Starker on 7/11/2024 at 05:22
My country has been among the biggest supporters of Ukraine, but since we are so small, it barely makes a dent in anything. Russia is backed by its staunch allies North Korea and Iran and is getting further support by big countries like China and India who buy its oil and sell it the things it needs (I think I saw it mentioned somewhere that over 90% of Russia's machine tools now come from China).
When US pulls its support, things are undoubtedly going to get much tougher for Ukraine. Almost half of the assistance so far has come from the US, leaving a hole that's difficult to fill. I expect Northern and Eastern Europe will step up as they have been, but large parts of Western Europe so far have been dragging their feet and not treating the conflict with anywhere near the urgency it requires.
Here's how Ukraine aid compares in terms of cups of coffee per month per capita, btw:
Inline Image:
https://i.redd.it/utm939mwonyd1.jpeglowenz on 7/11/2024 at 05:29
Quote Posted by Tocky
Maybe Europe, who still believes dictators are a bad thing
In Europe there's the pseudo-orwellian thinking that "big corps" of the "liberal satanic globalist world" are the tyrants and so the "strong men" (dictators but called "people captains") are the ones that will saves us from tyrants (and Putin is seen as the perfect example of this, it's why he's loved so much and so Trump, Orban, etc).......so we accept dictators if they say they fight tyrants in the name of the "holiness" of the "homeland" (see the Holy Rus -> (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Rus%27) )
All the alt-right/nazbol movements are literally build around this belief (and with the goal to push Russia strategic geopolitical agenda). It's a kind of "nationalsocialist" movement but neutral/pro vs Israel jewish and silently against "international jewish" and "international communists" (see Ford vision) and of course antisemite against arabs/Islam outside of the Middle East.
It's a long work in progress since 2010 and now you can see the damn results.....it's literally the original Hitler vision without the german superiority/nordic esotericism elements and instead the orthodox mysticism to "fight satanism".
heywood on 7/11/2024 at 12:15
Quote Posted by lowenz
In Europe there's the pseudo-orwellian thinking that "big corps" of the "liberal satanic globalist world" are the tyrants and so the "strong men" (dictators but called "people captains") are the ones that will saves us from tyrants
Not just in Europe. Everywhere. The reactionary trend in politics is a symptom of a bigger problem I think, which is the rejection of rationalism.
lowenz on 7/11/2024 at 12:39
Quote Posted by heywood
Not just in Europe. Everywhere. The reactionary trend in politics is a symptom of a bigger problem I think, which is the
rejection of rationalism.
Exactly.
It's a (very) toxic byproduct of the "market world" (that is indeed articulated around rationalism).
demagogue on 7/11/2024 at 16:41
If you want to get to the deepest roots, it was Augustine's triumph over Pelagius in arguing that humans have imperfect knowledge, and there can be a disconnect between what you say and what's in reality, reality can be different, and when there's a conflict between word and object, reality trumps rhetoric, what came to be called nominalism.
That's at the foundations of Western civilization as we know it but the masses aren't buying into it so much anymore. What matters are people's emotional truths rather than what is manifest in front of them. So now we have to deal with this emotional reaction for four or who knows how many years now until manifest reality kicks back.
lowenz on 7/11/2024 at 17:32
It can't be enough because those people can "discover" logic but use it in paranoid ways to feed their own existing biases ans so reinforce their believes. The rabbit hole never ends because it has an existential dimension: if you reject it you get emptied from inside, it's like an implosion.
Nicker on 8/11/2024 at 17:05
But "manifest reality" is only really available to an informed populace, which is why strong-men love the "poorly educated". Even a well educated populace can be manipulated emotionally, sustaining the belief in an objectively false narrative, erasing the benefits of higher education.\
You can see this now in the form of self-flagglation by left wing pundits, blaming Trump's success on The Dems telling the truth about MAGA rather than on the lies and criminality of the GOP.
One step forward, ten steps back.
taffernicus on 17/11/2024 at 21:28
unfortunately big boom weapons for sea warfare will not return. I'm not sure if both sides have fully functional ancient battleships. I'm always wondering, How many modern cruisers or frigates should escort 1 battleship? And it looks like battleship is an easy target and really vulnerable to modern weapon but it's very useful for offshore bombardment. How long does it take to retrofit her with cruise missiles, long-range sensing and threat detection system , put in some rolling airframe missiles and a few air defense like Goalkeeper CIWS?
I'm also not sure if this battleship should be accompanied by maritime patrol aircraft and carrier based airborne early warning...
It is also impossible for this battleship to wander between snake island near ukraine and target the crimea
Imagine how horrible it would be to be hit by a shell from 12 to 14 inch naval gun
DuatDweller on 18/11/2024 at 08:09
Biden just authorized Ukraine to use long range weapons directly against Russia.
(
https://apnews.com/article/biden-ukraine-long-range-weapons-russia-52d424158182de2044ecc8bfcf011f9c)
Quote:
Politics
Biden authorizes Ukraine to use US-supplied longer range missiles for deeper strikes inside Russia
MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied missiles to strike deeper inside Russia, easing limitations on the longer range weapons as Russia deploys thousands of North Korean troops to reinforce its war, according to a U.S. official and three other people familiar with the matter.
The decision allowing Kyiv to use the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMs, for attacks farther inside Russia comes as President Vladimir Putin positions North Korean troops along Ukraine's northern border to try to reclaim hundreds of miles of territory seized by Ukrainian forces.
Biden's move also follows the presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who has said he would bring about a swift end to the war and raised uncertainty about whether his administration would continue the United States' vital military support for Ukraine.
And Putin of course said this...
(
https://news.sky.com/story/its-a-stunning-shift-in-us-policy-but-bidens-announcement-will-trigger-fury-and-fresh-threats-from-moscow-13255961)
Quote:
President Vladimir Putin has warned the West they would be playing with fire if they allowed Ukrainian forces to launch Western-supplied cruise and ballistic missiles at Russia, saying it could even trigger a global conflict.
