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My Year as a Pro-Russia Troll Magnet

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Re: My Year as a Pro-Russia Troll Magnet

#151

Post by jacobush »

alendit wrote: post #96
jonatanheyman wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Limiting free speech, banning political opposition, arresting dissidents, persecuting people for their sexuality, invading neighbour sovereign states etc, etc. I don't know about you, but I think "totalitarian" draw a more correct picture, than "corruption level is high".

> Limiting free speech This accusation is very vague and it could mean anything. It's surely more limited than, say, in Sweden. It way less limited than in Saudi Arabia. > banning political opposition Russian parliament consists of 4 parties, 3 of those are oppositional. I'm sure there is a number of banned NGOs, but totalitarian countries usually don't have this kind of political plurality. > arresting dissidents No…

Haha, less than Saudi Arabia. That's like less than hell.

Re: My Year as a Pro-Russia Troll Magnet

#152

Post by jacobush »

geoka9 wrote: post #136
exelius wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But here is what I find amazing: we have already seen this movie and we know what forces are at play and what the likely outcome is. Namely, it is very difficult to maintain legitimacy as a government through a propaganda campaign. It is a highly unstable equilibrium. At any time, information can get out of the hands of the propagandists and the system will find a more stable equilibrium -- ie. leaders will be repl…

Since the oil prices dropped, Russia has lost a third of its reserves. How do you think they are going to keep it together for as long as two more decades?

It is uncomfortable to think of the alternative. Russia has warheads.

Re: My Year as a Pro-Russia Troll Magnet

#153

Post by jacobush »

nine_k wrote: post #143
crdoconnor wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Not at all. The cause of USSR's demise was its failing economy. There was literally not enough food That basically describes North Korea in 1993. Except North Korea didn't have glasnost.

North Korea is indirectly fed by all its neighbors, because its demise will mean a huge influx of refugees, very poor and largely not adapted to life in a non-North-Korean society. It will also mean that South Korea would have to absorb and restore North Korean territories; even mighty West Germany had visible difficulties absorbing East Germany, which was pretty prosperous by the Soviet bloc measures. I don't think…

Not feed it? With nukes, you never know.

Re: My Year as a Pro-Russia Troll Magnet

#154

Post by ptaipale »

jacobush wrote: post #153
nine_k wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

North Korea is indirectly fed by all its neighbors, because its demise will mean a huge influx of refugees, very poor and largely not adapted to life in a non-North-Korean society. It will also mean that South Korea would have to absorb and restore North Korean territories; even mighty West Germany had visible difficulties absorbing East Germany, which was pretty prosperous by the Soviet bloc measures. I don't think…

Not feed it? With nukes, you never know.

China feeds North Korea. I think the primary purpose of DPRK's existence is internal politics of its large neighbour and supporter. DPRK is there because China keeps it up and running as an isolated laboratory of stalinist communism, to remind left-wing traditionalists inside Chinese Communist Party about what their version of communism produces for the people.

Re: My Year as a Pro-Russia Troll Magnet

#155

Post by tremon »

tremon wrote: post #149
ysilver wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're smart to try to test the validity of the converse of my claims. However, it's also important to acknowledge that there is enormous variation in the freedom of the media to operate across countries. There are highly repressive media domains where a single actor represses others and achieves a near monopoly. Could the US improve freedom of expression domestically? Yes. Do we systematically repress dissen…

> Do we systematically repress dissenters as is common Russia, Bangladesh, etc? Yes, you do. Every time an American uses "communism" or "communist" in a discussion, he is exploiting the systemic oppression of non-capitalist movements in the US. Your propaganda machine is quite effective in deriding any political view that clashes with the extreme right-wing capitalist view that keeps your power structures in place.

lol. What a perfect response to illustrate my point :)

Re: My Year as a Pro-Russia Troll Magnet

#156

Post by ysilver »

tremon wrote: post #149
ysilver wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're smart to try to test the validity of the converse of my claims. However, it's also important to acknowledge that there is enormous variation in the freedom of the media to operate across countries. There are highly repressive media domains where a single actor represses others and achieves a near monopoly. Could the US improve freedom of expression domestically? Yes. Do we systematically repress dissen…

> Do we systematically repress dissenters as is common Russia, Bangladesh, etc? Yes, you do. Every time an American uses "communism" or "communist" in a discussion, he is exploiting the systemic oppression of non-capitalist movements in the US. Your propaganda machine is quite effective in deriding any political view that clashes with the extreme right-wing capitalist view that keeps your power structures in place.

I read that comment three times and have no idea what you are trying to say.

ps. It's kind of fun to be called "right-wing"

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