[adventured]

It's about removing sanction: denying the Russians - particularly the urban Russians - their veneer of civilization, affluence, westernization. The notion that they had accomplished something material positive in regards to moving forward in the world among nations after the Soviet collapse.

Sure they can clone brands, and sometimes they can clone products and services, you can also go to Walmart and buy Great Value brand products that are 85% as good as the brand goods. Most people still don't want to do that if they can afford not to.

People buy brands primarily (not exclusively) for social reasons of status, not because they're vastly superior to all alternatives (off brands, generics, house brands, etc). They don't need that Chanel or Louis Vuitton bag, or iPhone, they want it to show off.

Removing sanction is about the West no longer pretending Russia is a civilized nation, no longer pretending their culture is a civilized one (rather than a barbarous relic of the conquest-obsessed primitive past of the European great powers conflicts).

[PolygonSheep]

> denying the Russians - particularly the urban Russians - their veneer of civilization, affluence, westernization.

Yeah I feel very civilized, affluent, and Western when I walk into a McDonalds.

[jquery]

This is largely true in other countries. Affluence is relative but it’s seen as a very clean and consistent burger joint.

[thriftwy]

I think you're taking your words fairly serious, whereas they would cause a lot of good laughs outside of the bubble of "the West".

For starters, why do you think that Russia would care whether you are currently pretending anything about Russia.

[ogurechny]

The scale of these delusions can only match the scale of Putin's delusions. How detached from real life should one be to reason about people as though they were homo economicus, pathetic humanoid consumers?

Linking “brands” to “civilization” is just a widespread publicist cliche that is only observed in various “analysis” in media. When you look at what people actually did, there is no trace of such feeling. Those who were critical of the state politics reacted to the news with “things are looking turbulent, better buy some buckwheat just in case”. Those who were supportive of the state politics reacted to the news with “things are looking turbulent, better buy some buckwheat just in case”. See, no one seriously cared about McDonalds® burgers or Apple® devices, but that didn't affect “economical prognoses” in the slightest. I can make my own: not even in most glorious America there is enough people to start an uprising over McDonalds being unavailable.

What's more important, outside of lucky industries like IT, not many people can even afford to care about brands. Those who make a lot usually work in export or budget spending (or “spending”) sectors, and they are the ones who perfectly understand that their wealth depends first and foremost on supporting any decision that comes from above, not following some capitalist dreams (even though this is a typical corporate manager situation). Those who make a lot more than a lot, and used to buy castles, villas, yachts, and so on in Europe and elsewhere, had zero problems with that for decades, despite the common knowledge that almost none of them had made those kind of money independently, and with hard work. One might even theorise that shooting down Boeing full of Europeans (as opposed to lesser people across the world routinely dying on TV screens) was Putin's particularly devilish plan of forcing his daughter to stop enjoying life abroad and move back home. Such are customs in modern “high society” of “successful people”. Have anyone noticed that when US arrested Abramovich's mansion, he seemed to get irritated, and made some un-business-like comments along the lines of “I'm no different from other people buying those, what's your fucking problem?” Might be the rare occasion of him telling some truth.

There has been a very nice rebuttal back in March. I am grateful to English translators because now I don't have to state all of that myself: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/belkitz/issues/weekly-newsle...

[jquery]

this is pure copium and old fashioned antimodernist ranting. if it helps you sleep at night, great, but it wont work on everyone. some people dont appreciate their nation becoming north korea 2.0

[ogurechny]

I wonder what made you think that criticizing current media spectacle is synonymous with supporting anything in Russian retrograde political system going on full steam into a dead end.

The “New North Korea!” journalistic chant also explains too little. What's more important, it is a smokescreen to hide the obvious: history repeats itself. When USSR discovered oil and gas, got drunk on them, and slowly rot for two decades while madly waving guns at the other half of the world, it formed quite stable relationship with Europe. With enough “Soviets BAD!” statements “democratic West” could easily turn the blind eye to a lot of things (including deviations from global sanctions) to keep the pipelines running. Putin might not be the best James Bond, but he worked abroad and had the general idea how those deals were prepared and made. You might have noticed that fairly recently Western Europe was also ready to start using Nord Stream 2 (and give the giant middle finger to Eastern Europe because, you know, peculia non olet) despite all the pressure from US — it was the genius of Russian leadership starting Ukranian Blitzkrieg right at the same time that buried the project.

[inawarminister]

North Korea 2.0 or just deAmericanized? The latter is a blessing.