Libs: “THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO QUESTION THAT THERE’S GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG, AND IF YOU DARE TO BRING UP THE LACK OF EVIDENCE OF ANY SORT OF ABUSE FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS YOU’LL GET BANNED!!!”
Also libs: “Didn’t you know that 15k of the 40k humans murdered in Gaza were actually terrorists? 
Also, lots of civilians die in wars like the one happening in Gaza, it’s sad but inevitable”
Fuuuuuuuuuck this shit.
What I don’t understand about Russia is, if they’re capitalist then why don’t they engage in imperialism? The capitalists there have the same interests as capitalists everywhere. Why weren’t they folded into the hegemony they way capitalists of Europe were?
As we all know here, I am very stupid
but I’ll give this a shot based on my current understanding.
The USSR was not Imperialist, so when it was sliced up and sold to nationalist Capitalists, there were no readily available colonies to exploit, and Western Powers had already divied up the Global South amongst themselves. With little international exploitation, the Russian Bourgeoisie is Nationalist in character, exploiting their internal proletariat. Meanwhile, Western Powers seek the industrial base of Russia, causing constant conflict.
Russia therefore aligns with BRICS after failing to join NATO and take their “share” of Imperialist super-profits. They tried, and were rejected!
I appreciate the response. I need to probably read more about the topic
Same here, hence the preface, but I did feel comfortable enough in said analysis to post my reply.
I think you could also describe Russian foreign policy in the Middle East (namely Syria) as “adventurism.” AFAIK they’re still occupying parts of Syria with no real exit strategy. While this was done at the request of Syria’s government in order to combat ISIS, Putin hasn’t let the opportunity pass him by to build oil pipelines and whatnot.
Russia has always been called “the sick old man of Europe” for a reason.
I wouldn’t say “Always”
The first popular usage of the phrase was Tsar Nicholas I calling the Ottoman Empire the sick man in the 1800’s, and it was ascribed to alot of nations by alot of nations after WWII.
Nowadays Europe is the sick man of Europe.
Putin tried really had to be taken into the fold imperialism. He assisted the west in its looting of Russia. He tried to join NATO but the crypto fascists who run NATO will never forgive the Slavic peoples for destroying the third reich. After getting teased and given the run around for decades he slowly wised up to the game. Putin realized by 2014 they wouldn’t let him be a European but until late 2023 he still didn’t understand that the west could never be trusted.