[vic9109]

I’m always confused when I see people cheering for sanctioning other nations. Is it pleasant to know that people are suffering, having done nothing wrong?

I think it’s a global issue. Pretty sure almost everyone has had these thoughts when reading a news article about some wrongdoing of a foreign government and thought “why don’t we just nuke those Reds?”, “why can’t we just come and take over the North Korea”, “that’s it, it’s time to show those damn Iranians who’s the boss on this planet”.

The media has evolved to take advantage of our emotional response. Hate seems to be the most useful one.

[NicoJuicy]

Nuking is unrelated to the discussion. I will never promote an actual war.

Russia is meddling in foreign affairs, invading Ukraine, uselessly threatening Europe, trying to spread misinformation and killing other people in foreign countries ( London, Germany, ... )

Even now, Russia is trying to influence/take-over Ukrains news agency.

This is not about conspiracy theories, these are plain facts.

And for this, Russia deserves to be punished. And Russians should realize it is Putin's fault.

We have been too soft on Russia for too long and the problems are just increasing. The soft approach isn't helping anymore.

Edit: new from an hour ago. Nuclear radiation spike. Guess who it is... Again...

https://www.iflscience.com/physics/unexplained-radiation-spi...

[vic9109]

Russia is not the only country under the US sanctions. It always ends the same way — the government is largely unaffected, the people die in poverty. Sometimes they die because of the lack of medical equipment. It’s hard for them to leave because other countries are not eager to welcome them.

It’s not war, but there end up being millions of casualties. Understandably, a country values its interests above the lives of foreigners. It all looks like a world-scale trolley problem.

[lostmsu]

What alternatives do you suggest? Ultimately people are responsible for their own government's actions.

[NicoJuicy]

Putin has more protests than ever.

We'll see how that pans out, but I hope that they come back and the world trade table.

As an adult this time :)

[cogman10]

Do you have an alternative to sanctions? I agree they aren't particularly effective, but they seem to be the "kindest" of actions you can take against an oppressive government that might lead to a civilian uprising.

History is rife with examples of failures to stop oppressive regimes. Hell, look at North Korea. We fought a war, we've tried sanctions, we've tried lifting sanctions. Sure, they are propped up by China, but what else could be done to improve the lives of civilians there?

[vic9109]

I have no solution to that. The thing that consistently makes me sad is when people attribute the decisions of a government to all its citizens. There are 7b people on this planet, at least 2 of them cannot influence their governments in a meaningful way.

[NicoJuicy]

So, between war and trade sanctions.

Trade sanctions still seem to be the better solution, no?

While actually trading could be considered a reward for a decent government and a + for it's civilians.

[lovelyviking]

Would you rather stand nearby and do nothing when Hitler was starting to kill and occupy? Well, Russia is doing exactly the same now. Russia took part of Ukraine, Russia is killing Ukrainians as we speak ... and they plan to do more ... Would you prefer that 'love' attitude toward all kinds of scumbags?

[gdy]

"Would you rather stand nearby and do nothing when Hitler was starting to kill and occupy?"

What were you doing when the US invaded Iraq in 2003?

[lovelyviking]

Thanking US for stopping another dictator-sick-head. From your question and history of your comments I can presume that your empathies are with dictators and other scumbags. This is of course how it should be for a proper Russian propaganda. It's well established tradition of Russia to protect all sorts of scumbags and dictators. Also Russia started a WWII with their ally Hitler together attacking Poland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6gg1z5DovI

I know it's sad for some to see another dictator down, but that is how it should be with every dictator.

[gdy]

Saddam got what he deserved, but the people of Iraq didn't deserved what came to them -- about half a million deaths[1] and later the rise of ISIS. Total number of people dead in the aftermath of American invasion is now bigger than the number of Saddams victims.

Do you know that the US supported Saddam in his war of agression against Iran? [0] Saddam could've been hanged much earlier and countless lives could've been saved if not for American support of scumbag and dictator.

As for WW2, please read about the Munich agreement.[2]

[0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Ir...

[1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancet_surveys_of_Iraq_War_c...

[2]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Agreement

[vic9109]

I’m simply against the “let’s go kill all $nation_name” attitude. It’s totally fine to take action against scumbags. I don’t think it’s fine to extend the hate onto the whole nation.

[NicoJuicy]

Why would we want to give a country benefits ( in the form of trade), while their head of state are threatening our society.

We shouldn't