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Such discrimination is a form of sanction. It has been shown over and over again that sanctions do nothing to change governments — all they succeed in is to har
by FooBarWidget 5y ago
Such discrimination is a form of sanction. It has been shown over and over again that sanctions do nothing to change governments — all they succeed in is to harm the lives of ordinary people. This makes license discrimination on such grounds nothing more than virtue signalling at best, and a punishment to ordinary people at worst.
Furthermore, the label "oppressive regime" is sometimes more propaganda than fact. Many western countries weaponize human rights by labeling enemy states as oppressive regimes, while either ignoring/muffling their own human rights abuses, or (more likely) having systems that allow one to protest against domestic human rights abuses while failing to change a single thing about them no matter how much people protest; and at the same time, turning a blind eye on actual oppressive regimes that happen to be allied states (until they fall out of grace, after which they will once again be labeled "oppressive regimes").
This makes license discrimination on the grounds of the "oppressive regime" label highly problematic and prone to geopolitical propaganda games. At worst, you can even say that such license discriminations become willing tools of geopolitical propaganda.
- tomjen3 5y agoThe current sanctions are doing a great job of hurting the Russian economy and, by extension, its ability to rip apart the flesh of 6 year old girls hiding in hospitals in Mariupol.
- HideousKojima 5y agoActually they've done a great job driving up oil and gas prices, which actually helps the Russian economy because European countries are too dependent (and spineless) to cut off Russian gas pipelines.
- sharken 5y agoSad but true, I'm still hopeful that Europe will drop Russian oil and gas soon, regardless of the consequences.
- nix23 5y agoAnd sanctions who target the "normal" citizen give Putin a really sharp knife to proof that the "west" really wants to harm Russians....what else then sanctions can be done? I honestly don't know.
- sharken 5y agoEconomic sanctions send a clear message to Putin that his invasion of Ukraine is unacceptable. Direct confrontation is not an option and neither is doing nothing at all, so sanctions is the logical choice. I agree that sanctions will not make Putin withdraw from Ukraine. But seeing Europe make a targeted effort to stop relying on Russian oil and gas, should make Putin think twice.
- nix23 5y ago>relying on Russian oil and gas China is happy to take it for a cheaper price.