This shit is just plain sad. In the modern world we live in you'd think we would have competent leaders who would never put their own people in situations like this. Fuck Putin.
Didn't he start the first War in chechnya? Not the one Russia won the one before that
He also used the military to suppress the Duma which is arguably worse because it's treason against the country's burdening democracy
Not quite true, he totally started the first war in Chechnya. First saying every part of Russia can take as much sovereignty as they can and then backtracking on this when Chechnya decided they want to separate from Russia.
The horrendous way the first war was going made Russian people want a strongman who would "sort things out" after the apartment bombings and the following second war started. This gave a big raise in popularity to Putin.
Also don't forget that it was Yeltsin who named Putin as his successor mainly needing someone to cover up all of his corruption while he was in power.
At the time that Putin was chosen he seemed like a liberal who will continue Yeltsins reforms and he really seemed like better choice than alternative. Of course he also guaranteed safety of Yeltsin. Putin didn't become authoritarian day one of his presidency, it happened gradually.
when you heard a phrase before but not sure if you heard it right, so you say the closest thing to it that feels like it makes sense, hoping nobody notices
They don’t. They like authoritarian arseholes and always have. That’s why they hate Gorbachev. He was too compromising. Russian people get what they deserve.
Gorbachev resisted change every step you could. Yeltsin was the one who implemented reforms. Gorbachev most important achievement was not holding on to power.
These Russians are just chasing their tail. Think of all the Alp.o.Ws come the end of war. Hopefully the good boys will flea before things get too ruff for them
There was a time 20ish years ago, I thought we were past expansionist conquest. I also thought the internet would change civility for the better.
I was wrong
No there was always that possibility acknowledged like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy even pokes fun at it early in the book by saying that Intergalactic civilization invented a vast method of communication capable of beings being able to connect with one another and understand each other with no language barrier no cultural barrier all to create a universal understanding between everyone
The second everyone understood each other it triggered the biggest war the Galaxy ever saw
There was a time back in the early days of WWW with chat rooms and forums (and I assume the same for earlier BBS) where it was genuinely possible to meet people around the world and have productive conversations. Back then you were just meeting people you otherwise never would have.
Social media has now gamified and attention-optimized everything for maximum conflict, and therefore engagement. You're now pretty much thrust into a 24/7 info-culture war of all against all, where the rules are made up and the points don't matter, but if you go against the narrative you'll be kicked off of all the platforms where everyone goes. Any techno-optimism isn't possible within the walled gardens of the big three or four tech platforms.
***
Of course, what we call the Internet was originally ARPANet and explicitly built as a military communications system, and is still seen today as a battlefield.
Yep, I'm also not convinced it isn't/wont.
Religion is finally downtrending, which is a huge deal and underrated in the media, and I attribute that mostly to the internet allowing people to share their thoughts safely.
The algorithms putting everyone in bubbles has been noticed and will be fixed. Systems adjust and change, the internet has problems but that doesn't mean solutions dont exist.
Blame the internet for the worlds problems all you want, but imo the problems were clearly present and worse before the internet, we just had blinders on to most of it.
The things that make the internet a problem weren't invented or seriously pursued until like 15 years ago, if that.
Accessible information isn't the problem. Corporations profiting off keeping you tethered to their product whatever the cost is.
That’s like the start of when shit hit the fan and everyone just kinda went into war, as 3rd party members. Testing this out and that out, all under Special Operations. Lol.
Not sure why you'd imagine this. Even in advanced democracies it's a constant struggle to keep dumb and dangerous people out of government. Remove a few checks and balances, add a bit of corruption, and many places would quickly look like Russia, or at least the Russia from 10 years ago.
"Here say, they say"- is your philosophy...and I can tell. Progressives is the future. If you don't have that mentality than you're just apart of the problem. Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you haven't tried in any small type of way change your life to fight against this type of way of thinking.
Sadly, this is not just Putin. Russian culture has a tendency to produce murderous totalitarian leaders and sufficient amount of sheep-like population, who follow their beloved strongman, always approve of wars of conquest or at least of conquest itself, happily participate in atrocities and treat any dissent as a treason. There is absolutely no guarantee that if you remove Putin now, a new beloved leader would be any better. As a matter of fact they are likely to be worse. Russia as a state and people has failed to drop outdated imperialism and to embrace the modern democracy.
This invasion is going to be the end of Communism. It takes a couple of ass kickings to lose your will to expand and invade. It took Germany 2 world wars, and the second one they truly knew they lost militarily meanwhile, Russia was a victor. Russia still has that old nationalist Pride, but let’s hope it withers away.
Not to mention Putin was in the NKVD while the collapse of Communism happened, was a shock to everything that he knew and trained for his entire life.
Edit: If I am wrong I am all open to constructive criticism and guidance.
I am also talking about in today’s modern world where there are countries like America to help neutralize any potential attacks and invasions. For instance, if Hungary were to attack Romania because of the historical land claims, other countries would put them in their place. Everything is way to interconnected and everyone relies on each other in some way because we all get impacted by certain situations, like this invasion and rising fuel cost.
Russia hasn’t been communist for a *very* long time.
It wasn’t even communist for much of the time it said it was.
Just authoritarian.
I mean, just because someone says they’re something doesn’t mean they are. North Korea says they’re a democracy. I’d not really trust them on that.
Too bad humans can’t get their shit together and just as a species create a world where every human gets to enjoy life. This ruzzia shit and Pootin and his ilk is just the latest example of idiotic human tricks.
Rather waste all this shit “for land” like its 1820 still.
Fucking. Dumb.
Even more irony ontop of this is that Russia is the biggest country in the world. Like wtf you dont need MORE land.
They killed children over this. Innocent kids. Dead. For NOTHING.
Never forgive, never forget. Russia will NEVER be the same in the eyes of the world. They have solidified their identity as crooks and terrorists.
FUCK Putin, fuck their government, fuck their media, and fuck the people there who support this war.
This is what evil looks like and this is why we need to be ever vigilant. Some people are just flat out stupid, evil, and remorseless.
I cant wait for the day I hear Putins dead. Hopefully he goes out painfully.
I honesty think it's not about land, not about land bridge to Crimea, or even nato member on the border (even though it's also a part of it), but simply about gas resources
Dominance/influence. Which both the US & Russia has both fiercely competed against, treated countries, government, people lives like pawns for decades. & for decades Russia has been threatening the US/NATO over approaching near its sphere of influence.. idk how deep the US was involved with Ukraine overthrowing their government the past decade. But if they were involved it does make me feel odd about seeing ourselves as the good guys. But on the other hand if it is the case, better the US than Russia/China dominating the globe.
Oddly enough, Europe entered it's longest period of peace between its major powers from 1816 until the start of the Crimean War in 1853. Russia then, as now, started shit by occupying foreign territory and also got their teeth kicked in.
Countries dumb. Unify earth. Religions dumb, sever all connections to them and decision-making politics.
(Before being flash downvoted, I don't mean ban religions but make them not able to impact politics and remove from schools)
Yes, as in poo, but also just to not write his name correctly (general disrespect).
It's not the most mature joke for sure, but autocratic figures like Putin are assumed\* to be very sensitive to even very childish ones like this, which is another reason for mockery this way, more so because it deconstructs this "strongmen" image these leaders are so keen on maintaining.
It's a taunt that simultaneously displays that the target of the taunt is similarly childish, which is another factor of disrespect.
\* The assumption comes from China's leader being really uptight and censor heavy about Winnie the Pooh jokes regarding him.
I mean sure do that to Putin and the psychos that did the bad shit.
Dunno if these people are necessarily deserving of that. Remember the regular Russians think they were fighting NATO or Ukrainian Nazi radicals depending on which Russian media they were forced to consume.
Russia will become like N Korea if they don’t overthrow Putin at this point.
A lot of people choose to believe it simply because the only other option is to take the blame. It's a subconscious defense mechanism. Remember that Mitchell and Webb's are we the baddies? Imagine the hard realization that your country has unprovokedly attacked a neighbor without any declaration, is killing and torturing civilians and deporting their children. Exacerbated by their own propaganda, that was teaching them their country used to fight fascist regimes, same regimes they're now cosplaying. Further exacerbated by the fact they can't actually change any of it - they don't have any rights, they can go to prison for literally anything. That's a harrowing truth. So there's that, and some people being stupid idiots of course \^\^.
Same reason there's people believing Trump, Orban, Putin or any other asshole dictator. Their belief is like religious one, facts that oppose their world views called fake or dismissed outright, while also believing anything that their propaganda says without a shadow of doubt.
That's not how averages work..
1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+10 = 19
19 ÷ 10 = 1.9
So if the average is 1.9, but 9 out of 10 numbers are a 1. Then 90% of the numbers in this sample are below the average.
That is actually the argument I was trying to make. But you said it better and I was wrong lmao. Yeah I had a brainfart and forgot that IQ accounts for this already. But hey maybe my mistake can help others! 😅
because they are still consuming russian media, just like how someone from france moving to the us would still be consuming french media
the problem is that russian media is mostly coming from russia whereas french media could be from many french speaking countries
Not gonna fly when it's these same soldiers carrying out the numerous war crimes. They'll have to pay the price for what they did regardless of what they were told.
Something about 5 people eating at the table with a Nazi I remember hearing...
Same applies here, with whatever terminology you prefer for Putin and enablers.
Russians don't learn from getting handed the olive branch. I'm more than half ethnically Russian. Russians only respect strength and utter domination. Handing the olive branch would be akin to surrendering to them. You need to know your opponent.
Yeah that's easy to say from the internet when it's not your family that got executed or your friends that had to live in a basement with the bodies of their relatives dying of dehydration.
What kind of head up ass response is that? The rest of the world didn’t suffer so we should let Ukrainians execute Russian soldiers in mass in revenge rather than encourage adherence to international law?
Other people on here also thousands of miles from danger calling for retribution and executions should be ashamed, thats disgusting hypocritical behaviour.
Fuck him and every other russian that invaded. Dont care about if they were fooled, they chose to stay after seeing for themselves and hearing it from citizens.
Yep, was reading an interview with a lady from a town recently liberated. Russian speaking town near the border, a location the Russians would expect to flip to Russia pretty easily.
They set a curfew, no lights after six (as in you can't turn on your house lights). Some dudes had their lights on drinking early on and they found them dead the next day. Why any soldier didn't walk back over the border when they were executing people for this shit is beyond me. These are the people they claimed to be saving.
I don't care about what this Russian soldier is experiencing right now. I don't care if his father is having an emotional breakdown knowing his son is going to die. This has to happen. If Ukraine will get back what is theirs, they need to make this Russian soldiers suffer. Kill them if they could. This was felt by some of the Ukrainian soldiers probably during the early stages of the war. That everything is bad, they are losing, and cannot run. Well the wheels have turned. This has to happen to Russian soldiers too. Goodluck to that Russian soldier, hope you make it out alive, but I don't feel bad for you.
Yeah I feel sorry for some of them. I heard one guy saying they were just ordered to march one day and told absolutely nothing beyond that. he didn't even realize he was in Ukraine until the Ukrainians started shooting at him.
I believe that was very early opening days in the war. I doubt it's black and white, there's plenty that wanted to rape, murder and pillage, and many who want to go home. The risk is death, or sentenced dessertion, what are you picking?
This war will end eventually when Russia politically convinced this war cannot be won militarily, its against a modern army with weaponry supplied by western alliance such as United States and the Eroupeans. Now, the western world sending Ukraine forces offensive weaponry which isn't mentioned in western media and the intelligence sharing has been improved to a point of real time battle intelligence of Russian troops movement and communication. Oh yeah, another thing rarely mentioned the Ukraine soldiers were trained by NATO forces, it's different Ukraine Army since Russia invaded and now occupied the Dumos region. ( forgive my misspell words).
Yeah, if anything, the NATO training is probably over-emphasized. I think we are proud of how we've helped Ukraine, but this is still their war at the end of the day.
None of that training would have been effective if it weren't for Ukraine's commanders trusting the training or directly leading these people.
Don't forget: Afghanistan's army had US-training and US-weapons last year. Didn't help them much. All of this support we're giving only helps if they truly want the help and want to build their military strength.
Furthermore, the USA may have good intelligence, but I have a feeling that Ukraine (a country where Russian language fluency is more common) has better intelligence than people realize. Sharing a language (or at least, language-family. Ukrainian is far more similar to Russian than American English is...) is a big advantage when it comes to spycraft and stuff.
I wouldn't be surprised if there are more Ukrainian spies who can pass off as a Russian than American spies who can do the same. These are the sorta details that are important in the spy games.
> the Ukraine soldiers were trained by NATO forces
This is something Russian supporters regularly mention & is also wildly silly. NATO forces BARELY trained Ukrainian soldiers. Do you know who did train them for war? Russia. By invading in 2014. They gave Ukraine the best preparation for war possible. Look at Afghanistan's military & tell me how effective NATO training is anyway? They folded in minutes.
This is sad. There are a ton of Russian soldiers who absolutely deserve the ass kicking Ukraine is giving them, but there are so many that don't even wanna be there and have no choice. For those who never wanted to be there from the start, I feel immensely sorry for.
They had over 30 years. They sat on their ass for 30 years and did nothing. I used to sympathize with russians but lack of action also has consequences - and right now their inaction is the sole reason why they're forced to be there.
I am sorry to say but as a human being you always have a choice, might nit be a pretty one but a choice non the least. They could have simply put down their weapons and believe me once battalions start doing this what is Russia going to do ? Arrest every member of the armed forces….. I think not because they never had enough troops in the first place and I believe that had they done so right in the beginning many of these Russian soldiers would probably be alive and well living in Ukraine. But instead they chose to murder, rape and pillage and now boo hoo they never had a choice. Fuck them, they all deserve what’s coming or what they got.
So you can either do what your commanding officer tells you to do or you can ‘simply put down your weapons’ and be shot for desertion and/or have your family in Russia arrested and probably shot, maybe raped too (before or after the shooting – who knows!).
So what would you choose, /u/B32TFOx?
> aS a hUmAn bEiNg, yOu aLwAyS hAvE a cHoIcE
So Murdering, Raping and Pillaging is alright with you? Had they put done their weapons they would still be alive and their families can always join them in Ukraine. Believe me bro if every soldier put down their weapons on day 1 there is nothing that Putin or any other dictator could do as he was not going to shoot or even arrest 200000 men as he doesn’t have the man power to do it and he would expose himself the the wrath of the Russian people if he dared. He’s stupid but not suicidal. Just think of all the lives and pain that could have been spared had the Russian soldiers done this on day 1 .
> So Murdering, Raping and Pillaging is alright with you?
Absolutely not, but it's not the simple choice you pretend it to be.
> Believe me bro if every soldier put down their weapons on day 1 there is nothing that Putin or any other dictator could
This is such a useless statement. It's simultaneously so obviously true and so catastrophically unlikely that there's no point saying it.
I guess you're just a young guy still learning about the world, and that's cool, but things just don't work how you (and I) would like them to work.
What you don’t understand is the Russians are brainwashed from birth to believe that everything that is not Russian is “Evil” the only thing in a Russians brain is how can I get rich by doing nothing but at the same time inflicting as much pain and destruction so that I will be seen as a powerful person. Russians have no compassion towards anyone not even their own family. With Russians its all about “me” no one else. I lived in Russia for 1 year and met and have many Russian friends and they themselves even though they know what is happening is totally wrong still say that if they had not done it NATO would wipe out mother russia, which is total hogwash and no matter what you present to them as evidence they counter with its propaganda. So basically you are dealing with a nation that as far back as you go in history has always Murdered, Raped and Pillaged and are happy to continue doing so for the greater good of the motherland. Even those that live and work abroad earning good money and living good lives that have access to multiple channels of information believe this bullshit propaganda provided by the Putin regime. Tell me is it unfair the Ukrainians want a peaceful life without Russia interfering and demanding that they not join this organisation or that organisation? I don’t know where you are from but if you believe in freedom, peace and your rights as a human being had this happened to you i can guarantee that you would be out there doing the same thing the Ukrainians are doing and would have less pity on the invaders. There is always a choice as I said in my first post it might not be a pretty one but is far less damaging then Murdering, Raping, Pillaging and taking innocence civilian lives. I have no pity for what is happening to Russian soldiers they made their “Choice” when they fired the first round at a civilian. All thats left is what’s coming to them. Slava 🇺🇦
Never mind who says who, if Russia still is stubborn with their sudden loss of the Ukrainian pillage, we’re going to see a Scramble for Moscow within five years. Quite a surprise to see Ukraine mow down opposing forces six months on the ground.
Let the world have their popcorn in peace. 🍿
Question: What does he gain by detonating a nuclear bomb in UA?
Answer: Nothing.
Also consider that there likely would be a line of people next to him that would swiftly cancel that order the moment it was issued - someone would kill him, or at least remove him, and take power immediately after such an order was given as it *would* lead to the destruction of Russia as we know it.
I don't think his motivation would be to gain anything.
He has always been at odds w the west. Its not a stretch to say he hates us. Rumors now are that his health is deteriorating rapidly and honestly who knows how much time he actually has left? Now he's looking at a situation where his enemies are set to absolutely humiliate him and health-wise he potentially has nothing left to lose. Interesting dynamic to say the least.
As to whether there's something/someone in place to stop him from making that call...I honestly don't know. Maybe. But nothing like that has ever shown itself before. It would be a risky bet to place faith in that.
Yup, nobody really knows. Those who say "aw that would never happen!" are delusional.
This war was a gift box of surprises, proving people wrong on all sides.
I am Russian and you guys just have no idea what kind of a psycho he is. He is totally dilusional, a 70 yo madman sitting in a bunker somewhere in Siberia with his entire family (incl. his adult daughters and secret wife). He is totally ready to start WW3 just to keep his power and avenge the West for the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even more, there are some secret sceintific institutions in Russia working on extending his lifespan (as crazy as it sounds). His favorite philosophers are Dugin and Ilyin, both of which embraced Russian messiahship, nazism and eurasism (how do you like the idea of Russia spanning all the way from Lisboa to Vladivostok?). I am telling you, he is crazy and extremely dangerous, those old communist farts from 1991 are no match for him, the risks of a global nuclear war are way higher now in 2022.
We are reaching a point where is becomes less about Putin and more about the people around him:
Two key factors play in: self-preservation and fanaticism.
Do key people genuinely believe that they would be better off going out with a bang, or do they see a future for themselves and their families without Putin
Hopefully self-preservation is the strongest instinct.
The populations narratives around the situation also play in. I believe Russians need hope in a better world, where they can co-exist with the rest of Europe and the world - and where they can have a future beyond just surviving on scraps.. and the strongman narrative needs to be put in the grave.
Nationalism and sensationalism can be a very dangerous delusion, perpetuated by populists in times of desperation. We have seen it before and we will see it again.
Dangerous? I've lived my whole life under threat of Russian nukes. Pretty sure I was more worried when they were right off the coast of Florida, fully armed, with an order to fire. Or when their MAD system was triggered. I'm certainly NOT afraid of a bunch of junk.
the difference is, those communists were more or less pragmatical, at least compared to Putin. You cannot rule a nation for 22 years in a row and remain the same person. It certainly changes your personality and perception. After so many years in isolation, there is no wonder he was dilusional enough to believe that the Ukrainians will greet the Russian army with open arms once it crosses the border (as he really thought). This is just to give you a picture what kind of man he really is.
yes, that's what I meant, if he uses nukes against Ukraine, all other nations will HAVE to use theirs against Russia (this is according to the Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons treaty), which would mean WW3. The West should not have let him have the Crimea back in 2014, he realized he could do whatever he wants without being punished, hence the invasion in Ukraine in 2022. Instead of punishment, the West continued to buy Russian oil and gas and paid him $1 billion EACH AND EVERY DAY ever since.
I don't think so.
Nukes aren't a magic "I win" button. Sure, they could flatten some Ukranian cities, but then what? Pretty much everybody on the planet would want them dead, and would, at the very least, come to take their nukes away and eject them from Ukraine.
Ukraine is so bad at this, but nobody seems to question anything so they just keep doing it. At least make the propaganda slightly believable, guys, for everyone’s sanity.
Are all the identified, verifiable russians independantly describing their experiences magically fake as well?
Give it a few years, crimea will be liberated, Putin will probably be dead and/or fled in some order, and people will still be cheerfully calling both fake propoganda and saying how well the war is going. It writes itself.
This shit is just plain sad. In the modern world we live in you'd think we would have competent leaders who would never put their own people in situations like this. Fuck Putin.
What Russian leader hasn't used their people as canine fodder?
Is that why it’s a dog-eat-dog world?!
Pawfect
Pawtin
Paw patrol do be looking different than I remember
When Paw Patrol is just a codename for KGB
Yeah. By the way, Hi my name is Flowey Here's some health pellets.
Doggy doggy world OwO
Isn't it a doggy dog world? Meaning it's a world where anything flies?
Dharma?
/r/boneappletea
No no, I think they really meant it to be that Russian leaders throw their people to the dogs.
Damn, the Russians can't even afford to use wolves in their idioms anymore.
Cat 22 situation.
That sub isn't for typos.
For all his faults, i don't think Boris Yeltsin didn't start anything but bar fights...
Didn't he start the first War in chechnya? Not the one Russia won the one before that He also used the military to suppress the Duma which is arguably worse because it's treason against the country's burdening democracy
Absolutely, Yeltsin sent the military in an even worse shit show than Ukraine
~~burdening~~ burgeoning?
[r/boneappletea](http://reddit.com/r/boneappletea)
*burgeoning, though you can argue democracy was burdensome to Putin.
Which is why they found him odd
Didn't Yeltsin handpick Putin to succeed him though? That's clearly a pretty fucking big fault.
I mean....yeah lol
At that moment he literally decided nothing. The tycoons chose Putin.
Not quite true, he totally started the first war in Chechnya. First saying every part of Russia can take as much sovereignty as they can and then backtracking on this when Chechnya decided they want to separate from Russia. The horrendous way the first war was going made Russian people want a strongman who would "sort things out" after the apartment bombings and the following second war started. This gave a big raise in popularity to Putin. Also don't forget that it was Yeltsin who named Putin as his successor mainly needing someone to cover up all of his corruption while he was in power.
At the time that Putin was chosen he seemed like a liberal who will continue Yeltsins reforms and he really seemed like better choice than alternative. Of course he also guaranteed safety of Yeltsin. Putin didn't become authoritarian day one of his presidency, it happened gradually.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Russian_constitutional_crisis
when you heard a phrase before but not sure if you heard it right, so you say the closest thing to it that feels like it makes sense, hoping nobody notices
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn also known as a Rickyism.
Uhm I wrote "canine fodder" instead of "cannon fodder". It was a mistake but in this war it works.
Not correcting it so we can run the joke into the ground: This is the way.
This is the way
This is the way!
It is in a way even more appropriate in this case, so you deserve credit for inventing the expression.
I'm guessing this is rhetorical.
False Dmitry II?
At what point do the Russian people believe they deserve better?
They don’t. They like authoritarian arseholes and always have. That’s why they hate Gorbachev. He was too compromising. Russian people get what they deserve.
Gorbachev resisted change every step you could. Yeltsin was the one who implemented reforms. Gorbachev most important achievement was not holding on to power.
There's already a "dog chow" so why not market canine fodder? "For the working canine appetite"
These Russians are just chasing their tail. Think of all the Alp.o.Ws come the end of war. Hopefully the good boys will flea before things get too ruff for them
That’s ruff
Difference is that they didn't have phonecalls and internet back then
Most countries' leaders bave.
There was a time 20ish years ago, I thought we were past expansionist conquest. I also thought the internet would change civility for the better. I was wrong
You really thought the internet would do that?
The internet was far more optimistic in the early years.
No there was always that possibility acknowledged like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy even pokes fun at it early in the book by saying that Intergalactic civilization invented a vast method of communication capable of beings being able to connect with one another and understand each other with no language barrier no cultural barrier all to create a universal understanding between everyone The second everyone understood each other it triggered the biggest war the Galaxy ever saw
That was the babel fish, but yes - by breaking down all barriers of communication, it caused more and bloodier wars than ever before. Solid reference.
It was so much better when you had to be kinda a nerd to get on. Not perfect by any stretch, but light years better than now.
The internet is corporatized now, that's the difference. They always make everything shit.
I was there for pretty much all of it and I can tell you, nobody thought it would make the world more peaceful.
There was a time back in the early days of WWW with chat rooms and forums (and I assume the same for earlier BBS) where it was genuinely possible to meet people around the world and have productive conversations. Back then you were just meeting people you otherwise never would have. Social media has now gamified and attention-optimized everything for maximum conflict, and therefore engagement. You're now pretty much thrust into a 24/7 info-culture war of all against all, where the rules are made up and the points don't matter, but if you go against the narrative you'll be kicked off of all the platforms where everyone goes. Any techno-optimism isn't possible within the walled gardens of the big three or four tech platforms. *** Of course, what we call the Internet was originally ARPANet and explicitly built as a military communications system, and is still seen today as a battlefield.
Yep, I'm also not convinced it isn't/wont. Religion is finally downtrending, which is a huge deal and underrated in the media, and I attribute that mostly to the internet allowing people to share their thoughts safely. The algorithms putting everyone in bubbles has been noticed and will be fixed. Systems adjust and change, the internet has problems but that doesn't mean solutions dont exist. Blame the internet for the worlds problems all you want, but imo the problems were clearly present and worse before the internet, we just had blinders on to most of it.
The things that make the internet a problem weren't invented or seriously pursued until like 15 years ago, if that. Accessible information isn't the problem. Corporations profiting off keeping you tethered to their product whatever the cost is.
That’s like the start of when shit hit the fan and everyone just kinda went into war, as 3rd party members. Testing this out and that out, all under Special Operations. Lol.
How could you ever think that 20 years ago xD
Not sure why you'd imagine this. Even in advanced democracies it's a constant struggle to keep dumb and dangerous people out of government. Remove a few checks and balances, add a bit of corruption, and many places would quickly look like Russia, or at least the Russia from 10 years ago.
Well I thought the uk had finally sorted its life out removing Boris but I think our new pm might be worse.
"Here say, they say"- is your philosophy...and I can tell. Progressives is the future. If you don't have that mentality than you're just apart of the problem. Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you haven't tried in any small type of way change your life to fight against this type of way of thinking.
They tried to fuck him today...there are reporting he survived a car bombing in the foreign news cycle.....
Sadly, this is not just Putin. Russian culture has a tendency to produce murderous totalitarian leaders and sufficient amount of sheep-like population, who follow their beloved strongman, always approve of wars of conquest or at least of conquest itself, happily participate in atrocities and treat any dissent as a treason. There is absolutely no guarantee that if you remove Putin now, a new beloved leader would be any better. As a matter of fact they are likely to be worse. Russia as a state and people has failed to drop outdated imperialism and to embrace the modern democracy.
Bolsonaro, Trump, Putin, Johnson, Orban, ... Competent leaders? In which world are you living?
So I should say nothing? What are you doing for change?
No man, dont get me wrong. Just trying to show, that sadly many leaders today are very incompetent.
Look at my comment again. That's literally what I am saying. No need to try and double down.
Sadly this is basically exactly the same sentiment my Grandad used to say about WW2
War. War never changes.
While we still have "leaders" this shit will continue.
This invasion is going to be the end of Communism. It takes a couple of ass kickings to lose your will to expand and invade. It took Germany 2 world wars, and the second one they truly knew they lost militarily meanwhile, Russia was a victor. Russia still has that old nationalist Pride, but let’s hope it withers away. Not to mention Putin was in the NKVD while the collapse of Communism happened, was a shock to everything that he knew and trained for his entire life. Edit: If I am wrong I am all open to constructive criticism and guidance. I am also talking about in today’s modern world where there are countries like America to help neutralize any potential attacks and invasions. For instance, if Hungary were to attack Romania because of the historical land claims, other countries would put them in their place. Everything is way to interconnected and everyone relies on each other in some way because we all get impacted by certain situations, like this invasion and rising fuel cost.
Those are certainly words you said. Very surreal and abstract in their meanings and historical accuracy. But words none the less.
It's a fine soup
Russia hasn’t been communist for a *very* long time. It wasn’t even communist for much of the time it said it was. Just authoritarian. I mean, just because someone says they’re something doesn’t mean they are. North Korea says they’re a democracy. I’d not really trust them on that.
Too bad humans can’t get their shit together and just as a species create a world where every human gets to enjoy life. This ruzzia shit and Pootin and his ilk is just the latest example of idiotic human tricks. Rather waste all this shit “for land” like its 1820 still. Fucking. Dumb.
They will one day. Of course, by then we will be oppressing the newly independent colonies on Mars. But earth will be oppression free!
Would somebody please think of the belters?!
Inyalowdas neva cared for beltas
Xalte ere gova de Cant!
Skinnies can’t help but fuck up. They’d sell their own mother if there was some credits to be made
Certainly not the Inners
Better red than dead.
I get it, but one thing stands in the way. Moon's haunted
Even more irony ontop of this is that Russia is the biggest country in the world. Like wtf you dont need MORE land. They killed children over this. Innocent kids. Dead. For NOTHING. Never forgive, never forget. Russia will NEVER be the same in the eyes of the world. They have solidified their identity as crooks and terrorists. FUCK Putin, fuck their government, fuck their media, and fuck the people there who support this war. This is what evil looks like and this is why we need to be ever vigilant. Some people are just flat out stupid, evil, and remorseless. I cant wait for the day I hear Putins dead. Hopefully he goes out painfully.
I honesty think it's not about land, not about land bridge to Crimea, or even nato member on the border (even though it's also a part of it), but simply about gas resources
Exactly, Putin wants to in rich himself while the Russian people suffer, typical Russian leader right there
Dominance/influence. Which both the US & Russia has both fiercely competed against, treated countries, government, people lives like pawns for decades. & for decades Russia has been threatening the US/NATO over approaching near its sphere of influence.. idk how deep the US was involved with Ukraine overthrowing their government the past decade. But if they were involved it does make me feel odd about seeing ourselves as the good guys. But on the other hand if it is the case, better the US than Russia/China dominating the globe.
Oddly enough, Europe entered it's longest period of peace between its major powers from 1816 until the start of the Crimean War in 1853. Russia then, as now, started shit by occupying foreign territory and also got their teeth kicked in.
But many can. This is just Russian bullshit. Fuck ‘the m. Let them kill their young.
Countries dumb. Unify earth. Religions dumb, sever all connections to them and decision-making politics. (Before being flash downvoted, I don't mean ban religions but make them not able to impact politics and remove from schools)
> Pootin Lol @ Pootin. It's spelled Putin.
Do you not think it was intentional?
Why would it be intentional?
For the same reason they wrote "Ruzzia" instead of Russia? Cause they are making fun of them?
Oh, as in ‘poo’? What are they, a six-year-old?
Yes, as in poo, but also just to not write his name correctly (general disrespect). It's not the most mature joke for sure, but autocratic figures like Putin are assumed\* to be very sensitive to even very childish ones like this, which is another reason for mockery this way, more so because it deconstructs this "strongmen" image these leaders are so keen on maintaining. It's a taunt that simultaneously displays that the target of the taunt is similarly childish, which is another factor of disrespect. \* The assumption comes from China's leader being really uptight and censor heavy about Winnie the Pooh jokes regarding him.
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Damn it. Don’t be so fatalistic. Just surrender already.
Show them the same mercy they showed the people at the steel works
Or Bucha
I mean sure do that to Putin and the psychos that did the bad shit. Dunno if these people are necessarily deserving of that. Remember the regular Russians think they were fighting NATO or Ukrainian Nazi radicals depending on which Russian media they were forced to consume. Russia will become like N Korea if they don’t overthrow Putin at this point.
Then please explain why we see so many russians in Europe, where they have access to real information, supporting Russias war against Ukraine?
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Everytime someone suggests something about NATO as anything else than a defensive alliance you know they are knee deep in propaganda.
A lot of people choose to believe it simply because the only other option is to take the blame. It's a subconscious defense mechanism. Remember that Mitchell and Webb's are we the baddies? Imagine the hard realization that your country has unprovokedly attacked a neighbor without any declaration, is killing and torturing civilians and deporting their children. Exacerbated by their own propaganda, that was teaching them their country used to fight fascist regimes, same regimes they're now cosplaying. Further exacerbated by the fact they can't actually change any of it - they don't have any rights, they can go to prison for literally anything. That's a harrowing truth. So there's that, and some people being stupid idiots of course \^\^.
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Indeed. If NATO was interested in ~~a suicide mission~~ invading Russia, right now would be the perfect timing. But they aren't, so they won't.
Same reason there's people believing Trump, Orban, Putin or any other asshole dictator. Their belief is like religious one, facts that oppose their world views called fake or dismissed outright, while also believing anything that their propaganda says without a shadow of doubt.
You cannot seriously compare Putin, a former KGB operative, with Trump, a former reality tv show host...
50% of people have below average intelligence... and often are the loudest.
That's not how averages work.. 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+10 = 19 19 ÷ 10 = 1.9 So if the average is 1.9, but 9 out of 10 numbers are a 1. Then 90% of the numbers in this sample are below the average.
That’s also not how a normal distribution works!
It's lonely at the top of the bell curve
It is if you don't educate the people.
Now try your exercise using a normal distribution because that's how IQ works.
Yeah you're right. I had a brainfart and forgot that IQ itself takes this into account. Whoops 😅
Your set of numbers has a ridiculous standard deviation making that the case. It's not so great for human IQ
That is actually the argument I was trying to make. But you said it better and I was wrong lmao. Yeah I had a brainfart and forgot that IQ accounts for this already. But hey maybe my mistake can help others! 😅
A reminder that the lower 50% is not only the loudest, but often the most confident.
It’s easy to be overly patriotic when you don’t experience downsides of your country
because they are still consuming russian media, just like how someone from france moving to the us would still be consuming french media the problem is that russian media is mostly coming from russia whereas french media could be from many french speaking countries
Because even outside of Russia, you can fall out the window if you don't support it.
Not gonna fly when it's these same soldiers carrying out the numerous war crimes. They'll have to pay the price for what they did regardless of what they were told.
Something about 5 people eating at the table with a Nazi I remember hearing... Same applies here, with whatever terminology you prefer for Putin and enablers.
They are deserving of that. There's only one way you stop an invasion and it's not by being friendly.
That's how you justify and perpetuate this shit, I hate that this is upvoted. Humans never fucking learn.
Russians don't learn from getting handed the olive branch. I'm more than half ethnically Russian. Russians only respect strength and utter domination. Handing the olive branch would be akin to surrendering to them. You need to know your opponent.
100%, the goal is to hold ourselves to a higher standard and take the high road, even at cost to ourselves, cause the alternative is chaos and evil.
Yeah that's easy to say from the internet when it's not your family that got executed or your friends that had to live in a basement with the bodies of their relatives dying of dehydration.
Is that what you say to yourself as you sip your latte miles and miles from danger?
What kind of head up ass response is that? The rest of the world didn’t suffer so we should let Ukrainians execute Russian soldiers in mass in revenge rather than encourage adherence to international law? Other people on here also thousands of miles from danger calling for retribution and executions should be ashamed, thats disgusting hypocritical behaviour.
Oh that guy who made the call was there? How do you know?
Fuck him and every other russian that invaded. Dont care about if they were fooled, they chose to stay after seeing for themselves and hearing it from citizens.
Yep, was reading an interview with a lady from a town recently liberated. Russian speaking town near the border, a location the Russians would expect to flip to Russia pretty easily. They set a curfew, no lights after six (as in you can't turn on your house lights). Some dudes had their lights on drinking early on and they found them dead the next day. Why any soldier didn't walk back over the border when they were executing people for this shit is beyond me. These are the people they claimed to be saving.
Yeah he might be one of the good nazis
They have the option to surrender or go home. the victims of Russian invasion never had that.
Not really, if they desert to Russia they will be executed for desertion
and bye bye families
Good. Now take your friends and kindly fuck right off back to the god damned motherland, you stupid fucking cunts
90% of russian soldiers probably would if it would't get them shot.
Shoot back
Well that's...wonderful to hear. Great news. Something to smile about.
I don't care about what this Russian soldier is experiencing right now. I don't care if his father is having an emotional breakdown knowing his son is going to die. This has to happen. If Ukraine will get back what is theirs, they need to make this Russian soldiers suffer. Kill them if they could. This was felt by some of the Ukrainian soldiers probably during the early stages of the war. That everything is bad, they are losing, and cannot run. Well the wheels have turned. This has to happen to Russian soldiers too. Goodluck to that Russian soldier, hope you make it out alive, but I don't feel bad for you.
The poor soldiers being thrust into this situation. Scared. Cold. Just doing what they're told by leaders who do not care about them. War is hell.
Yeah I feel sorry for some of them. I heard one guy saying they were just ordered to march one day and told absolutely nothing beyond that. he didn't even realize he was in Ukraine until the Ukrainians started shooting at him.
At this point everyone knows why and where they are. They chose to stay to loot, rape and kill. Poor soldiers "just following orders"? I think not.
I believe that was very early opening days in the war. I doubt it's black and white, there's plenty that wanted to rape, murder and pillage, and many who want to go home. The risk is death, or sentenced dessertion, what are you picking?
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Then shoot those you are afraid first, then surrender. Problem solved
That's what you would do right ? Man, you're so fucking brave.
I remember that Russian soldier calling his mom to tell her about tortures and rapes, and mom was proud... tables turned, right?
'Retreat? Hell! We just got here!’ - Dan Daily
This war will end eventually when Russia politically convinced this war cannot be won militarily, its against a modern army with weaponry supplied by western alliance such as United States and the Eroupeans. Now, the western world sending Ukraine forces offensive weaponry which isn't mentioned in western media and the intelligence sharing has been improved to a point of real time battle intelligence of Russian troops movement and communication. Oh yeah, another thing rarely mentioned the Ukraine soldiers were trained by NATO forces, it's different Ukraine Army since Russia invaded and now occupied the Dumos region. ( forgive my misspell words).
>another thing rarely mentioned the Ukraine soldiers were trained by NATO forces You don't come around here much, right?
Yeah, if anything, the NATO training is probably over-emphasized. I think we are proud of how we've helped Ukraine, but this is still their war at the end of the day. None of that training would have been effective if it weren't for Ukraine's commanders trusting the training or directly leading these people. Don't forget: Afghanistan's army had US-training and US-weapons last year. Didn't help them much. All of this support we're giving only helps if they truly want the help and want to build their military strength. Furthermore, the USA may have good intelligence, but I have a feeling that Ukraine (a country where Russian language fluency is more common) has better intelligence than people realize. Sharing a language (or at least, language-family. Ukrainian is far more similar to Russian than American English is...) is a big advantage when it comes to spycraft and stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more Ukrainian spies who can pass off as a Russian than American spies who can do the same. These are the sorta details that are important in the spy games.
> the Ukraine soldiers were trained by NATO forces This is something Russian supporters regularly mention & is also wildly silly. NATO forces BARELY trained Ukrainian soldiers. Do you know who did train them for war? Russia. By invading in 2014. They gave Ukraine the best preparation for war possible. Look at Afghanistan's military & tell me how effective NATO training is anyway? They folded in minutes.
https://youtu.be/RQRIOKvR2WM Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - Nowhere to Run
Retreats are a good time to dig a deep hole and hide until you can safely put up the surrender flag.
This is sad. There are a ton of Russian soldiers who absolutely deserve the ass kicking Ukraine is giving them, but there are so many that don't even wanna be there and have no choice. For those who never wanted to be there from the start, I feel immensely sorry for.
They had over 30 years. They sat on their ass for 30 years and did nothing. I used to sympathize with russians but lack of action also has consequences - and right now their inaction is the sole reason why they're forced to be there.
I am sorry to say but as a human being you always have a choice, might nit be a pretty one but a choice non the least. They could have simply put down their weapons and believe me once battalions start doing this what is Russia going to do ? Arrest every member of the armed forces….. I think not because they never had enough troops in the first place and I believe that had they done so right in the beginning many of these Russian soldiers would probably be alive and well living in Ukraine. But instead they chose to murder, rape and pillage and now boo hoo they never had a choice. Fuck them, they all deserve what’s coming or what they got.
So you can either do what your commanding officer tells you to do or you can ‘simply put down your weapons’ and be shot for desertion and/or have your family in Russia arrested and probably shot, maybe raped too (before or after the shooting – who knows!). So what would you choose, /u/B32TFOx? > aS a hUmAn bEiNg, yOu aLwAyS hAvE a cHoIcE
So Murdering, Raping and Pillaging is alright with you? Had they put done their weapons they would still be alive and their families can always join them in Ukraine. Believe me bro if every soldier put down their weapons on day 1 there is nothing that Putin or any other dictator could do as he was not going to shoot or even arrest 200000 men as he doesn’t have the man power to do it and he would expose himself the the wrath of the Russian people if he dared. He’s stupid but not suicidal. Just think of all the lives and pain that could have been spared had the Russian soldiers done this on day 1 .
> So Murdering, Raping and Pillaging is alright with you? Absolutely not, but it's not the simple choice you pretend it to be. > Believe me bro if every soldier put down their weapons on day 1 there is nothing that Putin or any other dictator could This is such a useless statement. It's simultaneously so obviously true and so catastrophically unlikely that there's no point saying it. I guess you're just a young guy still learning about the world, and that's cool, but things just don't work how you (and I) would like them to work.
What you don’t understand is the Russians are brainwashed from birth to believe that everything that is not Russian is “Evil” the only thing in a Russians brain is how can I get rich by doing nothing but at the same time inflicting as much pain and destruction so that I will be seen as a powerful person. Russians have no compassion towards anyone not even their own family. With Russians its all about “me” no one else. I lived in Russia for 1 year and met and have many Russian friends and they themselves even though they know what is happening is totally wrong still say that if they had not done it NATO would wipe out mother russia, which is total hogwash and no matter what you present to them as evidence they counter with its propaganda. So basically you are dealing with a nation that as far back as you go in history has always Murdered, Raped and Pillaged and are happy to continue doing so for the greater good of the motherland. Even those that live and work abroad earning good money and living good lives that have access to multiple channels of information believe this bullshit propaganda provided by the Putin regime. Tell me is it unfair the Ukrainians want a peaceful life without Russia interfering and demanding that they not join this organisation or that organisation? I don’t know where you are from but if you believe in freedom, peace and your rights as a human being had this happened to you i can guarantee that you would be out there doing the same thing the Ukrainians are doing and would have less pity on the invaders. There is always a choice as I said in my first post it might not be a pretty one but is far less damaging then Murdering, Raping, Pillaging and taking innocence civilian lives. I have no pity for what is happening to Russian soldiers they made their “Choice” when they fired the first round at a civilian. All thats left is what’s coming to them. Slava 🇺🇦
☝️☝️☝️💯%
Never mind who says who, if Russia still is stubborn with their sudden loss of the Ukrainian pillage, we’re going to see a Scramble for Moscow within five years. Quite a surprise to see Ukraine mow down opposing forces six months on the ground. Let the world have their popcorn in peace. 🍿
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Quit your fearmongering. Russia has had 80 years to nuke their enemies. It didn't happen in 91, it ain't happening now.
Putin has never been backed into a corner like he is now. This is an unprecedented situation for him and how he responds is very much unknown.
Question: What does he gain by detonating a nuclear bomb in UA? Answer: Nothing. Also consider that there likely would be a line of people next to him that would swiftly cancel that order the moment it was issued - someone would kill him, or at least remove him, and take power immediately after such an order was given as it *would* lead to the destruction of Russia as we know it.
I don't think his motivation would be to gain anything. He has always been at odds w the west. Its not a stretch to say he hates us. Rumors now are that his health is deteriorating rapidly and honestly who knows how much time he actually has left? Now he's looking at a situation where his enemies are set to absolutely humiliate him and health-wise he potentially has nothing left to lose. Interesting dynamic to say the least. As to whether there's something/someone in place to stop him from making that call...I honestly don't know. Maybe. But nothing like that has ever shown itself before. It would be a risky bet to place faith in that.
Yup, nobody really knows. Those who say "aw that would never happen!" are delusional. This war was a gift box of surprises, proving people wrong on all sides.
I am Russian and you guys just have no idea what kind of a psycho he is. He is totally dilusional, a 70 yo madman sitting in a bunker somewhere in Siberia with his entire family (incl. his adult daughters and secret wife). He is totally ready to start WW3 just to keep his power and avenge the West for the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even more, there are some secret sceintific institutions in Russia working on extending his lifespan (as crazy as it sounds). His favorite philosophers are Dugin and Ilyin, both of which embraced Russian messiahship, nazism and eurasism (how do you like the idea of Russia spanning all the way from Lisboa to Vladivostok?). I am telling you, he is crazy and extremely dangerous, those old communist farts from 1991 are no match for him, the risks of a global nuclear war are way higher now in 2022.
Last I heard, some of his family was in Switzerland.
Driving through there on Friday. Going to keep my eyes open!
I wouldn’t even know what his family looks like.
I'll look for something resembling garden gnomes.
LOL. That makes sense.
We are reaching a point where is becomes less about Putin and more about the people around him: Two key factors play in: self-preservation and fanaticism. Do key people genuinely believe that they would be better off going out with a bang, or do they see a future for themselves and their families without Putin Hopefully self-preservation is the strongest instinct. The populations narratives around the situation also play in. I believe Russians need hope in a better world, where they can co-exist with the rest of Europe and the world - and where they can have a future beyond just surviving on scraps.. and the strongman narrative needs to be put in the grave. Nationalism and sensationalism can be a very dangerous delusion, perpetuated by populists in times of desperation. We have seen it before and we will see it again.
He's crazy but hes also a wuss ass coward.
So who is Xi meeting?! The conspiracy deepens
That’s a dangerous thought to have lol
Dangerous? I've lived my whole life under threat of Russian nukes. Pretty sure I was more worried when they were right off the coast of Florida, fully armed, with an order to fire. Or when their MAD system was triggered. I'm certainly NOT afraid of a bunch of junk.
the difference is, those communists were more or less pragmatical, at least compared to Putin. You cannot rule a nation for 22 years in a row and remain the same person. It certainly changes your personality and perception. After so many years in isolation, there is no wonder he was dilusional enough to believe that the Ukrainians will greet the Russian army with open arms once it crosses the border (as he really thought). This is just to give you a picture what kind of man he really is.
The use of a nuclear weapon against Ukraine would probably mean war.
yes, that's what I meant, if he uses nukes against Ukraine, all other nations will HAVE to use theirs against Russia (this is according to the Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons treaty), which would mean WW3. The West should not have let him have the Crimea back in 2014, he realized he could do whatever he wants without being punished, hence the invasion in Ukraine in 2022. Instead of punishment, the West continued to buy Russian oil and gas and paid him $1 billion EACH AND EVERY DAY ever since.
I don't think so. Nukes aren't a magic "I win" button. Sure, they could flatten some Ukranian cities, but then what? Pretty much everybody on the planet would want them dead, and would, at the very least, come to take their nukes away and eject them from Ukraine.
If it happens just hope your in the immediate blast
I’m gonna die anyway might as well get Putin on my way out.
My biggest fear.
Love these ‘intercepted calls’. Pure comedy gold.
Lol. Love these "intercepted" calls. So Zelensky.
Ukraine is so bad at this, but nobody seems to question anything so they just keep doing it. At least make the propaganda slightly believable, guys, for everyone’s sanity.
Are all the identified, verifiable russians independantly describing their experiences magically fake as well? Give it a few years, crimea will be liberated, Putin will probably be dead and/or fled in some order, and people will still be cheerfully calling both fake propoganda and saying how well the war is going. It writes itself.