A Strong Alliance with Russia is in Our Best Interest

A Strong Alliance with Russia is in Our Best Interest

I love the way these things are offered. It is as if an alliance is purely a one-way arrangement, as if our side can just announce that we are allies and it becomes fact. The other guys don't have any input at all.

"You look at the hats, I - at the monkeys."
On the contrary. Eastern Europe is my homeland. I obviously understand how it works there. I interact with people living in that region. I share their fears and dreams. I simply know or the fact that given proper economic incentives people in this region display entrepreneurial spirit to the same extent as people in different parts of the world. If we talk about Russia it happened at least two times; at the beginning of XX century, and after Revolution as a part of 3-year plan. Russia problem is not "orthodox civ", but the way it is afflicted with illnesses of western civ. To be precise; dependence on nanny state, disintegration of the family, low birth rate etc. Russia is unlucky to have all western illnesses without western wealth. If you want to believe, that Russia is an exotic country inhibited by people, who are distinctly different from westerners, be my guest, but you are plainly wrong.
The word "rab" was invented by people, that had no idea of American-type of slavery, the word described their reality, not the American one. "Rab" in Russia was a member of household, who contributed to it without having any say. In household hierarchy he was at the bottom. It's truth, however you have to remember, that servants were peasants, who were simply ordered to act as servants. A peasant in Russia even hadn't the right even to leave his village without permission of the land owner. So I'm not so sure whose position was better.

Well, and I was born and grew up in Moscow. Eastern Europe of Western Christianity belongs to the Western civ, and is easily re-incorporated there. The other Eastern Europe is not, and does not. Compare the ease of decommunization in Lithuania vs. Belarus- they are geographical neighbors, but civilizationally they are strangers to one another. The former are people in [temporarily poor] hats, and the latter are monkeys in [poor] hats. In the former care, the hats are becoming progressively less poor.

It's very possible the Mayor knows people directly or knows about Russians, or Russian Jews still stuck behind the lines in the land of Putin.

Brighton Beach, in South Brooklyn rather close to Coney Island, is called "Little Odessa" for its large Russian population, including the 'Russian Mafia'.

It's got to be that bad pastrami :)

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