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This is the Merkel-Steinmeier system that was applied to Russia. Bring Russia into the fold economically. Ignore its bad actions. Give it access to money, techn

This is the Merkel-Steinmeier system that was applied to Russia. Bring Russia into the fold economically. Ignore its bad actions. Give it access to money, technology, etc. So that it will become economically dependent with us and then it won't want to attack anyone. Surely as Russians become more economically able they will fight against Putin's brutal reign. Well, exactly the opposite happened. Look at Ukraine today. People are fighting for their lives while Russians slaughter women and children and throw their dead bodies into wells. That's what the Merkel-Steinmeier approach gives you. Giving a regime like this money makes the regime more powerful, not less. > Frankly the US should be all over encouraging this activity, but given how stupid they have been for all modern history I can't say I'm surprised they're not. The US had been warning Germany to stop its dependence on Russian gas for a decade. The idea that we should trade with these kinds of regimes is very clearly refuted at this point.

etherael 5y ago
As I clarified above, I am not promoting state to state white market economic activity. I am promoting peer to peer countereconomic black market activity which cripples the control and power of the closed economy with the express goal of destroying the control and parasitism enabled by the closed economy.
- kmeisthax 5y ago
  "Peer to peer" is a superset of "state to state". There is no technology which will allow a North Korean citizen to sidestep their government's parasitic internal economy without also allowing the North Korean government to sidestep international sanctions.
  - etherael 5y ago
    Which is another way of saying that trade that might be either can't even be effectively policed by the dystopian state if they want to use it for evading sanctions to the extent they're able without simultaneously shooting themselves in the foot. If they can't police it effectively all the more reason for more people to do it.
s1artibartfast 5y ago
You can't look at the failure of the Merkel-Steinmeier in isolation and say "we tried that". At the same time the US encircled Russia with bases, weapons and nukes. At the same time the US bombed Russian allied states.

etherael 5y ago

As I clarified above, I am not promoting state to state white market economic activity. I am promoting peer to peer countereconomic black market activity which cripples the control and power of the closed economy with the express goal of destroying the control and parasitism enabled by the closed economy.

kmeisthax 5y ago
"Peer to peer" is a superset of "state to state". There is no technology which will allow a North Korean citizen to sidestep their government's parasitic internal economy without also allowing the North Korean government to sidestep international sanctions.
- etherael 5y ago
  Which is another way of saying that trade that might be either can't even be effectively policed by the dystopian state if they want to use it for evading sanctions to the extent they're able without simultaneously shooting themselves in the foot. If they can't police it effectively all the more reason for more people to do it.

s1artibartfast 5y ago

You can't look at the failure of the Merkel-Steinmeier in isolation and say "we tried that". At the same time the US encircled Russia with bases, weapons and nukes. At the same time the US bombed Russian allied states.