This would be genius proposal, and level of trolling.

Some kind of life-time special free tax zone in Russia, for citizens of Ukraine, with assets over certain level?

Also including amnesty, and promise never to extradite (either person or resources) to Ukraine (or any other country) of all people accused of financial crime in Ukraine.

I wonder what proportion immigration of Ukraine’s elite and their assets would immigrate.

Anyhow, forget about Ukraine being 30% cheaper (or whatever) than Russia. With such a gap, Russia can easily attract most of Ukraine’s remaining elite researchers wholesale, no matter how svidomy they are.

Why opt for a 30% raise in Russia when you can get an 500% to 1,000% raise somewhere in the West?

Your idea to partly adopt Ukrainian svidomism and weaponize it for Russian national purposes is about the only thing that makes any sense here. I’ve thought about this myself on several occasions. Don’t fight it, go with it. You could reinvent both Russian and Ukrainian svidomism where both branches of Rus come out ahead! 🙂

Why opt for a 30% raise in Russia when you can get an 500% to 1,000% raise somewhere in the West?

For jobs in Western countries, you need to apply and win a job first (for visa requirements, often in designated skill areas), including travelling there for an interview – and then afterwards you can apply for a visa. You also usually need formally recognized English exams. And then you still have to go through a lot of process to renew the visa at least one time, before (after years of working), applying for residency.

If there is some kind of special program offered in mass to researchers in Ukraine, including all kinds of benefits and streamlining of paperwork (something like instant citizenship and tax-free would be cool) – Karlin’s proposal would be successful for attracting a lot of people.

It would need a very large budget (to create new jobs for all these people) and someone intelligently to design program.

Sure, a lot of Ukrainians would move to Russia to take advantage of such opportunities. They may even appreciate Russians and their culture more so than before such an exprience. This doesn’t guarantee that they’d change their political opinions. Look at AP, he loves Russia, but hates its policies towards Ukraine.

How much of that describes your ideal 21st century Russia?

As you say, money talks. The EU has it. Even Poland and Warsaw is cheaper than Moscow.

Unless Russian nationalists drop the idea of absolute Russification of Ukrainians (culture, language) then this won’t work in the long-run. If they abandon the (pardon my esjaydubya language) chauvinism then this may well work, but for now its implausible.

It is a promising idea, but let me throw a few objections:

1. Large % of Ukrainians is ‘in love‘ with the West. It is hard to fight emotions with money. Especially since the precise gains-losses will always be ambiguous (see Mr. Hack above).

2. The value of all those high-IQ, entrepreneur, heavily-credentialed people is way overstated in most discussions (Unz suffers from this a lot). They are not that valuable, actually most are probably a net drain on a society due to their inflated self-worth. Ukraine might even be better of with a smaller, less ‘elite‘, down-to-earth population.

3. West wouldn’t sit idle. The kind of jiu-jitsu you propose has strong elements of Gorbachev (‘whoops, what if we take your enemy away?‘). We have all seen how that has worked out. West would simply up the ante and ruthlessly exploit any openings.

4. It would take a very long time. (see 3. for consequences).

It beats shooting at each other, but just barely. Maybe a well placed missile would work better.

This would be genius proposal, and level of trolling.

Best trolling ever would be Thorfinnson’s idea of Russia adopting the Ukrainian Trident as its symbol and blue and yellow as its colors. Since Russians stole Rus anyways, why not go with it? Ukrainians would have to come up with something else then.

Ukrainians go to Poland like Central Asians go to Russia – to make 4x more money doing mostly unskilled labor, then go back to enjoy it in cheaper Ukraine.

The part about unskilled is an exaggeration. There are Ukrainian engineers, electricians, etc. in Poland, they are not just working as unskilled labor.

Salaries are about twice as high in Poland than they are in Russia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_average_wage

and Warsaw is closer to Kiev than Moscow is.

Unless the Russian government is going to subsidize salaries for Ukrainians moving there why would they go?

why not “39 Steps”?

anyway, to celebrate Karlin’s brilliant plan, which is sure to work, here is a pretty bad performance of Tchaikovsky’s pretty bad Symphony #2, a.k.a., “Little Russia”:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CRGK4cv0k9c

Anatoly, have you ever considered the possibility that, if your plan actually works, it could also backfire in the sense that a high-profile pro-Ukrainian lobby could develop in Russia similar to, say, the Armenian lobby in Russia or the Israel lobby in the U.S.? For instance, I could imagine these elite Ukrainians trying to push Russia to give up Crimea and the Donbass while also pushing Russia to join the E.U. in order to strengthen the Slavic and White presence in the E.U.

Also, as a side note, I have a question both of you and for everyone else here: Let’s say that there would have been no World War II (for instance, as a result of Britain and France standing firm over the Sudetenland in 1938 and thus causing some German generals to overthrow Hitler and the Nazis; without Hitler, there is no World War II) and that Poland would have kept the Kresy (its Ukrainian-majority and Belarusian-majority territories, in addition to Lvov and Vilnius). In such a scenario, Poland would have escaped Communism and would have thus likely developed an Italian or Spanish standard of living by the early 21st century. In such a scenario–assuming that the Soviet Union still collapses on schedule near the end of the 20th century–is Ukraine likely to lean West or East? After all, while Ukraine would have been deprived of its most pro-Western areas (which would have remained a part of Poland in this scenario), Poland would have also been much richer in this scenario–something which could potentially attract even nominally pro-Russian Ukrainians in eastern and southern Ukraine. After all, as you wrote, money can certainly trump nationalism!

Anyway, any thoughts on this?

Ukrainian prices are 30% cheaper, which isn’t anywhere near enough to close that gap – I mention it because its something that AP mentions a lot (quoting that guy from Lvov who claimed that $100 there is equivalent to $1,000 in Moscow).

Yeah that guy was exaggerating.

However Ukraine is more than 30% cheaper.

Comparing Lviv to Moscow:

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Russia&city1=Moscow&country2=Ukraine&city2=Lviv

Consumer Prices in Lviv are 37.52% lower than in Moscow
Consumer Prices Including Rent in Lviv are 48.19% lower than in Moscow
Rent Prices in Lviv are 66.22% lower than in Moscow
Restaurant Prices in Lviv are 56.48% lower than in Moscow
Groceries Prices in Lviv are 33.91% lower than in Moscow
Local Purchasing Power in Lviv is 48.07% lower than in Moscow

A monthly salary of $1,400 in Lviv (typical programmer salary) is like $2,700 in Moscow. And quality in Lviv for things like food in restaurants is higher (although Moscow has better Georgian food).

Similar story with Kiev:

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Russia&city1=Moscow&country2=Ukraine&city2=Kiev&displayCurrency=USD

But you would have to pay much more than the equivalent salary to attract people to a place with worse (much colder) climate, far from home, and where the potential incoming people hate the politics. A programmer making $1,400 in Lviv is most likely not going to move to Moscow for $2,700.

After Maidan enough of Boeing’s Ukrainian researchers in Moscow wanted to go to Ukraine that Boeing opened a second R & D facility there.

I have no idea how accurate this website is:

https://teleport.org/cities/kiev/salaries/

https://teleport.org/cities/moscow/salaries/

But according to it, median salary for research scientist in Kiev is $7,253 and in Moscow it is $16,078. Taking into account cost of living differences it’s not a wide gulf.

This sort of reminds me of some American Jews who retain a soft spot for Israel and Israel’s interests in spite of the fact that they live in the U.S. and are U.S. citizens.

high-profile pro-Ukrainian lobby

This why it might be good to emphasise tax-free, extradition free, shelter for any rich in Ukraine accused of financial crimes (which is not so uncommon in Ukraine) by Ukraine.

In order words, there could be a special program acting as a channel for elites, in dispute with Kiev, to repatriate assets to Russia. In this case, it will be people who are opposed to Ukraine.
–

Israel already achieved this (in some comic way), with some ex-Yanukovich people.

For example, ex-Ecology and Energy and Coal Minister (for Yanukovich) Eduard Stavitsky, is now secretly become a man called “Rosenberg” who lives in Tel Aviv.*

In running from Ukraine, though, Stavitsky has to leave behind and lose some of his watches and gold bars in Ukraine (which must be sad for him).

In Karlin’s 31 step program, perhaps there could utilize special forces units, to help repatriate moveable assets of such kinds of people to Russia.

–
*

Too low-tier. I am thinking more of 4a games (though they’ve already decamped to Cyprus), and up.

4A games moved its HQ to Malta but most of it employees still work in Ukraine:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4A_Games

I actually know a high-level manager in an outsourcing company who moved back to to Lviv after living in Canada. Lviv is a great place for day to day living (beautiful architecture, lots of excellent restaurants and cafes, friends he grew up with, Ukrainian environment for the kids) and from here this guy has no trouble taking his family skiing in Austria or Italy, visiting Greece, etc. Company makes its money from foreign contracts, so the hryvnia devaluation didn’t really affect him, it made his money go much further. Even if he paid zero taxes in Russia, I doubt it would be enough to entice him or others in his position to move to a place that is much more expensive, colder, far from friends, and in a rival country.* A place like Italy might be intriguing, but not Russia.

*A problem with the Taiwan to China comparison is that, AFAIK, the elite Taiwanese are ethnic Chinese who fled Communists on the mainland. It’s like Vassily Aksyonov’s book about the Island of Crimea. It’s not a people who consider themselves to really be a separate nation. So moving to China isn’t moving to another country that one dislikes, but to one’s own historical homeland.

Japan submitted to the US after losing militarily and it’s now pro-American and serves as a military outpost because “winning” works, but Russia winning in Ukraine, especially its southern and eastern regions, will entail perpetual enmity?

Aside from this contradiction, I agree with most of what you said about co-opting the human capital and stopping with the gibs. I would literally do away with immigration enforcement with Ukraine and be vocal about the change, and hand out citizenship at will. Attracting workers of average IQ is no less important than attracting the cognitive elite with Russia’s substantial higher wages in research and other intelligence-demanding jobs, which is what you propose. The Kremlin appears to be intimidated by the opinion of its Near Abroad if it abolishes the border with Ukraine and denies this special treatment to them. I’m sure Ukrainians have less of a hurdle when migrating to Russia, it’s a kind of unofficial policy, but this is done in the dark, not telegraphed. It’s a very Russian thing. There has to be transparency, the feelings of non-Slavs be damned.

Recognising the republics in Donbass can lead to the rest of Ukraine joining NATO and the EU after being convinced by the FUKUS to abandon Crimea, so it’s not going to happen. The negative being what you said: it’s a constant black PR on Russia. It’s a lose-lose situation.

In running from Ukraine, though, Stavitsky has to leave behind and lose some of his watches and gold bars in Ukraine (which must be sad for him).

In Karlin’s 31 step program, perhaps there could utilize special forces units, to help repatriate moveable assets of such kinds of people to Russia.

This kind of lost loot of Stavitsky, definitely worthy for a special forces mission – even if transfer fee for such people was only 10% or 20%.

Japan submitted to the US after losing militarily and it’s now pro-American and serves as a military outpost because “winning� works, but Russia winning in Ukraine, especially its southern and eastern regions, will entail perpetual enmity?

Did Poland become friendly towards Russia and Germany, who won? Was Ireland friendly to Britain, who won?

von Karajan .. such a pity ..

Say what you like about Rattle, but on balance I much preferred him.

Well, Poland did rely on Russian/Soviet military protection for almost half a century after 1945 in order to ensure that (West) Germany wouldn’t be able to reclaim its lost territories in the East.

As for Germany, its World War II form was too brutal to win a lot of friends in Poland. Had Germany won World War I and treated countries such as Poland as genuine partners instead of vassals, though, then the Mitteleuropa idea might have gotten a lot of fans in countries such as Poland.

As for Ireland, if it wasn’t for World War I, it’s possible that Home Rule would have passed there and been successful. I seem to recall that World War I delayed Irish Home Rule and thus paved the way for Irish independence (cracking down on the Easter Uprising didn’t help, though). In such a scenario, even if Ireland would’ve ultimately become independent, it could’ve been much friendlier towards Britain than it was in real life.

You know, this is actually an interesting idea–specifically having Russia open its borders and let any Ukrainian who wants to move there to do so. It would also help Ukraine’s current leadership by getting rid of a lot of pro-Russian people in Ukraine.

I seem to recall that Mr. Hack previously proposed something similar to this–at least if I remember correctly. Specifically, have all of the passionately pro-Russian people in Ukraine move to Russia and thus result in both of a population boom for Russia and a more politically homogeneous and unified Ukraine.

I never suggested this, but it makes some sense. I don’t know if the Putler government is still offering immigrants cash plus other goodies if they move to Russia? It looks like frogman Deperdieu’s honeymoon period in Russia has ended:

https://themoscowtimes.com/news/gerard-depardieu-amasses-new-tax-debts-russia-media-reports-62264 🙂

Just to lend some more perspective:

Annual per capita GDP in Russia, in purchasing power parity terms, is about US$28,000. By comparison, New Zealand, South Korea, and Italy are at about $38,000.

Annual per capita GDP in Ukraine, in purchasing power parity terms, is about US$8,600. By comparison, Jamaica is at approximately $ 8,900 and Laos is at $7,400.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

There is no comparison between the two countries, economically speaking, from a wage earning individual’s perspective.

Compared to China attracting the meritocratic cream of Taiwan’s talent, it should be a cinch for Russia to get Ukraine’s best and brightest. Government pensioners and employees in Crimea got a greater than 2x raise when Russia took over Crimea. The local popular support for the move was solid.

Bonus: Ukrainian nationalist songs are pretty groovy.

Glad to hear that you like this type of fare, Anatoly. Here’s a whole collection of such heartwarming melodies. The first one is the ‘Zaporozhian March’, being played as the background in the Polish film ‘Between Fire and Sword’. The battle scene is of the Polsh debacle at ‘Zhovti Vodi’. Sorry, I couldn’t find one of the equally devastating battle at ‘Konotop’ for the Muscovites.

There is no comparison between the two countries, economically speaking, from a wage earning individual’s perspective.

It depends on the job. Does a top manager at a software company make 4 times more in cost-of-living adjusted income in Russia than he does in Ukraine? Doubtful.

Also, annual per capita GDP PPP is not the same as wages.

Here are wages in Europe:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_average_wage

Net average monthly salary (adjusted for living costs in PPP):

Russia: $1,331
Ukraine: $ 954

Belarus bets Russia, with $1,422.

Georgia: $900
Armenia: $846
Moldova: $620

::::::::::::

Even when not adjusting for cost of living, Russian wages are about twice those of Ukraine, not over 3 times higher as is Russia’s per capita GDP PPP. It’s about the same as the difference between wages in Portugal vs. Spain.

In contrast, Poland’s wages are almost 4 times higher than wages in Ukraine when not adjusting for cost of living.

Re: “making Russian culture so majestic and attractive…”

Compared to the great civilizations (although at present in danger of decline)
created by Britain, France, and the United States, Germany and Russia are
failed civilizations. That’s easy to see: no country outside of Europe speaks
German or Russian, and at least in the U.S. the study of German or Russian
is in severe decline. Secondly, both Germany and Russia have a history of FORCING
their neighbors to learn their useless languages (compared to English or Spanish),
in Russia’s case as recently as 1989. Even Spain and Portugal, which never
created great civilizations, spread their beautiful languages (and cultures) practically
effortlessly throughout Latin America and even in Africa.

I would judge Germany more harshly than Russia. Russia got stuck with the worst
piece of real estate in Europe, far from the great centers of European civilization,
cursed with horrible climate, and because of its unfortunate location forced to
be part of the defensive perimeter of Europe. However, for Germany there are no
extenuating circumstances. Germany, incl. Austria, has been blessed in every
possible way, and yet blew it in the most spectacular way, and with Merkel at
the helm continues its history of failure. A couple of points: Germany (with Jewish
help) gave the world not one but two antihumanitarian philosophies of life,
Marxism (a gift that keeps on giving) and Nazism. In the space of 40 years Germany
became guilty not of one but two cases of genocide, in SW Africa and in Poland.
How can one take seriously a country like Germany that still practiced slavery
as recently as in 1945, when civilized countries outlawed slavery in the 19th century.
One of the reasons usually given for Germany’s failure is the lack of skeptical
tradition in German philosophy. Germany never produced people like Descartes or
Hume who would have prevented German thinkers from going on flights of fancy
like the anti-empirical ideologues Hegel or Marx. Parenthetically, China and India
are two more examples of failed civilizations, and Japan was a failed civilization
until 1945.

By the way, I mentioned a Polish fellow who met a good-looking Russian woman
(with Polish ancestry) in Brazil. They got married in Poland, lived in Moscow where
she grew up for awhile but recently decided to move to a tropical paradise for mainly
two reasons: (1) never-ending winters in Moscow, (2) soul-crushing commutes on
the subway due to Moscow’s enormous size. She said she could see herself living
in Poland since Poland is warmer than Moscow and closer to Italy or France but
they are still young and thirst for adventure so why not the tropics, at least for
awhile.

Actually the title of the Polish film is “With Fire and Sword.” It is based
on the first volume of what is known in Poland as The Trilogy penned
in the 1880s by Henryk Sienkiewicz, a Polish Nobelist known in the
West primarily for the novel Quo Vadis.

By the way, the movie “With Fire and Sword” also has a beautiful ballad
“Dumka na Dwa Serca” which you can see on YouTube in both Polish
and Russian (or Ukrainian?) versions.

The English hegemony is a bad counter-example. The English, through military victory, diplomacy and blackmail, eventually incorporated other lands into their own ‘federation’ with devolved parliaments, and Great Britain was born. Wales and Scotland, but also a piece of Ireland was severed: Northern Ireland.

The winner has to be cool and provide decent living standard for the people who come under its rule, and treat them well. Naturally, local elites have to be brought into the fold and hostile ones disbanded, at least for a time.

Commonality, and here the Ukrainians fit the bill very well, also helps. If they resemble you, speak your language and share your religion, you can pull a Bismarck.

the barriers for migration to the west for Ukrainians (and Russians as well) are large.

1. Getting a Visa – a lot of reluctance to admit immigrants (this is sidestepped by the bogus refugees who live in a shadow world – but what self respecting scientist or engineer wants to clean toilets)

2. Getting a job – 10 to 20% youth unemployment in some countries – for a non native convincing a prestige employer is much harder – Big home bias. Big restrictions now on companies sponsoring specialists from the third world (In the UK they need to earn twice the average salary to get a visa, hence Ukrainian immigrants would no longer be cheap)

3. Qualifications – who knows how good the university of Kharkov is? – did said engineer buy their diploma?

4. Language barrier – still exists, even if they vaguely understand English, can they speak German or French

I do not believe that any of these barriers would exist for a Ukrainian scientist moving to Russia
They already speak the language, Russians know about Ukrainian qualifications and universities, strong cultural similarities (like a Swede moving to Denmark) and as far as I know no visa barriers.

win – win for all (my dedushka was an example)

How much of that human capital is there to siphon out from Ukraine?

The country has not conducted a population census for 16 years, and some researchers I hear think there are 35 million people in Ukraine now.

Ukraine is depopulating very very fast, as Ukrainians choose life outside Ukraine.

I am pretty certain that at one point in near future, the majority of human capital will be very low and completely useless.

no country outside of Europe speaks German or Russian

Russian is still spoken by people in Central Asia to some extent, German will give you an edge where I live. Not to mention, I heard German spoken at home when I was a child.

Russian and German empires were land entities, whereas the English and French were maritime empires. The latter simply occupied more countries that way and the Anglos managed to become globally dominant.

The problem with Germans is they lost their balls in WWII, and Germany and Austria is getting increasingly more dark skinned. But Austria for instance is a really good place to live.

Ukrainian nationalist songs are pretty groovy

I have a hard time calling Cossack folk songs “Ukrainian nationalist”…

I like Irish Republican songs too

Even Spain and Portugal, which never created great civilizations

It would be highly amusing to read through your account of what constitutes a great civilization, and then going through absolute shitshow that British Empire and USA had been in civilizational terms.

PS: The “failed” Germany contributed more to scientific and technological progress of world in short 40 years from unification to WW1 than the rest of world combined.

A Ukrainian ethnic lobby in Russia is unlikely in my opinion. Ukrainians who move to Russia assimilate pretty quickly (like my grandpa). Their children speak Russian and tend to identify as Russian. There is a lot of intermarriage (like my grandparents) and not that much nostalgia, and certainly no love for the extreme Ukrop nationalists. The ukrop super nationalists are unlikely to move to Russia for economic reasons, they are more likely to be cleaning toilets in Poland

A western example is of people of Irish heritage in England. Their children are accepted as English, speak with English regional accents and are loyal to Britain, even if a few of them do play for the Irish Republic football team. There is a limited Irish lobby in England (the IRA did not help). This is in contrast to Irish Americans for whom anglophobia is a cultural sacrosanct.

Th contrast with the Armenians is stark, even after a few generations Armenians identify with their ancestral homeland which they see as being perpetually under threat. The cultural differences are greater than with Ukrainians but there are some mixed marriages

Identification aside, Armenians are probably greater Russophiles than Russians themselves, much like Serbs.

While certain nationalists, including on this blog, still entertain fantasies about invading the Ukraine and ruling it like a Reichskommissariat, that would be worse than just immoral – it would almost certainly fail, since it buys into the narrative that Ukrainians can only become Russians at the point of a gun.

Anatoly, you have a nasty habit of creating straw men. The fact that you need to misrepresent my idea shows how weak your reasoning is.

The point of invading the Ukraine is establishing control of its territory and accelerating the natural, ongoing process of Ukrainian decline. Russia may or may not be a “declining medium power”, but the Ukraine is sure a declining banana republic, unable to provide basic services like hot water for its citizens.

The war is going to make it 10 times worse. Historically, war functioned as a powerful catalyst for change. The Ukraine is currently in the process of dying on its own, but my idea is to introduce a catalyst to it, so that we don’t have to wait until 2050 for them to reach 15M pop. 🙂

Once we have control of the territory, there is a number of things we could do with it. For example, if the goal is draining the Ukraine of its “smart faction” (whatever that means in the Ukraine), this will be easier to do once there is People’s republic in Kiev, and most connections to the West are severed due to Western sanctions. The size of Russia’s wages becomes irrelevant in this scenario – the mere fact that Russia has wages becomes an attraction for Ukrainian migrants.

I am no military expert, but a whole bunch of people seem to believe that Russia’s security is jeopardised by a hostile entity in our soft Ukrainian underbelly. Eliminating the entity and securing the underbelly to me seems like a natural thing to do. Absorbing the Ukraine’s population (if that is what we wish to do) will only be made easier by dislocations produced by war.

The Russian Empire were winners, so much so that there were strong Russophile movements in Galicia, and in far-off Bohemia (Masaryk wanted to introduce Russian language instructions in Czech schools – understandably vetoed by the Austrian authorities).

A lot of this had to do with the fact that Czech itself was suppressed, and for that matter not developed. The Czechs looked to Russia as a large, independent Slavic state, and to Russian language is a language that was superior to theirs.

Russian is still superior to Czech by the way…

In Halychyna, the locals were even more primitive and looked to Russia for ooga booga, muh Orthodoxy reasons.

Today only linguists realise Russia’s influence upon the Czechs, and that influence is not going to repeat itself unless a new Dostoyevsky rises. And Halychyna has literally gone bonkers…

If it is like Serbs, then they are cynical, opportunistic “Russophiles” at best, who value Russia only for the geopolitical backing and perceived profit.
In other words, most of modern day Serbs are Serbs-in-name-only, being a particularly toxic breed of Yugoslavs and riddled with inferiority complex towards West, shallow materialism and one-sided love for West.
There is a small core of Russophillic Serbs, in addition to Sovietophillic (due to perceived Antifascism, Socialist history and fight against Axis) grouping that often gets bundled together.

Several million Serbs happily live in “eternal, historical enemy” states like USA, UK, Germany and Austria, in addition to many “Serbs” across former Yugoslavia.

PS: The “failed� Germany contributed more to scientific and technological progress of world in short 40 years from unification to WW1 than the rest of world combined.

Thanks, Jews!

Irish have privileged migration and voting rights in Britain, this has been a disaster. Ethnic Irish are as influential as Jews in the creation of the corrosive left in Britain, as well as forming an underclass. Forget the Ukrainians, leave them alone and look after your own people.

I see why you are called ‘Anon’.

The point of invading the Ukraine is establishing control of its territory and accelerating the natural, ongoing process of Ukrainian decline. Russia may or may not be a “declining medium power�, but the Ukraine is sure a declining banana republic, unable to provide basic services like hot water for its citizens.

Ukraine manages its decline very well without full scale Russian occupation. Also, occupation would mean Russia would have to provide hot water to Ukrainians.

But not only that, Russia would have to deal with an entire scope of Ukraine’s problems. Not to mention, there would be people, who would be openly hostile to Russian occupation. They would resent Russia for not allowing them into Europe and other nonsense. Russia would have to deal with rabid svidomites, and perhaps even underground resistance.

Ain’t nobody got time for that…

Ukrainians who move to Russia assimilate pretty quickly (like my grandpa).

Pretty much the same experience here, my mother has a Ukrainian maiden name, and nobody would even call her Ukrainian.

In the former Kazakh territories, a jerrimendering was conducted to establish the absolute Russian majority in all newly formed oblasts.

(The term is gerrymander, but I understand that your first language is not English)
If it’s going to grab North Kazakhstan, Russia better be quick. In 1990, 38% of the population of Kazakhstan was Russian. Now it’s below 25%. Long term, failure to act will probably result in the displacement of this population.

occupation would mean Russia would have to provide hot water to Ukrainians. But not only that, Russia would have to deal with an entire scope of Ukraine’s problems.

Why? I mean who says that it should? You approach this situation like a sovok person. When USSR occupied countries, it built schools and hospitals, and naturally, bankrupted itself in the process, but occupations do not have to look like that.

Putin ‘is planting troops and missiles in eastern Libya in bid to seize control of the biggest illegal immigration route to Europe’, UK intelligence fears
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6254859/Putin-planting-troops-missiles-eastern-Libya-anti-western-stronghold.html

Any truth to it? Is Putin going to save Europe from African invasion?

as influential as Jews in the creation of the corrosive left in Britain

They are bad, but not even close to Jews.
Jews are responsible for creating the SWP (and all of its offshoots), Militant, passing the Race Relations Act, founding the most important anti-Racism think tank the Runnymede trust, the racial and immigration policies of New Labour. This is putting aside the huge power they exert through fundraising to Labour (in the past) and the Conservaties. Not to mention that Irish affinity and loyalty to Ireland (in England certainly) does not even approach Jewish affinity and loyalty to Israel and the power of Zionist lobbying groups.

Of course they assimilate easily, the borders are arbitrary lines drawn in plains.
Does anyone believe that people living near the border on both sides in case of Ukraine, Belarus and Russian Federation are different ethnicities?
It would be interesting to track the historical migrations from present-day Ukraine to present-day Russian Federation throughout history.
I was surprised with the high frequency of -ko and -uk surnames in Russia I encountered.

I wonder what would happen if China did the same for American white males? I’m thinking that peeling off just a few million might be enough to screw the US permanently (i.e. further dissolve its social cohesion and competitiveness) without really altering China’s demographics. Perhaps in some bizarre future scheme, they import some white guys into Taiwan in order to dilute its social cohesion and resistance to China while co-opting that same group to their own ends, eventually leading to reunification.

“I suppose that if superintelligence is developed soon”

How do you know that hasn’t already happened? The global fall in birth rates is quite odd, isn’t it?

I’ve read convincing accounts of Jews formenting and funding Dutch rebellion against the Spanish, and bankrolling Cromwell and his Puritans.

Are there any worse judaised slimes than Protestants? Historically and at present?

I think that part of that effort should be to tone down anti-Ukrainian rhetorics and make Ukrainians feel more than welcome.
Not just “Russians from Ukraine”, but even Ukrainians speaking Ukrainian and strongly identifying as such.
Russian media handled the events very clumsily. Instead of precisely isolating the cancerous Ultras, SS Galizien tards, Einsatzgruppen worshippers and Azov LARPers, they opted for painting the entire Maidan supporter group as Fascists and coupists.

In more concrete terms, your strategy envisions attracting people like AP to Russia. Every such individual coming to work and live in Russia is a net win in both short and long term.
Claiming that Ukrainians are just a regional variety of Russians should reflect upon the treatment of Ukrainian identity – framing it as an ideological and political difference between Russians.
If Bolshevik supporters and descendants of revolutionaries who gutted Russia and Russians could be Russian, I see no obstacle to welcome almost all Ukrainians and their opinions with open arms.

but occupations do not have to look like that

No they do not but that would not mean Russia would not have to deal with any problems.

Perhaps in some bizarre future scheme, they import some white guys into Taiwan in order to dilute its social cohesion and resistance to China while co-opting that same group to their own ends, eventually leading to reunification.

Aside from everything else, how is Beijing supposed to determine the immigration policy of a renegade province they don’t control?

Turn it into another red line.

Before Displacement, there will be “affirmative action” job quotas for Kazakhs and “land reform” plans. Russia must take action long before this occurs, as the aim of such policies is to make as many Russians and other Slavs leave as possible and reduce ethnic Russians to a tiny rump.

Even better idea; sponsor a marriage program between Uighur women (Uighur men to be sent to re-education camps) and American men. Two birds with one stone.

The gap in academic wages is perhaps close to 10x now, unless Ukraine also started massively increasing them recently

My sample of young Ukrainian researchers working in Moscow tells me that even the pay as a student here is significantly better than as a researcher in Kiev, that science is almost totally dead in Kiev and that this is very demotivating (the best remaining scientists having been mediocre students in Moscow back in the 70s), and that while young people can make a good living as programmers relative to the cost of living, the work conditions and hours are not sustainable for people with families.

It is conceivable that the situation in Kiev will improve over the next decade or two, but this is far from certain.

A great plan, but unfortunately about 15 years too late. Brain drain from Ukraine to Russia has already been on turbo mode for the last decade. Only the dregs of the dregs are left in Ukraine at this point.

Here in 2018 even professional Ukrainian patriots prefer to do their dirty deed from the safety of Moscow. I think it’s safe to say it’s time that the valve be closed for a bit.

I’ve read convincing accounts of Jews formenting and funding Dutch rebellion against the Spanish, and bankrolling Cromwell and his Puritans.

Were they really very important? Or is the role magnified massively out of importance by monomaniacs

funding Dutch rebellion

Is that even a bad thing? The initial Dutch revolt was led by Catholics anyway.

Are there any worse judaised slimes than Protestants? Historically and at present?

The comission set up by the Puritan parliament to decide on the Jewish question actually voted not to let them back in, it was only under Charles II that many Jews started to move to England. Kooky beliefs of a tiny subset of Protestants about the Old Testament have not been very important, for Protestantism or history in general.
The greatest supporters of Jews have generally (before creatino of the Christian Zionist heresy in the 20th century) those who only care about money or power and not religion at all, like the MPs who passed the Jew Bill in 1753 but were forced to retract it becasue of Protestant pressure.

Life involves “dealing with problems”. I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here…

I mean selectively targeting Ukraine’s remaining cognitive elites and O-Ring sectors for transplantation into Russia wholesale

You might want to elaborate on this: how many people you’re talking about exactly? If individuals such as AP is what passes for Ukrainian cognitive elite, then, perhaps, we should just let it die? There are things that should just die, and Russia will not be diminished, if we let AP die.

Also, I’m not sure what “O-Ring” means, but I doubt you’ll find a lot of it in LDNR. You’ll find plenty of pensioners though, who need to be cared for. The existance of pensioners is in fact the No.1 argument against annexing LDNR, and any futher territorial aquisions in the Ukraine. Not the sanctions, not the Ukrainian military, which remains laughable. It’s the millions upon millions of useless old people, who need to be cared for.

“Aside from everything else, how is Beijing supposed to determine the immigration policy of a renegade province they don’t control?”

Here’s how I’d do it: encourage more Americans in tech, video games, or some other industry like rocket science to move to Taiwan (white guys/gals overwhelmingly), perhaps through some business venture with the Taiwanese; as the US goes anti-white multicult, import some white guys into mainland China or even Hong Kong if you can arrange it. As whites are verbally dominant over Asians and present in both locations, you can manipulate the mainland group to manipulate the Taiwan group, which would be dominant verbally over the natives. Over time, the two nations would become more interlinked until reunification is achieved peacefully (by using a third party minority as ethnic mediator). It’d be more complicated and involved that than, but perhaps it could be done. In any case, whites treated well in the mainland would cause the Taiwanese to think they’d also be treated well, lessening the probability of a break away.

May seem bizarre, but who knows. China = billion people. So, peeling off 20 million white guys = destruction of the US as a superpower without firing a shot while also not really changing China’s demographics and introducing genes – albeit recessive ones – to make future Chinese girls prettier. Seems like a tempting scheme for some Asian trends genius to cook up one day as China will soon experience demographic problems of her own.

“they import some white guys into Taiwan in order to dilute its social cohesion”

To further clarify, what I’m suggesting is similar to what happened with Quebec, Canada. In the mid 1990s, the province almost split away. However, there is now no more worry that breakaway will happen due to immigration into Quebec. Foreigners don’t give a damn about their secession cause and will vote against it. Importing some whites into Taiwan and mainland China would create a similar situation where a verbally-dominant white minority across both sides of the straight doesn’t care about the independence issue as it is a nothingburger for them. This would, assuming whites are permanent residents or citizens, lessen the possibility of breakaway while also giving the Chinese government another group they could manipulate on the island, done so with the cover of the group on the mainland. Eventually, there would be closer ties leading to reunification. Plus, a handful of future Chinese girls around Hong Kong or the mainland get prettier. Not a bad deal over all.

Life involves “dealing with problems�.

Contemporary Russian society lives according to the principle of comfort and abundance, and this promises neither.

After all, what did Germany or Russia ever give world culture? America gave us twerking.

Also, I’m not sure what “O-Ring� means, but I doubt you’ll find a lot of it in LDNR.

Donetsk always had a heavy industry which required specialists, and they find it easy to move to Russia.

If individuals such as AP is what passes for Ukrainian cognitive elite, then, perhaps, we should just let it die?

For some reason AP subscribes to Ukr propaganda but there are his types in Russia already, and their opinion is rather irrelevant.

Neither did Russia’s war in Syria, and the society ate it up. Russian society defers to Kremlin on issues of war and peace.

Peel off the engineers who aren’t willingly, happily getting their balls trampled by SV/Seattle/etc dominatrix culture. It’s not like they are wanted, right?

Regarding human capital, I can see the same thing in certain countries when I visit (not EE). Beautiful, but they sure could use some Swedish city planners and engineers to really level up.

In that vein, I’ve heard Swedish multinationals in Brazil have perpetual problems with Swedish engineers encountering an, ahem, warmer and more appreciative culture while on assignment. Eternal drama, divorces and so on, lol.

it is not ordinary people – proles – who set national policies.

True, but every once in a while, when the gods approve and the planets are in correct alignment, we throw our support to a Lenin or a Trump, and we ride the fiery kraken from hell.

I’m not certain occupation of Ukraine would be as easy as operation in Syria.

And the founder of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists was half Polish.

Re-pensions. What nonsense. Russia already pays the pensions of people in the LDNR.

Non exactly: Russia pays LDNR pension. LDNR pension is several times smaller, than the Russian pension. The minimum is 2600 rubles. And this is what makes LDNR affordable for the Russian budget.
https://pensiagid.ru/poleznaya-informaciya/pensionnye-vyplaty-v-dnr.html

would all have brought in more in taxes than they consumed a few years after getting reincorporated into Russia.

This is definitely not true. Pensions and wages in the public sector would have to be raised to Russian level straight away, while local economy will take decades to catch up. Ukrainian per capita GDP is 20% of Russia’s level. Eastern Ukrainian demographics are atrocious. It’s a sea of old and middle aged people, with no savings and no useful skills.

To give you some context Russia spent $150 billion on pensions in 2017. The cost of war will be totally dwarfed by the cost of Ukrainian pensions…which is why I favor a long period of occupation to allow them to die off, at which point territory could be safely annexed to Russia without breaking the budget.

Re-pensions. What nonsense. Russia already pays the pensions of people in the LDNR.

When did this occur? last I heard, it was still being paid by Kyiv. People still needed to make the dangerous trip from the Russian controlled zone, to the Ukrainian side?

Hilariously they submitted fervently to the West that betrayed them in 1939 and 1940. I think Poles are still one of the most pro-American countries.

Hilariously they submitted fervently to the West that betrayed them in 1939 and 1940

Presumably they should have instead decided to become a vassal state of Russia again?

Sensing that AP’s core views (like Poland is better for Ukraine than Russia) don’t constitute the majority of ethnic Ukrainians in Russia. Numerous pro-Russian Ukrainians in the former Ukrainian SSR and elsewhere.

As AP pointed out, it isn’t just low-skill migration moving to Poland anymore. I have a lot of contact with Ukrainian students in Warsaw and plenty of them are cognitive elites.

According to the IPA, around 9,747 Ukrainian students studied at Polish universities during the 2012-13 academic year , while in 2013-14, the number increased to 15,123 people. With regard to the latest results, universities recorded 35,584 students in the 2016-17 academic year.

In the last academic year, 56K international students came to Poland, close to 10% of the student population. Over half are from Ukraine. There are plenty of Belarussians as well. If you take all EE students, it’s close to 70% or higher. Some of those students go home but increasingly a lot of them stay on.

The chart above shows foreigners paying into ZUS (our social-security fund). That’s not for temporary migrants but people who live for a year or longer and with longer-term intentions to stay. Ukrainians are moving up quickly in the last few years; increasingly rooted in Poland. While many of them are low skilled, there is also a non-trivial amount of elites, either those who came as students or those who were recruited into work right off the bat.

Secondly, low-skill migration in fact encourages high-skill migration, they are not as untied as one might think. I don’t have the link now, but I’ve read about this on EE migration to the UK and Germany. Immigration researchers call this the ‘balloon effect’. If you cut off lower-skilled migration, higher-skill migration will be affected. Turns out that even elites prefer to be around their own kin in a new environment (neighbour shops, restaurants, community centers, day schools etc).

Furthermore, to lure the elites of tomorrow you must necessarily take a wider bet on a larger group of people in order to be economical. It is hard to say how successful someone will be until they are in their 40s for the most part. By the time they are at their peak, they cost a lot more to lure per person. It makes more sense to target a larger group of 20-something in order to maximise the chances that you get all the elites at lower cost. Even those who don’t quite fall into that group will be net benefits to your society.

Finally, I must add my skepticism to those who have already cast doubt on whether Russia will be able to lure top scientific talent away from other countries. It may be difficult to get into Australia or Canada, but European countries are increasingly open. The richest ones (Switzerland, Norway, Ireland etc) will continue to be very attractive. And it isn’t just about salaries. It’s even more so about the research budgets. Switzerland may be a small nation but it has very high incomes which allows it to spend a huge amount per scientist in terms of what they can buy. Russia will not be able to compete with that, unless it was willing to disproportionately spend money on a foreign class, but that would be politically unsustainable.

Correction on the below highlighted:

Best trolling ever would be Thorfinnson’s idea of Russia adopting the Ukrainian Trident as its symbol and blue and yellow as its colors. Since Russians stole Rus anyways, why not go with it? Ukrainians would have to come up with something else then.

You can’t steal what’s already a part of you. The Tryzub is an early day Russian emblem, in line with the Riurik line of monarchs who ruled Russia for the period thru Vasili IV.

The Tryzub on the background of the Russian national colors in flag and emblem forms is something that has already been evident. The blue and yellow Ukriian national colors are a fairly recent (in historical terms) development.

Last week I read your detailed plans regarding the destructi0n of Israel, now this week it’s the destruction and occupation of all of Ukraine. Why not really impress us and explain how Russia needs to invade and destroy the real ‘devil’ that’s behind it all, the US?

You’re the living example of why Russia is perceived as the final refuge of kooks and freaks, where everything can be settled with a bomb or a bullet (or a shoe, as in your case). ðŸ™�

The Kuban Cossack choir rocks.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kuban+cossacks+choir

I have no problem with these ‘Ukrainians’, as long as they stay in Russia.

According to what someone had communicated to me, Solzhenitsyn said that Russia missed a golden opportunity by not taking Galicia after Napoloen’s defeat.

Serbs can be of either a sovok (Titoist) or anti-sovok mindset, with some others taking a more neutral view between these two categories.

Germany has unambiguously contributed far more to world civilisation than most countries in this world. I would rank them highest in continental Europe. Only Anglos have had greater world impact – as evidenced by the fact that practically all Anglo offshoots are extremely impressive countries and English continues to be the lingua franca of science, business and most international debates. Hence why I write this in English.

Blaming them for Marxism is pretty stupid. Marx was not exactly an ethnic German and he was the driving force. Nazism is a better slur against them. It was basically Germanic supremacism, though I ultimately view it in the same vein as I view ‘manifest destiny’ in the US. Every expanding state needs its moralising ideology, if for no other reason than propaganda for audiences at home and abroad.

I also happen to be most fond of Germanic philiosophy. The French are clowns. Anglos are impressive but they are too liberal. Germans have a darker, more pessimistic outlook which I tend to like. They also have an outsized proportion of the best conservative minds historically speaking.

As for them not spreading their language, that’s because they were boxed in. If you were at the Western edge of Europe (Iberia, France, UK) you had the oceans to think about and that naturally led to colonial settlements. If you were Germany with people from all sides hemming you in, you naturally focused more on land warfare and not getting done in. Foreign adventures in far-away lands was the last thing on your mind.

Did they fail in the wars? Yes. Still impressive people.

You’re the living example of why Russia is perceived as the final refuge of kooks and freaks

Probably there are harmless countries like Canada in which hardly anyone blabbers online about their desire to invade other countries. But among big, bad countries– say Brazil, China, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, the United States, just to pick a list of countries that haven’t signed the convention on cluster munitions– Russia is hardly an outlier.

Interestingly, my social circles in the US and in Russia are quite similar– cosmopolitan scientists. But even the most “patriotic” Russian scientists that I know are noticeably less chauvinistic than all but the most lefty American scientists.

As for vatniks and rednecks, they’d probably get along great, gleefully plotting together how to invade Canada from both sides to take over the breweries, hockey rinks, hunting grounds, and fishing holes.

Switzerland pays the highest salaries for PhD candidates (2500-6000 CHF ) and postdocs (3000-8000 CHF) in the world.

https://www.myscience.ch/living/salary/salary_phd_postdoc

How come you and AP don’t seem to have the same kind of loyalty towards America as you do towards the Ukraine?

Israel is the power behind the USA, not the other way round. If Israel were to be wiped out then it essentially be a decapitation strike of the US leadership.

Most of those problems can be solved with the correct application of chemistry anyway: iron for gates, and lead for bullets. The current for Ukraine is really just a medical problem that needs the appropriate chemical solutions.

My loyalty to the US is much greater than to Ukraine. I pay all of my taxes, vote in all of the elections, say and mean every word of the pledge of allegiance. Did I miss anything important?

Your comments often evoke vicarious embarrassment and I am sure not only in me.

That is true. Especially if you are in a research-intensive job, the network effects of being among other smart, well-funded peers who are there for the long haul cannot be overstated. Smart fractions now mostly speak English making it easy to settle in vast swathes of Western Europe and the Anglosphere. Russia might make sense as a stop-over for Ukrainians, Belorussians etc. if the incentives are there but would not be where the real difference-makers would want to stay long-term.

Best trolling ever would be Thorfinnson’s idea of Russia adopting the Ukrainian Trident as its symbol and blue and yellow as its colors.

Holodomor was a genocide of Russian people.

Not to mention this statement is partially true already, and Russian nationalists already believe that Ukrainians are Russians that were fooled by the Bolsheviks.

The latter I believe with some reservations.

last I heard, it was still being paid by Kyiv.

They were not paid by Kiev for a while. Then the numb-nuts in Kiev realised that they consider Donbass to be theirs.

How come you and AP don’t seem to have the same kind of loyalty towards America as you do towards the Ukraine?

They have loyalty to svidomism but like any good patriot of Ukraine, they live very far from the place. Similar attitude can be observed with Western Russophiles, and many Russians abroad, many who have unrealistic view of Putin and Russia.

Do you ask the same of the Russian “patriots” who do not live in Russia?

The Taiwan analogy has a fundamental problem that I alluded to earlier: Taiwan is not a rival cousin of China but a state founded by exiled anti-Communist Chinese who are its elites. The natives are besides the point. So in a sense it is like Aksyonov’s Island of Crimea. Taiwanese Chinese elites are like Russian White exiles. So mainland Chinese policy is successfully convincing these Chinese Whites to return to or reinvest in the land of their fathers or grandfathers.

Applying the Chinese approach to Taiwan to Russia and Ukraine is thus based on the false premise that these are one people, when they are not.

Would China be able to pull this off with Vietnam, or Korea, if it wanted to?

Realistically, this strategy applied toward Ukraine would at most strip Ukraine of any remaining Russian elites, reducing the ethnic Russian population in Ukraine that had produced people like Bulgakov, to a population of lumpens. Although I suspect this process has already been well underway. OTOH, it probably wouldn’t have much impact on the ethnic Ukrainian elites, whose people would rather stay home or just go to Poland or the West. So a place like Kharkiv would slide further downward, while Kiev or Lviv would not be affected much. This Taiwan policy would thus accelerate or further cement Ukraine’s demographic and economic westward reorientation. Frankly, it’s not much of a “tragedy” for Ukraine.

Far too complicated. Just 2 steps:

1. Annex Ukraine
2. Get in the EU

This way Rus is restored, and the Ukrainians get their EU dream, everyone’s happy.

I am not even joking. As Richard Spencer and others have noted, the EU by itself is not such a bad idea, it needs serious reform if it’s going to survive anyway, and most of the people who want to reform it are either friendly or at least not hostile to Russia.

And a “European Union” without the biggest European country in it has always seemed absurd to me.

(note to Ukrainians: by “biggest European country” I am referring to Russia, as I know you also refer to Ukraine like this sometimes. Yes, Russia is an European country, and no, you are not a real country in the first place).

Seems some improvement hapening regarding relationship with reality that even some rabid Russian imperialists are begining to think that there are better options than for the first time in human history waging war in country with wide scale functioning nuclear energy usage 🙂

Sadly, this is also example of just “some” because there are more than plenty Russians whom can be relatively called “felixes kevereviches”, left in RF and also in so called near and far abroad.

Not leaving nuclear equipment in the hands of monkeys (the same ones that caused Chernobyl) is actually another good reason why the Ukraine should be annexed.

So, Karlin seems way behind the times in claiming that Russia pays the pensions of the people in the LDNR? Kinda strange?…

I don’t think that China would have anywhere near as much success in pulling this off with Vietnam or Korea; after all, Chinese is not widely spoken there like it is in Taiwan.

BTW, what do you think the odds are of the U.S. successfully brain-draining Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand had it actually made a serious effort to do this?

If Ukrainians in Russia are going to quickly assimilate and become Russians, what exactly makes you think that the Ukrainians who stay behind in Ukraine are going to listen to these Russian-Ukrainians?

For instance, if Poland’s cognitive elite moved en masse to the West and embraced open borders (for everyone–including Muslims and Africans), do you think that the Poles who stay behind in Poland are actually going to go along with this?

Same with Ukrainians in Russia. Sure, they could become Russians and become passionately pro-Russia (or pro-Eurasia), but what incentive is there going to be for the Ukrainians in Ukraine to listen to them? If anything, I suspect that these Russian-Ukrainians will simply be viewed as a permanently lost part of the Ukrainian nation whose opinions should not carry any special weight.

OT: New trend: cops start shooting their own dogs

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6246119/Texas-police-dog-shot-dead-biting-handler-raid.html

Cop shoots police K-9 Kastor dead after it started attacking another officer during raid on suspect’s home

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6122449/Ohio-police-officer-shoots-dead-K9-attacked-him.html

Ohio police officer shoots dead his K9 after it attacked him while the animal was being ‘verbally disciplined’

https://www.ajc.com/news/crime–law/officer-fatally-shoots-his-police-dog-after-attacks-him/AgBqo6csyloz0tquOkPfrK/

Officer fatally shoots his police dog after it attacks him

https://abc13.com/news/hpd-officer-attacked-by-police-dog/1694077/

Houston Police officer attacked by police dog

https://globalnews.ca/news/4423430/police-dog-shot-by-k9-unit-officer/

Ohio police dog euthanized after it attacked a K9 Unit officer, who then shot it

But

https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/man-shot-killed-ohio-officer-jethro-sentenced-45/story?id=41645362

Man Who Shot, Killed Ohio K-9 Officer Jethro Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/10/john-rush-stabbed-police-dog-prison-sentence_n_6841004.html

Man Who Stabbed Police Dog To Death Gets 17 Years In Prison

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/10181-man-who-killed-police-dog-gets-extremely-long-sentence/

Man Who Killed Police Dog Gets Extremely Long Sentence

When colonial regimes tried this, they usually ended up creating the leaders of anti-colonial movements (like Nehru, Gandhi and various African leaders). On the other hand, a Ukranian can assimilate to be British (at least in a generation or so) in a way that an Indian cannot to British.

No, it indicates that the Ukrainian government only wants to ensure that the right pensioner obtains the pension payment. It appears that many payments were getting into the wrong hands. Last I heard, the Red Cross, was going to act as a neutral party in this process. Also, can you provide any links that verify your understanding of Russian payed pension checks in the LDNR? Thanks.

*Should have been “1939 and 1945”

Joining EU was Prokhorov’s plan.

Theoretically, it would have usual advantages, that EU would have to transfer large funds and finance all kinds of infrastructure in Russia, until Russia reaches average EU income levels.

However, absorbing such a large country, would not be viable for EU budget, so even if EU wanted Russia, it would then change its own rules, to reduce EU structural and cohesion funding.

So, in other words, Prokhorov’s plan is a mirage.

More relevant and realistic question, whether EU will be accepting the Ukraine, and the expenditure tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars absorbing them would cost EU budget in the future.

Even Ukraine is probably too large country for EU budget to fund so generously, and its current African socioeconomic levels could become an endless drag on EU budgets.

From Kiev’s perspective, EU membership is a rational goal, obviously. It would have disadvantage of mass emigration of people from Ukraine into the EU. But on the other hand, you would expect Ukraine’s economy to rapidly develop in this scenario (even if the EU becomes less generous with structural.cohesion funding than in the past).

Joining EU was Prokhorov’s plan.

In his manifesto, he proposed common currency zone with EU, or adoption of the euro. He also wanted (even without EU membership) open borders with the EU, while closed borders with Central Asia.

Retrospectively, it could have been interesting – I wonder if adoption of euro would shield against sanctions, or make you more vulnerable to them.

the right pensioner obtains the pension payment. It appears that many payments were getting into the wrong hands.

ATMs work on the West Bank of the Jordan. Do they not work on the East Bank of the Dnieper?

4. Over time, there will be a reflux effect as these elite Ukrainians form a moneyed, high IQ pro-Russian constituency.

You mean the way that Indian, Kenyan and Singaporean elites educated at British universities realized that they wanted to be part of the British Empire?

Steve Sailer said something characteristically insightful about this in the context of former president Obama’s father, I believe. American elites think, plausibly enough, that allowing third worlders to study at American universities and work in America will lead them to love and want to emulate America when they return home. But actually, their sojourns in the US often cause them to further resent America for its global dominance and arrogance.

I remember being on a forum with some Romanians, they all had a very high opinion of the ethnic Germans who were expelled after WWII, though they obviously resented Germany’s role in the war. I suspect most East Europeans feel the same about their former neighbors.

Apparently, many (most?) Ukrainians will never come around to the idea that they are really Russians and are just deluding themselves. Which means that AK did spend way too much time around the SJWs in the US because he is for more diversity for Russia and open borders with Ukraine.

If it is like Serbs, then they are cynical, opportunistic “Russophiles� at best, who value Russia only for the geopolitical backing and perceived profit.

There are Serbs like that; those are called traitors. Those would sell their neighbors to gain favors with their Western masters.

In other words, most of modern day Serbs are Serbs-in-name-only, being a particularly toxic breed of Yugoslavs and riddled with inferiority complex towards West, shallow materialism and one-sided love for West.

Most? Care to provide a percent (round to the nearest 10) and your sources, please. Otherwise it’s just slander. Same type of idiots with inferiority complex who watch reality shows here are the idiots who watch reality shows in Serbia. Human stupidity is universal.

There is a small core of Russophillic Serbs, in addition to Sovietophillic (due to perceived Antifascism, Socialist history and fight against Axis) grouping that often gets bundled together.

Small? Care to provide a percent (round to the nearest 10) and your sources, please.

Serbs’ attitudes towards Russians transcend ideology. Russians are not foreigners in Serbia; they are “ours” (наши). It was like that in 12th century (based on historical sources), and it is like that today.

Several million Serbs happily live in “eternal, historical enemy� states like USA, UK, Germany and Austria, in addition to many “Serbs� across former Yugoslavia.

There are no “eternal, historical enemies”; that’s retard talk. People have to make a living. Despite 20th century history, Germans are pretty cool. Not the neutered version of today, of course, but the August Von Mackensen types. Also, best classical music. If I had to pick one source of classical music to listen exclusively for the rest of my life I would pick the German-speaking composers without a second thought.

The US did not treat the existence of Japan and Japanese culture with patronizing disdain, even contempt.

Poles are different because Germany was much worse to Poland than it was to Romania (or Hungary).

I suppose that if superintelligence is developed soon

When we know it has come into being will be some time after the initial development and it announces itself “like a thief in the night”.

If it is the explanation for the Fermi Paradox absolutely no civilization in the Universe so far has got past it heretofore, and as many must have suspected super-intelligence was possible and could be arbitrarily malevolent, they did not know it was already there and covertly cooking something up. The aforementioned considerations mean the likelihood is “nothing unusual happens until all of a sudden we are all dead”. No one will ever know when it came into being and like the characters in the last scene of Skyline, people will have better things to worry about once there is evidence.

Everyone says even with a crash program it is a few decades away at least, and by then life will not have much new to offer anyone reading this now. On the other hand, given the Fermi paradox the default seems to be it being clandestinely extant before the human (or other) experts think it is even a million to one possibility.

Supply and demand; the high wages are not going to continue to rise with a flood of qualified incomers. Hardy making the government popular with those whose wages were formerly rising because they have scarce skills. Also the presence of an increasing supply would inhibit Russians from training in those specialties. Yet the incomers lack roots and could move on leaving a shortage of home grown qualified technical specialists. It could work but it would be risky from the point of view of retaining cohesion, especially the support of the upper middle classes.

You live in fantasy land.
Between “Russian brothers� and Western cash, most of Serbs picked Western cash repeatedly.
Even Titoists opted for pro-West Tito and against USSR.
Serbs voted for Euroatlantic stooges after a decade of Euroatlantic terror upon Serbs and an outright punitive bombing campaign.
The last pro-Russian Serb leader was Petar Karađorđević.
Everything after that was Anglo, American and Atlanticist stooges.

Do we have to go through voting results from 2000 to 2012?
Even in Srpska, inhabited by people most affected by Ustashe and Western/NATO “interventions� almost half the people vote for a fucking Freemason and US/British Embassy supported traitor.
Ivanić, Mektić, Crnadak didn’t come out of nowhere. And you don’t want me to start on so called “Serbs from Croatia�, “Yugoslavs� and “Alija’s Serbs�. Dogs, sellouts, opportunistic scum in the last 150 years.

Serbian lands and states are shitty because Serbs are shitty, horrible people on average. There is no going around that, things went for the worse after arguably the best people got killed in WW1. Dealing with a problem successfully requires accurate diagnostics first and foremost. Serbs were subject to worst negative selection and dysgenics in 20th century – patriotic and brave got killed in wars instigated by Anglo puppets, and by Croats; successful, patriotic got murdered and exiled by Communist scum and the capable, intelligent specialists emigrated due to economic hardships and sanctions, destructions in 1990s and 2000s.

Yes, because Poland rejected a place in the Nazi-led European order while Romania and Hungary accepted. Ironically, a higher percentage of Romania’s and Hungary’s Jewish population survived the Holocaust than Poland’s Jewish population did.

It was probably in Poland’s best interests for France not to fall in 1940 and for the Nazis to get overthrown in a military coup afterwards. In such a scenario, peace could have been made in 1940 or 1941–though the new German leadership might have insisted on plebiscites in Danzig and the Polish Corridor (with only those people who were living there in 1918 actually being able to vote in these plebiscites) and threatened to continue the war if its demands were not agreed to.

After all, the US even dropped a couple of nukes on Japan, but soon afterwards, the Japanese came to love the Americans………..People love winners, and despise losers.

That is an absurd generalization. There must be a screw loose in your brain.

A more rational blogger would have concluded that the post-WWII Japanese affinity towards America is based on economic and geo-political calculations: America helped Japan get very rich after it’s unconditional surrender, and America protects Japan from the vengeful wrath of China.

I doubt the Japanese have forgiven the nukings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They are just biding their time….

What if the definition of term Russian shifts?
Recognising Belarus and Ukraine as equal constituents of Russian culture, tradition and history?

Who was more Russian? Bolshevik supporters and Sovoks or anti-Soviet West Ukrainians?

The approach should definitely change, because Moscow/Vladimir-Suzdal started as an offshoot of Kiev/Novgorod Rus’
So instead of ridiculing and insulting Ukrainians when they claim medieval Russian descent, some praise is in order?
I am not talking about “knife/hang the Moskal� retards and “ultras�/paramilitary subhumans.
I am talking about historians, ethnologists, academia, folklore ensembles.
For example, joint research of common history, demography and migrations in 12th-20th century, promotion/festivals of Belarus and Ukrainian regional culture, dialect, traditions in Russian Federation. In turn, the same for regional variants in Russian Federation.
Centuries of separate development and different influences, conditions can’t be erased.

Russian Orthodox Church could have symbolically returned to Kiev and one-upped schismatics and Uniats. Their stance in current Russian-Ukrainian conflict is practically unaligned, as I see it.

It’s time to become winners again through SWPL supremacism, CRISPR-transhumanism, and neoliberal domestic economics.

Orthodox neoliberalism is objectively wrong. Some of its points (basically small-l libertarianism) are reasonable, but it’s very wrong on money and trade. In Russia’s context it’s also wrong on labor. That doesn’t mean one should listen to leftist cranks like Michael Hudson of course (in the Russian context I believe this man is Glaziev).

Money

Neoliberalism does not understand the nature of money. Exhibit A: the endless chicken little panic over sovereign debt. A country which is a sovereign currency issuer cannot default unless for some reason the government wants to. Japan’s government debt exceeds 200% of gross domestic product, and the United Kingdom has twice caused that level before.

Now that doesn’t mean it’s a free lunch (which MMT people genuinely believe). If the economy is at full capacity, then budget deficits are likely to increase inflation and interest rates. A very high debt burden means a large portion of the state budget will be allocated to debt service, which is undesirable.

But the point is there’s nothing inherently dangerous about government debt or deficits. It’s simply a financial question. If the economy isn’t overheating, running small budget deficits is fine and even desirable. My only caveat is that budget deficits, outside of economic crises or war, should be constitutionally mandated to only be allocated to capital spending. That will make government borrowing more like business borrowing–the state (or rather the national economy) will then get a positive rate of return on its borrowing.

Government debt also has benefits. As the most creditworthy borrower in the country, government bonds are ideal instruments for savings where volatility is not acceptable (say you want to buy a house in three years for instance, or your business needs a margin of safety). Banks must acquire reserves as capital for their assets (loans), and government bonds are exceptional instruments for this. Insurers need bonds almost by definition.

With government debt at only 10.1% of GDP, I would argue that Russia’s government debt is in fact too low. And with unemployment at 5.1% (not bad in international context but not full employment), loads of layabouts drawing pensions, tons of overstaffed SOEs, and inflation at 2.5% the economy is not overheating.

So Russia should in fact increase its government borrowing for needed infrastructure. Obvious priority at this point is more infrastructure for agricultural exports (already planned, but should be increased and accelerated) where Russia now has a comparative advantage. I also don’t see any reason why Russia couldn’t displace imported LNG in South Korea and Japan, as they’re close enough to build pipelines.

Trade

Comparative advantage applies only to fixed factors of production. Land for instance. Thus Russia has a comparative advantage in wheat owing to its land (though some other factors are involved).

Where factors of production are not endowed by nature, it is only true in the short-term. In the long term you can create whatever factors of production are required. This is very much worth doing, as unless a country is very small it cannot converge with the technological frontier without developing the factors of production required for modern, competitive industries.

But owing to the long time horizon and the uncertainty of profit, investors wisely avoid such gambles. Fortunately the state can afford those gambles–or it can change the incentives to make them attractive. It can even force businesses to do these things.

Take the example of South Korea. In 1953, right after the end of the Korean War, it was a completely destroyed country with a per capita GDP about half the level of Ghana (seriously). Today South Korea is exporting nuclear reactors, complex system-on-a-chip semiconductors, and the world’s largest merchant ships. Its per capita GDP has converged with Western Europe.

South Korea did all three of this things.

In 1968, the South Korean government formed the Pohang Iron and Steel Company with the intent to build itself a modern steel industry. The World Bank rejected South Korea’s request for financing. Today POSCO is one of the world’s largest and most technologically advanced steelmakers. It employs 30,000 people and has annual sales of $60 billion. United States Steel, the first billion dollar corporation in history and formed by the legends Carnegie and Morgan, lobbies the US government for trade protection from POSCO.

In 1970s, the South Korean government launched the Heavy-Chemical Industry Drive to give itself the heavy industrial infrastructure needed to become a modern country. A complex system of incentives including subsidies, tax breaks, loans, etc. was implemented by the state. By 1980 the program had succeeded–South Korea had functional steel, chemical, electric power, truck, etc. industries.

Also in 1980 South Korea ordered Samsung to enter the semiconductor business, which Samsung was opposed to. Too bad, the state rules. Today Samsung is the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, having surpassed Intel.

If you want to see what happens to a national economy with high human capital that does NOT force itself to reach the technological frontier, isn’t the obvious example in Eastern Europe? Russia’s main exports are those given to Russia by God. Its only successful manufacturing industries are which the Soviets most obsessively focused on. Meanwhile EU Eastern Europe is an economy colony of Germany. I can’t name a single Eastern European product or brand (outside of Russian ones). Total failure.

Labor

Neoliberal economists treat labor simply as a factor of production. Lower costs must be good, right? Not so fast.

Low labor costs are only relevant for low value products. You must be extremely poor to compete in these markets. For high-value products it’s irrelevant.

Laborers are also consumers, so their purchasing power supports domestic economic demand. And get this–because businesses don’t like losing money, expensive labor causes them to invest in capital equipment, enterprise software, training, and other such things which reduce the need for labor.

What does that lead to? Increased labor productivity. Bam–moving towards the technological frontier!

Now the country will see its domestic industries for low value products (e.g. textiles) disappear, which puts pressure on wages and employment and harms the nation’s hinterlands. But one can protect these industries with tariffs or non-tariff trade barriers.

The downside of such a policy is that it would exacerbate Russia’s already too large trade surplus, but Russia could simply choose to export less oil and wheat then. This would also harm foreigners which is good by definition.

tldr

round up all neoliberal economists and conduct an atomic bomb test on them

And a “European Union� without the biggest European country in it has always seemed absurd to me.

No more absurd than Germany without German Austria, the original East Germany.

Russia is an European country

In what sense? Geographic? Turkey as well?

You mean the way that Indian, Kenyan and Singaporean elites educated at British universities realized that they wanted to be part of the British Empire?

The difference is these local elite could never fully join the elite of the British Empire, hence they opted for independence.

I would rank them highest in continental Europe. Only Anglos have had greater world impact

France ranks higher than Germany mainly because the French Enlightenment had a greater positive impact on the World, including on the Germans starting with Frederick the Great.

Blaming them for Marxism is pretty stupid. Marx was not exactly an ethnic German

Neither was Einstein. So Germany shouldn’t be credited for the world impacts of two of the most impactful German speakers of all time? What’s left is Hitler….

I also happen to be most fond of Germanic philiosophy. The French are clowns.

Germanic philosophy is bullshit. Germany’s positive impacts on the world are in Science, Technology, the creation of the modern Welfare State.

I’ve been reading your blog for a few years but I’m not clear what you mean by the triad below. Can you briefly explain?

winners again through SWPL supremacism, CRISPR-transhumanism, and neoliberal domestic economics.

My loyalty to the US is much greater than to Ukraine. I pay all of my taxes, vote in all of the elections, say and mean every word of the pledge of allegiance. Did I miss anything important?

Isn’t this a rather shallow definition?

—

In contrast to, say Twinkie or Thorfinnson, who are very spirited when it comes to American affairs, you seem to reserve that feistiness for the Ukraine.

Do you ask the same of the Russian “patriots� who do not live in Russia?

Emigrating at times of crisis or other extenuating events is understandable, but after a sufficient amount of time, if they show no intention of moving back, then we can conclude they simply didn’t love their motherland enough.

Those who live in the Anglosphere should reorient their focus towards something like promoting cultural activities in their new lands, if they still wish to promote their old country.

This goes for all diasporas in the Anglosphere, the Anglos have enough parasites as it is.

And on a personal level, many of the Russian emigres seem to have become bizarre in their years of exile.

Neither was Einstein. So Germany shouldn’t be credited for the world impacts of two of the most impactful German speakers of all time? What’s left is Hitler….

Are you kidding me? I realize history isn’t your strong suit (not sure you have a strong suit at all tbh), but the only impactful German you can name is the H-man?

Guttenberg, Luther, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Goethe, Hahn, Siemens, Röntgen, Heisenberg, Zuse, Schumacher, Nena, Humboldt, etc…and I specifically didn’t mention any politicians, monarchs, or soldiers.

There’s even Albert Scwheitzer, the famous lover of negroes (though he considered them to be inferior).

Germans are one of the most accomplished nations in all of human history with a towering list of glittering achievements. And yes, a country in the heart of Europe surrounded by adversaries very nearly twice mastering the continent is impressive.

If you add the very large German diaspora (50 million Americans for instance) they become more impressive still. Take for instance the beloved and very talented celebrity David Hasselhoff. Or, you know, the current President of the United States whose paternal family hails from the Rhenish wine-making town of Kallstadt. Supposedly Kallstadters are known in Germany itself for being braggarts. 😀

I realise that I may be accused of hypocrisy here, but my sojourn in China is merely a temporary affair, lasting only until I finish my schooling.

Neither did Russia treat Ukrainian culture or people with disdain. Ukraine’s healthy patriotism and lack of self-hatred is the result of benign Russian influence, whereas in Western Europe, the dominance of the Trotskyite-influenced ‘liberalism’ resulted in hostility towards nationalism and the natives.

Really, this observation (self-hatred and cultural decay vs patriotism and traditionalism) can be applied to all countries under Soviet influence, and even to formerly divided Germany itself.

It’s a betrayal of Russia and, as everyone shall see if the Atlanticists in Kiev prevail, of Ukrainains themselves, to embrace the hostile Trotskyite forces of the Anglosphere and the European Union.

The fundamental differences between the Trotskyite liberals (on culture and sociopolitics, they resemble more Marxists in doctrine than classical British liberals — this is a very important point) and Stalinists, and the resulting conflict in the past half a century, are explored by Kerry Bolton:

Trotsky, Stalin, & the Cold War:
The Historic Implications & Continuing Ramifications of the Trotsky-Stalin Conflict

What if the definition of term Russian shifts?

Well, sure, I might be a Russian too.

I don’t have any depth of knowledge on the subject, but from reading AK’s blog and the comments, I think that there is a core of people who believe that they are Ukrainian and they believe that Ukrainian is something different from Russian. I have read a bit of WWII history and the Ukrainians in the large part behaved as if they were different from Russians.

Guttenberg, Luther, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Goethe, Hahn, Siemens, Röntgen, Heisenberg, Zuse, Schumacher, Nena, Humboldt, etc…

Lol. You are nuts for thinking any of them are in the same league as Hitler, Marx and Einstein when it comes to world impact and renown.

Actually, Einstein belongs in a league of his own. The greatest “German� who ever lived. Say hi to Einstein’s mother:

I think that there is a core of people who believe that they are Ukrainian and they believe that Ukrainian is something different from Russian.

Is Bavarian different from German? Depends.

I have read a bit of WWII history and the Ukrainians in the large part behaved as if they were different from Russians.

No they didn’t.

OT: I doodled a bit last week, if you’re curious insofar as to my non-writing stuff…

Chibi cat

Face/hand experimentation

Guttenberg and Luther had less impact than the H-man, Marx, and Einstein? Are you kidding me?

I know you’re a total negroid fool but this is really a stretch.

And Einstein’s mother is absolutely hideous. An incredibly ugly woman.

It’s not very complicated or mystical. Ekaterinburg, for example, is city in Asia. But drive 10 or 15 kilometers West of the city, and on the highway you see on your right side a cheap marble sculpture marking boundary. Drive past the marble piece, and you know you are in Europe.

In Turkey, in Istanbul, it’s even less complicated to know, with water border dividing Istanbul. West side of Bosphorus – Europe. East side of Bosphorus – Asia.

AK, can you hide the images behind a MORE? Sorry, I didn’t expect it to be so spammy.

You’re making a cardinal error. You’re assuming I like Germans on a social level. Germany’s achievements to world civilisation is impossible to deny, regardless of how one feels about them as people. In general, I try to disentangle my views of a people with an objective look at history. To do otherwise is puerile. It has nothing to do with ‘liking’. Most people’s mental maps have not moved out of WWII, and your comment is an example of that.

Einstein’s mother is absolutely hideous. An incredibly ugly woman.

You really are a piece of work. A truly evil character. I am guessing you get off on snuff videos. Disgusting.

Guttenberg and Luther had less impact than the H-man, Marx, and Einstein?

Hardly anyone knows or cares about Gutenberg. Besides, the Chinese were printing books long before him. Stupid of you to compare him to Einstein, who is one of the immortals, never to be forgotten.

Hardly anyone knows or cares about Gutenberg. …But Einstein is forever.

Are you saying that Blacks are actually cognizant of Einstein but not of Gutenberg? Is Einstein better known than Mickey Mouse? Being know is the main criteria for you, right? I am asking because everything you say here has ethnocentric angle. You probably know nothing about the theory of relativity and how it was formulated and what role was played by Einstein in it and what is it good for. But what is important to you is that Einstein mother has some Negroidal quality in her looks. And you would like to claim Einstein so young Afro-Americans could have self esteem boost, right? Which is fine. Insecure nationalities have been known to do it. Look about Italians going ballistic that Columbus was one of their own or Poles about Copernicus that he was not German but Polish. So how is the meme of Einstein being African catching up so far? Are you making progress or you are just testing the beta version here? Do we really have to endure it? We are not your target audience. It is not the first time you are doing it. And a minor issue, have you checked with Jews? Oy vey, Gevalt, Eisntein Shvartze!

So instead of ridiculing and insulting Ukrainians when they claim medieval Russian descent, some praise is in order?…I am talking about historians, ethnologists, academia, folklore ensembles. For example, joint research of common history, demography and migrations in 12th-20th century, promotion/festivals of Belarus and Ukrainian regional culture, dialect, traditions in Russian Federation…Centuries of separate development and different influences, conditions can’t be erased.

Your musings are sound and one would hope could influence the development of peaceful relations between the Ukrainians and Russians. But based on the crude ideas put forth by Russians like Karlin, this isn’t in the cards. Their prism of nationality politics is built around the cave manlike notion of only might makes right, and absent that, then reach out to your Ukrainian neighbors and tear away their intellectual elites by luring them away by ‘strip mining human capital’: destroy, destroy, destroy…steal, steal, steal seems to be the Russian modus operandi.

My first lessons in the greatness of American exceptionalism were taught to me every single day of my childhood. I’d rush home after school to watch the 30 minute serial ‘Superman’ who fought for ‘Truth, Justice and the American way.’ In fact, I could relate to Superman very closely, whose parents were forced to send their son to a totally alien culture in order to keep him out of harm’s way in their native land, that was destroyed by an alien outside civilization. Sound familiar? I have never had a hard time being a loyal American and at the same time remain loyal to the homeland of my parents. I don’t know how Thorfinnsson sleeps at night, trying to remain a loyal American but at the same time posing as a modern day Vladimir Posner? 🙂

Compared to the great civilizations (although at present in danger of decline)
created by Britain, France, and the United States, Germany and Russia are
failed civilizations.

I guess you don’t listen to music other than pop music, nor do you read that much high literature.

‘…At the end of the day, it is not ordinary people – proles – who set national policies. It is national elites…’

Well, not necessarily. Here in the US, the national elites are very upset about this fact at the moment.

Yes, but renting an apartment in a big city in Switzerland costs over 2000 CHF. Unless you’re single and just rent a studio for 1000-1500.

Well that is true. France and England are conspicuously lacking in the world of Classical music. The only truly great names that come to mind are Purcell and Eric Sate.

That’s not exactly true. American Jews are more important than Israeli Jews, and so destroying Israel would destroy what is the most important for these Jews, their fatherland, but it’d leave them intact to seek vengeance.

France is not lacking.

having 200 million people (most of Ukraine + Belorussia + South Siberia) will be preferable to having 150 million due to the greater economies of scale and innovation that having more people enables.

Except that you need to invest incredible energy to even annex these extra 50 million people, and then they will still be disloyal. By following the most clever plan, you can maybe get half of these to be loyal, the rest will still be disloyal. Meanwhile, the benefits from the economies of scale are minimal: you will only increase the total population by a bit over 30%, not much.

When I was a small child I kept obsessing over old maps, how much larger Hungary used to be. I grew out of it. Your obsession with increasing the size of Russia (already the biggest country in the world) is childish.

France does have great composers, like Debussy and Ravel, but nowhere near as many as Greater Germany.

The two great British composers Gustav Holst and George Frideric Handel were Greater Germans. In English Protestantism music was discouraged, in Germany it was encouraged.

What is the French enlightenment?

You don’t need to be ashamed of your achievements, it’s something even in music, and outside of music it’s as great as or greater than any other nation.

I like it. But what kind of fabric is the cat drawn upon? It looks like cloth?

(already the biggest country in the world)

The majority is low-quality land by human standards.
Not a reason not to add more higher-quality land.

The real world is not so simple. For example, the only place in the Russian Far East with a growing population and a healthy economy is Yakutia, and it’s a landlocked republic that is literally colder than the North Pole. The shittiest kind of land by any metric, and yet here we are.

Compare with the Ukraine — a place with wonderful geography and resources, and a failed state dump that rivals Somalia for retardedness.

The difference is that Russia is a big and strong country, while Hungary is weak and small. Things that are not possible for Hungary are possible for Russia. Is it fair? No. But it’s how the world works.

Karlin got his maths wrong btw: I doubt we will find 50 million Slavs in the entirety of the Ukraine + Belarus + Kazakhstan. These territories are depopulating rapidly – the territories themselves are more interesting, than the aging, unproductive populace that inhabits them.

Also Delius, a grandson of one of Blucher’s officers but surprisingly not Elgar.

At least Suvorov’s statue is safe in Switzerland

Your hero renounced his citizenship

http://comicsalliance.com/superman-renounces-us-citizenship/

No they didn’t.

I thought that proportionately there were more Ukrainian collaborators and fewer partisans as compared to Belarus.

Perhaps by neoliberal domestic economic policies, AK means the following should no longer be a normal state of affairs:

1. Having state-owned companies and banks and politically well-connected oligarchs consistently push out foreign rivals and smaller, private sector players. BP was pretty much hounded out of its well-regarded TNK-BP joint venture in 2013 and sold out to Rosneft after a campaign of pure political intimidation. Rosneft has also hoovered up smaller Russian energy players left, right and centre. The same urge for state control is playing out\played out in utilities (37% state ownership) pharma, the media sector, finance (64% state ownership) , defence, shipping etc. For any state-owned company, you can expect it to underperform an equivalent private sector company by 20 to 40% depending on the amount of political pressure and bureaucratic deadwood. That is a severe drag on the economy. Even now Poland with a population a quarter of Russia’s has over 850 public listed companies compared to fewer than 250 for Russia. And 40% of those are SOEs.

2. Even the tech sector, one of the few non-natural resources bright spots is vulnerable to political action. Pavel Durov only founded Telegram (headquarters in Berlin) after a buddy of Putin’s forced the transfer of nearly half the shares of VK into his hands so he could consolidate it into Mail.ru. Now one of the brightest stars of the Russian tech scene is a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis and will probably never be back.

3. The same drive for protectionism has led to Russia to impose close to five hundred trade barriers between 2008 to 2015, the second-highest after India. The protectionism has helped the domestic agriculture and automotive sector grow at the expense of Russian consumers and the private sector generally.

4. Putting those together (plus sanctions) it is not surprising that Russia has had the lowest levels of capital investment as a proportion of GDP of any major emerging economy. It has been bumping along at about 20% for years now (that too mostly for oil and gas) when healthy, growing and developing economies have investment rates closer to 28-30%.