Rachel Allen55 said:Sanctioning Russia just makes them feel even more independent from everyone else. What are you even going to have left to use for sanctions next time?
Everything needs balance. Even this whole situation is a delicate balancing act. Do people honestly think Americans are ready to start seeing layoffs because of these sanctions? First, it’ll be direct hits on companies doing business with Russia, and then it spirals—indirectly, then again indirectly—as businesses in other countries shut down, eventually triggering a massive crisis within the West.
And don't even get me started on the refugee issue. You'll end up with representatives in government who will have plenty to say, much like the folks in Denmark, whether it's the New Citizenry types or that nutjob Paludan. If you could hear their ideologies... they spout all this nonsense about Aryan races and claiming you're only "true" American if your family tree is 80% local heritage, counting grandparents and all that.
Am I really supposed to want a lunatic or a party like that sitting in our Parliament just because of Ukraine? To me, Ukraine isn't worth that much; it's an oligarchic state where a handful of people run the show, corruption is everywhere, and they still have some glaring questions left over from the USSR era that haven't been cleared up.
If nationalism starts taking over in the West, both the EU and NATO are toast. You wouldn't find two countries within the EU that could actually agree on anything. And all of this just for Ukraine?
What has Ukraine actually contributed to Western prosperity? Seriously, what? Nothing.
Keep dreaming. In Russia, "the good life" is basically restricted to big hubs like Moscow or St. Petersburg... mostly because that’s where the elite lives—the crowd making all the bank off oil sales. The rest of Russia? They're totally screwed. We're talking zero infrastructure, bad roads, nothing. People out there are just scraping by like it's the Stone Age.
If America and Europe actually isolate Russia, that Russian elite won't be able to get into Europe anymore, and honestly, that's what's going to sting the most. They absolutely love their European lifestyle.