Statement from Roman Abramovich • Hacker News Board

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#131

Post by unmole » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 12:59 AM UTC

mcfedr wrote: post #121

parthdesai wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A common person in Russia isn't the aggressor. That's like blaming entire western population for the shit their government does. Russian ruble has tanked significantly, which means things in Russia are gonna cost way more for an average person.

Who else to blame? The Russian people allows this man to be their leader

Reminds of Osama bin Laden's Letter to America:

> The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade of Iraq. These tax dollars are given to Israel for it to continue to attack us and penetrate our lands. So the American people are the ones who fund the attacks against us, and they are the ones who oversee the expenditure of these monies in the way they wish, through their elected candidates.

Blaming ordinary people of Russian for the actions of the Putin regime is the same.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#132

Post by unmole » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 1:10 AM UTC

alkonaut wrote: post #100

The positive: he calls it a war - which is a very clear distancing from Moscow. The more questionable: “all victims”. The correct call would be to clarify that all victims are on the Ukrainian side. That would have made an even clearer message against Putin too.

> all victims are on the Ukrainian side.

So, a Russian conscript, beaten into submission and then sent off to fight a war against people who might as well be his cousins. If this conscript is killed in action, is he not a victim?

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#133

Post by jansen555 » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 1:20 AM UTC

paxys wrote: post #85

machineleaning wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's fair, and we should judge him for it. Doesn't mean we should blame him for the war in Ukraine.

Well blame is a tricky word, and I'm sure he did not personally authorize the attack or had any say in it, but it is quite indisputable that he has been a huge factor in propping up Putin for the last 20+ years.

Might as well say entire Brits prop teflon PM to kill Libyans and Syrians. Let's be honest here, you just don't assign guilt simply by association. Hitler did that. We all are better than that.

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#134

Post by thundergolfer » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 2:53 AM UTC

bloodyplonker22 wrote: post #67

TedShiller wrote: post #20

For billionaires, philanthropy is simply PR

Right, then why are there so many anonymous huge donations?

“So many” feels like a misdirect using absolute numbers instead of percentages. Of the money and assets donated by billionaires, do you believe more than 10% of it is done so anonymously that no one ever finds out who donated?

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#135

Post by parthdesai » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 3:18 AM UTC

mcfedr wrote: post #121

parthdesai wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A common person in Russia isn't the aggressor. That's like blaming entire western population for the shit their government does. Russian ruble has tanked significantly, which means things in Russia are gonna cost way more for an average person.

Who else to blame? The Russian people allows this man to be their leader

So all Americans are to be blamed for Iraq, Libya et all right. Add in UK as well for good measure. Heck majority of Americans wanted Hilary to be president in 2016 after she voted for a war that was based on a lie. Look where Iraq is right now as a country.

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#136

Post by RC_ITR » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 5:20 AM UTC

arrosenberg wrote: post #104

RC_ITR wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things can be valued as assets based on the present value of their future cash flows (like companies) or by their desirability and rarity (like a Lambo). The argument you are making is equivalent to 'now that he won't pay for the gas, who will buy the Lambo?'

I'm definitely arguing that the Lambo is less valuable without gas, and that the number of people with a comparable amount of gas to pour on a soccer club is a very limited group. It's unclear what the actual value is, since some major portion of the value is based on it's desirability/rarity, which is a speculative quality - as a business, Chelsea doesn't seem to have the finances of a top 4 club.

Sure. A Lamborghini would be worth more if gas was free and there aren’t that many people who can afford gas for a lambo, but you’re way overestimating global inequality. Plenty of people could afford Chelsea.

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#137

Post by ignoramous » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 5:44 AM UTC

avmich wrote: post #106

benjaminwootton wrote: post #60

The guy is giving away £3 billion+ to charity and writing off a £1.5 billion loan, and yet the whole thread is looking for holes in the short statement. Nice gesture I say as he didn’t start the war.

> Nice gesture I say as he didn’t start the war. At this point anybody close to Putin might have a presumption of guilt. It's not good to support decades of growing autocracy, benefit from it and when it started to crumble in agony, step aside and say "I didn't do this last step".

> It's not good to support decades of growing autocracy, benefit from it.

It is almost as if the Western democracies and companies didn't enrich the Russian government by purchasing energy from them...

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#138

Post by ignoramous » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 5:47 AM UTC

unmole wrote: post #131

mcfedr wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who else to blame? The Russian people allows this man to be their leader

Reminds of Osama bin Laden's Letter to America: > The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade of Iraq. These tax dollars are given to Israel for it to continue to attack us and penetrate our lands. So the Ame…

True: One man's terrorism is another man's war on terror. As a matter of fact, this kind of self-referentialness is why political debates go to shit.

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#139

Post by avmich » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 6:27 AM UTC

ignoramous wrote: post #137

avmich wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nice gesture I say as he didn’t start the war. At this point anybody close to Putin might have a presumption of guilt. It's not good to support decades of growing autocracy, benefit from it and when it started to crumble in agony, step aside and say "I didn't do this last step".

> It's not good to support decades of growing autocracy, benefit from it. It is almost as if the Western democracies and companies didn't enrich the Russian government by purchasing energy from them...

Oh, they absolutely did. And the list of faults is unfortunately growing. However we're not in a position of choosing how exactly this particular set of problems will be solved; we have to get what we can sometimes.

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#140

Post by pllbnk » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 7:06 AM UTC

benjaminwootton wrote: post #60

The guy is giving away £3 billion+ to charity and writing off a £1.5 billion loan, and yet the whole thread is looking for holes in the short statement. Nice gesture I say as he didn’t start the war.

He is giving money to charity, but through what means did he acquire this money? The fact that the charities have to exist in the first place is a huge failure of global economy and thanks in large part to the oligarch class for it.