>8. Why haven't the U.S. or Europe fixed this?
Seriously?
About Ukraine
11–20 of 97 posts
Re: About Ukraine
#12Why is dividing the country peacefully apparently out of question? It seems to have worked somewhat decently for the Czech and Slovac republics.
I think it is because there aren't two distinct nationalities in play here. Even the Russian-speaking Ukrainians do not want to rejoin Russia; they would prefer to be Ukrainian. The situation is much closer to the situation in the United States than to those in other central and eastern European cold war countries. While there are strong regional divisions between Democrats and Republicans -- divisions that are roote…
I agree. This is probably the best way to relate the situation to someone in the US. No one would take you seriously here if you proposed splitting "blue" states into a separate country and proposing a split there seems equally far fetched.
Re: About Ukraine
#13One thing that wasn't mentioned in the article was about the reasoning behind Putin's customs union. Putin is very pro-Soviet Union. He wants to make customs union to make it resemble Soviet Union with Russia as the leader country and others (such as Belarus), former Soviet Union members as satellite countries. He also sees it, as mentioned in the article, as a counterweight to EU, which he views as a threat. So his personal interest in Ukraine goes beyond "care for Russians living in Ukraine". He basically wants to rebuild Soviet Union, and Ukraine is a key component.
Re: About Ukraine
#14Besides the language issue and the politics, I suspect there's also an age issue. From talking to friends there, the younger people want to gravitate towards Europe, as Europe is seen as more progressive and open. While the older people prefer the stability of going with Russia.
Re: About Ukraine
#15Are Americans so ignorant to justify the publication of such an article? (OK, I must admit, I had never heard of Mykola Lysenko before.) * * * EDIT: it seems this post is getting misunderstood, because I tried (and apparently failed) to shorten the following interrogation. 1. The Washington Post is an American newspaper. 2. The article explains a situation by giving a basic history lesson, and does not contain any ne…
I guess you refer to "1. What is Ukraine? Ukraine – not "the Ukraine." Whoever got stuck there will miss the rest of the article which is quite good. If you actually got stuck there, please avoid claiming what others are. Disclaimer: not an American.
Yes, I mostly refer to that first question. I did not get stuck there. I believe you misunderstood my post.
I do not claim Americans are ignorant — I was asking a question anyway, so not claiming anything.
I believe that, by publishing such a basic article, The Washington Post is claiming Americans are ignorant. I am trying to understand that particular phenomenon: why would a respectable newspaper, made for educated people, publish an article intended to the ignorant?
Re: About Ukraine
#16Are Americans so ignorant to justify the publication of such an article? (OK, I must admit, I had never heard of Mykola Lysenko before.) * * * EDIT: it seems this post is getting misunderstood, because I tried (and apparently failed) to shorten the following interrogation. 1. The Washington Post is an American newspaper. 2. The article explains a situation by giving a basic history lesson, and does not contain any ne…
> Are Americans so ignorant to justify the publication of such an article? Yes. They will also uncritically read everything what is written there.
Hard to tell because of the written means, but I hope you are being ironic.
Re: About Ukraine
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess you refer to "1. What is Ukraine? Ukraine – not "the Ukraine." Whoever got stuck there will miss the rest of the article which is quite good. If you actually got stuck there, please avoid claiming what others are. Disclaimer: not an American.
Yes, I mostly refer to that first question. I did not get stuck there. I believe you misunderstood my post. I do not claim Americans are ignorant — I was asking a question anyway, so not claiming anything. I believe that, by publishing such a basic article, The Washington Post is claiming Americans are ignorant. I am trying to understand that particular phenomenon: why would a respectable newspaper, made for educated…
Like you admitted yourself, you also didn't know everything from the article. So your added claim:
"2. The article explains a situation by giving a basic history lesson, and does not contain any new or exclusive information."
Doesn't hold in my opinion. The article is more than "basic" for anybody not following Ukraine permanently.
Still can I agree with you if you consider the article tone a bit insulting to the reader. I find it a strange etiquette, openly writing to the reader as he's "too simple." But I believe enough readers consider it a joke, exactly on the topic "most Americans don't know anything about the World."
Re: About Ukraine
#18So even the Washington Post has decided to adopt Upworthy-like titles, I guess that's the sad future of online news.
Headlines starting with numbers have been around for ages. Often they're seen as lazy or clickbait, but from time to time they can be used appropriately.
Re: About Ukraine
#19CIA shills shilling for civil war in Ukraine, just like they did for Syria (but let's forget that, shall we, since we know that Internet users have only a six-month-long memory), on my technology discussion board??
Thank you Sir, may I have another!
Re: About Ukraine
#20Here is an ELI5 version of what's going on in Ukraine:
Ukraine doesn't have any money, it needs to borrow it. It can ask the west, but the west gives back a list of conditions to be satisfied (human rights, economical, etc) that are incredibly hard for the governmnet to achieve given deeply rooted corruption on all levels.
There is another source for the money: Russia (which, despite some westerners' beliefs, is a very rich country). In return Russia's demands are to make sure that the deeply rooted corruption on all levels works in Russia's favour. That is much easier to achieve.
Hence the recent $15 billion loan from Putin, that officially appears to be unconditional.
Another point I'd like to make is that many people in the east (I come from one of the big industrial cities in the south-east), don't just dislike Europe and like Russia. It's that their jobs literally depend on Russia, most of the industrial exports go straight to Russia, that's why people there are terrified of any sanctions.