[Goose]

There are a lot of bad things the Russian govt/economy have created: the oligarchs, the criminals, nuclear proliferation, etc.  But these are not intrinsic to Russian people.

Unfortunately, the Russian people have had a raw deal for so long their society has significant problems that have very deep roots. It is unclear how their society can evolve to overcome these problems. The two chances they had in recent history to establish a government that lacked significant pathology did not go well, 1917 and 1991. They may get another chance if Putin is removed, but I am not too hopeful they can rise to the occasion.  It is often said that the Russian people want a "strong" leader. Wiser people than I have written much about this subject, but it appears the underlying society may need to change a lot before a "stable" democracy can emerge. There are also many problems caused by the fact that even the Russian Federation as we know it today contains many minorities that don't want to be there. No lack of issues.

<snip>
 So I am waiting for the day when the dictator and military commanders will be held accountable for their crimes.  I wait for the day when the world can welcome ordinary Russians back to full global participation.

Ordinary Russians are a big part of the problem. The world just has to face that fact. Many of the so-called "Western values" just don't exist in Russian society. It is a complex situation, so complex that even the so-called "liberal intelligentsia" in Russia doesn't understand it. That is one of the reasons that the reforms of Gorbachev and the democracy of Yeltsin both failed and yielded Putin. The people don't behave in the manner expected by their leaders. The only sure way to get a particular result is by force.

And as the climate warms, we'll see more and more of Russia's landmass become arable, and the world will likely need that agricultural production to offset loss of other croplands.  Russia is not poor, it is perhaps poorly managed as they say.



Right now, Ukraine needs to win the war decisively.  It will take everything they have, but it just might be enough.

Ukraine really does need to win, for their sake, for NATO's sake, and for Russia's sake. The world cannot tolerate a nuclear armed Russia led by a dictator who has no fear of punishment for reckless aggression. A dictator is bad enough, but we managed to coexist with them because they were rational and feared retaliation. This one does not.

[Goose]

There are a lot of bad things the Russian govt/economy have created: the oligarchs, the criminals, nuclear proliferation, etc.  But these are not intrinsic to Russian people.

Unfortunately, the Russian people have had a raw deal for so long their society has significant problems that have very deep roots. It is unclear how their society can evolve to overcome these problems. The two chances they had in recent history to establish a government that lacked significant pathology did not go well, 1917 and 1991. They may get another chance if Putin is removed, but I am not too hopeful they can rise to the occasion.  It is often said that the Russian people want a "strong" leader. Wiser people than I have written much about this subject, but it appears the underlying society may need to change a lot before a "stable" democracy can emerge. There are also many problems caused by the fact that even the Russian Federation as we know it today contains many minorities that don't want to be there. No lack of issues.

<snip>
 So I am waiting for the day when the dictator and military commanders will be held accountable for their crimes.  I wait for the day when the world can welcome ordinary Russians back to full global participation.

Ordinary Russians are a big part of the problem. The world just has to face that fact. Many of the so-called "Western values" just don't exist in Russian society. It is a complex situation, so complex that even the so-called "liberal intelligentsia" in Russia doesn't understand it. That is one of the reasons that the reforms of Gorbachev and the democracy of Yeltsin both failed and yielded Putin. The people don't behave in the manner expected by their leaders. The only sure way to get a particular result is by force.

And as the climate warms, we'll see more and more of Russia's landmass become arable, and the world will likely need that agricultural production to offset loss of other croplands.  Russia is not poor, it is perhaps poorly managed as they say.



Right now, Ukraine needs to win the war decisively.  It will take everything they have, but it just might be enough.

Ukraine really does need to win, for their sake, for NATO's sake, and for Russia's sake. The world cannot tolerate a nuclear armed Russia led by a dictator who has no fear of punishment for reckless aggression. A dictator is bad enough, but we managed to coexist with them because they were rational and feared retaliation. This one does not.