Hazzard
1yr ago
Being from Britain, American Hegemony is great. America might be the world's first large Empire with such enthusiastic imperial satellites.
Hazzard
1yr ago
Also, when, say, Poles start talking about anticolonialism and such regarding their support for Ukraine, this is probably not the framework that they are actually using to analyze the conflict, even progressive Poles. They're just trying to speak the language the assume their particular American interlocutor would listen to
That's sometimes the case with foreigners, but Poland is a bad example:
Hazzard
1yr ago
I have never seen anyone on the left argue this.
This article last year suggests some echoes of the mentality within the Russian Army.
My reading of the situation is that the USSR has been subsumed into a narrative of Russian Nationalism, with some of the mindset hanging around among older people.
Hazzard
1yr ago
This is the same in the UK. Wherever I've lived, the closest shop has always been much more expensive than a larger supermarket, to the point where milk was double the price in the local corner shop compared to the nearest supermarket
Hazzard
1yr ago
The Ukrainians would keep fighting if the pay stopped. That's not how mercenaries behave.
Hazzard
1yr ago
(Speaking of Blackwater, I almost wonder if they would be in their element in Ukraine, given their reputation as skull-crackers.)
I have no evidence of military behaviour, but officially they're doing humanitarian work. And to whatever extent it's a cover, there is real work going on for refugees.
Hazzard
1yr ago
Natos mercenaries with NATO weapons are fighting the war.
Mercenary is a strange term to use for soldiers that will demobilise when the war ends, rather than being deployed by NATO to the next trouble spot.
Hazzard
1yr ago
They wanted the respect of a peer.
Maybe I'm saying the quiet part out loud here, but Russia is not a peer. It's the rump-state left behind by the collapse of the USSR. The countries in Eastern Europe are its peers, not Western Europe or America.
Hazzard
1yr ago
Can you give specific numbers for what you think Ukrainian losses are? Numbers from the Kremlin are ridiculous to the point where they fall apart from you start to compare them to what we know Ukraine has. All other estimates I've seen favour Ukraine to some degree when comparing losses
Hazzard
1yr ago
Are you talking about Elon Musk and Twitter? Because I'm going to need some good evidence that Elon is an Alt-Righter, or some sort of White Nationalist.
Hazzard
1yr ago
I'm convinced that the shift towards Conservativism is more about accumulation of wealth than anything else. I'm a young millenial/elder zoomer and finding myself more and more resentful of landlords, the Government and the elderly. Partially as a result of working retail, but also taking a dislike to the Elderly who insult me and my generation. And they all vote Tory. The Tories in the UK are the party of the elderly.
Yes, to an extent. But there's also the practical dimension.
The US signals to others that it won't let Taiwan be easily invaded by China, by supporting Ukraine.
Removing the moral dimension, supporting Ukraine is still a useful measure, because it shows that a smaller country will recieve support when the bigger nation on its borders invades.
Regardless of how the war ends, Russia doesn't look likely to get anything worth the cost. That's a deterrent analogous to MAD in a cold Nuclear War. Pay the price to bring down an enemy up front, so you don't have to pay it further down the road when it's higher.
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