ukraine eu candidate status
finland and sweden heading into nato
russian gdp contracting 8-10%
lets gooooooo
Tick tock, the war is coming to a close, Putin will be dead ever so soon and those left in charge afterwards are going to break and crumble like the pathetic weaklings they are. Ruasian will fall and and become even a smaller and weaker version of itself like the dolls they are famous for.
Ukraine and Moldova both now have EU candidancy.
I'm not sure the polls are accurate, but the war is WAY too popular that's for sure. I do think putin's fall will change some things, they need to establish who is in charge for example, so that means that their ability to fight a war is diminished, then whoever wins will have to decide on continuation or not.
But as long as putin isn't gone this is all moot.
I say all the following knowing that I could indeed be off the mark here. Other people have proffered their ideas about what drives the Russian "zeitgeist" if you will, ranging from "seeing themselves as vassals of the Russian empire, giving of their lives freely to the czar" to "expansionist war-mongering huns through and through," and I don't... get that impression.
I get the impression that the Russian people are generally... well, apathetic and resigned towards things that don't personally involve them. They've faced decades and several generations of what is essentially institutionalized repression from a corrupt government that prides itself on being able to strong-arm the public and has the infrastructure to do that with a tight control on narrative and the ability to use force against whoever and whomever they wish, all dressed up under a slimy veneer of pretense and justification from their government that either shifts blame or ducks responsibility, meaning that nobody is really ever held accountable for any problems, such that 1) complaining about the problem probably wont result in anything from anybody with the power to do anything about it, 2) nobody is ever going to hear about your complaint, and 3) you face potential danger for speaking out in the first place. They've effectively been taught to keep their heads low, tow the line, and just kind of try to carry on with your business. And the war in Ukraine is no exception.
This war doesn't personally involve much of the Russian public, and while they may be experiencing economic hardship and increasing shortages and scarcity as the world passes them by with no real end or potential for that to get better in sight... what does speaking out get them? At best ignored, potentially, thrown in jail, and perhaps even worse? So they keep their heads low, stick their thumbs in their pockets, say what the government wants them to say, and continue on with whatever the new "norm" is in a complacent manner, because they know their lives and the lives of their love ones can swiftly be made much worse. "Better a dead Ukrainian, than a dead me," perhaps.
To wit, if Putin died tomorrow, and/or Russia pulled its troops out, I don't get the notion that the majority of Russia would be particularly saddened over the prospect. They have no personal long-term stake in the future of Russia's global hegemony or lack thereof, they just care about getting through the week.
And of course this is all generalizing. I had a professor who had emigrated from Russia and absolutely hated Putin. There were protests in Russia against the war when it broke out. And of course groups like Pussy Riot exist that are long-term thorns in the side of the Russian establishment, constantly voicing their discontent with the government (and often being incarcerated under trumped up charges for it.) On the other side of that coin I'm sure there are staunch Russian adherents who are terrified of the NATO boogieman and who genuinely believe the Ukrainians need to be raped and executed. There are some that pop up in this very thread periodically and get sent on forum vacations.
But like I said, my overall impression is not that they're hungering warmongers, or see themselves as servants of the government, or even that they're some great, disgruntled mass yearning to be free. I see complacency arising from a state of fear, brought forth by decades of repression. Their opinions, officially, are whatever the government tells them, and privately aren't really important because they know better than to voice them in earnest.
“Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead.” ~ Emily3, World of Tomorrow
Words to live by.
“Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead.” ~ Emily3, World of Tomorrow
Words to live by.
Last edited by Iphie; 2022-06-24 at 08:41 AM.
My impression was that he's Greek, somehow living in Canda sometimes and Italy, yet completely ignorant to internatiol politics.
Basically a Yuppie that's slightly older and luckily dropped the constant "tHey' haS nuKeZ!!111" bullshit.
4 months in, and Donbass still is not completely occupied, last I read was that Ukraine still controls some 50% of Donetsk.
The Russia military is an absolute joke and I have no doubt that the EU would be superior even without the UK and the US, considering the far better equipment and training compared to the Ukranians.
Last edited by Crispin; 2022-06-24 at 08:18 AM.
The missile doesn't seem to have hit the orcs at the launch site sadly enough from some other footage I've seen of this on twitter, like here, but that's pretty comical still.