steelfox98 said:Eighty percent of the globe hasn't even touched Russia with sanctions. Even close US allies like Mexico—or take Israel, for that matter—haven't moved an inch. In fact, most of them maintain perfectly fine relations with Russia and show zero interest in changing that. Just another day in this messy world.
A few months back, when I dropped this exact figure, a bunch of "experts" popped up just to tell me the rest of the world doesn't matter because the West controls 50% of global GDP. Funny how fast the narrative shifts once reality hits the fan. It doesn't matter what we think on this forum, but that dismissive, West-centric attitude has always been the playbook—and the rest of the world sees right through it. No wonder one of Russia's biggest rivals, MBS, recently suggested he'd rather cut deals with the Russians who actually respect an agreement than deal with us and our habit of breaking them. But sure, let's go back to our old arrogance, pretending the rest of the world is irrelevant and everyone else is too blind to notice.
A couple of months back, this same user was peddling the exact same nonsense. Back then, they went even further, insisting we should just shut down all energy imports immediately because—get this—“we'll just get electricity from the wall outlet.” They never once bothered to explain where that power was actually supposed to come from. Typical. 🤣
Progress is finally visible.
John Deere. Just another cog in the machine. I remember seeing one of those massive tractors idling outside a diner back in Iowa—smelled like diesel and broken promises. Same old story. Terry Hernandez10 says:
Given Putin's age, a regime change is almost inevitable long before any fifty-year milestone. Will the successor follow the exact same playbook? Who knows. But it would be incredibly foolish to just keep doing the same thing without trying to pivot. If you look at the history of the USSR—which the current Russian policy mimics quite closely—every new leader introduced significant shifts, even within such a rigid system. Stalin was different from Lenin; Khrushchev was different from Stalin; Brezhnev from Khrushchev; even Andropov, despite his short stint, was highly critical of those "years of stagnation." Then there was Chernenko, who was perhaps the only outlier because he failed to truly grasp control, much like how Andropov managed to leave his mark. Finally, Gorbachev was the icing on that cake. At the end of the day, both Yeltsin and Putin had distinct styles, so it's likely someone will emerge after Putin with fresh ideas, even if they have to use the old structures to seize power.
Looking at the fallout after Putin, the only person who could step in is someone even more hostile toward the West.
We all know truth is the first casualty in war, but today's news coverage has devolved into a full-blown propaganda binge. Sure, the Russians have messed up plenty—as happens in every war—but there’s zero balance here, no alternative perspective whatsoever. It’s not like some Russians aren't watching how the other side reports this; I highly doubt they enjoy what they see. Are people really going to be foolish enough to vote for some pro-Western politician because of this?
Every action triggers a reaction. In this case, the result is a galvanized Western public opinion, while the Russians—who might have once found the West attractive—have completely shut out.
What triggered the conflict is a massive topic for another thread, but Putin has been warning us since 2007. This tragedy isn't some random outburst; it's a long-planned reaction from Russian leadership who felt backed into a corner.
It brings us back to that old idea of "what's legal for one isn't for the other"—how we spent years trying to stomp on the Russians, and out of pure arrogance, refused any dialogue with them until the bitter end.
EDIT: Does anyone remember the shock when the Russians demanded payment in rubles? People were acting like, "How dare they! That violates our sanctions!" Or look at the recent turbine situation.
That perfectly illustrates the mental capacity of our esteemed leaders. They are completely detached from reality, drafting grandiose plans on paper that could easily push us into a recession, or even a depression.
Total misunderstanding and ignoring the opposing side hasn't made anyone happy.
The only real screw-up here is that Putin himself broke the non-aggression pact regarding Ukraine. Throughout this whole war, he won't even admit it’s an actual war—he just keeps calling it some kind of "special operation." I mean, Lavrov literally said they aren't even attacking Ukraine. So much for being reliable, I guess.
steelfox98 said:Eighty percent of the globe hasn't even touched Russia with sanctions. Even close US allies like Mexico—or take Israel, for that matter—haven't moved an inch. In fact, most of them maintain perfectly fine relations with Russia and show zero interest in changing that. Just another day in this messy world.
A few months back, when I dropped this exact figure, a bunch of "experts" popped up just to tell me the rest of the world doesn't matter because the West controls 50% of global GDP. Funny how fast the narrative shifts once reality hits the fan. It doesn't matter what we think on this forum, but that dismissive, West-centric attitude has always been the playbook—and the rest of the world sees right through it. No wonder one of Russia's biggest rivals, MBS, recently suggested he'd rather cut deals with the Russians who actually respect an agreement than deal with us and our habit of breaking them. But sure, let's go back to our old arrogance, pretending the rest of the world is irrelevant and everyone else is too blind to notice.
A couple of months back, this same user was peddling the exact same nonsense. Back then, they went even further, insisting we should just shut down all energy imports immediately because—get this—“we'll just get electricity from the wall outlet.” They never once bothered to explain where that power was actually supposed to come from. Typical. 🤣
Progress is finally visible.
John Deere. Just another cog in the machine. I remember seeing one of those massive tractors idling outside a diner back in Iowa—smelled like diesel and broken promises. Same old story. Terry Hernandez10 says:
Given Putin's age, a regime change is almost inevitable long before any fifty-year milestone. Will the successor follow the exact same playbook? Who knows. But it would be incredibly foolish to just keep doing the same thing without trying to pivot. If you look at the history of the USSR—which the current Russian policy mimics quite closely—every new leader introduced significant shifts, even within such a rigid system. Stalin was different from Lenin; Khrushchev was different from Stalin; Brezhnev from Khrushchev; even Andropov, despite his short stint, was highly critical of those "years of stagnation." Then there was Chernenko, who was perhaps the only outlier because he failed to truly grasp control, much like how Andropov managed to leave his mark. Finally, Gorbachev was the icing on that cake. At the end of the day, both Yeltsin and Putin had distinct styles, so it's likely someone will emerge after Putin with fresh ideas, even if they have to use the old structures to seize power.
Looking at the fallout after Putin, the only person who could step in is someone even more hostile toward the West.
We all know truth is the first casualty in war, but today's news coverage has devolved into a full-blown propaganda binge. Sure, the Russians have messed up plenty—as happens in every war—but there’s zero balance here, no alternative perspective whatsoever. It’s not like some Russians aren't watching how the other side reports this; I highly doubt they enjoy what they see. Are people really going to be foolish enough to vote for some pro-Western politician because of this?
Every action triggers a reaction. In this case, the result is a galvanized Western public opinion, while the Russians—who might have once found the West attractive—have completely shut out.
What triggered the conflict is a massive topic for another thread, but Putin has been warning us since 2007. This tragedy isn't some random outburst; it's a long-planned reaction from Russian leadership who felt backed into a corner.
It brings us back to that old idea of "what's legal for one isn't for the other"—how we spent years trying to stomp on the Russians, and out of pure arrogance, refused any dialogue with them until the bitter end.
EDIT: Does anyone remember the shock when the Russians demanded payment in rubles? People were acting like, "How dare they! That violates our sanctions!" Or look at the recent turbine situation.
That perfectly illustrates the mental capacity of our esteemed leaders. They are completely detached from reality, drafting grandiose plans on paper that could easily push us into a recession, or even a depression.
Total misunderstanding and ignoring the opposing side hasn't made anyone happy.
Backed into a corner? I'm still trying to wrap my head around how Russia ended up stuck like that just because of some internal Ukrainian issues. It feels like it doesn't even matter if the West decides to negotiate or listen to them or whatever. I guess the guy just cooked up a problem from scratch and then decided to start a war over it.
If there’s actually some other reason for this besides just grabbing territory, it definitely isn't about the LNR/DNR situation, Nazism, or banning the Russian language. I really hope that's the case, because if not, then someone over there is seriously missing a few brain cells if they honestly believe Ukraine belongs to Russia.
steelfox98 said:Eighty percent of the globe hasn't even touched Russia with sanctions. Even close US allies like Mexico—or take Israel, for that matter—haven't moved an inch. In fact, most of them maintain perfectly fine relations with Russia and show zero interest in changing that. Just another day in this messy world.
A few months back, when I dropped this exact figure, a bunch of "experts" popped up just to tell me the rest of the world doesn't matter because the West controls 50% of global GDP. Funny how fast the narrative shifts once reality hits the fan. It doesn't matter what we think on this forum, but that dismissive, West-centric attitude has always been the playbook—and the rest of the world sees right through it. No wonder one of Russia's biggest rivals, MBS, recently suggested he'd rather cut deals with the Russians who actually respect an agreement than deal with us and our habit of breaking them. But sure, let's go back to our old arrogance, pretending the rest of the world is irrelevant and everyone else is too blind to notice.
A couple of months back, this same user was peddling the exact same nonsense. Back then, they went even further, insisting we should just shut down all energy imports immediately because—get this—“we'll just get electricity from the wall outlet.” They never once bothered to explain where that power was actually supposed to come from. Typical. 🤣
Progress is finally visible.
John Deere. Just another cog in the machine. I remember seeing one of those massive tractors idling outside a diner back in Iowa—smelled like diesel and broken promises. Same old story. Terry Hernandez10 says:
Given Putin's age, a regime change is almost inevitable long before any fifty-year milestone. Will the successor follow the exact same playbook? Who knows. But it would be incredibly foolish to just keep doing the same thing without trying to pivot. If you look at the history of the USSR—which the current Russian policy mimics quite closely—every new leader introduced significant shifts, even within such a rigid system. Stalin was different from Lenin; Khrushchev was different from Stalin; Brezhnev from Khrushchev; even Andropov, despite his short stint, was highly critical of those "years of stagnation." Then there was Chernenko, who was perhaps the only outlier because he failed to truly grasp control, much like how Andropov managed to leave his mark. Finally, Gorbachev was the icing on that cake. At the end of the day, both Yeltsin and Putin had distinct styles, so it's likely someone will emerge after Putin with fresh ideas, even if they have to use the old structures to seize power.
Looking at the fallout after Putin, the only person who could step in is someone even more hostile toward the West.
We all know truth is the first casualty in war, but today's news coverage has devolved into a full-blown propaganda binge. Sure, the Russians have messed up plenty—as happens in every war—but there’s zero balance here, no alternative perspective whatsoever. It’s not like some Russians aren't watching how the other side reports this; I highly doubt they enjoy what they see. Are people really going to be foolish enough to vote for some pro-Western politician because of this?
Every action triggers a reaction. In this case, the result is a galvanized Western public opinion, while the Russians—who might have once found the West attractive—have completely shut out.
What triggered the conflict is a massive topic for another thread, but Putin has been warning us since 2007. This tragedy isn't some random outburst; it's a long-planned reaction from Russian leadership who felt backed into a corner.
It brings us back to that old idea of "what's legal for one isn't for the other"—how we spent years trying to stomp on the Russians, and out of pure arrogance, refused any dialogue with them until the bitter end.
EDIT: Does anyone remember the shock when the Russians demanded payment in rubles? People were acting like, "How dare they! That violates our sanctions!" Or look at the recent turbine situation.
That perfectly illustrates the mental capacity of our esteemed leaders. They are completely detached from reality, drafting grandiose plans on paper that could easily push us into a recession, or even a depression.
Total misunderstanding and ignoring the opposing side hasn't made anyone happy.
I mean, it’s pretty much impossible to wrap your head around anyone else's perspective when they’re constantly lying and playing mind games without exception. You literally can't trust a single word coming out of the Kremlin. And honestly, trying to find common ground is even harder when they start acting like toddlers, throwing around threats about nuclear holocausts or erasing the United Kingdom from the map. Then you've got that head of Roscosmos(!) floating around posting pictures of "decision centers" and all that nonsense. It’s like watching some spoiled brat who has zero clue how the real world works, thinking they have an absolute right to demand ice cream from a random kid on the street just because they feel like having it right this second.
I don't even get what people expect. What kind of "understanding" are we talking about when they lie about everything so aggressively? It’s wild. I don't know how they aren't even embarrassed to be so shamelessly and brazenly dishonest.