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Inside Putin's Circle
151–160 of 239 posts
Re: Inside Putin's Circle
#152Re: Inside Putin's Circle
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's why I said russian friendly.. it's a subtle topic.
Mearsheimer has been trotted out by so many people that likely never heard of him three weeks ago that it's getting a bit tiring.
Many of us are binge reading history in all directions. But yeah the authority-flooding is exhausting. I mostly mentioned him to balance my comment. I have no idea which is true or not here.
Re: Inside Putin's Circle
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
The idea of a centralised planned state fell with the USSR, and it was widely argued that it fell _because_ of central planning. China is becoming a counter-example for the people who have always been fond of the idea of having a state ruled by an "elite", with the perception that democracy is fragile and doesn't work for long-term (more than a 4/5 years mandate) planning.
The world changed in a very significant way over the last 70 years. Even more so over the last 20 years. It may very well end up that the Information Age has tipped the scales and our large meandering decentralized democracies are no longer the superior model they were back when it took 4 weeks to get a letter from New York City to Washington DC. Now it’s a synchronous call with satellite footage of every inch of the…
I wouldn’t lose sleep.
Central planning hasn’t been “hard to implement” its been a absolute disaster not just due to information scarcity, but for the same reason massive organizations in free markets rot from within.
Re: Inside Putin's Circle
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
We get what you are trying to say, but people carry guns, they don't wear guns.
Right, in English "wear" generally means something you can "put on" and you can't "put a gun on" either. Although you can put on a holster. ;-)
Although, in this case specifically, "wear a gun" is pretty common place and doesn't sound out if place at all.
I think this may come down to regional dialect differences, but it doesn't make this pedant look good (and I generally love pedants.)
Re: Inside Putin's Circle
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
The idea of a centralised planned state fell with the USSR, and it was widely argued that it fell _because_ of central planning. China is becoming a counter-example for the people who have always been fond of the idea of having a state ruled by an "elite", with the perception that democracy is fragile and doesn't work for long-term (more than a 4/5 years mandate) planning.
Governments can be learning organizations, especially when they have long time horizons and balance agenda with reality. If anything, I think China has shown that central planning can work and is even the envy of Western leaders (see: Canadian PM Trudeau's admiration). The implicit agreement in China is that in exchange for your freedom, you receive prosperity. Russia - especially after the West seriously damages the…
China abandoned central planning back in the 80’s.
The current system is more similar to Japan with strong oversight and occasional intervention to nudge the economy towards the right goals.
Re: Inside Putin's Circle
#157Strangely, one figure is notably omitted from the "exposé" is Dmitry Medvedev. Who is none other than the former president, and still acting member of the current "politbureau"...
Who knows, maybe he is the "one senior official" mentioned as being the author's source on some of the topics. Protect your sources!
Re: Inside Putin's Circle
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The Chinese model" is fundamentally underwritten by exporting vast quantities of goods to the West which Putin just blew up any hope of doing.
The CCP is moving away from that, though, and towards an economy driven more by domestic consumption.
Yes, but the success of China was built on an export economy. They're consuming more internally as they become wealthier, but it remains to be seen how smooth that transition will be. There have been many burps already (Evergrande, the banning of crypto mining to prevent wealth flight, etc...).
Turning China into an inward-looking closed market is an idea still, not a recipe.
Re: Inside Putin's Circle
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mearsheimer has been trotted out by so many people that likely never heard of him three weeks ago that it's getting a bit tiring.
That tends to happen when someone turns out to have accurately predicted the future.
No, it's just that he happens to allow you and others to do what you like about it: trumpet all over that 'the West' caused Russia's invasion into Ukraine. When in fact if you follow that line of thought it was Hitlers mom who caused World War II.
The only person responsible for the invasion into Ukraine is Putin, it was entirely optional, no matter who predicted that it would happen.
Also: there is a substantial number of HN accounts in recent times whose only purpose seems to be to plant Russian talking points and I wonder if those are mostly by useful idiots or by hostile parties, so be careful whose water you carry.
I'm sure you will find a way to tie each and every man, woman and child murdered by Russian soldiers to 'the West' but it isn't very believable, even if you have to find the need to quote a professor (your appeal to authority was noted).
Re: Inside Putin's Circle
#160That's a very useful and important article. So that's who Putin talks to. A very small group who share his worldview: It is the manifest destiny of Mother Russia to have an empire in Eastern Europe. A key point that has emerged from a number of sources is that Putin's crowd has no plan B. This isn't considered by Russia's leadership to be just a military adventure - if it works, great, if it doesn't work, pull back a…
> Historically, this sort of thing ends only when the leader is killed.
It can't happen soon enough.