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Yay! And so has Pepsi and Starbucks and Ima bet that this was coordinated among them. For the first time in my life I got off my butt and wrote a whole email t

Yay! And so has Pepsi and Starbucks and Ima bet that this was coordinated among them. For the first time in my life I got off my butt and wrote a whole email to their customer service address indicating my disgust and threw in the 'boycott' keywords. I honestly think that they will 'measure the anger' and that 'every lazy email' counts kind of things. McDonald's, Disney and Spotify should shut down next. None of this is important for the Russian economy (a bit but not much) - this is a little signal to the population - you don't get your 'Iron Man' and 'Big Mac' while you invade countries. The nominal idea of isolation is something that will impact a huge portion of the population and they may 'feel' it more than for example inflation, which can be explained away. There was an interview about a teen girl pissed off because 'she can't upgrade her iPhone' - it seems pedantic in a time of war, but most people are concerned about those things. 'Pissing off teenagers' is a good way to remind them of what's up, even if it might have some negative effects, for the most part, it's constraining. FYI Google should stay active, they're a possible source of information.

tpoacher 5y ago
She wasn't pissed off because "her president started a war and now she can't upgrade her iPhone" She was pissed off because "evil Americans started a war and now she can't upgrade her iPhone" There's a big difference.
- mensetmanusman 5y ago
  Once she finds out her incompetent government only makes her life worse, I wonder what she will do?
  - InitialLastName 5y ago
    She won't find out anything, because all of the western media outlets (both traditional and social) have cut service in Russia.
    - jollybean 5y ago
      Even Chinese are aware or not when they are making progress. Xi's #1 fear is that the economy slows down because he can paper over everything so long as people's lives are improving. The moment that stops he's done. We're not made aware but there are 'protests' of sort all over China all the time. People get pissed off over corruption etc.. People aren't completely dumb, the propaganda only has so much effect. As people see their lives turning down, they know what's what.
      - InitialLastName 5y ago
        I have no doubt that people are able to see what direction their lives are going, but even in the developed world with a notionally free media they can be trivially mislead about who to blame.
        jollybean 5y ago
        Good point. But if people's lives are being very materially degraded, and there's only 'one guy' then he will be blamed. Even if ironically dear leader may have made the right choices. We have inequality in the West but our lives are not improved or degraded to the very obvious extent that they are in developing places. They have 8% growth rate - that's almost something you can 'feel'.
- jollybean 5y ago
  Don't agree. First, she is 'pissed off' and that's a separate issue from blame. Second, while we can't fathom the attribution entirely - Russians are fully aware that these sanctions hit when Putin launched a war/incursion. Irrespective of 'blame' the causality is their own. Every day Russians are complicit - propaganda or not - and they need to be made aware and isolated from everything except information.

tpoacher 5y ago

She wasn't pissed off because "her president started a war and now she can't upgrade her iPhone" She was pissed off because "evil Americans started a war and now she can't upgrade her iPhone" There's a big difference.

mensetmanusman 5y ago
Once she finds out her incompetent government only makes her life worse, I wonder what she will do?
- InitialLastName 5y ago
  She won't find out anything, because all of the western media outlets (both traditional and social) have cut service in Russia.
  - jollybean 5y ago
    Even Chinese are aware or not when they are making progress. Xi's #1 fear is that the economy slows down because he can paper over everything so long as people's lives are improving. The moment that stops he's done. We're not made aware but there are 'protests' of sort all over China all the time. People get pissed off over corruption etc.. People aren't completely dumb, the propaganda only has so much effect. As people see their lives turning down, they know what's what.
    - InitialLastName 5y ago
      I have no doubt that people are able to see what direction their lives are going, but even in the developed world with a notionally free media they can be trivially mislead about who to blame.
      - jollybean 5y ago
        Good point. But if people's lives are being very materially degraded, and there's only 'one guy' then he will be blamed. Even if ironically dear leader may have made the right choices. We have inequality in the West but our lives are not improved or degraded to the very obvious extent that they are in developing places. They have 8% growth rate - that's almost something you can 'feel'.
jollybean 5y ago
Don't agree. First, she is 'pissed off' and that's a separate issue from blame. Second, while we can't fathom the attribution entirely - Russians are fully aware that these sanctions hit when Putin launched a war/incursion. Irrespective of 'blame' the causality is their own. Every day Russians are complicit - propaganda or not - and they need to be made aware and isolated from everything except information.