81–90 of 123 posts
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This a lovely example of the irritating "whataboutism" that clouds these sorts of discussions and bring nothing to the table. Iranian Air Flight 655 has nothing to do with the article or this discussion.
To be fair igor_a started dragging unrelated what-if scenarions about Russia into the discussion.
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I don't think that majority of young Russians even watch TV. Most of young people getting information from Internet. And there are many different points of views in Russian media space. Though main news sources are heavily influenced by Kremlin, that's true. But those who want to find an alternative point of view, will do that without any problems.
Yea, except for when you're looking for wikipedia, reddit or github, right?
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Ah "America does it" strawman, there must be a handbook on internet trolling or something made back in the old country now. Every single time, every single time, same crap gets regurgitated. "Why are we invading yet another country? Oh because America did it too!" "Why are our rights being eroded? Oh because America does it!" and so on... I been back to Russia and crisscrossed the US over the last decade, I would pic…
Well, it's fine if you call out Russia on principle, as long as that principle applies to the US as well. But you seem to suggest that the US is a nicer place to live, so it's fine that they've waged aggressive wars all over the globe for more than half a century?
Look my grandparents died a few years ago in a small tiny village by the Volga, once you travel outside of Moscow and Leningrad(StPetersburg nowadays) you may as well be time travelling into the past. The place had no paved roads leading to it had to travel couple of says on grotty trains to get there. The farming being done is subsistence with remnants of old Soviet coop in the village, alcoholism is rampant so is depression. It is understandable how one who might never has left Moscow doesn't realise how truly and incredibly poor the rest of the country is
Now rural US or UK may as well be on a different planet when compared to that.
This is all from personal experience, what has happened and is happening in Russia is beyond tragic.
Now go ahead and come up with another "But but the US"
US and Europe have all sorts of issues and are not perfect and no one claims they are, but they are damned better places for my kids to grow up in.
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> inefficient and basically a pile of bullshit and thankfully it all fell apart You must have never lived in Russia post Soviet Union nor experienced how much worse it is to be spouting this crap. No one believes Putin is a genius - but in fact the country was so badly ruined under Yeltsin and Oligarchical capitalism-free-for-all that Putin appeared to people as the best possible option of these.
I was there till the middle of 90s i see the worst of the post-collapse, yes things got worse but Putin is not some genius savior who rode in on a white horse to save Russia from evil capitalism as is the prevailing narrative nowadays. Rising oil prices and modernization of the oil industry by a certain oligarch whose company was then taken from him by Putin is where most of the money came from, money then used by Pu…
I'm definitely not arguing in support of Putin here - what I'm saying is two things:
a) the popular support of Putin is understandable in the face of recent history.
b) Quality of life in Russia today is well below what it was in the 1980's (ask any of the 99%).
Other than that it might as well be one type of state sponsored propaganda replaced by another.
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While all you are saying is true, I also think the very same kind of propaganda, but actually much more efficient, is happening in Europe and the US. People go absolutely insane if you start questioning democracy, social programs or anything that a state does. When you point out to them how internet or cellphone networks or taxis or a number of other things is actually cheaper in Russia (or in eastern Europe in gener…
You have no idea what you're talking about. Corruption at all levels of government is rampant in Russia. It's the norm to have to pay off multiple officials when trying to get something built/renovated. Russia doesn't give a fuck about its own people, to the Russian government lives are expendable if needed [1]. The alcoholism and suicide rate in Russia is monstrous [2], and is probably caused by the lack of opportun…
I'm not concerned with corruption. It's a different side of coin. What happens in the US or in Europe is that if you need stuff done or if you need to win in court, you hire expensive lobbyists or lawyers. Either way, you spend money. It is practically the same, but legalized, so that you can say "oh, but this is civil". No it's not. It's still a government monopoly on doing stuff. Government should have no business telling people how to run a business or live their lives.
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Well, it's fine if you call out Russia on principle, as long as that principle applies to the US as well. But you seem to suggest that the US is a nicer place to live, so it's fine that they've waged aggressive wars all over the globe for more than half a century?
The US is, without question, a nicer place to live than Russia. If you think otherwise, you've either never been to the US or you haven't seen the level of poverty that is widespread outside Russia's major cities. There are small pockets of prosperity in Russia, outside of those, nobody acclimated to western standards of living would consider them equatable.
Is this the same missile that was launched from a mobile carrier that arrived from across the Russian border and then days later was driven back across the border? Putin is extremely manipulative and dangerous. Like a Kim Jong-un without anyone like China to tell him "no". I'm surprised no-one points out he is basically on the third term of what should be a two term limit. That alone removes all legitimacy from his r…
Except Russia does not have a two term limit, it only has a two consecutive term limit. Putin did not have 3 consecutive terms.
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Yea, except for when you're looking for wikipedia, reddit or github, right?
What do you mean? Those sites are available from Russia, as far as I know.
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Well, I live in (South) Eastern Europe. The whole region is awash with puppet political elites and western backed/owned media. The result of that propaganda (which doesn't negate the existence of Russian propaganda or the bad experiences of ex-soviet block countries) in the wake of a victory in the cold-war is a very big reason for the current situation. Regarding wars and interventions, I'm not just talking about Af…
You must be Serbian :) (I'm Romanian). It's impossible to be neutral in Central or Eastern Europe. You can't trust the West because of the war with NATO; we can't trust Russia because of Moldova/Transnistria conflict and the feeling that Putin would love to spread us in Siberia like his idol(Stalin of course) did with other inconveniently placed nations (including some unlucky Moldovans). I really hope NATO and Russi…
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Ah "America does it" strawman, there must be a handbook on internet trolling or something made back in the old country now. Every single time, every single time, same crap gets regurgitated. "Why are we invading yet another country? Oh because America did it too!" "Why are our rights being eroded? Oh because America does it!" and so on... I been back to Russia and crisscrossed the US over the last decade, I would pic…
Well, it's fine if you call out Russia on principle, as long as that principle applies to the US as well. But you seem to suggest that the US is a nicer place to live, so it's fine that they've waged aggressive wars all over the globe for more than half a century?
Because right now the discussion looks like this:
- Help! This thieve has stolen my bag!
- Shut up, others do it all the time.