Sanctions on Russia

Richard Wilson4 said:The 90s were also defined by things like Abkhazia, Ossetia, and keeping up support for Transnistria.

In Abkhazia, Russians helped carry out ethnic cleansing against Georgians.

That’s precisely my point—back then, imperialists were already operating within whatever frameworks they felt gave them leverage, even when there was absolutely no budget left for basic social necessities.

Fuck 'em.

Megan Thomas5 said:There is zero chance that was Putin. Look, I’m not really into conspiracy theories, but there are just way too many people around for him to take that risk. He stays tucked away in his bunker where nobody gets close.

Nope, definitely Putin...
I actually deal with hyperacusis, so my hearing is basically dialed up to eleven right now...
That is totally Putin and that is his voice.

(I went ahead and combed through a whole bunch of his interviews, speeches, and presentations)

Jack Kelly5 said:Well, obviously.
Lately, I've been seeing some news outlets questioning why the US isn't just holding onto 500,000 tons of oil instead of shipping it off to Canada when there are actually legal ways to keep it.
Maybe it's because the refinery over in New Jersey is out of commission?
Or maybe it's just because we're being led by corrupt, incompetent politicians?
😬

Do you even have a clue what's actually going on at the refinery right now?

Megan Thomas5 said:There is zero chance that was Putin. Look, I’m not really into conspiracy theories, but there are just way too many people around for him to take that risk. He stays tucked away in his bunker where nobody gets close.

It would be really interesting to see if Vladimir would even step foot outside the country for negotiations.😁
I honestly doubt the real Vladimir would ever leave. If he did, he might find himself with nowhere left to call home.🙂
His life is pretty surreal—living in this high-end fortress, completely isolated from everyone, especially since almost everyone feels like a potential threat to him these days.🙏

ruggeddriver70 said:And what about the labor shortage the EU is gonna face (given the demographic shifts) over the next 20 years? You think you'd just fill that gap with people from Africa, the Middle East, or India/Pakistan? What's your actual solution there?

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-w...altar-12572473

Looks like another one of Putin's buddies just had his yacht seized, and it’s staying anchored right where it is for the time being.

Does anyone happen to have any data on how many people have actually fled Russia so far?

Arthur Booth96 said:Does anyone happen to have any data on how many people have actually fled Russia so far?

Word is that about 30,000 people have already moved through Georgia since the aggression against Ukraine kicked off.

Apparently, they’re just using it as a "stepping stone" before heading somewhere else entirely.
Best regards,

Arthur Booth96 said:Does anyone happen to have any data on how many people have actually fled Russia so far?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...raine-invasion

Looks like over 200k. People are basically scrambling to get into any country willing to take them without a visa, everything from Central Asian countries to Turkey.

Betty Murphy3 said:Back in the 1990s, Russia needed a fundamental overhaul of its leadership—de-Sovietization should have been a non-negotiable prerequisite for any meaningful cooperation with the West.

Because that didn't happen, we ended up with Putin.

And because of that failure, "brilliant" Americans effectively disarmed Ukraine to the benefit of Russia. Looking at the nuclear situation today, we can see just how "wise" that move was—assuming, of course, their goal was to trigger this exact war with a twenty-five-year delay.

Now we're seeing the fallout. It turns out they were simply turning a blind eye, and now it’s too late to sharpen the claws; when it actually mattered, the response was nowhere to be found.

They practically fed them, allowing them to evolve into this particular evil. It will be a miracle if this conflict in Ukraine doesn't spill over into the rest of Europe.

Even Hiccup didn't rush across the entire continent immediately; everything moved in stages. You could say Ukraine is the precursor to a Polish scenario—a prelude to much broader conflicts. The Czech Republic was sacrificed like a lamb just to feed a hungry wolf.

As these examples show, the more you feed a wolf, the hungrier it gets.

It’s just nature. With a wolf, you either stay out of its way or you lure it into a trap and kill it. There is no third option.

The problem is, nobody can lure Putin into a trap. He isn't stepping foot in the West while this war continues, and until he has security guarantees, it's doubtful he'll ever visit a Western nation again—regardless of his status as the Russian President.

The USSR set up these national republics like Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the rest (using that classic "good vs. evil" ideological balancing act), and later the West recognized them as sovereign states. Instead of pushing for democracy, the West could have easily backed dictators and just said, "Eh, we don't care about what these people actually want." They had the choice, but they didn't take it.
So, I actually think it's the exact opposite of your point—democratic values from the West have actually helped spread freedom across much of the world over the last few decades.
It's just that people don't seem to realize it because they act like their rights were just handed to them on a silver platter.

rustywalker82 said:The USSR set up these national republics like Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the rest (using that classic "good vs. evil" ideological balancing act), and later the West recognized them as sovereign states. Instead of pushing for democracy, the West could have easily backed dictators and just said, "Eh, we don't care about what these people actually want." They had the choice, but they didn't take it.
So, I actually think it's the exact opposite of your point—democratic values from the West have actually helped spread freedom across much of the world over the last few decades.
It's just that people don't seem to realize it because they act like their rights were just handed to them on a silver platter.

Why on earth would the West challenge rights that were already in those countries' constitutions, especially when even Russia didn't push back against their independence?🤔

neonpuma30 said:Why on earth would the West challenge rights that were already in those countries' constitutions, especially when even Russia didn't push back against their independence?🤔

I'm just speaking hypothetically here, because let’s face it—the West could easily have been just as undemocratic if things had gone differently. He’s basically saying he won't recognize anything left behind by the USSR, but then he turns around and claims to accept things like the imperialism that existed there before that, all under the guise of "de-Sovietization."

slyfox43 said:It was the CIA, which, as we can see, maintained the actual levers of power the entire time. That is true continuity of power. One has to wonder why Gaidar didn't clear that mess up himself if he truly had the agency to do so. (He didn't.)

Then again, if there was a collection of "accessories to the crime" in the West, there certainly was; and I think you know my long-term stance on them. What is unfolding right now presents a genuine opportunity to purge and reform Western institutions, and I won't mourn if that window closes without being used (much like how you won't mourn the missed opportunity you believe existed for integrating and reforming Russia.)

The CIA, sure, but they’ve got plenty of help from the people who were supposed to be tracking where all that money was flowing outside of Russia—money the CIA decided was "useful."

Russian-style kleptocracy is infiltrating America

Yeah, there were plenty of "accessories to the crime" in the West, and I think you know exactly where I stand on them. What we're seeing right now is a massive opportunity to finally purge and reform Western institutions, and I'm not going to sit around crying if we miss it (just like you won't cry over that missed chance you think existed to integrate and reform Russia.)

I know, you brought that up before, and it ties right into what I'm getting at... it's not about dwelling on a past we can't change, it's about the future opening up once Putin is gone.
Look, I'm not trying to distract from the tragedy in Ukraine, but I am warning you: the whole point of these sanctions needs to be stopping Putin AND making sure he's politically wiped out.
Honestly, you might be the only one who actually gets what I'm saying here...

Lisa Jackson7 said:The CIA, sure, but they’ve got plenty of help from the people who were supposed to be tracking where all that money was flowing outside of Russia—money the CIA decided was "useful."

Russian-style kleptocracy is infiltrating America

Yeah, there were plenty of "accessories to the crime" in the West, and I think you know exactly where I stand on them. What we're seeing right now is a massive opportunity to finally purge and reform Western institutions, and I'm not going to sit around crying if we miss it (just like you won't cry over that missed chance you think existed to integrate and reform Russia.)

I know, you brought that up before, and it ties right into what I'm getting at... it's not about dwelling on a past we can't change, it's about the future opening up once Putin is gone.
Look, I'm not trying to distract from the tragedy in Ukraine, but I am warning you: the whole point of these sanctions needs to be stopping Putin AND making sure he's politically wiped out.
Honestly, you might be the only one who actually gets what I'm saying here...

But that assumes the West is some kind of ultimate geostrategic puppet master capable of micromanaging global processes—as if sanctions can be calibrated with surgical precision to achieve very specific outcomes.

The only predictable outcome is a weakened economy. You can't just use sanctions to surgically remove Vladimir Putin from power. It might happen, it might not, or it could even backfire and strengthen him. Reality is full of unpredictable, chaotic elements, especially when a country lacks a strong internal presence capable of influencing its own domestic affairs.

bluemason3 said:But that assumes the West is some kind of ultimate geostrategic puppet master capable of micromanaging global processes—as if sanctions can be calibrated with surgical precision to achieve very specific outcomes.

The only predictable outcome is a weakened economy. You can't just use sanctions to surgically remove Vladimir Putin from power. It might happen, it might not, or it could even backfire and strengthen him. Reality is full of unpredictable, chaotic elements, especially when a country lacks a strong internal presence capable of influencing its own domestic affairs.

In my view, the only certain result of these sanctions against Putin is the weakening of the EU—specifically Germany—and the worst part is that people don't seem to grasp what that actually looks like on the ground. Everyone forgets about the practical stuff: losing hot water in hospitals, or heating issues in ICUs, pediatric wards, daycare centers, and schools... I could go on. Now, the German Foreign Minister is talking about having to find housing for 8 million refugees across the EU. These economic sanctions show absolutely no sign of breaking Vladimir Putin or removing him politically, and there's no guarantee the world will be any better afterward, especially since two-thirds of the globe didn't join in on sanctioning Russia.

Morgan Morales4 said:In my view, the only certain result of these sanctions against Putin is the weakening of the EU—specifically Germany—and the worst part is that people don't seem to grasp what that actually looks like on the ground. Everyone forgets about the practical stuff: losing hot water in hospitals, or heating issues in ICUs, pediatric wards, daycare centers, and schools... I could go on. Now, the German Foreign Minister is talking about having to find housing for 8 million refugees across the EU. These economic sanctions show absolutely no sign of breaking Vladimir Putin or removing him politically, and there's no guarantee the world will be any better afterward, especially since two-thirds of the globe didn't join in on sanctioning Russia.

Precisely, because we are supposed to care about sanctions that weren't even implemented by Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan, North Korea, Myanmar, or God knows what other non-global economic powers.

When looking at the truly significant nations, only China and India have refrained from imposing sanctions, and Russia isn't overly dependent on their technology anyway; furthermore, China certainly won't risk its massive trade relationship with the West or face secondary sanctions just to protect a mere 2% of their trade that goes to Russia.

Morgan Morales4 said:In my view, the only certain result of these sanctions against Putin is the weakening of the EU—specifically Germany—and the worst part is that people don't seem to grasp what that actually looks like on the ground. Everyone forgets about the practical stuff: losing hot water in hospitals, or heating issues in ICUs, pediatric wards, daycare centers, and schools... I could go on. Now, the German Foreign Minister is talking about having to find housing for 8 million refugees across the EU. These economic sanctions show absolutely no sign of breaking Vladimir Putin or removing him politically, and there's no guarantee the world will be any better afterward, especially since two-thirds of the globe didn't join in on sanctioning Russia.

Well, if that’s the logic, then what? Everything just goes out the window! It’s exactly like what happened with Venezuela, where most of the world didn't bother with sanctions either. Because, let's be honest, we all know the deal—everyone acts like every part of the globe carries the exact same weight and importance, yet somehow it always turns out that only the West actually matters, while everyone else is just there for decoration.

Carl Lee27 said:Well, if that’s the logic, then what? Everything just goes out the window! It’s exactly like what happened with Venezuela, where most of the world didn't bother with sanctions either. Because, let's be honest, we all know the deal—everyone acts like every part of the globe carries the exact same weight and importance, yet somehow it always turns out that only the West actually matters, while everyone else is just there for decoration.

Don't be like that; otherwise, there won't be any hot water or heating in German hospitals. 🙂

Morgan Morales4 said:In my view, the only certain result of these sanctions against Putin is the weakening of the EU—specifically Germany—and the worst part is that people don't seem to grasp what that actually looks like on the ground. Everyone forgets about the practical stuff: losing hot water in hospitals, or heating issues in ICUs, pediatric wards, daycare centers, and schools... I could go on. Now, the German Foreign Minister is talking about having to find housing for 8 million refugees across the EU. These economic sanctions show absolutely no sign of breaking Vladimir Putin or removing him politically, and there's no guarantee the world will be any better afterward, especially since two-thirds of the globe didn't join in on sanctioning Russia.

🤣🤦

So, what's the verdict here? Seriously though...

No, look, the people in Germany and the German government clearly have no clue what these sanctions actually mean, and apparently, they need to be lectured on it by some notoriously brainless, incompetent Putinophiles on this forum.😁

Aside from the fact that you clearly haven't a clue what you're talking about, everything written above is a blatant lie. And that bit about two-thirds of the world not imposing sanctions? People have been debunking that so much that anyone with even two functioning brain cells would realize how much of a load of crap it is. Too bad most Putinophiles can't even find those two brain cells. 😒

Morgan Morales4 said:In my view, the only certain result of these sanctions against Putin is the weakening of the EU—specifically Germany—and the worst part is that people don't seem to grasp what that actually looks like on the ground. Everyone forgets about the practical stuff: losing hot water in hospitals, or heating issues in ICUs, pediatric wards, daycare centers, and schools... I could go on. Now, the German Foreign Minister is talking about having to find housing for 8 million refugees across the EU. These economic sanctions show absolutely no sign of breaking Vladimir Putin or removing him politically, and there's no guarantee the world will be any better afterward, especially since two-thirds of the globe didn't join in on sanctioning Russia.

So we should all just stop the sanctions so our tourism industry doesn't suffer, right? And maybe the Ukrainians should just surrender so the fighting stops and we can have a record-breaking travel season...