Putin

[shakahislop]

Bring me the head of Diego Garcia @shakahislop

bring me that of Tristan De Cunha and we'll swap

 

[Mr. Tea]

not yet

Now there's a sobering thought!

 

[Slothrop]

Seriously, though, I find this stuff quite jarring. I've largely internalized the "McDonalds theory of international conflict" - the idea that developed countries in the modern world don't just invade each other on a whim, because even if you've got more guns than the people next door, you probably have more to gain from a harmonious and smoothly functioning global order than you do from the permanently fucked-off bit of extra territory that you now theoretically have control over. So seeing Russia potentially just going fuck it, we're sending the tanks in to the Ukraine with no real justification apart from the fact that they want to determine how the Ukraine is run is hard to even process properly.

 

[Mr. Tea]

I bet Ukraine are really wishing they'd hung onto the nukes that were stationed there when the USSR collapsed.

 

[Leo]

Seriously, though, I find this stuff quite jarring. I've largely internalized the "McDonalds theory of international conflict" - the idea that developed countries in the modern world don't just invade each other on a whim, because even if you've got more guns than the people next door, you probably have more to gain from a harmonious and smoothly functioning global order than you do from the permanently fucked-off bit of extra territory that you now theoretically have control over. So seeing Russia potentially just going fuck it, we're sending the tanks in to the Ukraine with no real justification apart from the fact that they want to determine how the Ukraine is run is hard to even process properly.

part of it is also the desire to distract from unrest and other troubling issues at home, a way for strongmen to rally their citizens for defending the homeland and the country's honor (or whatever spin they put on it).

 

[luka]

that;s the received wisdom. is there a huge amount of unrest in Russia? seems like a very high stakes operation just for a distraction. im still not satisfied.

 

[luka]

there is a thing about fences and borders and property that makes people go loopy-loo though isn't there. i remember my grandmother's neighbour going a bit bonkers about their property boundaries at one point, but they were all too old to get out in the garden much and the fence had been there, by that stage, for at least 30 years. what's it all about?

 

[Mr. Tea]

that;s the received wisdom. is there a huge amount of unrest in Russia? seems like a very high stakes operation just for a distraction. im still not satisfied.

High stakes for whom, though? Maybe some soldiers get killed, but so what? Spin them as martyrs who gave their lives defending Russia from CIA-backed terrorists or something.

 

[version]

that;s the received wisdom. is there a huge amount of unrest in Russia? seems like a very high stakes operation just for a distraction. im still not satisfied.

Wouldn't surprise me if that's what Boris sees in it though.

 

[Leo]

that;s the received wisdom. is there a huge amount of unrest in Russia? seems like a very high stakes operation just for a distraction. im still not satisfied.

high levels of poverty, stagnant or falling incomes, stagnant economy, GDP based almost solely on oil, international sanctions, changing demographics (an increasing number of Russians born after the Soviet Union ended and demanding a better standard of life).

 

[luka]

it's always been like that though im sure most Russians think it's fine. Barty has been spending months at a time in St. Petersburg recently for some reason. he says what most surprised him is that Russian women are grotesquely ugly.

 

[luka]

he says theyve all got weird noses. but all different types of weird noses, it's not a specific nose type.

 

[Leo]

it's always been like that though im sure most Russians think it's fine.

eventually the frog realizes the water is boiling.

 

[luka]

i doubt it personally.

 

[luka]

the big man weighs in

 

[Leo]

early days.

 

[HMGovt’s Glorious Return!]

that;s the received wisdom. is there a huge amount of unrest in Russia? seems like a very high stakes operation just for a distraction. im still not satisfied.

It's the unrest here, in the West, that is the issue. Misdirection, as usual. The West, well USA and UK, are gunning for Russia, no-one else gives much of a fuck either way. It's pathetic. We deserve a mercy nuking.

 

[luka]

ive seen this argument a lot but what it doesnt answer is why there is a troop build-up on the border

 

[Leo]

It's the unrest here, in the West, that is the issue. Misdirection, as usual. The West, well USA and UK, are gunning for Russia, no-one else gives much of a fuck either way. It's pathetic. We deserve a mercy nuking.

nah. trust me, people in the states are absolutely not swept up to the edge of their seats, distracted from all their issues by a possible Russian invasion. major media might cover it closely, but barely anyone here gives a shit.

 

[HMGovt’s Glorious Return!]

nah. trust me, people in the states are absolutely not swept up to the edge of their seats, distracted from all their issues by a possible Russian invasion. major media might cover it closely, but barely anyone here gives a shit.

Exactly, it's not working! There are probably two hundred people in the USA and UK who want war with Russia. Unfortunately, they're in power.