Many of the Western criticisms against contemporary Russian society and industry are a bit bizzare considering they are the direct result of the collapse of Socialism and the dominance of neoliberal economics and privatization---the very things the West extols as being "the way forward". So, what they're saying, if one reads between the lines, is a silent admission that Russia was better off and was stronger when Russia was a Socialist state apart of the USSR?
@adiz we were competitors before and after the collapse the were supposed to become subservient. but they didn't, so they are still an enemy. its not really hypocrisy its just lying about why we hate them. they're not doing anything "wrong" except not submitting.
@Moon @adiz Russia definitely wasn't stronger or better off under socialism. I don't know what discourses the original post referred, but I have enough here to dispute at least these basic claims.
I think the better off part is fairly self-evident. The worst example for me was probably the socialist living quarters. I remember this every time idiots who know nothing on Fediverse start saying something bad about landlords.
As for the strength, USSR was a natural resource appendage of the US and EU in a greater degree than Russia. Soviets received a lot of assistance. Just remember the floating dock which they used to construct and repair their aircraft carrier - it was built in Sweden. Russia would not get such help from Europe now. The story of the domestic cat feed (which is 3 times cheaper yet is of a better quality than the Canadian import that dominated the market before) is my favourite example of globalization going too far and a little decoupling maybe doing Russia good. Of course, all this took a real shooting war to get rolling, which is a problem and the useful self-sufficiency that Russia gained thus is probably not worth the cost. I only with there was another way to stop feeding Canadian crap to Russian cats.
I think the better off part is fairly self-evident. The worst example for me was probably the socialist living quarters. I remember this every time idiots who know nothing on Fediverse start saying something bad about landlords.
As for the strength, USSR was a natural resource appendage of the US and EU in a greater degree than Russia. Soviets received a lot of assistance. Just remember the floating dock which they used to construct and repair their aircraft carrier - it was built in Sweden. Russia would not get such help from Europe now. The story of the domestic cat feed (which is 3 times cheaper yet is of a better quality than the Canadian import that dominated the market before) is my favourite example of globalization going too far and a little decoupling maybe doing Russia good. Of course, all this took a real shooting war to get rolling, which is a problem and the useful self-sufficiency that Russia gained thus is probably not worth the cost. I only with there was another way to stop feeding Canadian crap to Russian cats.
@Moon @adiz BTW I asked my wife about the cat food and she said that she hears many stories like this. Apparently one of our relatives on her side wanted to build a shed or some other small structure (it's the guy with 4 kids for whom I bought presents before). He found that when sanctions cut off the imported bricks, someone started making bricks in Russia that are both better and cheaper. Note that the cat food is something I picked from social media, it kinda blew up because Russians are crazy about their cats. Could be a propaganda campaign. But bricks are 100% real, I assure you. Shit like this really makes one question the benefits of free trade.
Or, rather, I continue to cling to the free market dogma, but this opens one's eyes at the crazy distortions that we have in the manufacturing, logistics, and retail. Remember how Trump introduced protectionist measures that every pundit from Cato down criticized as anathema, but the result was an enormous economic boom in the U.S.? What if Putin is reaping benefits of Trumponomics by accident?
Also, on a local level, I suspect strongly that we aren't getting the best food and best goods, in large parts to these unseen distortions that I mentioned.
Or, rather, I continue to cling to the free market dogma, but this opens one's eyes at the crazy distortions that we have in the manufacturing, logistics, and retail. Remember how Trump introduced protectionist measures that every pundit from Cato down criticized as anathema, but the result was an enormous economic boom in the U.S.? What if Putin is reaping benefits of Trumponomics by accident?
Also, on a local level, I suspect strongly that we aren't getting the best food and best goods, in large parts to these unseen distortions that I mentioned.
@zaitcev I went to Mastodon to repost my own post (yes, bite me - I'm going to repost this one too). Found that:
1. Cannot repost, because of course SPC is banned at Mastodon. I tried to raise the issue of senseless, unfounded fediblocking with Gargon before, but he's busy selling merch (j/k but really).
2. Cannot copy-paste because my post exceeds the character limit at Mastodon (at mastodon.online).
3. But I can add my whole text as a vision-impaired alt-text. What a loophole!
I bet that if anyone acts upon this, they're going to limit alt-text and leave the fediblock in place, because by this point Mastodon has turned into a soul-less machine controlled by a cabal of its enemies.
#mastodon
1. Cannot repost, because of course SPC is banned at Mastodon. I tried to raise the issue of senseless, unfounded fediblocking with Gargon before, but he's busy selling merch (j/k but really).
2. Cannot copy-paste because my post exceeds the character limit at Mastodon (at mastodon.online).
3. But I can add my whole text as a vision-impaired alt-text. What a loophole!
I bet that if anyone acts upon this, they're going to limit alt-text and leave the fediblock in place, because by this point Mastodon has turned into a soul-less machine controlled by a cabal of its enemies.
#mastodon
@zaitcev @adiz @Moon Zeihan makes some points about free trade when he talks about how it's falling apart. That instead of having everyone trading with everyone else, it will probably go back to a mercantilist system or a regional hegemony type system where many things like bricks or cat food would be produced within a system of a few countries easily.
You have blocks of countries dominated by one central one that basically controls and colonizes the rest. The US has already built up their group of several countries to weather this breakdown, and that group doesn't include China. (Some countries it will probably include are UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, etc. Some other european countries will probably continue to trade, though be not entirely within the bloc, still to be determined, and we might still trade with other south-eastern asian countries.) You're right that a lot of those deals were actually brokered by Trump at pretty big disadvantages for the other countries.
There gets to be more problems when you want to build electric cars or smart phones, you need minerals and resources from all over the world for that stuff.
You have blocks of countries dominated by one central one that basically controls and colonizes the rest. The US has already built up their group of several countries to weather this breakdown, and that group doesn't include China. (Some countries it will probably include are UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, etc. Some other european countries will probably continue to trade, though be not entirely within the bloc, still to be determined, and we might still trade with other south-eastern asian countries.) You're right that a lot of those deals were actually brokered by Trump at pretty big disadvantages for the other countries.
There gets to be more problems when you want to build electric cars or smart phones, you need minerals and resources from all over the world for that stuff.
@kazriko @adiz @Moon @zaitcev I don't necessarily disagree with Zeihan and you about blocks, but I cannot help noticing that nothing you guys say explains just why the global trade produces bricks and cat food at a higher price and worse quality than the less optimal local production does. I don't know about you, but I was sold on the global trade upon the premise that it can do things better.
@union @adiz @Moon @zaitcev Yeah, you're right about that, there's many cases where just because the businesses are used to doing things with globalization, that they think it's the best way when it may not necessarily be so.
There's many cases where doing business that way leads you to being reliant on one country for something, and you don't notice when they slowly start raising prices and lowering quality, the inertia keeps them in place even when it could be better and cheaper elsewhere because the costs of switching are high.
There's many cases where doing business that way leads you to being reliant on one country for something, and you don't notice when they slowly start raising prices and lowering quality, the inertia keeps them in place even when it could be better and cheaper elsewhere because the costs of switching are high.
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@adiz @union @kazriko @adiz @Moon @zaitcev the same effect can happen locally. maybe the big operation cuts some corners and overcharges slightly. but if you try to compete they can probably undercut you either at a profit or weathering a loss for long enough to drive you out of business
or maybe you coexist for years but then during an economic downturn they're better able to weather the storm and you go out of business
or you're just starting out and decide it isn't even worth trying to enter that particular market due to the presence of a juggernaut
in other words what I'm saying is that given long enough the quality vs price on those examples could easily revert. and that's assuming there aren't other factors in play here to begin with that might have been omitted. how exactly was the bricks being better quantified? building materials typically have quite a few different parameters
or maybe you coexist for years but then during an economic downturn they're better able to weather the storm and you go out of business
or you're just starting out and decide it isn't even worth trying to enter that particular market due to the presence of a juggernaut
in other words what I'm saying is that given long enough the quality vs price on those examples could easily revert. and that's assuming there aren't other factors in play here to begin with that might have been omitted. how exactly was the bricks being better quantified? building materials typically have quite a few different parameters