Posts by Grace Phillips25

Noah Sullivan said:But, have you caught the latest interview with the renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs?
I am referring to this one:

This other one—which is a week older—is particularly compelling, given that he discusses (i) his firsthand experiences working with Gorbachev and his tenure during the era of the USSR/Russia:

Sachs is talking absolute nonsense. This war isn't going to wrap up anytime soon. It’s gonna drag on—unfortunately.

Bryan Booth82 said:It’s actually a brilliant idea. Personally, I was thinking along these lines back when the first round of sanctions even started... but then I thought, "Eh, maybe I'm just being naive." After all, it's not exactly rocket science, right?

I am genuinely glad to hear that serious people are actually considering something like this—it’s fantastic... especially this whole concept of establishing a dedicated fund for Ukraine.

Best regards,

But isn't that just a massive catch-22? 🤔
I mean, aren't we basically funding the aggressor just so we can use that money later to fund the victim? It's a loop... a total loop.
We buy oil from Russia, then take the tax revenue from that oil to pay for rebuilding Ukraine, and then—surprise!—we do it all over again. It just keeps spinning.

wearybison63 said:There you go again, obsessing over those partials.😁
The absolute king of partials.

Honestly, I think the ultimate punishment would be stripping him of every single partial he owns! 😁

analogbear5 said:I'm pretty sure you guys know private messaging exists. Get a room. 😉

Alright, fair enough, but we were actually staying on topic. Still, I get it...

We’ve got a bit more of a laid-back vibe here—still touching on Ukraine, sure, but there's plenty of room for some decent chitchat...

Bryan Booth82 said:Evolution is a slow process—painfully slow—and some move faster than others.
Then again, if you look back over a 500-year window, even the Russians have made massive strides.
Evolution is a marathon, not a sprint... either you adapt and reach the finish line, or you face extinction.
LP

It’s slow, yeah, but before that, it’s an incredibly uneven process. It really makes you wonder how far that process has actually gone, even among those who are supposedly most "evolved." Russia is actually a perfect case study here. Muscovites, as a group, cover a huge spectrum. A large chunk of them—the Muscovites specifically—are ideologically rural, rooted in Orthodoxy, which isn't inherently bad, but it does make them incredibly easy to manipulate.

Though, let's be real, the West hasn't exactly pulled miles ahead either. We're pretty easy to pull strings on too. But, if we're talking about being even a tiny bit ahead of the Russians on average? Yeah, we are.

Bryan Booth82 said:I completely agree with you—as it stands, it really is... but then again, evolution is a miracle, isn't it?
LP

Honestly, even though we're living in the 21st century, I feel like people still overhype the whole "evolution" thing! 😁

Just look at how much Russian rural society has actually evolved. It feels like they haven't moved an inch since the 1800s, at best. (Though, let's be real, you see similar vibes out in the sticks in places like Arkansas, Missouri, or Oklahoma too...)

Look, I’m definitely picking up the new album and giving it a spin. But—full disclosure here—I probably only listened to the last one maybe twice? It felt like he was starting to run in circles and just recycling the same old vibes over and over again.

But man, the guy is still a legend! 👍

Bryan Booth82 said:It would be absolutely ideal if nuclear weapons were stored under the direct supervision of the UN—somewhere strictly under UN control—and if we established a clear international mandate allowing any nation facing an invasion the right to "borrow" a few.😁😁

Best regards,

Man, talk about a wildly naive suggestion!

Peter Doyle2 said:If it weren't for great leaders, these kinds of nations wouldn't even exist in the first place. Russia wouldn't even exist anymore; everything would just splinter into a mess of various clans and factions facing unprecedented poverty. It seems to me they realize this too, and they aren't exactly rushing toward democracy. The sanctions are harsh, sure. But they're still probably a better option than what would await them if the whole thing collapsed.

Anyway, I'm just philosophizing so I don't seem completely off-topic while I say hi to analogbear5 😍 it's truly incredible how much some unknown people behind pixels can cheer us up when we see them after such a long time. Even I wasn't particularly excited about returning to the forum, and I'm not even sure why I decided to come back, but here I am—my handle and color are still the same 🤣 I was actually wondering the other day what happened to my neighbor to the south! Glad to hear everything is okay! Greetings to Miami, tell Lowry I said hi over at the Heat.😬

Hey right back at you, my friend from way up North! Great to see you again. We'll look after the injured Lowry; the Heat are looking solid this year, we just need to get through these guys from Philadelphia and then we'll see... plus the Florida Panthers are killing it this season, so our tropical hockey guys are out there swinging those Canadian sticks like crazy against everyone up North... Anyway, let me get back to the topic before Cuka and the mods start giving us grief...

No matter how many people—even here in the US—wish Russia and the Russians would just vanish tomorrow, there will always be people who feel that way. Sanctions might take down Putin, but they aren't going to erase the Russian idea or their specific way of seeing their society. I don't honestly believe that removing Putin himself will change anything significant. Did sanctions really change much in Iran, Iraq, etc.? And will they ever truly change things in China? Who knows, I don't have a crystal ball, but what does history teach us? These are probably the toughest sanctions ever slapped on, so we'll just have to wait and see what actually happens...

The whole debate about Democracy—its pros and its cons—is more suited for DZ or Philosophy. Maybe that's where the conversation should stay. I haven't posted over there in a while...

What actually worries me about all of this, as a lifelong peace lover, is the sheer amount of hate this war is fueling via social media—and Putin is largely responsible for that, though obviously not alone. Unfortunately, hating Russians, Ukrainians, or anyone who doesn't think exactly like us has become "in fashion."

We're already in this war, even if we like to pretend we aren't. I just pray that World War III stays far away from all of us.

Lisa Jackson7 said:It failed because nobody actually helped the "good guys" (not that I could have helped 😁) in any real or efficient way.
Western interests were mostly focused on building up capitalism there—even if it was just cronyism—so democracy ended up being nothing more than some extra little accessory offered through various NGOs. If it sticks, fine; if not, whatever...

There are plenty of reasons for that, including the uncomfortable possibility that democracy isn't even "in" anymore within the neoliberal West itself—no matter how much they preach it abroad (it's gotten pretty stagnant right here at home, too).

Anyway, you probably know the situation in China better than I do, but following the logic—they want the Western standard—as they're forced to expand their internal market, a growing middle class will eventually start questioning the "leading role of the Party," much like what happened in Taiwan, South Korea, or Japan.

P.S. Lisa Jackson7, we go way back—I'm basically an Intermezzo clone (lost my password for that old handle and can't be bothered to reset it).

🙂

I was wondering where you vanished to... anyway, glad you're back.

But what if it didn't work because there just wasn't any fertile ground for it (democracy in Russia) to begin with???

That seems way more likely to me. Which is why I think sanctions might just end up being totally useless. It really comes down to a different national mindset. They’d rather eat the land, celebrate the land, and expand the land—or at least they *think* they're expanding it...

🙂

I had gone completely cold turkey on this forum. Total burnout, I guess. I actually asked to be stripped of my mod duties and requested a long-term ban. But since COVID grounded all the planes and I managed to switch jobs to something with less stress and more chaos—plus WFH now—I figured I might as well come back and mess around with you guys in the "old" homeland again! 😁 So, here goes nothing until the next ban! 😬 Greetings from Miami.

Lisa Jackson7 said:There’s no way to know for sure ahead of time—if you ask me, the real question is whether there's even any genuine international interest in promoting democracy through peaceful means, rather than the mess we saw in Libya, Iraq, or Afghanistan.

Obviously, any response to those kinds of pushes has to come from a critical mass of motivated groups within the target country itself.

The fact is, when it came to building up democratic institutions and a solid civic political culture in the defeated Axis powers after World War II, having the winning anti-fascist coalition holding all the power levers definitely helped things along.

Is that an absolute prerequisite for success? Who knows—I hope it isn't and that there are other ways to make it work.
And is having a competing superpower around—like the USSR back then—a necessity? Again, I have no clue.

It’s not my place to claim that setting up even somewhat democratic or liberal regimes in Russia or China is easy—honestly, looking at their history, it might not even be possible anytime soon... the whole timeline proves it.

All I know is that it's worth a shot.
The payoff would be finally moving away from the constant threat of war.

Russia tried the whole democracy thing. Doesn't look like it stuck. China hasn't even bothered to try yet. But those are traditionalist societies—especially over in Asia—where that cult of personality around a leader still carries a ton of weight.

Having spent a good chunk of my life in Asia, including China, I’ve noticed that people there don't really have this burning desire or even a basic need for the kind of democracy we're used to in the West. Though, funny enough, once they move to the West, they start acting all "when in Rome and all that."

If you ask me, this one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter approach to spreading democracy just doesn't work for a lot of cultures, especially out East.

P.S. Lisa Jackson7, we go way back—just so you know, I'm basically a clone of Intermezzo (lost my password for that old handle and I'm too lazy to bother resetting it).

So, looking at the big picture here—is Russia even remotely ready for democracy? Like, do they actually *want* it? There are plenty of nations out there that aren't prepared for it, nor do they particularly care for it. China is pretty much the same story (and believe me, I know enough about that firsthand).

Honestly, Europe shouldn't be sweating the gas situation too much. The US Department of Energy just gave the green light for even more gas exports to head over there.

I mean, who exactly is anyone planning to pick a fight with Russia? Nobody.
Link.

The Department of Energy on Wednesday authorized additional exports of liquefied Natural gas fra The planned Golden pass LNG terminal in Texas and Magnolia LNG terminal in Louisiana, as the U.S. seeks to boost LNG exports to Europe because of Russia's War with Ukraine.

So, there's this WION reportage over on Gravitas plus talking about how Western countries—mostly folks in Europe—are allegedly making these secret deals to buy energy from Russia. Honestly, I’m not sure if everything they’re claiming in the segment is 100% accurate or not. Remember, WION is an Indian news agency, so take it with a grain of salt. But anyway, the gist is that they're saying Russian oil gets rebranded as something else entirely before it even hits the docks in places like the Netherlands or Romania...

Gravitas plus : is The West Trying to Hide Russian oil imports

Honestly, I’m actually vibing with what neoncrane64 suggested—it's about time someone dropped some actual common sense on this forum. 🙂

Man, I used to be obsessed with the music subreddit—it was easily my favorite corner of Reddit, right up there with the tourism boards. But lately? Music just feels stale. It’s boring. Honestly, that’s just my own damn problem with the whole sub, I guess.

So, here are some ideas for banning Russian oil imports in the USA. I mean, let’s be real—Russia is only the ninth largest oil exporter to the USA anyway.

Anthony Nguyen81 said:Just one? 😲

Yeah, and even if it's old and falling apart—which, let's be honest, is basically the standard in New York City—hey, at least it's on Manhattan! 😲

I actually went ahead and used my moderator salary to snag a mansion right in Manhattan! 😛