This is what happens when our weak government "experts" make decisions based on irrational Twitter hysteria. Putin may be a thug, but he thinks long-term and rationally compared to our predictable lemming ruling class. Brandon will read from a teleprompter, virtue signal about SWIFT and banning Russian vodka, but will still not allow us to produce more energy to reduce reliance on Russian gas so Putin will maintain leverage.
Trump was president and we were energy independent for a short time. President Poopy Pants comes in and on day one stops new oil and gas leases and cancels the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the US. Oil prices rise, 7% of imports are from Russia and you'll notice, that they don't want to ban those imports as prices will rise at the pump. Saudi Arabia (Our Friends. LOL) said "No" to increased production. So we handed these states our nut sacks and they are squeezing them hard now. Biden and his team of Obama Idiots won't reverse their decisions and open up oil and gas production, because they are always right. "Common Sense, is not so common" - Voltaire
Around 50% of Financial Transactions globally are done outside the traditional banking system. The United States and the idiots that run the show, forgot that in 1992, the Cold War ended and the Bretton Woods agreements weren't going to hold up in the long term. Their solution was to pretend the world was unchanged. We are now seeing the folly of the "Ostrich Brigade" who grew up and only know how to act in the prism of the Cold War. That's why the Deep State railed against Trump when he asked a simple question, "Why do will still need NATO" and the redrawing of all of our important trade relationships. That tells you everything you need to know.
The good news is the United States in the "Cleanest Shirt" in the dirty pile. Capital will continue to migrate to the US as we "Suck Less" than everyone else.
and let's not forget the value of the dollar really is backed by oil.
i don't think the west wins the narrative war either. you can only suppress facts for so long. nato forcibly removed the democratically elected pro-russian president in 2014. since then they outlawed the russian language (um discrimination), nato supported militant forces who shelled the donbass region for 7 years, and zelensky officially stated misnk will not be ratified. these all amount to putins demands. considering he invaded georgia, took out the threatening installations, then left, i think we will see the same. he doesn't want to occupy a foreign nation, he wants to protect people that identify as russian as well as his borders.
These placed Putins back against the wall and left him no other option than to attack. This is more than just a failure of the west, this shows aggression by the west to encroach on Russias borders.
In the end, the only winner of this is China who now will open an alternative to swift and have an easier play for global reserve.
I am tired with the idea "hey you hurting ordinary people in russia with broad sanctions”. For a long time since 2014 all sanctions and preventive measures were very targeted on Russian politicians, their interests and their friends. It simply didn't work. They always find a way around and keep doing what they are doing. Now the sanctions applied very broadly specifically to hurt everyone in russia so nobody can say "hey i am out of politics dont touch me" anymore, because the situation is much more severe than you probably think. Now the whole world is saying "hey russians, we tried hard to influence your madman president there, but we can't, so now its your job to calm him down, get rid of him or kill him, do whatever, its your problem now". And its fair. You can stay out of politics only for so long, not taking an action is also an action. Too many Russians were not taking any action for too long, so that became the passive supportive action by itself. Now they need to deal with consequences. Yes, i am ukrainian and i am biased, but tell me where i am wrong.
This is what happens when our weak government "experts" make decisions based on irrational Twitter hysteria. Putin may be a thug, but he thinks long-term and rationally compared to our predictable lemming ruling class. Brandon will read from a teleprompter, virtue signal about SWIFT and banning Russian vodka, but will still not allow us to produce more energy to reduce reliance on Russian gas so Putin will maintain leverage.
Trump was president and we were energy independent for a short time. President Poopy Pants comes in and on day one stops new oil and gas leases and cancels the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the US. Oil prices rise, 7% of imports are from Russia and you'll notice, that they don't want to ban those imports as prices will rise at the pump. Saudi Arabia (Our Friends. LOL) said "No" to increased production. So we handed these states our nut sacks and they are squeezing them hard now. Biden and his team of Obama Idiots won't reverse their decisions and open up oil and gas production, because they are always right. "Common Sense, is not so common" - Voltaire
Around 50% of Financial Transactions globally are done outside the traditional banking system. The United States and the idiots that run the show, forgot that in 1992, the Cold War ended and the Bretton Woods agreements weren't going to hold up in the long term. Their solution was to pretend the world was unchanged. We are now seeing the folly of the "Ostrich Brigade" who grew up and only know how to act in the prism of the Cold War. That's why the Deep State railed against Trump when he asked a simple question, "Why do will still need NATO" and the redrawing of all of our important trade relationships. That tells you everything you need to know.
I'm concerned about the debt and social strife the US will be left with. It's like a Germany right after WW1 setup...
The good news is the United States in the "Cleanest Shirt" in the dirty pile. Capital will continue to migrate to the US as we "Suck Less" than everyone else.
Just wait until Putin cuts off the flow of gas to Europe which transits through Turkey. EU may have money and payments but they won't have any gas.
and let's not forget the value of the dollar really is backed by oil.
i don't think the west wins the narrative war either. you can only suppress facts for so long. nato forcibly removed the democratically elected pro-russian president in 2014. since then they outlawed the russian language (um discrimination), nato supported militant forces who shelled the donbass region for 7 years, and zelensky officially stated misnk will not be ratified. these all amount to putins demands. considering he invaded georgia, took out the threatening installations, then left, i think we will see the same. he doesn't want to occupy a foreign nation, he wants to protect people that identify as russian as well as his borders.
Pomp- if you want to expand your thinking on this I highly recommend this Glenn Greenwald article: https://greenwald.substack.com/p/war-propaganda-about-ukraine-becoming?r=4z7m3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
holy crap that was long winded and said little. here's some salient points for context:
1. Nato backed the forcible removal of democratically elected, pro-russian Yanukovych in 2014.
2. Ukraine outlawed the Russian language, the primary language of 30M+ people.
3. Militants were backed with NATO weapons and shelled the Donbass region for 7 years.
4. Zelensky openly stated that the Minsk agreements will not be ratified.
This is from here https://www.ukcolumn.org/ukcolumn-news/uk-column-news-25th-february-2022 and is the best breakdown of what is going on yet. They provide sources and I've gone through most of them to verify.
These placed Putins back against the wall and left him no other option than to attack. This is more than just a failure of the west, this shows aggression by the west to encroach on Russias borders.
In the end, the only winner of this is China who now will open an alternative to swift and have an easier play for global reserve.
I am tired with the idea "hey you hurting ordinary people in russia with broad sanctions”. For a long time since 2014 all sanctions and preventive measures were very targeted on Russian politicians, their interests and their friends. It simply didn't work. They always find a way around and keep doing what they are doing. Now the sanctions applied very broadly specifically to hurt everyone in russia so nobody can say "hey i am out of politics dont touch me" anymore, because the situation is much more severe than you probably think. Now the whole world is saying "hey russians, we tried hard to influence your madman president there, but we can't, so now its your job to calm him down, get rid of him or kill him, do whatever, its your problem now". And its fair. You can stay out of politics only for so long, not taking an action is also an action. Too many Russians were not taking any action for too long, so that became the passive supportive action by itself. Now they need to deal with consequences. Yes, i am ukrainian and i am biased, but tell me where i am wrong.