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Ask HN: What do Russians on HN think about this war?

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Re: Ask HN: What do Russians on HN think about this war?

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the opposite of reality though. Mark Twain has a good quote here: "It is murder all along the line. Here are countless multitudes of creatures, and they all kill, kill, kill, they are all murderers. And they are not to blame, Divine One?” “He has one code of morals for himself, and quite another for his children."

Philosophy, like sciences, are broken down into domain functions. You cannot simply take one statement and apply it ad-hoc if it suits you. Twain was certainly not speaking to the larger sphere of existence. Is the earth murdering you and consuming you when you lay down to die of old age? We are all subject. Twain was speaking in the voice of the dogmatic Christian Satan, who was questioning the Christian God’s right…

>Philosophy, like sciences, are broken down into domain functions.

But Philosophy is not a science, it's a human construct.

>you’ve got your reasoning all kinds of backwards.

It's rather a lack of reasoning. Anything that is claimed as "Moral" always begs the question to what end.

If i 'Can' it is.

You and you're morals of do no harm, act fairly in dealings, etc. etc. end up being counter-morals when reality strikes because the universe doesn't caree about your codee of conduct or your "Rules & morals". Putin certainly doesn't.

Re: Ask HN: What do Russians on HN think about this war?

#72
post #68

Software engineer from Moscow. This is an absolute disaster for us. I can't imagine how and when we recover from this. The damage already made to our country is going to be devastating, and it's not even over yet. I even envy Ukrainians a little because they have a future (if they survive all this of course), and we don't. Most people in my bubble, including myself, are strongly against the war. Many are fleeing the…

> ...like that villain from Shrek: "Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make". Surely you see that in this analogy it is Putin who is the villain (Lord Farquaad)?

I'm going to "both sides" this one. Putin forced the sanctions by invading Ukraine, but the sanctions that are most painful are also the least discriminating. The Western powers know that ordinary Russians will be harmed by these sanctions, and in fact they're counting on that harm to destabilize Russia and turn its people against Putin.

Людей России, ты моя друзья.

Re: Ask HN: What do Russians on HN think about this war?

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Philosophy, like sciences, are broken down into domain functions. You cannot simply take one statement and apply it ad-hoc if it suits you. Twain was certainly not speaking to the larger sphere of existence. Is the earth murdering you and consuming you when you lay down to die of old age? We are all subject. Twain was speaking in the voice of the dogmatic Christian Satan, who was questioning the Christian God’s right…

>Philosophy, like sciences, are broken down into domain functions. But Philosophy is not a science, it's a human construct. >you’ve got your reasoning all kinds of backwards. It's rather a lack of reasoning. Anything that is claimed as "Moral" always begs the question to what end. If i 'Can' it is. You and you're morals of do no harm, act fairly in dealings, etc. etc. end up being counter-morals when reality strikes…

Words have meaning my friend. I never called philosophy a science. It’s the font that scientific reasoning sprung from.

The rest of your comment I can’t decipher. I’m not sure why you’re injecting me into this. I’m not a player here.

It may also be worth considering that the quote you used to justify war, was written by a pacifist:

https://sojo.net/articles/mark-twains-radical-pacifism

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/opinion/l15twain.html

Re: Ask HN: What do Russians on HN think about this war?

#74

When i was in the Air Force, I interacted with alot of russians "On the other side" when wee were building FOBs in eastern europe afteer the invasion of crimea. At work, It was all about defeating the russians. After work, it was about out drinking the russians. We laughed, we joked but at the end of the day we knew our bossees thought eachother enemies. And at the end of the day we knew that we were activeely workin…

I always thought that nationalists are opposition in Russia. Their goal is national and cultural homogenity on smaller territory (e.g. without Caucasus), so they should be naturally against territorial expansion. I'd rather call Putinism/"Eurasianism" imperialist politics.

I'm talking big N Nationalism. The belief that all "Great" nations historically have embodied.

I'm talking about the sentiment that inspired the great territorial expansions of Macedon under alex III, Rome under Hadrian, france under nepolian, germany under hitler, & United States under Nixon. That you can take, unify and direct great resources under force. Forge a monopoly on violence and create prosperity for your people at the cost of others.

Re: Ask HN: What do Russians on HN think about this war?

#75

Software engineer from Moscow. This is an absolute disaster for us. I can't imagine how and when we recover from this. The damage already made to our country is going to be devastating, and it's not even over yet. I even envy Ukrainians a little because they have a future (if they survive all this of course), and we don't. Most people in my bubble, including myself, are strongly against the war. Many are fleeing the…

> I also think the collective West has gone mad too. The campaign to cancel, ban, boycott and belittle everything and everyone that has anything to do with Russia is out of control. People are not to blame for the actions their government. The talks like "let's hurt the regular people so they revolt against Putin" are just like that villain from Shrek: "Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make".…

oh, you know this guy?

Re: Ask HN: What do Russians on HN think about this war?

#76

Software engineer from Moscow. This is an absolute disaster for us. I can't imagine how and when we recover from this. The damage already made to our country is going to be devastating, and it's not even over yet. I even envy Ukrainians a little because they have a future (if they survive all this of course), and we don't. Most people in my bubble, including myself, are strongly against the war. Many are fleeing the…

I'm wondering if you have a better solution?

I understand your viewpoint and don't take it lightly.

But at this point, I don't see an alternative anymore, except putting feet on the ground. Which would make the whole situation worse.

---

Note: a collegue of mine has a Russian wife and I asked if she was okay. She didn't encounter any hostilities and I was happy about that. Since it seemed plausible to me that some would/could.

She is, since recently, collecting funds for helping people in Ukraine.

Re: Ask HN: What do Russians on HN think about this war?

#77

When i was in the Air Force, I interacted with alot of russians "On the other side" when wee were building FOBs in eastern europe afteer the invasion of crimea. At work, It was all about defeating the russians. After work, it was about out drinking the russians. We laughed, we joked but at the end of the day we knew our bossees thought eachother enemies. And at the end of the day we knew that we were activeely workin…

I'm torn between the two sides of this mindset. On the one had, what you says is true, if you cant protect whats yours there is a chance you wont keep it. On the other hand, I know that people who take what they haven't worked for is destined to live a life of suffering because the world is created by people who build things that make a difference. The people who take and cannot create for themselves are doomed to live a apathetic existence. That is not a life worth living for me. I think I would rather be taken from then to always have to sacrifice metal/emotional stability every time I steal something that is not mine.

Re: Ask HN: What do Russians on HN think about this war?

#78

I am disgusted at all 3 political sides involved. Most disgusted with EU/US, followed by Ukrainian government and finally by the Russian Government. A war does not happen for no reason. Putin is a known to be a rational actor. Obviously ordinary people do not want war. So you have to ask yourself, what events led to the war? What was done to prevent it? What is done to stop it now? Why am I disgusted with US/EU? Firs…

Thanks for posting this; I've had a lot of trouble trying to figure out how Putin is justifying what seems like obvious aggression against another sovereign nation.

The tl;dr I think is simply that - Putin does not consider ukraine a soveign nation -- he (and I guess many russians) consider it part of russia; e.g. a wayward child that needs to be brought back into the family.

Anyway, thanks. I don't agree, but I think it's extremely important to understand both sides, otherwise no conversation can ever happen.

Re: Ask HN: What do Russians on HN think about this war?

#79

Software engineer from Moscow. This is an absolute disaster for us. I can't imagine how and when we recover from this. The damage already made to our country is going to be devastating, and it's not even over yet. I even envy Ukrainians a little because they have a future (if they survive all this of course), and we don't. Most people in my bubble, including myself, are strongly against the war. Many are fleeing the…

I think, in the final reckoning, a people are always complicit when evil is done in their name, by their leaders and countrymen, & with their money.

Few wish to hear that “people aren’t to blame for their governments” while Ukrainians die for precisely their right to have such responsibility.

Moreover one may destroy a war machine by ruthlessly starving the economy which funds it. The prosperity of Russians correlates to the Russian army’s ability to make war.

Re: Ask HN: What do Russians on HN think about this war?

#80

When i was in the Air Force, I interacted with alot of russians "On the other side" when wee were building FOBs in eastern europe afteer the invasion of crimea. At work, It was all about defeating the russians. After work, it was about out drinking the russians. We laughed, we joked but at the end of the day we knew our bossees thought eachother enemies. And at the end of the day we knew that we were activeely workin…

I'm torn between the two sides of this mindset. On the one had, what you says is true, if you cant protect whats yours there is a chance you wont keep it. On the other hand, I know that people who take what they haven't worked for is destined to live a life of suffering because the world is created by people who build things that make a difference. The people who take and cannot create for themselves are doomed to li…

It's not black and white. I can build and take. Taking allows me to build faster and better. Look at Rome.
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