA send missiles or military to Ukraine, than Russia will invade. Russia won't tolerate military aggression or Nukes across it's border... pointed at Moscow.




Edited by omphaloskepsis - January 20 2022 at 13:32
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 12:30
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 12:57
Originally posted by Gordy Gordy wrote:

Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

What does bother me is the headlines in western media, proclaiming that Russia has amassed troops etc 'On the border with Ukraine' when in fact the troop build up is actually over 100 miles from the border, in an area where Russia holds annual drills anyway (albeit smaller in scale)

Is there even the slightest possibility that western media is just sh*t stirring, and it's this which has angered Putin, leading to his ridiculous list of demands?

You nailed it. But as unsavoury as Putin is, his demands are not terribly ridiculous considering how unbelievably aggressive and duplicitous NATO has been the past thirty years (if any country were conducting affairs this close to the United States' doorstep they'd be throwing an utter fit):


"Even if it were true that Russia is about to invade Ukraine, how can it be claimed with a straight face that such a military action would have 'nothing to do with expansion by NATO,' which has extended its boundaries 800 miles to the east since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991? How could Russia not be concerned by NATO’s obvious intention to bring Ukraine into its military alliance? And, if the issue of Ukraine is a mere pretext used by Putin to disguise his megalomania, why are the United States and NATO insisting that they will not rule out Ukraine’s future incorporation?"


I have the same issue with this article as I do with a lot of arguments on subjects like this from people with a (completely justified, mind you) resentment towards American imperialism, in that the author views the problem from a very specific ideological and America-centric lens and is in my opinion way too quick in dismissing or excusing imperialist actions committed by other superpowers. First of all, as has been stated before, NATO moving its boundaries eastward has been because of the explicit invitation by the sovereign nations that have joined since 1991, all of which (except maybe Montenegro) had democratically elected governments at the time of their accession. Why should Russia have a say in this? Anyone who thinks a Russian intervention is justified here (which I'm not accusing anyone here of, for the record) should at least be consistent and say the Bay of Pigs invasion was also justified.

Secondly, the supposed threat of direct NATO aggression against the Russian Federation is a complete fantasy; there is absolutely no one in their right mind who believes that a direct military conflict between the two powers could possibly be beneficial to anyone, least of all leaders of Western governments who despite their refusal to rule out Ukraine's NATO membership have also refused to guarantee it (in spite of the Ukrainian government's wishes) and have been mostly ambiguous in how far their support for Ukraine will extend in the scenario of a Russian attack. If the US government were looking for some military adventure to prop up the arms industry and distract from the needs of its population it wouldn't have fled Afghanistan in such a rush. Modern Russia is part of the global capitalist system; big businesses generally have far more to gain from normalized relations and free trade than from sanctions and conflict. Nobody in the west wants a war, and reliable polls may be hard to come by but I'm fairly certain that virtually no one in Russia wants it either.
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Mirakaze View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 13:15
Originally posted by Woon Deadn Woon Deadn wrote:

I have lost my innocence and naivete a long time ago, so I can only envy Snobb. He still believes, "good" big empires in the West do not decide for the smaller countries. Well, dear Snobb, let me remind you that even on a cultural level, I don't think you watch on Christmas or New Year excellent classic legendary Latvian or Lithuanian or Estonian Christmas-time comedies, OK? I do only hope such ones exist... You either watch none or Home Alone or (if you're more into the former USSR) you watch The Irony Of Fate... Big empires are much more likely to produce big movies that the people in the smaller countries have to watch... You watch how an American boy finds his American mum in American New York - don't you think, it is not quite your story, not your country's story, not anything related to your country?
Your 'enemy' in this case is not political imperialism but capitalism, or more specifically the fact that big film studios in the United States and Japan can afford to spend many times more on marketing and advertising of their products than any studio that makes specifically Baltic productions. You could just as rightfully ask how relevant Christmas movies from California are to people in the American midwest or south, and it's not like anyone in smaller countries "has to watch" films like Home Alone during Christmas anyway (I for one can confirm that Dutch holiday films are still watched by many here in addition to the big Hollywood movies, though not by me personally because I hate Christmas media); those films are as ubiquitous as they are only because of the obscene amounts of money behind them. You could call it cultural imperialism, I suppose, but it's very far from any supposed evidence that smaller countries in the West have no sovereignty and serve only as loyal lapdogs to the USA.

Originally posted by Woon Deadn Woon Deadn wrote:

Meanwhile, the USSR also had its OWN kind of Anne Frank, a Russian young girl that lost all of her family during the Siege of Leningrad... An average modern foreigner knows nothing about the siege, and certainly, knows extremely nothing about Tanya Savicheva. Her diary was not that informative, it was just a few sheets with a few words on each. Nevertheless, it was a no less powerful document... 



I was not aware of this girl's existence until now but I felt legitimately emotionally gripped upon reading this page. Thank you for sharing it. I am a strong believer in universal rights and values across humanity and if anything, stories like Tanya's should help remind us of our similarities to ordinary people across arbitrary borderlines in spite of how our governments may attempt dehumanize them in times of conflict.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2022 at 13:36
Originally posted by Mirakaze Mirakaze wrote:

and it's not like anyone in smaller countries "has to watch" films like Home Alone during Christmas anyway

Well, no one "threatened" us to watch those films (cartoons etc. too) in Turkey, but it is a deep issue. Quite a sinister one. Like child abuse. I'd rather not get further on this. Plus, I treasure those times. You know... Without the American cultural domination here, life would be different. And no one can know if for the better or worse. Smile
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