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While I agree with the sentiment and some elements of your argument, I'm wondering how you draw the line at democracy and authoritarianism being the determining

While I agree with the sentiment and some elements of your argument, I'm wondering how you draw the line at democracy and authoritarianism being the determining factor for this conflict. Every nation has skeletons in its closet regarding human rights violations and war crimes regardless of governing structure, so such a relation amounts to a non-sequitur. While saying this does not excuse their actions, the Russian government has not engaged in anything particularly new or unprecedented on the global stage, even in recent times. The United States has at various points in recent history established shaky if not false pretexts for invading countries. It has tortured and indefinitely detained foreign civilians. It has run a domestic surveillance state since at least WWII. It continues to erode the public and private rights of its own citizens via unconstitutional legislation, executive orders, or secret spy programs under the guise of national security. If this is democracy, I fail to see a difference in type from brutality administered by an authoritarian government. Only the degree. Yes, Americans won't likely be regularly sent to Guantanamo for publicly speaking out against the government (unless it's Edward Snowden).While such a difference is necessary for a functional (in the classic sense) liberal democracy, alone it is not sufficient. There are other rights that remain undefended and regularly violated. With all that said, where in the world would you think it's appropriate to build and sell cutting-edge technologies?

toss1 5y ago
Start with whether democracy is a sham. There are organizations that measure this. (Hint: the US is already teetering, and if the '20 election had gone the other way, we'd be lost -- look at the moves being done my multiple state legislatures). Look at what happens to political opponents (not traitors & spies like Snowden). Russians and NK murders them on foreign soil using chemical weapons. RUS opponents are openly murdered - Boris Nemtsov[0]. Or attempted to be murdered by the state and then jailed on a pretext - Alexei Navalny [1] While you claim US has flimsy pretexts for invasions, tell me what happens after the invasion - we try to setup a democracy upon achieving our anti-terrrorism goals. Russia straight-up annexes the territory - Chechnya, Georgia, Belarus, Crimea, etc. What you and a lot of other people are practicing is false equivalence. Many of these arguments are utter bullsh*t to anyone who understands the topic. But like technology, law, and many other areas of expertise, it is easy for laypeople to think they understand it when they really do not. Moreover, these sorts of false equivalence and the US is big & bad are actively created and pushed by the intel agencies of Russia and China - there are many Useful Idiots (Vladmir Lenin definition [2]) who too happily pick up and repeat such things. (I used to be one, until I started making a concerted effort to understand WTF was going on several years ago and read real experts in detail). The last two weeks are starting to reveal the consequences of not understanding the war (and yes, it looks like we've been in a war since at least 2014). If you want to start, I'd recommend starting with Garry Kasparov [3] and an org he founded, the Renew Democracy Initiative [4]. Also, reading Bill Browder's [5] book Red Notice will give an amazing insight into Putin's workings, and why the world is the way it is today (hint: the Magnitsky sanctions driven by Browder seem really obscure, but they were really an amazing hack of the system to hit them where it hurts). The overall takeaway is that these seemingly distant geopolitical events have direct results at home. E.g., note the difference between the Canadian "truckers protest" and the similar event in the US, where like 11 people showed up. The difference is the Russian money and influence went away (they're a bit distracted now). EDIT: One good way to find expertise is to not only look for academic &/or professional credentials, but also real experience and skin in the game (& ya, you can always find one 'expert' to support any position, but look for real understanding of the mechanics, and ability to predict). Kasparov & Browder both meet this in spades, been there, done that, and buried their friends doing it. Also Broswer's book is a great read Also, formatting the list [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Boris_Nemtsov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Boris_Nemtsov [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Navalny https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Navalny [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renew_Democracy_Initiative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renew_Democracy_Initiative [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Browder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Browder [6] https://smile.amazon.com/Red-Notice-Bill-Browder-audiobook/dp/B00T567KIA/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=red+notice&qid=1646925907&sr=8-1 https://smile.amazon.com/Red-Notice-Bill-Browder-audiobook/d...

toss1 5y ago

Start with whether democracy is a sham. There are organizations that measure this. (Hint: the US is already teetering, and if the '20 election had gone the other way, we'd be lost -- look at the moves being done my multiple state legislatures). Look at what happens to political opponents (not traitors & spies like Snowden). Russians and NK murders them on foreign soil using chemical weapons. RUS opponents are openly murdered - Boris Nemtsov[0]. Or attempted to be murdered by the state and then jailed on a pretext - Alexei Navalny [1] While you claim US has flimsy pretexts for invasions, tell me what happens after the invasion - we try to setup a democracy upon achieving our anti-terrrorism goals. Russia straight-up annexes the territory - Chechnya, Georgia, Belarus, Crimea, etc. What you and a lot of other people are practicing is false equivalence. Many of these arguments are utter bullsh*t to anyone who understands the topic. But like technology, law, and many other areas of expertise, it is easy for laypeople to think they understand it when they really do not. Moreover, these sorts of false equivalence and the US is big & bad are actively created and pushed by the intel agencies of Russia and China - there are many Useful Idiots (Vladmir Lenin definition [2]) who too happily pick up and repeat such things. (I used to be one, until I started making a concerted effort to understand WTF was going on several years ago and read real experts in detail). The last two weeks are starting to reveal the consequences of not understanding the war (and yes, it looks like we've been in a war since at least 2014). If you want to start, I'd recommend starting with Garry Kasparov [3] and an org he founded, the Renew Democracy Initiative [4]. Also, reading Bill Browder's [5] book Red Notice will give an amazing insight into Putin's workings, and why the world is the way it is today (hint: the Magnitsky sanctions driven by Browder seem really obscure, but they were really an amazing hack of the system to hit them where it hurts). The overall takeaway is that these seemingly distant geopolitical events have direct results at home. E.g., note the difference between the Canadian "truckers protest" and the similar event in the US, where like 11 people showed up. The difference is the Russian money and influence went away (they're a bit distracted now). EDIT: One good way to find expertise is to not only look for academic &/or professional credentials, but also real experience and skin in the game (& ya, you can always find one 'expert' to support any position, but look for real understanding of the mechanics, and ability to predict). Kasparov & Browder both meet this in spades, been there, done that, and buried their friends doing it. Also Broswer's book is a great read Also, formatting the list [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Boris_Nemtsov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Boris_Nemtsov [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Navalny https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Navalny [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renew_Democracy_Initiative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renew_Democracy_Initiative [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Browder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Browder [6] https://smile.amazon.com/Red-Notice-Bill-Browder-audiobook/dp/B00T567KIA/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=red+notice&qid=1646925907&sr=8-1 https://smile.amazon.com/Red-Notice-Bill-Browder-audiobook/d...