I have a different message: Go on the street and take control of your country, before you turn into another North Korea.
Ukrainians were able to overthrow their government, and so can you.
Tell HN: If You Are in Russia
511–520 of 1001 posts
Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia
#512You might want to check stuff like virtual office service, incorporation in an EU country, they start really cheap, as well as getting a VPS to bounce from. And stuff like Electronic Money Institutes for at least some really basic banking. Fair warning though, some of these things look rather shady so use some common sense and be careful with your local legislation (See MrDisposables response) edit: To elaborate on t…
> "incorporation in an EU country" Illegal, due to the "КИК" law, and, if I remember correctly, punishable by a heavy yearly fine (about $50K ath the current exchange rate). > "Electronic Money Institutes for at least some really basic banking" Outgoing transfers to foreign banks and electronic money institutions are now illegal, due to the yesterday's order that forbids Russian residents to transfer money to their o…
> Outgoing transfers to foreign banks and electronic money institutions are now illegal, due to the yesterday's order that forbids Russian residents to transfer money to their own accounts abroad.
Break this law if you can. Weigh the probability of being prosecuted in the mass of others breaking these laws versus the probability of facing real hardship from the economic sanctions. Doubly true if you have a family you're taking care of.
Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia
#513Earlier quoted context omitted.
this is becoming a theme with immigrant communities, in a similar vein how german Turks are supportive of Erdogan. I'm sure those people are not evil, but this phenomenon is worthy of investigation.
Back when I lived in Canada and had some exposure to some of local Russian communities, it was bloody obvious that there was a concentrated Russian government effort to manipulate and control their opinion. All online spots - forums, bbses, etc. - had at least one troll reposting from the offical news. More places than one had these as mods or admins. Agitating and stirring the pot was a daily occurence, which was qu…
Russians living in cyprus are not poor
Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia
#514Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure I get it: are you saying you do not believe the international community should hold Russia accountable for its murderous incomprehensible actions in Europe?
If the international community wants to hold Russia accountable, it should pressure Western Europe to stop buying Russian gas. Infrastructure companies grandstanding is idiotic.
Those aren't mutually exclusive. Europe's dependence on Russian oil and gas exports has been a major topic of discussion - a search for "Nord Stream 2" might help you get up to date.
Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia
#515Seems like this barrage of sanctions and anti-Russian sentiment will do nothing but push Russia further toward China. I really don’t see the West removing them easily, even if Russia withdrew immediately. No one seems to care about arriving at a solution that will minimize bloodshed. Instead the media is more reminiscent of 1984 and drumming up a war against Eurasia than of rational realpolitik. This is the true birt…
> Seems like this barrage of sanctions and anti-Russian sentiment will do nothing but push Russia further toward China.
It seems like it's doing massive damage to the Russian Economy. They can go towards China but that won't help much, plus China has ambitions of its own so it may end up de facto a vassal of China if it's not careful...
> No one seems to care about arriving at a solution that will minimize bloodshed.
All the sanctions were announced beforehand, Putin still decided to invade... The only way to minimize bloodshed now is to force a withdrawal and get some guarantees somehow it won't happen again. (either Ukraine in NATO or properly armed by NATO)
Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia
#516Earlier quoted context omitted.
You do realize that only thing EU and US have done about Russia escalating situations all over the place (Crimea, North Caucasus, Georgia, South Ossetia, Chechnya, Dagestan etc) is talk, talk, talk. Has it helped? Nope. Russia seems to be immune to talking.
I would add that the unspecifity of the threat was what kept Putin going. Consider what would have happened if "The West" handed Putin a detailed list of the sanctions that are in effect now A WEEK AGO. Lower costs and lower risks. That's why far-sighted politics are so important.
> Consider what would have happened if "The West" handed Putin a detailed list of the sanctions that are in effect now A WEEK AGO.
Putin would say that is why he attacked Ukraine. His cheerleads would then blame Biden, claiming Putin had no choice.
Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia
#517Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven't paid attention to what Google, Amazon, etc. are doing, nor do I particularly care. NATO, EU, Switzerland and a few others are not trying to hold Russians accountable. They are trying to hit the Russian economy strong and hard to demonstrate that Putin's Russia cannot afford a war against the West. That's after Putin and his representatives articulated several times and in no uncertain terms the threat of a…
Would you support banning all US accounts to hold Biden accountable for attacks in Yemen?
Are you asking me? Pretty sure I didn't advocate for holding anybody accountable.
edit Clarified.
Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia
#518The reason Russia has elevated tyrants to power for centuries is deep-rooted in Russian soul to the point where it's not even a problem. It's something that is inexplicably difficult to understand unless you actually experience the culture for a good portion of your life. There is a lot of literature out there about the "Russian Soul" and I really recommend reading it to understand how this happens. In my opinion it'…
If there is something left to take over. I'm affraid the young will leave russia and start a new life somewhere safe and sane. Russia is more similar to China, North Korea and some middle east areas than the west.
Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia
#519It's a bit alarming that some HN posters are saying that Ukraine never applied to join NATO. That they did is the central seed of the John Mearsheimer lecture 'Why is Ukraine the West's Fault?' [1], which got about another 2m views in the last 48 hours.
Mearsheimer provides a direct quote demonstrating NATO's resolve to eventually incorporate Ukraine, which was pledged at the Bucharest 2008 summit.
Bush was also pushing for NATO's membership in 2008 [2].
Mearsheimer's narrative depicts a cornered Russia determined to make Ukraine so politically toxic and disrupted that it would cease to qualify for NATO membership. Therefore, yes, if you say 'Ukraine was never going to get into NATO', that's true after 2010, and more so after 2014. But Ukraine did want to become a NATO member, was promised that it could enter, and had some notable US advocates for membership.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4 [2] https://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/01/ukraine.anal...
Re: Tell HN: If You Are in Russia
#520This whole situation is so surreal and disappointing. I grew up on Star Trek and somehow I just though we had (almost) arrived in a post-war, federation-like world. We know things should be solved with words because otherwise there are only losers. It’s how we raise our kids. I just keep thinking about how Jean Luc is looking down on us from orbit, slowly shaking his head whispering “Savages.”
There have been multiple active wars in like 1/4 of the world the whole time since ww2 and all the time before that. The only thing different is that Ukraine is closer to EU than the rest of the countries.
It seems that some people are less worthy of others. (Mostly) ignoring decades and decades of constant war, and hundreds of thousands of deaths, just because of - what? The "other side" is the enemy? The "other side" lives far? The "other side" is of a different religion? The "other side" has a different skin colour?
I also find it kind of hypocritical (but isn't that to be expected in war politics) of the European NATO members that they were completely fine with breaking up Yugoslavia, arming separatist movements, taking sides in a civil war and bombarding a sovereign country, and then ending it up with another war and a three month (THREE MONTHS) constant bombing of a sovereign country with the use of weapons with depleted uranium. This led to some Italian army members receiving hefty compensations from Italy after they were diagnosed with cancer. I talked with some of them, this is actually how I found out about the subject. In the end that money is worthless when you know that you have cancer. And what I am most appalled by is the fact that my generation knows nothing about this, and that the people that suffered the bombs cannot do anything about it. They live with the traumas from the bombardment and with the fear that them or their children will one day get cancer.