• Re: QUORA: What happened to Russia? It used to be a proud nation ...

    From Oleg Smirnov@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jan 17 14:37:11 2023
    is something most Westerners know nothing about. Our nightly news gives us only facts and figures. The news we get tells us nothing of the soul of the country. In order to understand the depth of corruption and cruelty in Russia, you have to take a much deeper dive into the historical culture of the people and the politicians. Absolutely worth doing, trust me!

    The Quora quasi-experts aren't liable for what they say, while
    Russia's internals are pretty transparent, so any interested
    one can watch/learn them through multiple and various accounts.
    With the modern scale of communications, there's no incredible
    problems to learn some foreign internals. "Multiple" & "various"
    are keywords. But ignorant people seeking to adjust reality to
    match their beliefs would filtrate reality selectively. Such
    folks do not need reality, - what they really need is something
    to comfort them within their bubble of delusion.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From ltlee1@21:1/5 to Oleg Smirnov on Tue Jan 17 04:25:52 2023
    On Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 11:38:08 AM UTC, Oleg Smirnov wrote:
    is something most Westerners know nothing about. Our nightly news gives us only facts and figures. The news we get tells us nothing of the soul of the country. In order to understand the depth of corruption and cruelty in Russia, you have to take a much deeper dive into the historical culture of the people and the politicians. Absolutely worth doing, trust me!
    The Quora quasi-experts aren't liable for what they say, while
    Russia's internals are pretty transparent, so any interested
    one can watch/learn them through multiple and various accounts.
    With the modern scale of communications, there's no incredible
    problems to learn some foreign internals. "Multiple" & "various"
    are keywords. But ignorant people seeking to adjust reality to
    match their beliefs would filtrate reality selectively. Such
    folks do not need reality, - what they really need is something
    to comfort them within their bubble of delusion.

    Since you seem to present yourself as a Russian, can you comment on the following claim:
    "many peoples living in the Russian Federation have been forced and are being forced to be part of the Russian state"? True, false to what degree, and why.

    (For discussion's sake, let us exclude the obvious that people everywhere cannot
    choose their parents and consequently their nationalities.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Oleg Smirnov@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jan 17 16:28:24 2023
    ltlee1, <news:30bf9858-e4da-4c10-82ce-068a784bd887n@googlegroups.com>
    On Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 11:38:08 AM UTC, Oleg Smirnov wrote:

    is something most Westerners know nothing about. Our nightly news gives us >>> only facts and figures. The news we get tells us nothing of the soul of
    the
    country. In order to understand the depth of corruption and cruelty in
    Russia, you have to take a much deeper dive into the historical culture of >>> the people and the politicians. Absolutely worth doing, trust me!

    The Quora quasi-experts aren't liable for what they say, while
    Russia's internals are pretty transparent, so any interested
    one can watch/learn them through multiple and various accounts.
    With the modern scale of communications, there's no incredible
    problems to learn some foreign internals. "Multiple" & "various"
    are keywords. But ignorant people seeking to adjust reality to
    match their beliefs would filtrate reality selectively. Such
    folks do not need reality, - what they really need is something
    to comfort them within their bubble of delusion.

    Since you seem to present yourself as a Russian, can you comment on the following claim:
    "many peoples living in the Russian Federation have been forced and are
    being
    forced to be part of the Russian state"? True, false to what degree, and why.

    (For discussion's sake, let us exclude the obvious that people everywhere cannot
    choose their parents and consequently their nationalities.)

    Had those notorious Uyghurs been forced to be part of China?
    And should the Tibetans regain their independence?
    And should the "inner" Mongols reunite with the "outer" ones?
    And should the Taiwanese be forced to be part of China, even
    if they don't want so? Attempts to answers to such questions
    would lead to depths of historical analysis, that may turn out
    pretty long and voluminous.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From ltlee1@21:1/5 to Oleg Smirnov on Tue Jan 17 12:03:35 2023
    On Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 1:30:36 PM UTC, Oleg Smirnov wrote:
    ltlee1, <news:30bf9858-e4da-4c10...@googlegroups.com>
    On Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 11:38:08 AM UTC, Oleg Smirnov wrote:

    is something most Westerners know nothing about. Our nightly news gives us
    only facts and figures. The news we get tells us nothing of the soul of >>> the
    country. In order to understand the depth of corruption and cruelty in >>> Russia, you have to take a much deeper dive into the historical culture of
    the people and the politicians. Absolutely worth doing, trust me!

    The Quora quasi-experts aren't liable for what they say, while
    Russia's internals are pretty transparent, so any interested
    one can watch/learn them through multiple and various accounts.
    With the modern scale of communications, there's no incredible
    problems to learn some foreign internals. "Multiple" & "various"
    are keywords. But ignorant people seeking to adjust reality to
    match their beliefs would filtrate reality selectively. Such
    folks do not need reality, - what they really need is something
    to comfort them within their bubble of delusion.

    Since you seem to present yourself as a Russian, can you comment on the following claim:
    "many peoples living in the Russian Federation have been forced and are being
    forced to be part of the Russian state"? True, false to what degree, and why.

    (For discussion's sake, let us exclude the obvious that people everywhere cannot
    choose their parents and consequently their nationalities.)
    Had those notorious Uyghurs been forced to be part of China?
    And should the Tibetans regain their independence?
    And should the "inner" Mongols reunite with the "outer" ones?
    And should the Taiwanese be forced to be part of China, even
    if they don't want so? Attempts to answers to such questions
    would lead to depths of historical analysis, that may turn out
    pretty long and voluminous.

    Ooops!!!
    I assumed you would like to rebut those sentiment concerning Russians. May be I am wrong. Of course, I know very little about Russia. But let me offer my two cents.
    First of all, people would in general want to move from a less wealthy places to where
    they have better hope to become wealthier. This is universal.

    Now my view based on happening in Kherson.
    Kherson had a population of about 280,000 before the conflict. About one third had left
    upon Russian took over. Russia organized evacuation from Kherson last winter, first the
    city and later expanded to include surrounding area.

    Western media reported various protests inside Russia and Ukraine. There were also
    various reports on protests against Russia in Kherson up to June, 2022. AFAIK, there was
    no report on protests against the evacuation in Kherson. The process appeared to be
    successful and peaceful. I was a little surprised by the lack of protests.

    Examining the same issue from the opposite end. How many people in Kherson were welcoming the liberating Ukrainian army. According to Moscow Times, an Atlanticist
    publication, there were 20 to 30 people in front of the Freedom Square. And the weather
    was pleasant per the photo. Well, The city of Kherson is about 54 square mile and it is
    quite rectangular. Meaning, it won't take too long for residents to walk or bike to the
    Liberty Square if they really did not want to become Russians and choose to stay
    behind. I was very surprised by the small size of the crowd.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)