lowkey

30 ms·

301.
by lowkey 5y ago
It seems you had to stretch the details of your example well beyond the range of possibility in order to make your case. Yes, I would would most certainly agree to support such an individual in the implausible scenario you just described. H
302.
by lowkey 5y ago
It is pretty simple really, consider the 2 options: 1) Stop buying oil & gas from oligarchs and Russian elites. The oils stays in Russia and Russians stay warm in winter. Putin loses billions in foreign currency which he was using to wa
303.
by lowkey 5y ago
Thank you for making my point about dis-information in a time of war. This is fake news by CNN. It is easy to disprove and it isn’t the only example from western media. For example 6 days ago The NY Times reported that Shell had stopped buy
304.
by lowkey 5y ago
How are the Russian oligarchs robbing Russian citizens of the wealth they otherwise could have? I didn’t read that from OP’s post and I don’t understand what exactly you are claiming here. Do Russian oligarchs steal from the bank accounts o
305.
by lowkey 5y ago
Not true. I am bemoaning the fact that there IS at least one precision nuke that would single-handedly hit 30% of Russia’s GDP, cause direct pain to Russia’s oligarchs and elites, and immediate decimate Putin’s war machine - all while doing
306.
by lowkey 5y ago
But my point is why start with broad sanctions applied to every Russian citizen instead of putting an immediate end to us directly subsidizing Putin’s was machine? Clearly the latter is more focused on the Russian government, ends a direct
307.
by lowkey 5y ago
You forgot D) stop directly subsidizing Putin’s war machine by buying Russia’s oil & gas.
308.
by lowkey 5y ago
Why do you conflate Putin with the Russian people? Sanctioning oil and gas would end a direct war subsidy to Putin. Broad sanctions against the people of Russia don’t do nearly as much to stop the war as simply not buying petroleum-chemical
309.
by lowkey 5y ago
I’ve read elsewhere that the economic costs would be significant and elected leaders in the west find it politically untenable and would be fearful of being voted out of office if gas priced explode. I would like to believe our elected lead
310.
by lowkey 5y ago
Sure we do. Currently we are giving Putin up to a Billion USD per day to buy his oil and gas. If we cut off this market it would cripple Putin’s war in Ukraine much more effectively than arming Ukrainians on the ground. Add in energy subsid
311.
by lowkey 5y ago
Estimates vary but it seems the current sanctions include a carve-out allowing Russia to sell $0.8-$1 billion USD per day in oil and gas. I can assure you that a significant portion of these funds is being used by Putin’s regime to wage thi
312.
by lowkey 5y ago
They will die because western governments find it politically more convenient to apply broad indiscriminate sanctions against all citizens of the country instead of cutting off funding from the head of the snake by NOT buying Russian oil &a
313.
by lowkey 5y ago
Unfortunately I don’t have the perfect answer to immediately end this conflict with no collateral damage to anyone as you said. That doesn’t mean I advocate arbitrarily punishing innocent civilians for the actions of their rulers - especial
314.
by lowkey 5y ago
> So we should just let Russia invade whatever country it wants and kill their way through Europe because otherwise ordinary Russian citizens might suffer? No, absolutely not but that is a false dichotomy and I think you also know that.
315.
by lowkey 5y ago
It is though. The west does shove their grubby hands into the bank accounts of ordinary citizens - all the time - to steal their money, resources and taxes. - A few weeks ago it was Canada freezing bank accounts of their political opponents
316.
by lowkey 5y ago
Actually, it is currently impossible for US citizens to renounce their citizenship for all practical purposes. Technically it should be possible but in reality renouncing requires an exit interview and the US State Department has refused to
317.
by lowkey 5y ago
I disagree. The suffering of Russian people is very avoidable. For example if the US and Germany had the political and economic will to stop buying oil from Russia and thereby directly funding Putin’s war. Instead they chose broad indiscrim
318.
by lowkey 5y ago
The net effect is the same. Average Russian citizens are being treated as pawns and they will face the most brutal effects of these sanctions. Oligarchs and authoritarians in Russia have options and resources to weather the storm. Many ever
319.
by lowkey 5y ago
If I understand correctly, you are fine with broad economic sanctions on everyday Russians, most of whom are already poor especially after the collapse of the Ruble - and who frankly don’t have as much say over their authoritarian governmen
320.
by lowkey 5y ago
Meanwhile the White House Press secretary, yesterday, defended the US decision to continue buying Russian oil. Since the US is also directly funding the Russian’s ability to wage war in Ukraine, would you advocate for the US and other Weste
321.
by lowkey 5y ago
I feel like you are conveniently skipping the part where millions of ordinary Russians are being economically devastated by broad brush sanctions that punish the poor and middle class Russians who are innocent of war crimes, simply because
322.
by lowkey 5y ago
If you don’t trust the official election polls in Russia, why would you trust their opinion polls to be honest. If I were Putin, I would certainly be tempted to manipulate opinion polls to make it look like I am more popular than I really a
323.
by lowkey 5y ago
That the US is arguably the most powerful nation in the world and that sanctions by smaller economies vs empires like the US are like Palistinian children throwing rocks at Israeli tanks. It is easy to claim that sanctions against the US wo
324.
by lowkey 5y ago
But at what cost? I am pretty sure that everyday Russians do know that something is going on but I have trouble justifying broad sanctions against the poor and middle-class citizens of Russia, Iran or Venezuela - especially since many of
325.
by lowkey 5y ago
Censorship has always been a thing in authoritarian regimes. My concern is that it increasingly an issue in traditional western liberal democracies. Whether it is by state decree (see Covid), state-subsidized media self-censorship (see Cana
326.
by lowkey 5y ago
To be fair, if the best endorsement you can provide for the Economist is that they tend to be fairly accurate, then it doubles my resolve to be skeptical and vigilant of any claims made by media. This article sounds reasonable, even log
327.
by lowkey 5y ago
Would it change anything in your eyes to know that the Azov Batallion has been shelling civilian Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the Donbas region since 2014? I am firmly of the position that no Nazi is a good Nazi. I am surprised to find my
328.
by lowkey 5y ago
No other country that is allied with western liberal democracies openly employs Neo-Nazis in any capacity to my knowledge, other than Ukraine. Please share examples if you have them. It should be easy if, as you say “most countries have at
329.
by lowkey 5y ago
I mentioned it because the AZOV Battallion are official paid members of Ukraine’s National Guard and have been since before 2014. I think that makes it worth mentioning. How many other countries (that the West defends) can claim to have ope
330.
by lowkey 5y ago
I believe those are relatively recent developments. The Azov Battalion by contrast have been active members of Ukraine's national guard since at least 2014.

More ›