It’s hard not to have some level of disdain for the modern Russian culture of a lack of ingenuity and grit. Russia has no excuse for needing to concur foreign countries for resources. Nobody has more natural resources that aren’t utilized for anything other that oil and gas. They have more land than anyone. They have a ton of water. They have no problems accessing sea ports, and lastly they USED to have some of the best human capital in the world. Just look at what they space program used to be. But instead of taking the challenge to pioneer, they’ve opted for a culture of lies, violence, and deceit instead of just doing what every other developing country has done over the past 50 years. Russia has really failed the world. We would all be so much better if their culture as a whole would change and they could inspire some level of creativity to challenge themselves to make their country actually do something great instead of using their threats and lies to steal from other countries trying to get by. Oh and we are certainly not perfect. But we are a hell of alot better than f-ing Russia.
Would be irresponsible for them to not do this considering the circumstances. Doesn’t mean the US is expecting Russia to go to nukes.
I watched that video the other day, and it's very interesting. Some of the best content on the internet from that channel. However my point is that Russia is an oil state by choice. That's all they have to offer the world, and that's only my choice because they have more natural resources than anyone to produce anything for anyone. On the other hand, countries in Europe are so dependent on Russia because they have not done the work to diversify their energy sources enough, and pushed innovation of technology to not be held hostage by corrupt dictators. I get that Germany is a country that doesn't particularly get that much sun, and wind (hence why they've always been a risk to the world to aggressively try to expand through war), but that shouldn't be the end of it. Germany, Japan, and some other countries at least have some sort of excuse to try and expand through war for resources given their geological challenges. Russia on the other hand... has NO excuse. That's my point. They have all the land and resources they could ever need for a population 10X as large if they had it. They are only trying to take Ukraine because of their own complacency as a society.
Ukraine is a longway from joining NATO. Russia would be on its own and would not have alliances like the other 2 wars.
Reallifelore is top notch. Wendover's content is good too, but I don't like that narrator's delivery. Sounds punchable even at 2x. For some reason, I get a kick out of the understated animated graphics. Must be because I watch educational yt to help me sleep. In this one, it's like...oh **** there it goes again. Asianometry is interesting if you're into semiconductors or Asian countries. Kinda like taking an elective class you want to attend, so I usually watch it in 2x.
Ukranian body camera view of soldiers finding a Russian hiding in an outhouse. Said Russian procedes to get what's coming to him. No blood or anything gross, but dude definitely dies unless he is Wolverine so I gave it a spoiler tag. Spoiler ‐---------- Also, Russia now searching for 13 of convicted felons that they signed up and sent to Kherson, who stole Russian official vehicles and took off with their weapons. Who could possibly have anticipated such an outcome? Translation: ⚡️13 criminals signed up for the war. At the end of September, they arbitrarily left the military unit with weapons. Now their whereabouts are unknown. Meet them in your cities. At the door of their apartments. In the schools where your children study. And don't forget to thank Putin. Cotton swamp ---------- Translation: Russia tried to order 200,000 bulletproof vests and 500,000 sets of winter clothing through third countries, but was refused by Turkey - Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov Ukraine Now
He was long tooth radical left even when I grew up. He has my respect, and I hope my mind is just as sharp if I reach that age.
They really are, and it bears repeating that Amy Goodman (who pretty much runs Free Speech TV) came from RT. But Free Speech TV is like one of if not the only classic TV networks that you'll find on cable that identify as Progressive/Liberal. It's such a problem for this country that we have so little representation on the left that this is what we have to deal with. It also helps people step back, and realize that our relationship with Russia from an ideological standpoint historically is more complex than MAGA = Putin/Russia and Democrats = European Democratic Socialism. The ideological divides aren't so cut and dry historically. Take as example the fact that Russia is as anti 2nd amendment as they come. etc. etc.
Yeah historically, Russia has tried to use the far left to further their ideas in the 60's and the 70's and now it's the right it just shows how things have flipped since Trump. You forget that you still have these old fogies like Chompsky who actually believe communism is the way for society to maximize itself. I'm really surprised they never got a foothold into a section of antifa or at least tried to pump them up.
I'll still trust Amy Goodman's credibility more than whomever I watch on cable. She's had a good career, even if I don't necessarily agree with everything she says. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Goodman The whole drive to self-select based off of biases or compromised sources is much like forming your own echo chamber. I still like Chomsky's insights since he was a strong influence with the Left's intellectual pre-neoliberal foundations. It's reasonable moderates think he's loony or fringe (as he already was pre-2k) because he opens what's under the hood and describes truths that make standard living uncomfortable. I guess that's why he's more popular with the college folk, as their minds are more formative and they'd have less to lose from the system.
Trust me I would rather take her word for it on the issues than an executive producer over at Fox or NBC or Disney. You want to talk about producer motives... yeah, give me Amy Goodman. Still I just think it's important context ON RUSSIA to understand her history and the history of others in her circle. As Americans we just have to use our critical thinking on everything and contextualize as much as you can. Contextualization is a lost art especially with older Boomer generations where everything has become so black and white in their perspectives. In my rant earlier about the disappointment of Russia's overall cultural lack of ingenuity, grit, and pioneering spirit that's why I said the US isn't all that perfect themselves. 50 years of running the world has made many complacent, and willfully ignorant of how progress actually happens as a society. It isn't by simply sitting on your laurels playing the victim, and hoping for a savior to just fix everything for your tribe alone through mean tweets or on the other hand hoping on a savior to come in and just change all the injustices in the world overnight without factoring in compromise. I'm on the side of hoping to fix the injustices, but hopefully there's enough like me that understand the realities of how challenging that is to get done.
IDK… Putin is heavily leaning into Christian (orthodox) nationalism which is pretty analogous to Christian (Protestant) nationalism.
No, Chomsky has very much been against communism for ages. He is an anarchist/libertarian socialist more in line with Bakunin than he ever was with Marx. He has called modern communism “state capitalism”, even. He does not ever want a big government. He wants bottom-up democracy. You could still argue he is wrong or naive but he definitely isn’t a communist or communist sympathizer.