5 ms·

That guy is not objective as his life depends on good will of russian govt. I think he is playing "nicest" possible according to conditions he lives in, but at

That guy is not objective as his life depends on good will of russian govt. I think he is playing "nicest" possible according to conditions he lives in, but at the end he has to "bend". Russia have a lot of difficulties with transferring money to and from abroad so it is kind of "natural" way for them to go into "promoting" something that can't be that easily controlled and tracked (yet).

A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
Eh. Sure, but do you remember why he was effectively forced to stay in Russia ( although with the benefit of hindsight, this may have worked out better for him than he initially anticipated ). Do you remember how US, allegedly, forced down an airplane over EU[1]? None of this happened in a vacuum and while I do not automatically subscribe to this particular 'app', I do not dismiss it purely based on the messenger. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident
- UberFly 4y ago
  Eh. Right but in this case you still have to take into account the messenger. He lives in a sobering reality and I'm sure everything he promotes and communicates he knows must walk a certain line.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
    Reality is we are in a proxy war with Russia ( some would argue we are past that ). The same reality that guides his actions guide actions of many entities in US ( note recent discussion of banning TikTok, but not FB, LinkedIn or other social media ). Naturally, some would argue that the comparison is not apt, but I would invite those to indicate why the comparison fails to expose the hollowness of those arguments. Naturally, others may feel a tinge of 'national fervor' and proclaim that no one tells me what to say, while immediately noticing that those that do not toe the official government line are brought to heel via more subtle means of coercion[1]. Those typically ask questions along the lines of whether I somehow equate US with Russia or China and suggest that , clearly, this is false equivalency. To those people I ask, how so? If we are all expected to toe the line, is it false at all? In short, I am not dismissing what you are saying, but how exactly is it that different from US? There are topics that were entirely verbotten not that long ago ( Foreign Policy discussions were fairly carefully left undebated with exceptions of professional diplomats ) and even today there are topics you simply cannot discuss openly, because you will be automatically banned/shadow banned/restricted/ridiculed in the digital world if you are lucky and doxxed in real world along with other nasty real world consequences if you are not. If anyone lives in a sobering reality, it is anyone looking at the world through the lens of an alien, who is slowly wondering if he belongs to the same species. edit: changed professional diplomats line; reads a little better [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent

A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago

Eh. Sure, but do you remember why he was effectively forced to stay in Russia ( although with the benefit of hindsight, this may have worked out better for him than he initially anticipated ). Do you remember how US, allegedly, forced down an airplane over EU[1]? None of this happened in a vacuum and while I do not automatically subscribe to this particular 'app', I do not dismiss it purely based on the messenger. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident

UberFly 4y ago
Eh. Right but in this case you still have to take into account the messenger. He lives in a sobering reality and I'm sure everything he promotes and communicates he knows must walk a certain line.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
  Reality is we are in a proxy war with Russia ( some would argue we are past that ). The same reality that guides his actions guide actions of many entities in US ( note recent discussion of banning TikTok, but not FB, LinkedIn or other social media ). Naturally, some would argue that the comparison is not apt, but I would invite those to indicate why the comparison fails to expose the hollowness of those arguments. Naturally, others may feel a tinge of 'national fervor' and proclaim that no one tells me what to say, while immediately noticing that those that do not toe the official government line are brought to heel via more subtle means of coercion[1]. Those typically ask questions along the lines of whether I somehow equate US with Russia or China and suggest that , clearly, this is false equivalency. To those people I ask, how so? If we are all expected to toe the line, is it false at all? In short, I am not dismissing what you are saying, but how exactly is it that different from US? There are topics that were entirely verbotten not that long ago ( Foreign Policy discussions were fairly carefully left undebated with exceptions of professional diplomats ) and even today there are topics you simply cannot discuss openly, because you will be automatically banned/shadow banned/restricted/ridiculed in the digital world if you are lucky and doxxed in real world along with other nasty real world consequences if you are not. If anyone lives in a sobering reality, it is anyone looking at the world through the lens of an alien, who is slowly wondering if he belongs to the same species. edit: changed professional diplomats line; reads a little better [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent