4 ms·

Is he? I feel like everyone said this about Putin and now the narrative has changed and he's an unstable madman whose going to launch a nuke if he loses too bad

Is he? I feel like everyone said this about Putin and now the narrative has changed and he's an unstable madman whose going to launch a nuke if he loses too badly in his war. Like many politicians, Xi is ruthlessly self-interested. His actions that allow him to consolidate power aren't necessarily in the best interests of China.

chrischen 4y ago
Consolidating power isn’t inherently against the interests of China. And as poster above explained, Putin is acting rationally. In fact, war is probably one of the most rational and pervasive actions throughout history. Probably every country has gone to war and it’s not always because some madman went berserk. It’s always in our interest to simply reduce our enemy to madmen or nazis, as it justifies our own counter aggression.
enraged_camel 4y ago
>> Is he? Yeah, Biden himself recently said that Putin is a rational actor who grossly miscalculated, because he was basically fed very bad and flawed intel. He may be blustering about nukes now, but the only way he would do that is if Ukraine turns the tables and invades Russia, or something similar.
- hunterb123 4y ago
  - enraged_camel 4y ago
    - MockObject 4y ago
  - MockObject 4y ago
    > Would a rational actor enslave an entire ethnic minority in work camps, allow harvesting of organs, crush their financial world hub (Hong Kong), and so on? There is nothing irrational about the first two! Crushing HK is a rational necessity if there is a danger of such disobedience spreading to other regions.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    "Rational" has somehow become synonymous with "good" or "agrees with me" - rationality doesn't have anything to do with those, it just means "not insane". And tyrants can be exceedingly rational; they just have their own goals that they're working towards, not the goals of some theoretical "perfect democracy".
    - hunterb123 4y ago
      It's insane to farm people for organs and to run concentration camps.
      - whimsicalism 4y ago
        Yes, I think this is a great example of parent commentators point.
whimsicalism 4y ago
> now the narrative has changed and he's an unstable madman whose going to launch a nuke if he loses too badly in his war. Yes, this sort of narrative plays a lot better when describing someone you're actively at war with. Along with the fact that you are always winning the war. Ukraine has been winning the war with Russia for about 9 months now, according to the media.
- Paradigma11 4y ago
  "Ukraine has been winning the war with Russia for about 9 months now, according to the media." What media? In the beginning most reporting was that it would be over in a week. Then Russia had that little blunder with their first offensive. Then again most reporting was that the russian artillery steamroller would squash the Ukrainians. Now most media favor the Ukrainians due to their recent successes. Also goals and frames of reference changed. In the beginning winning for Ukraine was not letting Russia roflstomping them. Now it is throwing all russian military out of their country.

chrischen 4y ago

Consolidating power isn’t inherently against the interests of China. And as poster above explained, Putin is acting rationally. In fact, war is probably one of the most rational and pervasive actions throughout history. Probably every country has gone to war and it’s not always because some madman went berserk. It’s always in our interest to simply reduce our enemy to madmen or nazis, as it justifies our own counter aggression.

enraged_camel 4y ago

>> Is he? Yeah, Biden himself recently said that Putin is a rational actor who grossly miscalculated, because he was basically fed very bad and flawed intel. He may be blustering about nukes now, but the only way he would do that is if Ukraine turns the tables and invades Russia, or something similar.

hunterb123 4y ago
- enraged_camel 4y ago
  - MockObject 4y ago
- MockObject 4y ago
  > Would a rational actor enslave an entire ethnic minority in work camps, allow harvesting of organs, crush their financial world hub (Hong Kong), and so on? There is nothing irrational about the first two! Crushing HK is a rational necessity if there is a danger of such disobedience spreading to other regions.
- bombcar 4y ago
  "Rational" has somehow become synonymous with "good" or "agrees with me" - rationality doesn't have anything to do with those, it just means "not insane". And tyrants can be exceedingly rational; they just have their own goals that they're working towards, not the goals of some theoretical "perfect democracy".
  - hunterb123 4y ago
    It's insane to farm people for organs and to run concentration camps.
    - whimsicalism 4y ago
      Yes, I think this is a great example of parent commentators point.

whimsicalism 4y ago

> now the narrative has changed and he's an unstable madman whose going to launch a nuke if he loses too badly in his war. Yes, this sort of narrative plays a lot better when describing someone you're actively at war with. Along with the fact that you are always winning the war. Ukraine has been winning the war with Russia for about 9 months now, according to the media.

Paradigma11 4y ago
"Ukraine has been winning the war with Russia for about 9 months now, according to the media." What media? In the beginning most reporting was that it would be over in a week. Then Russia had that little blunder with their first offensive. Then again most reporting was that the russian artillery steamroller would squash the Ukrainians. Now most media favor the Ukrainians due to their recent successes. Also goals and frames of reference changed. In the beginning winning for Ukraine was not letting Russia roflstomping them. Now it is throwing all russian military out of their country.