Russian media today, 25 April 2022
Gilbert Doctorow
https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2022/04/25/russian-media-today-25-april-2022/
Biden Admin. Rolls Out ‘Whole-of-Government’ Drone Plan, Admits There’s No Actual ‘Specific Threats’
https://sputniknews.com/20220426/biden-admin-rolls-out-whole-of-government-drone-plan-admits-theres-no-actual-specific-threats-1095055044.html
CIA may help battle ‘hostile’ drones on US soil
https://www.rt.com/news/554514-cia-nasa-threatening-drones/
Well maybe a "weakened Russia" is good for everyone: Good for Russia's neighbours and, believe it or not, good for the Russian themselves (Ask the tens of thousands dead Russians and many more maimed or wounded and see what they tell you).
ReplyDeleteYou know, Tom, the Clinton presidency archives are now open to the public. You know which party was vehemently opposed to this? Russia. Why? Because it puts the blame on a lot of the shit that befell Russia in the 1990s squarely on the Russians themselves. Have a read. It says a lot about Nato.
@ lastgreek
ReplyDeleteThat's all said in terms of your worldview, which is solidly embedded in the Western worldview and its narratives, which you take as "objective." And I emphasize "believe." You are proving my point.
Because it puts the blame on a lot of the shit that befell Russia in the 1990s squarely on the Russians themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn my worldview, this is correct but the Clintonistas are still absolving themselves of have enabled it, if not actually having adding to the conditions that created it. We are still dealing with the fallout from that and Bill recently absolved himself again. But from the multiple angles I looked at this from, there is no getting around that Russians themselves are chiefly to blame. Even though they were aided and abetted, they were not forced into it. For what I can tell, all Putin did was to clean it up enough to make it functional. Corruption is a problem. Russians know it and the leadership knows it, but it is difficult cleaning it up. Same in China. Same in the West, but in a different way since corruption has been legalized in the West. But from the moral and ethical standpoints, it is still corruption.
BTW, the leadership the West, chiefly US and UK, are apparently grooming to replace Putin when the regime change they are planning occurs (big "if" there) are the so-called Russian "liberals," many of whom fled to the West. They are called "the fifth-column" in Russia. This included many that were involved in the original debacle under Clinton-enabled Yeltsin.
Reality is complicated. Worldviews and narratives are selective, choosing to include what supports a preferred position and excluding what does not. So, a worldview can be "fact-based" while not being a faithful picture of reality in that it is are only partial. Some of this is by choice, that is conscious intention, but a lot it is subliminal and probably most people are unaware of doing it, e.g., because they have not been trained in critical thinking and rigorous analysis.
The inability of humans to capture the whole comprehensively is the basis of the historical dialectic as the field on which views are contested, sometime by debate, some times by compromise, some times by negotiation and sometime on the battlefield. And the victors get to write history and that story becomes the commonly accepted view of "reality."
Am I a constructionist rather than a realist? Yes. Am I a relativist rather than an absolutist (dogmatist)? Yes. And that is part of the foundation of a worldview. Within this dichotomy, there is a range of alternatives, some of which are being contested at different historical "moments" within a Zeitgeist (spirit of the time).
Understanding this is part of the study of philosophy. One of my profs in grad school, Wilfrid Desan, developed what he called "planetary philosophy" based on the idea that truth was the summation of all possible views, all of which are required to complement a full expression of the whole. Obviously, this is an ideal, and he viewed it as an ideal toward which humans are working through the operation of the dialectic. This would be Hegel's absolute idea as the totality of knowledge and experience. It is actually quite close to some Eastern views, but that is another story. These are forms of absolutism asserting that absolute knowledge/experience is possible for a human being to realize.
Anyway, I enjoy playing in this sandbox.
It’s a criminal gang in Russia trying to take another criminal gangs land and materials in Ukraine…
ReplyDeleteAnd the current illegally seated criminal gang in US has been bought off by Ukraine…
Don’t over think it…
It is child's play to force Russia into defending their strategic interests. The knowledge to do so is provided by the Russians themselves. Another example is China and Taiwan. If and when Washington wants to use Taiwan as a proxy, as another Ukraine, China will be hard-pressed not to react the way they have said they would.
ReplyDeleteManipulation is easy, which is why you never reveal your motives, or your weaknesses. In geopolitics, that is unavoidable. Drawing red lines and projecting "strength" is essential.
Those who are goal-oriented don't need worldviews. If anything, worldviews will lead them astray. What you need to know, and what you can act upon, is provided by your adversary, or "mark".