*cough* Chomsky *cough*There is no demographic of America or Europe beyond the most deluded contrarians who like NSF Russia.
*cough* Chomsky *cough*There is no demographic of America or Europe beyond the most deluded contrarians who like NSF Russia.
Perhaps - but I still won't underestimate Newt Gingrich and the likes of the John Birch Society.Also, while lots of Communism fear mongering would be happening in America- even more than usual levels, I suppose- fascism would also be discredited much more. Extreme ideology in general would probably be less popular.
Time really is a flat circle goddamn.The following was written in 1854 around the Crimean war. Try not to see parallels to the same army 150 years later:
How can such troops be expected to make head,— we do not say against French enthusiasm, we do not say against British resolution, we do not say against fanatical and hardy mountaineers, like Shamyl and his warriors, — but even against courageous well fed Turks, fighting for their country and their faith, and officered by competent commanders? We need not wonder to read that at Oltenitza and Silistria the Russians had to be on to the assault with menaces and blows; that generals had to sacrifice their lives in an unprecedented manner in order to encourage the soldiers to make head against the foe; and that the prisoners of war begged as a mercy to be permitted to enlist in the army that had captured them rather than return to misery by being exchanged.
Lastly. There is another source of weakness in the Russian Empire. That vast State is in a great measure composed of spoils which she has torn from surrounding nations. She is a patchwork of filched and unamalgamated materials. Her frontier provinces are filled with injured, discontented, hostile populations, whom, being unable to reconcile to her rule, she has endeavoured to enfeeble and to crush; and many of whom wait, with more or less of patience and desire, the blessed day of emancipation and revenge. … Since the great Roman Empire probably, no State ever enfolded so many bitter enmities within its embrace, or was girt with such a circle of domestic foes.
Now these three last sources of Russian weakness are perennial. They belong to her as a despotism as a centralised administration, as an Empire formed by conquest and unconsolidated and unsecured by conciliation. Until, therefore, her whole system changed; till an honest middle class has been created; till her Government be liberalised and de-centralised; till a free Press be permitted and encouraged to unveil and denounce abuses; and till the rights and feelings of annexed territories be habitually respected, we do not think that Russia need henceforth be considered as formidable for aggression. She has been unmasked; it will be the fault of Europe if it dreads her, or submits to be bullied by her, any longer."
I understand and support the reparations program. However, knowing the Washington Consensus that became a thing after the collapse of the USSR, I could see the occupiers quickly exploiting European Russia for their own benefit just like OTL post-2003 Iraq. It won't be like West Germany where the US had an interest in ensuring a strong, stable economy there in order to counter the USSR. The occupiers are going to make European Russia as weak as possible which means exploiting it to the hilt. So I'm really not optimistic about the future of that place.
In many ways, Russia would become the world's biggest open-air pit mine, so to speak?Russia, frankly, seems as if it is most likely to be run by its European and North American overseers with an eye towards maximizing reparations, less with an eye towards fixing a country so thoroughly wrecked but its own inhabitants.
In many ways, Russia would become the world's biggest open-air pit mine, so to speak?
Organised crime/waste traders can also have a field day in smuggling waste into a region that almost no one cares for, if only that it will only involve "high-tier and particularly shameful wastes" due to the expensive overland logistics.In many ways, Russia would become the world's biggest open-air pit mine, so to speak?
Not to mention European Russia is filled with those who sadly didn’t have the fortunate to get out when they can. For them to pay the collective punishment is going to lead to some serious anger in the long run.Among other things, it is not clear to me that the American occupation forces—at least their commanders—actually believed that Iraq was responsible for 9/11. The most that Iraq could reasonably be charged with was domestic terror, an ill-thought, brutal, and disastrous occupation of a neighbour that got turned back after a year, and an attempt on Bush senior's life.
This cannot be said for Russia. After first falling into a brutal civil war putting classical Stalinists against indigenous fascists who went in to implement innovative new concepts in atrocity like rape camps, the country descended first into the commission of outright genocide before escalating into a nuclear war that devastated Russia but also touched all of Russia's neighbours. All of this occurred in the full view of the international community, with extensive documentation. The nuclear attacks, particularly, seem likely to be classified by the world's leading powers as a central crime in the new world order being built.
Beyond that ... After the Western diasporids were evacuated before 4/10, and after the pre-4/10 refugees made it out, and after the post-4/10 survivors of the fascist genocides were resettled in their new homes, it would be easy for people to conclude that the only people left in Russia are perpetrators of paradigm-shifting atrocity and those complicit with them.
I do not see any reasonable way that Russia would be allowed to have any significant level of autonomy, as much of a smoking ruin that the country might be. The last time that happened, in the Yeltsin era, an unparalleled catastrophe happened that quickly sucked in Russia's neighbours. The people who are responsible for supervising Russia, now absent such potentially West-friendly groups as liberals and ethnic minorities either because they have emigrated or because they have been murdered, are also Russia's victims. The only country that seems halfway friendly to Russians is Ukraine, and that because Ukrainians see Russian migrants as useful and force them to abandon their cultural heritage.
Russia, frankly, seems as if it is most likely to be run by its European and North American overseers with an eye towards maximizing reparations, less with an eye towards fixing a country so thoroughly wrecked but its own inhabitants.
Maybe in a generation's time the stigma will be less? We can hope.
True, but still, the point remains that, with much of Russia's industry and infrastructure gutted if not outright destroyed, reparations would most likely be paid in the form of resource extraction.My understanding is that Russia's fuel exports now come mostly from western Siberia, not European Russia. I am not sure whether that was the case in the early 1990s.
Really this going to the worst times to cope after 4/10 in Russian community for years to comeNot to mention European Russia is filled with those who sadly didn’t have the fortunate to get out when they can. For them to pay the collective punishment is going to lead to some serious anger in the long run.
I suppose several years later if the occupation turns out of be exploitive Russian diasporas will do their best to end the suffering. They’d be able to utilize the goodwill for their cause for sure.
Not to mention European Russia is filled with those who sadly didn’t have the fortunate to get out when they can. For them to pay the collective punishment is going to lead to some serious anger in the long run.
I suppose several years later if the occupation turns out of be exploitive Russian diasporas will do their best to end the suffering. They’d be able to utilize the goodwill for their cause for sure.
True, but still, the point remains that, with much of Russia's industry and infrastructure gutted if not outright destroyed, reparations would most likely be paid in the form of resource extraction.
FixedThe 'Novgorod Kingdom' is just a nickname given to the Russian Federation in Pushkingrad/Kaliningrad and is not a separate entity. European Russia remains its nominal territory but it is administered by the United Nations, with the region's pulverised economy paying out reparations to the genocide victims.
Nice one Kotka great fixedFixed
*cough* Current politics in Chat *cough**cough* Chomsky *cough*
The full English translation already exists on this site. It's this very story.Only if a full English translation is included
Well, that will make it easier to ensure that their is full English translation with each post.The full English translation already exists on this site. It's this very story.
The 'european system' is of course an oversimplified generalization, but there are 'european systems' that could work in the US. Well, there is specifically one- the Swiss healthcare system. It doesn't get much attention- which is obviously due in part to how small Switzerland is- but it achieves universal coverage mostly through regulated private insurance while being the most expensive in Europe (and second in the world). Here's a good but relatively old and biased piece from the New York Times. That's not that much of a change (I mean it is, but this is relative) from America's statistically awful near-universal healthcare regime then, say, a system like Canada or (obviously) the NHS.Alright, this is the last I will say about this topic, because we're veering dangerously off topic.
The reasons that the chances for an American Universal Healthcare System are abysmal are that the people advocating for it have no clue what they actually want and have proven themselves unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices to implement it. Kraut did a great video about it(Edit: here), which I'll edit in later, but for now, let's just continue onwards.
When American politicians talk about healthcare, they talk about the "European System" and how it should be copied. Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of European Healthcare however will tell you that there is no "European System." The various countries of Europe have vastly different systems in place. Here in Germany we have a hybrid system, where (almost) everyone is automatically part of the public system, but you can also instead choose a private insurance instead. England has it NHS, which is entirely public. And so on, and so forth. All of those systems have their own quirks, and not all of them are compatible with the US. Hell, they may not even be compatible with individual member states. So just taking some European healthcare model and applying it 1:1 in the US is a recipe for disaster.
The point being, there is no actual plan of how that is meant to actually work in the States.
Which brings me to the next point: about how healthcare isn't a right, it's an obligation. Without universal healthcare, you being a fat f*ck is your problem. If you don't take care of yourself, you just have to pay more for the inevitable illnesses you'll contract. And if you can't pay, well, that's just the consequences of your actions.
But with universal healthcare, you being healthy all of a sudden is a matter of public interest. Because if you aren't, everyone else will have to pay the bills for you. And nobody wants to do that. As a result, the government starts increasingly interfering both in business and in your private life. The amount of sugar in food is regulated, marketing unhealthy food towards children is banned, sports are encouraged and incentivized, etc. All of which flies in the face of the American character.
Rejecting universal healthcare isn't some extreme, fringe position in the US. So it won't be discredited in the slightest. I do not believe congress would be willing to pass that bill. Meaning it would have to be installed via Presidential Order, and thus would simply be abolished by the next Republican to sit in the Oval Office.
Again, individual states may try out the healthcare model, but it didn't work OTL, so I doubt it'll work here.
Perhaps - but I still won't underestimate Newt Gingrich and the likes of the John Birch Society.