[the_grue]

Let's get the logic straight here. Economic stagnation is a result of living under an aggressive totalitarian state, not of foreign sanctions on that state. You personally are unfortunate to live in that state and suffer from the side effects of wars it's waging, but Russians as a nation fully support the regime and have been empowering it for many years, therefore I feel they deserve what they're getting and more, until they regain their wits once again. Sanctions or not, the opposition movement of 2011-2013 in Russia had never had popular support, anyway, as the wide population chose to stick to its imperialistic ambitions and ignorance.

The same argument can be made about China. But even in badly behaving states that are not supported by their own population, the effects of foreign actions can only be viewed as a side effect, not as a central part of the narrative. Same as civilian casualties in a purely defensive war are only an unfortunate, but often necessary side effect of one state defending itself from the other.

[sologoub]

I’m an American and your logic is flawed. Try actually visiting the place and learning about/from the people.

[the_grue]

> I’m an American and your logic is flawed.

Let me show you why I consider this line genuinely hilarious. In my opinion, an American would not normally make an absolute statement of that kind, they would say "I think your logic is flawed" or at least "let me show why your logic is flawed". An absolute claim of this kind sounds very Russian to my trained ear.

> Try actually visiting the place and learning about/from the people.

Thanks, but I spent half of my life in "the place" and have firmly settled on staying away for the rest of it.

[chapium]

This is a technical forum after all. Most devs and engineers ive meant are pretty blunt.

[the_grue]

While I agree that an engineer is less likely to spend effort on politeness, they are more likely to substantiate their claims. sologub did neither in their comment.

[sologoub]

Well, besides misspelling my name, you did not even stop to consider what I wrote before engaging in trying to spot a Russian national behind the post.

To understand why people “support” the current government, you have to understand what they have been through. 90s have not been kind to the average “Joe” (Ivan?) in Russia (or most of the non-EU former Soviet Union countries). From bad economical prospects to collapsing healthcare/education/social protections, life really went bad for them. When police is more dangerous than the thugs that shake you down, your priorities change.

This is why I advised that you should get to know the people first, before you judge them evil. You’ll likely find a lack of imperialist or almost any ambitions above and beyond a safe, modestly plentiful life and some hope for their children to live just a bit better.

Just like I believe a good portion of those who have voted for the current administration in US are at heart decent people, who are either angry or somehow disenfranchised, so are most people around the world. You have to get to know them to understand what ills have motivated their choices. Walk a mile in their shoes as it were.

[the_grue]

Please forgive the misspelling, I assure you it was not on purpose. I never claimed you were Russian, just pointed out that your rhetoric sounded remarkably like coming from a Russian, quite ironically, given the context.

As to the rest of your post, -- well, are you a Russian or not? Have you lived there or not? Do you read Russian debates and watch Russian state TV? If you haven't and you can't, then what is the basis for your claims that their priorities changed as a result of the 90's crisis, that they do not have imperialist ambitions, etc?

Otherwise (if you do speak Russian and did live there): 1) why are you claiming you don't? 2) We have radically different experiences. Russia I know didn't change much after or during the 90's. They have had the imperialistic attitude during the Soviet times. The 80th-90th crisis knocked them out of the saddle, but as soon as Russia recovered in the 2000'th, the ambitions made a comeback, and now it's more a defining characteristic of the nation than ever. 3) In my experience, Russians (as a nation, not every individual, of course) are not decent people at heart. They are cruel, they hate the world and each other. Moreover, they do not believe anyone else is 'decent at heart', they believe everyone is faking it (a term has even been coined for this in Russian: the Reverse Cargo Cult [1]).

[1] https://larvatus.livejournal.com/558422.html

[sologoub]

Great, now we are determining the merit of a statement based on grammar and choice of words... (Written on a phone, so your mileage may vary)

If you are in LA (Los Angeles) it’s easy enough to look me up.

[the_grue]

I am determining the merit of a statement based on the arguments, which are absent in your comment. The choice of words merely made it ironic.

[amaccuish]

> Economic stagnation is a result of living under an aggressive totalitarian state

Your logic is flawed. Try telling that to China.

[the_grue]

China's economy is already slowing down, and I expect it to hit a ceiling sooner rather than later. Its advantages over the Western countries are cheap labor, undervalued currency and the freedom from intellectual property-related litigation risks. Its disadvantages are the lack of freedom of sharing ideas, its disconnect from the rest of the world, corruption and a weak justice system. While the advantages are quickly exhausting their effect, the disadvantages are there to stay, so the point of equilibrium must be below the Western countries.