Posted on 05/23/2006 11:27:48 AM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Go there and live there, not as a foreign hard currency guest, but go and live regular drab run-of-the-mill existence - and then it will dawn on you what the hell I have been talking about.
I did not need Hunntington to learn that what he called "Orthodox civ" is rabid baboonery - I had learned that much "by the skin of my own back" way before I heard his name.
I didn't say Russia is a fun place, I simply said as a threat to the United States, Russia is not comparable to the USSR.
It is an existential threat, sort of a hereditary enemy in old-time blood feuds. Now they are merely not in position of former USSR, that's all. Down, but not yet out. But their nature, worldview, ambitions etc - Weltanschauung - remains the same [sans red banners, but those were a meaningless decoration anyway], and that's why they are a threat.
OK I respect your feelings about Russia as a threat.
Your words befit an uncivilized person.
Seek help.
I got all the help I needed - I got out of that hell, and, as is my duty as a civilized person, keep warning others about it.
The Soviet commie hell I can understand but why the hate against the Lord's faith? Out of what deep despairing hole does that originate?
" got all the help I needed - I got out of that hell, and, as is my duty as a civilized person, keep warning others about it."
When did you leave? Have you been back? Do you know the true real conditions over there today, or is your opinion biased based on past experiences? Do you loathe those who weren't as fortunate as you and were left behind?
I'm assuming you left your homeland because it was occupied by a criminal regime. When that regime was destroyed why didn't you return and help rebuild it into a democratic society?
Putin is a communist with a makeover and an image team.
Ping
It doesn't take much in the way of "sophistication" to understand that the same Stalinists who owned and controlled Russia prior to the wall coming down control Russia now.
Russia will continue to consolodate state power. The Stalinists who run the country aren't the least bit interested in democracy.
** - to explain to you what I mean here I'll give an example: once my previous workplace in the US was conducting an executive search for a "sweep" - senior VP. Large office stood empty for months, and nobody knew who or when will come to occupy it. So, couple months before they hired him, I had assumed a face of a prophet from bad movies, and stared in the future, telling my co-workers what to put on the nameplate on that office door: " I see it... I see it... GREEDY A**HOLE!". Well, couple months later they finally hired him - and boy, was I proved right! They had to squeeze him out in less than a year. And may this be a lesson: it is/was immaterial WHO he was, but very material WHAT he was.
"I do not need to know "real conditions" - I need to know the people making these conditions, and the only thing I need to know about them is not WHO they are, but WHAT they are.** I keep periodic communication with my contacts there - and what I hear from them merely confirms what I have already known."
1.) You are "them" but you don't recognize this fact. Explains your cynicism.
2.) Your contacts are more than likely former or current friends and acquaintances - as such they probably have much in common with you and see things as you do. Quite natural, but doesn't provide much variety in viewpoints to properly ascertain the situation over there.
3.) Nice analysis of the new "VP" but hardly novel. The type of person they hired is the norm, not the exception.
Allow me to explain my position on this - and I'll apologize in advance for insulting you.
You fled your homeland. It's quite understandable and reasonable that you did. Now that the country you fled has the opportunity of turning itself into a better place you find yourself conflicted. Perhaps deep down you do want to see them do well, BUT, if they do, then your decision to flee might not seem to have been a wise one in the long run, or you may have missed out on an opportunity to lead - to make a difference. Instead, it's easier to say that place is doomed and never will change. In that manner of thinking you will then always be "justified' for leaving your country of birth and won't feel as you haven't contributed or missed an opportunity.
If I recall correctly GSlob left the fSU prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain, and has never returned. He is not from Russia.
While there is some truth to what you say about Russia, I tried to overgeneralize about them. They have extremely talented young folk who are "right thinkers." The key is whether or not they'll be corrupted by the system when it's there turn to lead OR whether they'll be able to take the reins before the country is put on a path of no return. Their transition from an authoritarian society to a democratic one has definitely hit a few potholes. But, I still see some areas of hope over there. Our "job" is to ensure the new generation understands the long road a country must take to become truly democractic. Naysaying and attacking people just for the crime of being "Russian" (not saying you do) does nobody any good.
A strong and confident Russia wouldn't be making deals with China, Chavez, Iran, and Hamas. They do so out of weakness and the desire to be relevant. This only underscores the necessity of a strong and stable Russia in the community of nations.
read "tried to overgeneralize" as "try not to over generalize"
I do not need to generalize, for life nicely follows these generalizations even if they are not being made. Making these predictions [a la Zinoviev, my late teacher] could be fun, at least initially, but has long ago become boring - yes, summer will be warmer than winter. What else is new?
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