[somelamer567]

Techno-libertarianism was always a con. I'm convinced it was an information operation organised by enemies of the West to "prep the battlefield" to enable revisionist state aggression against the West in the cognitive domain.

We mustn't forget that the Russians claimed that the internet was created by the CIA to attack Russia and steal its resources -- after a Russian clairvoyant told Vladimir Putin she read Madeleine Albright's mind and said that the US is plotting to weaken Russia and "steal its resources". We also must not forget that Russia is corrupt from top to bottom, and that Russian intelligence and organised crime have effectively merged into a lawless juggernaut that threatens the entire civilised world.

Today, Russian information-warfare specialists and gangsters have turned the Western information space into a free-fire zone. And there is literally NOTHING we can do about it, because weak minds and fifth-columnists on our side demand we unilaterally disarm and NOT enforce mandatory strong ID for activity on the internet.

It's time to see this aggression for what it is.

[iamnothere]

Delusional Red Scare claptrap. Russia is obviously a geopolitical competitor, and exerts some influence, but its reach is limited by its smaller economy and cultural differences.

The real threat is homegrown authoritarian looters who would spend the whole treasury into their pockets if they could, while constantly tightening the screws on dissent to keep the grift going.

Fortunately you people are losing your grip on power. It won’t be long until you’re entirely evicted, fingers crossed. We’re reaching a societal breaking point and that should result in some kind of phase shift, for better or worse.

[somelamer567]

I'm sorry - did I trigger you?

On one hand -- I read the opinion of one anonymous random on the internet posting a Russian-accented sneer, trotting out the usual Russian disinformation talking points, on one hand -- and the combined weight of decades of intelligence estimates of 50+ countries decrying the very real and serious hybrid warfare being waged by this out-of-control rogue state on the other.

So who should I believe? You tell me.

[iamnothere]

Lol. The best of the Western Russian-influenced (funded?) propagandists are people like George Galloway and Russians With Attitude, who despite their best efforts have relatively small and non-influential audiences. But keep that grift going, I’m sure they will continue paying you to drum up reports on the Slavic Menace while China (and we in the US!) eats your lunch.

(This is assuming you are some flavor of Anglo or Euro, based on the Russia fixation, and not one of the few dementia-addled boomers still on the US side of the Russia beat.)