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Russia killed its tech industry

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Re: Russia killed its tech industry

#72
post #30

I find it heartbreaking. I grew up in the Cold War (my father was in the CIA). Russians were considered brutish, non-creative, and untrustworthy. Then, the Berlin Wall came down, and everything changed. I started to see amazing creativity come from Russia. Music, technology, art, actors, dance, all kinds of stuff. I loved working with Russian engineers. They were some of the best techs I'd worked with. I have a lot o…

Most of the brightest ones have left the country, so I do wonder if it might result in being a net positive for the world, moving a million brightest people from a decaying autocracy into the functional countries with good management, potential investors and a culture of innovation. Russian culture in Russia might be done for though, at least for a while.

[flagged]

Re: Russia killed its tech industry

#73

I find it heartbreaking. I grew up in the Cold War (my father was in the CIA). Russians were considered brutish, non-creative, and untrustworthy. Then, the Berlin Wall came down, and everything changed. I started to see amazing creativity come from Russia. Music, technology, art, actors, dance, all kinds of stuff. I loved working with Russian engineers. They were some of the best techs I'd worked with. I have a lot o…

That political opposition has a very high opinion of themselves.

Despite the gloomy predictions, Russia keeps doing fine on all dimensions.

War in Ukraine was not a good thing to happen, but Russia is not that badly managed, and the West is not that well managed.

Re: Russia killed its tech industry

#74
post #54
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The greatest Russian writer ever was black, Alexander Pushkin. Wiki says his great grandfather was black. I am not sure how you jumped to the conclusion that Pushkin was black. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pushkin

Isn't that the distinction used by at least some people in US - you're black if you had any black ancestors (at least in traced history)?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-drop_rule

Re: Russia killed its tech industry

#75

There never was any real high tech industry. Everything good was done in gulags which my Russian schoolbook called "Nauki Gorods" ie science towns. Everything else was substandard garbage. However under harsh military rule labor camps work well to produce high tech. German V2-rockets and Curta calculators prove that. But there is time limit for that. You will run out of people.

> However under harsh military rule labor camps work well to produce high tech. German V2-rockets and Curta calculators prove that.

Wasn't also Manhattan Project an example of this?

Re: Russia killed its tech industry

#76
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>defending smaller, but freedom loving, countries You mean America was doing the defending? That's hilarious. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in... And then there's the horror show of American intervention in South East Asia, and then there's the meddle, I mean Middle East.

The US has been proven to meddle in democratic elections in every single continent, except Africa I think, at this point. But meddling in Africa will surely be made public at one point or another.

On the other hand, are we really comparing the leadership of Afghanistan and Iraq to Ukraine and deciding these things are the same?

Last I checked, Ukraine hadn't invaded its neighbors, gassed ethnic minorities, or taken freedom from its entire female population.

The US handled Afghanistan and Iraq poorly, and lied about reasons for going in, but there were actual underlying reasons.

Ukraine is only being invaded because Russia thinks it can.

Hell, Ukraine explicitly gave up its weapons of mass destruction... in exchange for security guarantees... from Russia.

Re: Russia killed its tech industry

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many ways, Russian culture has been preserved better outside of Russia than inside. Russians have had a tendency over last few hundred years to absorb other cultures rapidly, thus changing their own. French, Italian, English, now American. Watching Russian TV now by someone who left in the 1990s is quite strange because almost every other word is taken from English, while a different word was used in Russian 30 ye…

I wonder if there are any specific examples of Russian culture that are preserved outside Russia but lost inside Russia. Russia 30 years ago was a failed and miserable state with corresponding words choice. In the modern Russia not many actual people watch TV.

Russian food, language, and religion are better preserved by Russian communities outside Russia. Immigrants that left in 1990s as adults speak purer Russian than TV news people.

Re: Russia killed its tech industry

#78
post #45
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the brightest ones have left the country, so I do wonder if it might result in being a net positive for the world, moving a million brightest people from a decaying autocracy into the functional countries with good management, potential investors and a culture of innovation. Russian culture in Russia might be done for though, at least for a while.

>> Most of the brightest ones have left the country I feel like that needs to be qualified? Maybe ages 20-40 and of a certain social-economic class can leave fairly easily, but it’s gotta be much harder to leave if you’re too young, too old, too poor, have too few connections, or have aged parents, young children, etc.

Well, that's what I mean, a million of the 20-40 age group of a certain socioeconomic class, with relevant skills, a lot of ambition and not many dependents. Those are the exact group to start new things and do a lot of good, and my point was that maybe the world is better off with them in the more productive countries vs even the pre-war Russia.

Re: Russia killed its tech industry

#79
Russian news is control by the state. US/Western mass media news are control by "private company" that also have to align with the either the democrat party narrative or republican narrative. Both party must also align with the state.

Re: Russia killed its tech industry

#80

There never was any real high tech industry. Everything good was done in gulags which my Russian schoolbook called "Nauki Gorods" ie science towns. Everything else was substandard garbage. However under harsh military rule labor camps work well to produce high tech. German V2-rockets and Curta calculators prove that. But there is time limit for that. You will run out of people.

> However under harsh military rule labor camps work well to produce high tech. German V2-rockets and Curta calculators prove that. Wasn't also Manhattan Project an example of this?

Yes indeed. But "Science Towns" are really short term solution.
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