BruceVC

I dont see much of a change with the likely GOP control of Congress, just more oversight on aid but it wont stop. 70% or so of the US still support Ukraine. And this also because of Putin's propaganda because he turned this into a " this is war really about the US\West and Ukraine are just puppets " when its about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the US\NATO is not involved directly in the fighting. They provide resources and aid, thats not the same as saying " the US is at war with Russia " https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/three-four-americans-say-us-should-support-ukraine-despite-russian-threats-2022-10-05/

But neither is BLM, it has no recognised leadership or hierarchy. But BLM has a message and many people support them in different ways You dont need an official " group " to create something that people can ideologically align with and protest in that " groups " name. But having a structured leadership is irrelevant when you protest, most US protests are generally peaceful and even in the violent and disruptive Portland protests not all the protestors were involved in the criminality. But if you break the law in a protest you should be prosecuted, thats how you end violence in any protest No one gets arrested just saying they part of Antifa, they get arrested for breaking the law. But they still claim to be part of Antifa

I am not sure what you think the general criticism towards the unacceptable Portland protests was about? As usual there was culture wars hyperbole from both sides. My view is based on what happened and its not a conspiracy theory Protests went on for 3 months unabated in a Democrat controlled city, as usual the Dems lacked action or consequence for protests like this related to BLM Some protestors attacked and vandalized federal buildings, this is a crime irrespective whether people like that or not which is why the federal security were deployed. But the main reason for this deployment was due to the failure of the Dems to address the anarchy and disruptions. https://nypost.com/2020/08/19/protesters-burn-government-building-during-riot-in-portland/ https://www.newsweek.com/portland-protesters-damage-cost-federal-buildings-1566821 Antifa is a left wing extremist group that openly says "violence is justified due to xxx " so it espouses criminal conduct but its based in the US. Its not global and its separate to global BLM movements which are normally legitimate and legal

And you wonder why Ruskies avoid the draft, it sounds horrendous

Thanks for sharing, thats a good link and Im glad its exaggerated

https://www.theinteldrop.org/2022/11/03/russians-hack-american-delta-command-control-system-complete-battle-plans-for-ukraine-revealed/ Ruskies may have hacked US command system, they must change military plans if true?

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/iaea-finds-no-evidence-of-possible-use-of-dirty-bombs-in-ukraine/ar-AA13HlPG Zero evidence of the Ukrainians creating a dirty bomb. Of course its no surprise, you get use to the Russian lies and propaganda

Well Im just glad you got through it, I can only imagine how traumatic it must have been to create a script

Im not as clever as you guys and I dont use words like realpolitik because its confusing so I focus on what is happening now . Russia invaded a sovereign country and because of the Western sanctions and inefficiencies of the Russian military campaign Putins plans of conquest is failing. Putin decided to throttle gas to Europe and vatniks cheered " Europeans freezing to death ". The consequence of gas blackmail wasnt initially hyperbole because of the European dependency on gas from Russia so Russia could directly impact the lives of millions of people in the EU because he decided to invade Ukraine ....the EU didnt invade Russia The primary responsibility of most governments is the wellbeing of their own citizens so the EU was forced to find other markets for gas, they didnt do this until Russia used gas blackmail as a response to sanctions Apart from the fact I have family and friends who live in the EU there are also loads of people who live in the EU on this forum and Putin's War and actions directly impacts them. This is not some hypothetical debate about Realpolitik. This is about something that directly influences people's lives I know So no, Im not blaming the EU for responding to Putins War and the consequences of it

Do you agree that these are the main issues people will vote on and if not what issues do you think will influence peoples votes? Also what are issues in your state? I know you guys mostly vote Dems but what are the local issues

That makes sense and the state owning certain amounts of stocks ensures that strategic decisions are not badly by certain companies and boards. Its the same reason Majestic mentioned in Austria I support that for certain companies. But you need an effective government for that to be sustainable and acceptable. In SA the PIC doesnt get involved in the decisions companies make even though they are minority shareholders We have far too many examples of rampant corruption in the Public sector for them to get involved in corporate decisions. But if this was reduced the reality would be different for this type of joint corporate influence

What you and Gorth is saying is interesting but I want to clarify something. In SA we have universities that are also state funded, most are. But we also have private sector funded universities. But even in the state funded universities you have to pay for your degree unless you can qualify for NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid System ) but this only applies to students whose parents dont earn much money So in Nordic countries is all university access free? And then when you say " State only owns percentage of stocks in several companies" that means they minority shareholders but is it still tax payers money that pays for this minority shareholding? What is the reason the state owns stocks in private sector companies? Is it a standard percentage of shares across all private sector companies like 20%? Im not criticizing this model because it clearly works but its interesting. In SA we have the PIC (public investment corporation) that invests the government employees pension funds and they own shares worth about 14-18% of the total SA listed companies but it varies from company to company and our PIC is considered a normal pension fund investment company but its public sector owned. So maybe thats the same as the Finland model of government owning stocks, is that what you mean?

Do you guys have privately owned universities in Finland, or are the universities all state funded and controlled? And is it the same with your hospitals. Does everyone have free access to your hospitals or do you have to have medical aid The reason I ask is I consider the Nordic countries to be a successful hybrid of socialism and Capitalism but it depends on what the definition of socialism is. On Codex someone said to me that the Nordic countries are not socialist, they have social programs? My definition of socialism is the textbook definition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism "Socialism is a left-wing[1] economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership[2] of the means of production[3][4] as opposed to private ownership.[5][6][4] As a term, it describes the economic, political and social theories and movements associated with the implementation of such systems " So if all the hospitals and education is state controlled in Finland and not in the private sector thats socialism to me. And it clearly works and is successful yet Finland also has a vibrant and successful private sector which is why I call it a hybrid of socialism and Capitalism Is that accurate for Finland, do you consider Finland to be socialist and Capitalist?

Thats quite a rant, are you feeling better? You demonstrate whataboutism all the time, its fine but just own it Oh and you making personal attacks on me when you call me a troll, I've told you many times Im not a troll. There is a pattern to the way you respond to Russian actions and how you handwave war crimes and constantly use whataboutism. Maybe you not aware of it but several people notice it and its not just me and it has been pointed out to you several times And you perfectly entitled to your opinion but dont get all defensive when its raised. Russian paid trolls and shrills are real and exist. Im not suggesting you are one but they exist and Im sorry that seems to bother you so much. Its the Internet, that's how it goes

What do you mean, can you give an example?

Are you sure its not perceptions of shooting deaths and GOP hyperbole. How do we know there are shooting deaths

Yes thats true, crime is a complex problem and Im not sure if the Republicans can do better But it doesnt change the reality and how this is one of the issues people will decide to vote on. Its generally believed that Democrats are " soft " on crime and that perception exists and influences people's voting decisions

There is lots of updated data and perceptions that crime is on the increase, just google it. Here are some updated 2022 links, your link is from 2020-2021. https://nypost.com/2022/09/12/violent-crime-up-across-us-new-study/ https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/05/us/new-york-city-crime-wave-2022/index.html

Agreed, any long standing belief can be hard to change. Its not just political, its religious and things like science and I also agree its partly hardwired into our psyches But as you said our views can be changed but we must first accept we were wrong. And that doesnt mean you wrong about everything. True story, until about 6-7 years ago I couldn't admit I was wrong in any forum debate or debate in RL. I inherited that from most of the men in my family subconsciously who always like to be right. I was insecure especially in debates and for reason I felt I couldn't just accept or admit my view wasn't correct Anyway I had a paradigm shift in RL and on the Internet and I changed and I genuinely mean it when I say its good to admit you wrong, if you are, because then you can correct the mistake and or acknowledge what you didn't know. So you update your previous views, it builds strength and character. It doesnt make you weaker because end of the day all our views are about us and what we believe. They not about what others think about you Of course we all believe what we say, we dont intentionally want to wrong. Who has a debate thinking they wrong? But in life sometimes we are wrong and that's healthy and normal

Yes, its logical to come to that conclusion. But many of these guys have for years had certain " anti-Western " ideological views and they have been discussing these grievances for years. They based some of their views on geopolitical events like Bosnia and Iraq where you can criticize the West in certain valid ways And Russia was seen as somehow being the antithesis to the " evil, Capitalism West " and to them provided a " better " system. But they ignored the rising and constant militancy and hegemony from Putin during the years because there issues with the West was greater But when Russia invaded Ukraine and demonstrated everything, and worse, that they said was dysfunctional and wrong with Western " imperialism " it shattered there narrative and what some of them have believed for the last 10- 30 years or so And I can imagine how jarring this must be. Suddenly Russia was the liar, the warmonger and doing everything they claim made the West the bad guy And some of them have accepted this new reality but many haven't. Thats another reason why they seem to spend time defending Russia or ignoring things like blatant war crimes and atrocities. They just cant accept their ideological views have been turned upside down A simplistic analogy is you find out your parents arent your parents anymore, they actually stole you from someone else. It hard to accept and how do you emotionally respond....lots of things to consider ( and again its not the same but its similar )

There are different types of people who support Putins War and why they say what they say on the Internet. Some of them are paid trolls and this is a well known media strategy of the Russian state as Monty mentioned but others are " pro-Russian" for other reasons like they more anti-US, anti-Capitalism or they angry about Western influence and ostensible imperialism. Some of them normally wouldnt support Russia, they just support anyone who is opposed the West for a variety of reasons IMO the Russian trolls like Comrade and Vals arent paid trolls, they more anti-US\West so they just repeat certain narratives and have certain views that align with supporting Putins War

I had to share this to remind us of the depth and prevalence of the Russian propaganda machinery and fake news in February , some of it is hilarious

This is yet another example of the egregious propaganda and grandstanding that is common from the Russian state controlled media This is the official message from the state, you dont find this degree of grandstanding from Western countries. You just dont

It was a good link you posted and objective But as far as getting support from the world thats complicated and what do we mean by that? Its not going to change the support for the resources for Ukraine or for the open support for Russia from the likes of Belarus or Syria. Its well known who is committed to what side and I cant see that changing because unless you involved in providing resources to either side what difference does a particular countries opinion make around who provoked who? Most countries seem to want UN endorsement which always surprises me because its symbolic. But the votes and resolutions have never gone Russia's way And as far as broader global support or criticism of the West thats nothing new. I live in a country where at least 2-3 times a month a political analyst or commentator in our media will blame " colonialism\Western influence " for civil wars or leaderships failures in Africa that have nothing to do with either. Its less and less as the years have gone on and more commentators will explain the issues in Africa are about reasons like bad leadership, corruption or rejection of governance and accountability But a certain small group still blame the West even when its not involved. I think this comes from reality of the history of Colonialism and some people are still fixated on that time period and ignore how things have changed and most of the problems in Africa are not because of Colonialism

So the US midterms are almost upon us. I predict sweeping Republican victories in the Senate and possibly the House These are the main issues for most voting US citizens in these elections inflation economy crime border control R vs W matters but not as much as these salient issues. I think the Dems has miscalculated how much the other issues will influence voting patterns. But we will have to wait and see