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> This paradox is a street level wisdom from many people who have actual experience with Russians: if you are attacked, you have to attack back fiercely. If you
by mopsi 4y ago
> This paradox is a street level wisdom from many people who have actual experience with Russians: if you are attacked, you have to attack back fiercely. If you don't, you are not respected (more precisely, you are disrespected and considered weak and exploitable), if you do, you are, if you win, they might very likely consider you as their friend.
Finland is a good example of this. The beating Russians got from Finland in the Winter War[1] is legendary and Finns are respected for that. Finland enjoyed relatively good relations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, far better than most countries, which allowed it to act as a mediator in key diplomatic events of the Cold War.[2]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki_Accords https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki_Accords
- A4ET8a8uTh0 4y agoMy apologies, but we can be just as easily produce a counter example where Poland took Moscow[1] and Russia having nothing that would resemble respect. If anything, the events that followed suggest quite the opposite. << this paradox is a street level wisdom I disagree. If anything, it is street level wisdom that strength is the only thing Russian respects. And again, note that the same wisdom is applied to other nations when convenient for narrative purposes. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian_occupation_of_Moscow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian_occu...