Skiluros

I am sorry, but I strongly disagree.

It is a fact that 1/3 of the US voted for him (after seeing what he is like), another third doesn't care (so they have a measure of responsibility too) and the final third might not have voted for Trump, but a large portion of them are simply too well off (and therefore risk averse) to have addressed the causes of Trump's rise; broad tolerance of corruption and criminality in US society.

I didn't say every single American supports Trump or that they voted for him.

That being said, I don't believe Trump is a magician and that Americans are idiots, who got enamoured by his powerful rhetoric.

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Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 2w ago

This is unfortunately to be expected.

I will add that Trump is a mere symptom, the cause is US society (ignoring this benefits no one, even the Americans).

Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 2w ago

This is what russian "liberals" don't understand. They want to have their cake and eat it too.

While Navalniy's team nominally rejected support for the annexation of Crimea after the full-scale invasion, they continue to broadly support imperialism, albeit they tend to watch what they say when not speaking to other russians.

That being said, this doesn't always work.

Navalnaya at an EU conference in 2024:

Finally, there are those who advocate for the urgent "decolonization" of Russia, arguing to split our vast country into several smaller, safer states. However, these “decolonizers” can’t explain why people with shared backgrounds and culture should be artificially divided. Nor do they say how this process should even take place.

And a "shared background and culture" is why you killed 5% of the civilian population of Chechnya, including a ballistic missile strike on a busy market?

Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 2w ago

That's the best kind of satire.

Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 2w ago

No is calling for attacking hospitals or civilians! I was taking about military and industrial targets.

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Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 2w ago

I will respectful disagree, I am sure our leadership would also not reject the ability to launch ~100 tomahawks per week on an indefinite basis.

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Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 3w ago

I hope you're right, but I don't believe in anything other than using force against the russians.

That would mean going beyond our current attacks with drones and locally produces missiles and doing at least 50-100 ballistic missile strikes against the russians per week. This is just one example; a similar comprehensive approach would need to be applied in multiple areas.

Beyond that, we would need to arm freedom fighters in occupied nations to allow both utilization of senior collaborators, but also anti-air system to bring down russian planes and a bombing program to disrupt russian logistics.

Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 3w ago

Took nearly 4 years of full scale invasion even though sabotage by russians in EU was conducted before Feb 22.

And they are still allowing entry by random russians.

Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 3w ago

And that's why they are sending thousands of their citizens to help the russia's genocidal invasion of Ukraine.

A true vanguard against imperialism!

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Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 3w ago

Terrible headline.

Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 3w ago

This was a helpful and concise blogpost.

Americans oligarchs are comical in their approach to corruption.

Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 3w ago

Kurashov himself never testified. According to court reporters, his lawyer Anna Karpenko said her client "sincerely repented" and that he believed he had simply been following orders from above not to take any prisoners.

What a russian thing to say.

Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 3w ago

That's fair.

enough material for russian propaganda to legitimate further acts of war.

You should watch some russian propaganda. They already show "news" pieces about how their nukes can reach London and other European cities. That ship has sailed.

Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 3w ago

I agree with you on all the points that you mentioned (with the exception of "people seeking political asylum", with some qualifiers), however, I think you misunderstand the mentality of the overwhelming majority of russians who support genocidal imperialism.

Remember that when WW2 began, the russians collaborated with the Nazis to split up Europe. To this day, even allegedly liberal russians (who publicly oppose the full scale invasion) don't really recognize this. They still think that people believe their victim-hood narratives and don't see them for who they really are. This is a key point in understanding russian mentality and finding effective solutions to dealing with them.

These measures you describe are fundamentally carrots. There is nothing in what you're saying that would affect the calculus of any russian. From the poorer ones in the provinces, to the rich professionals in Moscow to the leadership and oligarchs. The "costs" inherent to your proposals do not represent a risk of loss to change their behaviour.

You mention fighting fire with fire. I am not calling for a pointless suicide march. I am calling for a sober approach to truly raising the costs for all russians.

The first point is recognizing that russia is a continental empire that is currently occupying many independent nation and I am not about Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. The list is much longer.

You need the strike the underbelly of the their colonial empire. Provide freedom fighters in countries like Chechnya with monetary and financial support, so the population at large feels that they have a chance to get rid of the russians. Provide them with weapons (at least manpads) so they can take down russian planes. Intel so they can utilize senior collaborators like Kadyrov.

It's not only about Chechnya and Dagestan, but Buryatyi, Komi Republic, Yukutia...

Utilize the children of senior leadership and oligarchs when they are on vacation in Dubai or the Maldives.

Provide financial support for developing the language and culture of occupied peoples. Show them that they have a chance.

I strongly disagree with providing "political asylum" to ethnic russians (with some exceptions for individuals truly opposed to imperialism).

Look at Vladimir Kara-Murza, the darling of the west, who was freed in a prison exchange.

Let's see, what does he think about russian imperialism:

“I spoke with a colleague who works extensively with prisoners of war on both sides. So she had spoken a lot with Ukrainian prisoners of war who had been released from Russia, and with Russian prisoners of war who are still in Ukraine. And she told me there’s another reason why Russian Defense Ministry recruits so many representatives of these national minorities — because, allegedly, they say it’s psychologically really difficult for Russians to kill Ukrainians. Because it is… Because we are the same… We are the same, these are very closely related peoples, as everyone knows. We have almost the same language, the same religion, centuries and centuries of shared history… But if it’s someone who comes from another culture, allegedly, it’s easier. That’s what this colleague told me yesterday. I had never thought of it that way. For me, it was mostly about economic reasons, but since she told me that yesterday, I’ve started thinking about that too.”

Same fucking bullshit about "same people" and some racism on top.

And this is Vladimir Kara-Murza, can you imagine what goes through the head of the average russian?

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Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 3w ago

I don't disagree (look at Schroeder, he is still walking free), but my point stands, the number is a tiny percentage of EU GDP.

Even the costs saving of using russian gas were something along the lines of 0.2% of EU GDP (and thats ignoring the cost of the caustic effect that the russians have had on democracy and governance in EU).

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Skiluros @sh.itjust.works 3w ago

I used to live in russia (this was before they invaded Georgia). I have former friends who I know are supporters of russian genocidal imperialism (that's why they became former friends), you can most probably still find the evidence for this on their social media.

That being said, based on chatting with another friend who uses FB, they are bit more careful these days and tend to go with more implicit public statements of support "I hope there will be peace soon and I can visit Moscow via a direct flight from London".

Skiluros

@ Skiluros @sh.itjust.works

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Skiluros

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