Posted on 12/31/2016 12:27:51 PM PST by WilliamIII
Actually that was a poster who said "I've spent a lot of time in Russia..."
You can't make this stuff up! ;-)
Why is it, in your opinion, that blacks and Hispanics have been able to decrease their levels of alcoholism?
Yes, Putin is very much a capitalist and that is why he has accumulated a wealth of $70 billion from being a public servant.
Wow. Okay then. We are 100% in full agreement. Seriously. Sorry for any misunderstanding.
No problemo.
You get FR there?
In Russia, the government has majority control of the airline, the media the oil company, the communications company and the railroad.
That does not sound too capitalistic to me.
“Why are they our enemy? “
Putin is a KGB thug. You do remember the Cold War thingy we had going on?
Having a knee jerk response to the Democrats sudden stance as victims of Putin; doesn’t change who Russia really is.
We can get along with Russia’; but they aren’t friends.
Lol. Good point.
I don’t see Putin on Forbes list of the world’s richest men, which he would be if hr were really worth $70 Billion, coming in at #2 or #3. Forbes regularly includes dictators who have stolen state money in their richest lists. You are going to have to stop sniffing glue.
Did you read the title of the thread? The first sentence reads “Vanity: explain why I should fear Russia.” It’s not off topic to list the reasons why OP should fear Russia. Reading is fundamental and you aren’t good at it.
All the things that he is positive about did not cause the conditions you describe.
Russians were in that state when they came out of communism and are improving their birthrate. You exaggerate to say alcoholism is universal, it is high but not universal. The rest of what you accurately describe is a carryover from many generations of communism.
Other former Soviet blocs are not much better and in fact, former communist places like Croatia and Slovenia are in despair as well. Even non-communist nations are on the brink of anarchy, for example Greece.
It’s only been about 25 years since the fall of the USSR. That’s not quite a full economic generation yet. Russia does indeed have problems but they also have successes. They’ve always been that way in history.
Their biggest problem is the same as it was 100 years ago. They tend to be ruled by an autocracy. They have no culture or conditions for widespread innovation and technological disruptive invention. The latter exists in the USA largely due to the role of courts (e.g. Ma Bell breakup). Russians excel at many things because they have geniuses who are most often picked up and cared for by the autocratic ruling families.
There are 3 families that rule Russia. Putin is from one of them. They are presently at peace with one another. That is Putin’s achievement.
I never said that was my opinion.
According to Forbes:
“We do not include royal family members or dictators who derive their fortunes entirely as a result of their position of power, nor do we include royalty who, often with large families, control the riches in trust for their nation.”
If they did, Fidel Castro would have been at the top of the list.
I don’t know Tom but I’m starting to really like him!
Anyway, Russians are smart and funny and I’m not scared of them. We both countries need to ditch the media, the Alinsky mocking, the PC, and be proud of our countries and kick Islamist and PC ass together all over the world. And eat caviar and blinis, maybe with tequila....
No, but it is off topic to attempt to hijack a thread, which is what you tried to do. And you never listed the reasons; you merely bullied your own - inane I might add - personal opinions as to why Russia is a failed state. Others have countered your poor reasoning. Yet you stubbornly held to them.
No worries, the opinions, frail as they are, are yours to spout.
Washington Post (12/23/16):
Nine charts that show how white women are drinking themselves to death
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