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Ukraine ping

pgr88: [With his commission to be paid up-front, in case postwar never comes for him. ]

Kamil Galeev attributes this kind of accusation to envy, on both sides of the fence, and I think he’s got a point:

[ Every theory has its limits of applicability. “Kremlin guys are crooks” theory, too. This narrative is so successful, because it appeals to the meanest humans instincts, in particular - to the envy. Envious people tend to overuse this idea far, far beyond any reasonable limits

https://twitter.com/mcminn_bill/status/1607055839763877888

Like, ok, I understand that you’re poor, constantly stressed about money and necessity to pay the bills. I also understand that you’re envious about yachts and villas. That doesn’t mean that “they’re crooks” theory is all explaining. If they were, this war just wouldn’t start

“They’re just crooks” narrative is not successful, because it is so true. It is so successful, because people are obsessed with their unreflected envy and cannot distance from it. If this war is going on, it means they’re not *just* crooks. They’re something else, too

This goes far beyond Russian problem though. Much of the moral fervour induced narratives (Crooks! Corruption!) draw their strengths from the meanest human instincts. Hence their success. People are so incredibly envious, that their critical thinking just turn off at some point

Honestly I’m just tired of this constant moral fervour. If the missiles 1) take off 2) hit the target, it means “they are all about stealing” theory is false. Or rather used far beyond its limits of applicability. If the stuff works, plenty of managers steal little to nothing

I would even say that if the missiles take off, that suggests there are (not so few) administrators who are not only not crooks, but who are absolutely selfless. Who identify with their work 100% and are ready for personal self-sacrifice. That’s why stuff works

Russian capacity to raise cities to the ground is not based on “crookery” (how did you come up with this insanity?). It is based on hard work, integrity and personal self-sacrifice of not so few people. Proof? Cities razed to the ground]

The Russians are breaking stuff and killing Ukrainians. Somehow, somewhere, equipment is getting through and soldiers are being supplied. Similarly, the Ukrainians are breaking stuff and killing Russians at a time when the economy is in shambles due to the war. Whatever the level of corruption in Ukraine, enough is getting through to the fighting men that the Russians have not only not gained much ground since the early days of the war, they have lost ground.

Even the UK ran out of cash to finance its war against Germany, and only the Channel Islands were ever occupied by Germany. And this was the empire upon which the sun never set, possessor of vast holdings in Asia and Africa mostly untouched by Axis occupation.

https://www.deseret.com/2016/1/21/20580771/this-week-in-history-lindbergh-testifies-in-congress-against-lend-lease
[Roosevelt stated repeatedly that the United States intended to remain neutral, even as the government began to prepare the nation militarily and economically for the possibility of war. He also made no bones about which side America favored. The British, with their strong democratic traditions and similar concepts of civil rights seemed like the underdog in the war against the racist and totalitarian Nazi state. The American government began to trade with Britain and supply it with the goods it needed to fight. For example, in September 1940, the Untied States traded 50 WWI-era destroyers in exchange for rights to use British naval bases around the world.

Before long, however, the British empire was bankrupt and could no longer afford to buy the American goods it needed, nor was there anything of value left to trade. Shortly after Roosevelt’s election to his third term in November 1940, he came up with a bold plan to help the British, Lend-Lease. Essentially, Lend-Lease stated that the United States would give Britain whatever it needed in order to fight the Nazis. Once Britain won the war, the the two countries would sit down and figure out exactly how much Britain owed the United States. Roosevelt used the analogy that if your neighbor’s house is on fire you wouldn’t stand around arguing about the price of your garden hose. Rather, you’d give him the hose and he could pay once the crisis was over.]