Russia's imploding.
January 28, 2015 at 8:37 am
(This post was last modified: January 28, 2015 at 8:37 am by Creed of Heresy.)
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Russia's imploding.
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 (January 28, 2015 at 8:37 am)Creed of Heresy Wrote: But anyway, Putin. You're not the US. You can't get away with interfering in politics outside of your own country by force anymore.I think that even the US (aside from the far-right) is realizing that it cannot do that anymore either. It costs too much, even for a nation that still has a lot of wealth to buffer bad decisions. That does not seem to be the case with Russia, though I am admittedly ignorant of much of their recent goings-on. If they're really that dependent on oil to keep their economy from collapsing, then they might be the real target of OPEC's decision to keep up supply at the expense of cost-per-barrel. Doesn't Russia supply a pretty large amount of the natural gas used by Europe? How might Russia's economic problems affect the price and delivery of energy to Europe? And does Putin see it as a way to keep his country from going over the cliff-- basically ransoming energy to his neighbors in a last-ditch effort to keep enough money flowing and the ruble from becoming toilet paper?
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould 
Thing is about Putin, and his oligarch friends, is that they're so rich a massive downturn in Russia's economy won't affect them at all.
Most of them non-dom to London anyway. The entire Russian economy can go to shit and Putin's grip around the population means many of them will still love him and praise him for 'standing up to the western bullies'. I dread to think what the rich/poor divide is like in Russia having not studied it, but I would it's massive. Wealth concentration there is centered almost entirely around the Kremlin. Even if you're an oligarch, if you fall out of favor, better watch your back. If people wanted a perfect example of a cult of personality, I think Putin would be it.  RE: Russia's imploding.
January 28, 2015 at 9:02 am
(This post was last modified: January 28, 2015 at 9:06 am by Creed of Heresy.)
Russia is pretty fucked right now. I'm curious to see how they handle their situation. Bizarrely it seems like at the moment they are just continuing to dig themselves deeper into the hole by backing the rebels in Ukraine. Even if the rest of the world were willing to ignore it the EU certainly doesn't want an old military like Russia bullying its way west.
(January 28, 2015 at 9:15 am)Insanity Wrote: Russia is pretty fucked right now. I'm curious to see how they handle their situation. Bizarrely it seems like at the moment they are just continuing to dig themselves deeper into the hole by backing the rebels in Ukraine. Even if the rest of the world were willing to ignore it the EU certainly doesn't want an old military like Russia bullying its way west. Neither does the US. Having a NATO member right next to Russia? Valuable asset.  (January 28, 2015 at 9:53 am)Creed of Heresy Wrote:(January 28, 2015 at 9:15 am)Insanity Wrote: Russia is pretty fucked right now. I'm curious to see how they handle their situation. Bizarrely it seems like at the moment they are just continuing to dig themselves deeper into the hole by backing the rebels in Ukraine. Even if the rest of the world were willing to ignore it the EU certainly doesn't want an old military like Russia bullying its way west. Which might explain Putin's gamble.
Skepticism is not a position; it is an approach to claims.
Science is not a subject, but a method.
To be fair, though, [also hello Insanity my bro-love] Ukraine actually only was considering NATO membership in a sort of "meh, maybe..." kind of way until Russia started making it clear they weren't going to drop their influence over them without a fight of it. Then when Ukraine realized that Russia was going to pull some serious shenanigans, they were like "YEP. NATO IT IS."
Can't say I blame 'em, either, nor can I see any reason not to admit them in, either. Anything that gives a big giant "fuck you" to Putin is good as far as I'm concerned.
Even when they were considering asking for NATO membership (probably to prevent exactly what happened anyway) it was unlikely they would have been actually given it. Now it sounds pretty likely. NATO gets to stick it to Russia and Ukraine gets some much needed backing. Ukraine would also make for a great buffer between Russia and the rest of eastern Europe.
Love ya too Creed <3 |
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