[The Azov Prisoner Fiasco and Azov Origins Story, The Post-Soviet Identity Crisis, The Nexus of the Narrative, Zelensky Dies Nordstream, The Real Reason the Bridges Are Intact, The Russkiy Idea]
You did a really good job on this podcast and it helped me to see a larger cultural and political picture about the not-war. To be honest, Rolo, your recent pessimism and negativity led me to wonder if you had fallen into a depression over the lack of Russian progress. I think many of us have a tendency to want to simplify our understanding of the countless elements influencing how the war is conducted by each side. But in reality, all of the different opinions, optimistic, pessimistic and the grey in between, are true at the same time.
Your description of the Azov mercenaries, motivated by different reasons and POW exchanges so they can fight again, is indeed revealing like an analogy for the whole thing. It also strikes me that there is no single identity or ethnic group in Russia. There is and will never be a single consensus or cosmopolitan identity, although the drive for survival in light of NATO aims to destroy Russia will necessitate some degree of nationalism and unity. Russia is a vast country and like the Chinese, many were educated in Western universities or maybe even were raised in the US. And the greed for profit is, unfortunately, in the DNA of human subspecies.
No one person or group has full HUMAN control of Russia, but the different factions are converging because of the not-war. It becomes less confusing once you accept the concept of multiple identities and fluctuating influences on decisions. “Make it up as you go along.” I think there are some basic military principles, but the strategies and advanced weapons technology continue to evolve on both sides during the operations, so must be continually upgraded. Actual war is a way to test the effectiveness of weapons. Betrayal and tit for tat retaliation is innate to cartel mentality.
Putin lost his mystique when he lost 1/2 of the Kharkiv province. People were screaming for mobilization for 6 weeks before the Ukie offensive to mobilize, Putin said it was not needed, then after the disaster mobilized like his critics were begging for. Kharkiv was Putin's first big disaster and people will not look at him the same again.
The Chinese is having high level meetings with Zelensky and Putin this week, about peace. Last week China hosted the Iran-Saud peace deal. China has leverage on the Ukraine because they could, if they wanted to, supply Russia for free. Even an implied bluff about supplies from China will put pressure on the Ukraine.
Glad to see you guys putting out another hour like this. Maybe I am smooth-brained, but aside from passionate feelings about the subject (and perhaps weeks of little news to discuss,) I was surprised you stopped producing.
I know you have great distaste for the church, Rolo. But religion of some sort is the institution of values, and none of these merchants want values getting in the way of commodification. So they are caught in a bind; they cannot appeal to higher motivations because then the serfs would start demanding things money cannot buy and merchants cannot sell.
They cannot appeal to blood for the same reason - it creates barriers to markets and stirs up ideas of really federating the Federation. So, all they are left with that can safely be employed is old claims to Land and anti-homosexuality. But it's not enough, and China isn't providing the manufactured goods to have brute force make up the difference.
I have not listened yet, so this is just a reaction to the title.
All politics is making it up as you go along.
I do not believe it is possible to do "ruling" any other way.
Though agenda's always exist, they are (imo) only rarely implemented trough direct planned action, but almost always through nudging decisions very slightly in favor of the agenda.
Edit: After listening I don't have to add much, except maybe that any ruler that does not have as its first priority to stay the ruler, will be replaced.
China will do nothing to help Russia in materials for war. China is teetering , they have huge economic problems, cultural problems , "laying flat "and "let it rot " and the demographic cliff has arrived. There are 200 million unemployed, wages are falling, youth unemployment is at 20% , half of the 14 million graduates will not get a job this year. Government and private debt is through the roof , local government have 15 trillion US of debt that is being restructured , most will only pay interest for the next twenty years , think Japan zombie banks. People and cash are fleeing , over sixty percent of the one and a half trillion US of loans for belt and road are on the edge of default. Twenty two of the African loans have defaulted in the last year. Western businesses are leaving because the China growth story is over , Xi has gone feral , three year lockdowns and decoupling is real and happening. Global inflation has pushed the price of cheap Chinese products up by 100% at minimum . Apple is leaving , Japan is rearming , South Korea and Taiwan are arming up. If the West puts sanctions on China they will be in a very hard place. China is not Russia , China is a huge importer. If the US , Australia, NZ and the EU were to stop all exports into china , food being the most important China will be in Big trouble. Although Xi has been acting crazy and destroyed the economy I think he is smart enough to know that sanctions will really hurt. The existential problem is that Putin has overstepped his capabilities and is in a big dilemma. The West and Ukraine will never recognise the annexed oblasts including Crimea so there is no chance of a peace deal under the present Russian demands , NEVER! So Xi and Putin are putting their heads together to find a way out but there isn't one. Putin has screwed the pooch.
The hypothesis that the Dniepr bridges are not blown up because the oligarchs have interest in let the flux of raw resources flow from Russia to the West through Ukraine, is despondent and in line with the dystopian gloominess of the blog.
However we should check whether oil pipes go through infrastructure inside the thoroughfare bridges. Perhaps the pipelines have their own dedicated bridges, or perhaps they burrow under the bed of the river.
Have either of you seen any progress within Russia toward development of some ideology to bind the people together and continue the terrible sacrifices this war is asking of them? Were Dugin and his daughter targeted because they were laying some sort of groundwork in this direction?
i completely agree, ALL people need to reflect on their; family, clan, nation And determine who is their actual enemy. There are people with names, that use wealth, power, blackmail, and assassination to remove useful information,
to perpetuate their control over large numbers of human beings through disinformation and products such as food, water and electronic devices which intentionally increase DISease for long term profit. have there really been no significant innovations or discoveries in the last 50 years?
OR has there been deliberate slowing/stopping of technological advances in order to reduce the probability of open rebellion and accountability of bad actors? [andrei fursov]
I have listened to the podcast three times now so I can fully digest it. Prior to the war I was a Russia supporter and was lukewarm anti West. After the retreats , before that even , it was obvious to me that this was not the Russia that RT had told me it was. So I started to look for more grassroots commentary and you two are as good as it gets in my opinion , thanks for your efforts. That Ritter and company have refused , as far as I know , to revise their opinions of the situation is illustrative of how entrenched pro Russian and anti Western propaganda is in the "alternative " media space. At this point the obvious fact is that Russia is at war with Ukraine and that Ukraine is defending itself as best it can. The failure of Russian intel is breathtaking , was the Soviet intel this bad? Having realised that Ukranians were not desperate to be liberated from Western influence one would have thought there would have been a reappraisal of the goals of the SMO while there was still time to withdraw with some dignity , however there was a doubling down and now there is no way for Putin to withdraw and survive. I see now that my belief that the new Russia had moved on and left the old Soviet ways behind was rather naive of me. How could all the old Soviet corruption , mismanagement and just plain pigheaded stupidity be overcome in thirty years? It was not possible and will not be possible until the last of the Soviet era generation is in the grave. Maybe , maybe then the younger generations will be able to forge a new national identity with more cohesive goals and ideology not based on the old post war order . I hope so because the Russian people and the Ukrainian people deserve better than this. How are Russians going to live with the aftermath of this if the concept of killing every Ukrainian man alive is carried forward to it's conclusion. Why does Putin feel that it is necessary to kill and kill now that it is obvious that the hearts and minds of the Ukrainian people were lost a long time ago. It appears that to continue the killing now now is just spiteful revenge for being rejected, a very sick and debilitating view of their former brothers has developed and will leave a dark stain on the Russian mind for a long time to come. Thanks again for your efforts and insights.
You did a really good job on this podcast and it helped me to see a larger cultural and political picture about the not-war. To be honest, Rolo, your recent pessimism and negativity led me to wonder if you had fallen into a depression over the lack of Russian progress. I think many of us have a tendency to want to simplify our understanding of the countless elements influencing how the war is conducted by each side. But in reality, all of the different opinions, optimistic, pessimistic and the grey in between, are true at the same time.
Your description of the Azov mercenaries, motivated by different reasons and POW exchanges so they can fight again, is indeed revealing like an analogy for the whole thing. It also strikes me that there is no single identity or ethnic group in Russia. There is and will never be a single consensus or cosmopolitan identity, although the drive for survival in light of NATO aims to destroy Russia will necessitate some degree of nationalism and unity. Russia is a vast country and like the Chinese, many were educated in Western universities or maybe even were raised in the US. And the greed for profit is, unfortunately, in the DNA of human subspecies.
No one person or group has full HUMAN control of Russia, but the different factions are converging because of the not-war. It becomes less confusing once you accept the concept of multiple identities and fluctuating influences on decisions. “Make it up as you go along.” I think there are some basic military principles, but the strategies and advanced weapons technology continue to evolve on both sides during the operations, so must be continually upgraded. Actual war is a way to test the effectiveness of weapons. Betrayal and tit for tat retaliation is innate to cartel mentality.
Putin lost his mystique when he lost 1/2 of the Kharkiv province. People were screaming for mobilization for 6 weeks before the Ukie offensive to mobilize, Putin said it was not needed, then after the disaster mobilized like his critics were begging for. Kharkiv was Putin's first big disaster and people will not look at him the same again.
The Chinese is having high level meetings with Zelensky and Putin this week, about peace. Last week China hosted the Iran-Saud peace deal. China has leverage on the Ukraine because they could, if they wanted to, supply Russia for free. Even an implied bluff about supplies from China will put pressure on the Ukraine.
Glad to see you guys putting out another hour like this. Maybe I am smooth-brained, but aside from passionate feelings about the subject (and perhaps weeks of little news to discuss,) I was surprised you stopped producing.
I know you have great distaste for the church, Rolo. But religion of some sort is the institution of values, and none of these merchants want values getting in the way of commodification. So they are caught in a bind; they cannot appeal to higher motivations because then the serfs would start demanding things money cannot buy and merchants cannot sell.
They cannot appeal to blood for the same reason - it creates barriers to markets and stirs up ideas of really federating the Federation. So, all they are left with that can safely be employed is old claims to Land and anti-homosexuality. But it's not enough, and China isn't providing the manufactured goods to have brute force make up the difference.
I have not listened yet, so this is just a reaction to the title.
All politics is making it up as you go along.
I do not believe it is possible to do "ruling" any other way.
Though agenda's always exist, they are (imo) only rarely implemented trough direct planned action, but almost always through nudging decisions very slightly in favor of the agenda.
Edit: After listening I don't have to add much, except maybe that any ruler that does not have as its first priority to stay the ruler, will be replaced.
wish I could read Russian
I hope this podcast gets more regular because I really appreciate the perspective
China will do nothing to help Russia in materials for war. China is teetering , they have huge economic problems, cultural problems , "laying flat "and "let it rot " and the demographic cliff has arrived. There are 200 million unemployed, wages are falling, youth unemployment is at 20% , half of the 14 million graduates will not get a job this year. Government and private debt is through the roof , local government have 15 trillion US of debt that is being restructured , most will only pay interest for the next twenty years , think Japan zombie banks. People and cash are fleeing , over sixty percent of the one and a half trillion US of loans for belt and road are on the edge of default. Twenty two of the African loans have defaulted in the last year. Western businesses are leaving because the China growth story is over , Xi has gone feral , three year lockdowns and decoupling is real and happening. Global inflation has pushed the price of cheap Chinese products up by 100% at minimum . Apple is leaving , Japan is rearming , South Korea and Taiwan are arming up. If the West puts sanctions on China they will be in a very hard place. China is not Russia , China is a huge importer. If the US , Australia, NZ and the EU were to stop all exports into china , food being the most important China will be in Big trouble. Although Xi has been acting crazy and destroyed the economy I think he is smart enough to know that sanctions will really hurt. The existential problem is that Putin has overstepped his capabilities and is in a big dilemma. The West and Ukraine will never recognise the annexed oblasts including Crimea so there is no chance of a peace deal under the present Russian demands , NEVER! So Xi and Putin are putting their heads together to find a way out but there isn't one. Putin has screwed the pooch.
Putting a finger on the issue at the end in that people have nothing tangible to defend. Even in the least one can defend a garden.
The hypothesis that the Dniepr bridges are not blown up because the oligarchs have interest in let the flux of raw resources flow from Russia to the West through Ukraine, is despondent and in line with the dystopian gloominess of the blog.
However we should check whether oil pipes go through infrastructure inside the thoroughfare bridges. Perhaps the pipelines have their own dedicated bridges, or perhaps they burrow under the bed of the river.
Have either of you seen any progress within Russia toward development of some ideology to bind the people together and continue the terrible sacrifices this war is asking of them? Were Dugin and his daughter targeted because they were laying some sort of groundwork in this direction?
i completely agree, ALL people need to reflect on their; family, clan, nation And determine who is their actual enemy. There are people with names, that use wealth, power, blackmail, and assassination to remove useful information,
to perpetuate their control over large numbers of human beings through disinformation and products such as food, water and electronic devices which intentionally increase DISease for long term profit. have there really been no significant innovations or discoveries in the last 50 years?
OR has there been deliberate slowing/stopping of technological advances in order to reduce the probability of open rebellion and accountability of bad actors? [andrei fursov]
I have listened to the podcast three times now so I can fully digest it. Prior to the war I was a Russia supporter and was lukewarm anti West. After the retreats , before that even , it was obvious to me that this was not the Russia that RT had told me it was. So I started to look for more grassroots commentary and you two are as good as it gets in my opinion , thanks for your efforts. That Ritter and company have refused , as far as I know , to revise their opinions of the situation is illustrative of how entrenched pro Russian and anti Western propaganda is in the "alternative " media space. At this point the obvious fact is that Russia is at war with Ukraine and that Ukraine is defending itself as best it can. The failure of Russian intel is breathtaking , was the Soviet intel this bad? Having realised that Ukranians were not desperate to be liberated from Western influence one would have thought there would have been a reappraisal of the goals of the SMO while there was still time to withdraw with some dignity , however there was a doubling down and now there is no way for Putin to withdraw and survive. I see now that my belief that the new Russia had moved on and left the old Soviet ways behind was rather naive of me. How could all the old Soviet corruption , mismanagement and just plain pigheaded stupidity be overcome in thirty years? It was not possible and will not be possible until the last of the Soviet era generation is in the grave. Maybe , maybe then the younger generations will be able to forge a new national identity with more cohesive goals and ideology not based on the old post war order . I hope so because the Russian people and the Ukrainian people deserve better than this. How are Russians going to live with the aftermath of this if the concept of killing every Ukrainian man alive is carried forward to it's conclusion. Why does Putin feel that it is necessary to kill and kill now that it is obvious that the hearts and minds of the Ukrainian people were lost a long time ago. It appears that to continue the killing now now is just spiteful revenge for being rejected, a very sick and debilitating view of their former brothers has developed and will leave a dark stain on the Russian mind for a long time to come. Thanks again for your efforts and insights.
You should try to interview Pikachu
https://redwhiteandblackpill.libsyn.com/
She's over optimistic about Russia but in general is pretty good
Solid. Thank you
The Aiden story wasn't true. Aiden is still in the UK. It was another guy with similar looks filming himself near Bakhmut.