Vrubel

Yes, Moscow is basically a first-world city. The inequality and corruption in Russia is insanely stark.

There are also respectable educated Palestinians. It's not racist to have a bias for more developed educated people. If you're deeply stage red you'll think in doggish ways and have a doggish life and the consequences for any depraved actions will be doggish as well. There is a reason punishments are ridiculously harsh in stage-red societies.

If Hamas wasn't in power they would still have their airport and have elaborate economic ties with Israel. Isn't it obvious why a terror group cannot be allowed to have an airport? Don't "dude" me. My view is nuanced. The Gaza strip wasn't exactly a concentration camp or a Warsaw Ghetto. The whole approach of the Palestinians to achieve their political goals is absolutely retarded. I have no other word for it. Their evil genius is supposedly that they provoke Israel into an overreaction. That will lead to the discrediting of Israel. What they don't understand is that people are turned off by stage red rabble that cheers when brutalized naked women are paraded on the streets in Pick ups. The scale of their barbarity gave Israel a massive timespan to conduct this war and obviously, while the hostages are still being held, Israel will continue to rage on to pressure Hamas to release them as they did with the first batch recently. The Palestinians have enormous Political capital as an "oppressed people" in a post-colonial world that is very sensitive to these kinds of issues. They even have a unique UN status that Tibetans, Uighurs or Rohingyas can only dream of. Literally all they have to do is not commit, support or celebrate unspeakable deeds of barbarity and the world is theirs. What did MLK, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi have in common? They all carried themselves with dignity, wisdom and non-violence. These are the three ingredients. If you can't win military victories you must win moral victories but they cannot do even that.

After Israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza in the 6 day war, they were extremely open to negotiating some settlement in exchange for peace and recognition. Back then Israel was still very tiny population-wise and overwhelmingly secular. The most important thing was to just to feel safe but of course they were in exchange confronted with the three no's of Khartoum: ،لا صلح مع إسرائيل ،لا تفاوض مع إسرائيل لا اعتراف بإسرائيل No peace with Israel, No negotiation with Israel, No recognition of Israel

From each territory Israel withdraws it gets attacked from with rockets and terrorism, the latest attack has proven this. Israel can only withdraw from the West Bank if the Palestinians have a strong moderate leader that can keep proper law and order. Otherwise, Israel has to constantly get involved to break up the terror organizing.

The fact that Russia cannot recognize that Europe has transformed since the time of the Nazis tells you more about Putin than about Europe. This is part of the 'misconception' that I mentioned earlier. Putin is completely deluded in thinking they are degenerate Satanists which makes him do stupid things like invading Ukraine. He is basically a criminal and assumes everybody else is the same because that's his reality.

There were definitely a lot of problems including unemployment. Life for Gazans got undeniably worse after Hamas came to power. Such will be the nature if you're ruled by a terrorist organization. But still, they could have had satisfying meaningful lives with their big families and religion. There is always a choice for progress. Before the war Israel was negotiating to allow more Gazans to work in Israel addressing the unemployment issue and helping many people out. Instead, they chose war. So here we are. Sure, but it's a very specific bias. My bias is to feel protective of the more developed "modern" educated people. I will have more sympathy with the kidnapped boy with glasses and a love for Rubik's cubes than a 16 year old Palestinian arrested for throwing stones and acting like riff-raff. Russia has a lot of potential but not in its current form. The modern Russia was at the height of its power and status the day before the Ukraine invasion after which the king turned out to be naked. The USA is the big guy with muscles and a baseball bat that guarantees Europe's security. How else can we eat our fancy cheese and drink our wine so peacefully? Yes, I know that's how many Russians think. Russian mentality is different because they don't have the democratic tradition and aren't so whiny. An average Russian is used to living economically and resourcefully with the little they have. What you never hear about is the many thousands of bereaved families now living in Russia thanks to Putin. I think Europe managed its energy crisis pretty swiftly, it's not a big issue anymore. It was unlawful but sure they actually got away with it pretty decently, not spilling any blood also helped in making the sanctions not that significant. The all-out invasion is when shit hit the fan.

1. There was no way of knowing Europe would eventually transform the way it did. 2. Life directly after the Holocaust was still filled with large amounts of anti-Semitism and alienation. 3. The surviving Jews had nowhere to return to as their homes were taken over by non-Jews. 4. Germans were not the only ones, there was widespread collaboration. 5. There was still a lot of anti-semitism in the Soviet Union. 6. Also vulnerable Jewish communities in the Middle East, places like Iraq and Yemen.

Their conditions weren't that dire relative to Middle Eastern standards. Obviously, life got harder after Hamas came to power. The mentality is basically "life is shit, lets make it even shittier by attacking Israel". That's a very specific kind of bias: rich=bad, poor=good. Israel is behaving properly in that it needs to do what it takes to ensure the security of its people. A lot of Israelis have lost family and friends at 7/10 and are now fighting on the ground in Gaza in a dense urban environment to eliminate Hamas. Russia has the same GDP as Italy, horrible demographic outlook, its most talented people live in the West... etc... Realistically Russia will never be one of the great powers of the world. Let's say it's some time in the future and it's the Multipolar world. The first-tier superpowers are The US and China, the second tier will be countries like India, Brazil and Japan. And maybe only in the third tier next to countries like Mexico and Indonesia, there will be Russia. The only way I can envision Russia being a strong, influential nation is as part of the Western block. This means it will no longer strife for (impossible) superpower status but will be one of the major players in Europe next to Germany and France. This isn't a far-fetched idea as many of the Russian youth desire integration with the West. A guy like Navalny is decently popular. I think he is a good example of Western ideals but in a coat of Russian culture. Russians measure their economic prosperity by how many pies they can afford while Europeans do it by how many holidays they can afford. The Russians most affected by the sanctions are private companies and businessmen that operate internationally which is a small but important part of the population. Russia also lost out on a lot of the soft power it used to yield, especially with former Soviet states. The annexation was still unlawful and a brazen breach of sovereignty. Russia got away with it pretty decently but overplayed its hand when they did their all-out invasion. I don't think there were any Nato missiles in Ukraine pointed at Russia. Even after the all-out invasion, The West did not supply missiles that could hit deep into Russia. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was not an all-out invasion by the US army.

Last year while traveling I met a German professor whose father was an SS officer. We talked about it in depth, it was definitely highly traumatizing growing up and being unable to respect your own father. He himself is an extreme leftwing liberal but he does admit that he has no right to criticize Israel in damning ways because he is starkly aware of why Israel has to exist and why it must be able to defend itself. He had a really interesting perspective. He also told me he gets tears in his eyes when he sees a Syrian refugee family walking the streets. Guilt and a sense of responsibility are definitely part of the trauma experienced by Germans. I think psychological trauma is an interesting topic. Most people have it in various degrees. I healed a lot of my childhood traumas using psychedelics but collected minor new ones since. Trauma is not all bad, it does mature you and can be a powerful motivational force.

Germany got pounded the shit out of it and transformed into a peace-loving highly respectable country. The Holocaust is a trauma for both Jews and Germans, which ironically bonds the two nations in current times.

Everything in the universe is cause and effect but let's not play blame games. I definitely don't think the current Israeli government has been conducive to peace and I hold them responsible for that. I can clearly see the dysfunction within the Israeli government and how it first and foremost hurts Israelis. Though Israel is still a democracy with frequent elections and the centrum-left is much more open to peace, so these things can always change. Now let's answer honestly to what degree did the Palestinians push themselves into a corner with their dysfunction and terrorism. Do you think Gaza would be blocked off if Hamas didn't come to power? I mean even Egypt joined in on the closing of Gaza so that should tell you something. Do you think Israel would bomb Gaza if Hamas never attacked? Do you think Israelis would be much more sympathetic to Palestinians if they didn't commit and celebrate terror acts? Do you think the Palestinians would be a more respectable and honorable people if they utilized their unique status in more conducive and healthy ways to achieve their political goals? I know Russia's POV and I weigh it up against the Ukrainian and European POVs. The Russian POV is a part misconception and part "restoring old imperial glory". Nobody in Europe would support an all-out war against Russia. That doesn't even make any sense. Ironically the Invasion of Ukraine revitalized NATO, Finland even joined in. The Crimea take-over before that got the Americans involved. All Russia is doing is shooting itself in the foot because of its backwardness and criminal-mindedness much like the Palestinians. I know both Russia and the Palestinians feel themselves wronged but such dysfunctional parties always end up pushing themselves into a corner.

Yes, they would only care about Jews if they were the "victim" according to their narrative of oppressed vs oppressor. Which is a very narrow way to look at the world and brings with it an obvious and gross distortion.

It's a mistake to be so paranoid about Nato. Europeans are not expansionists, they have good easy lives. They have zero appetite for war. But according to Putin, Europeans are degenerate Satanists so well...

Ukrainians are not stage-red religious fanatics. Russians too are mostly secular and blue. much of the youth in big cities is pretty "modern". Normal Russian people are actually pretty chill they just don't have the democratic tradition. It's for example more normal in Russia to be non-caring and disconnected from the politics, which is mostly a stage red mafia game. If Russia were to take over Ukraine, as tragic and depressing as that would be Ukraine would still be fine in a sense. If Hamas would take over Israel they would murder everyone, it would be an absolute genocide. That's the existential dimension. It's also something recurring in Jewish history. A lot of nations get conquered or lose out. But with Jews, people are out to murder you. Ukrainians have no interest in Russian lands. Like I am Russian, I wouldn't be supporting Ukraine if they were attacking Russia or committing horrible atrocities or had some fanatical ideology. The exact opposite is happening. If you're a recruit in the Russian army they will beat you with a stick and humiliate the shit out of you. It is an existential threat. Israel nor any country has the right to exist if it can't protect its people from genocide, mutilation, rape and kidnapping. This was the greatest and most morbid hit to Israel in its entire history. The attack was basically Hamas begging to get genocided. Ironically genocide was how these issues got resolved historically. However Israel cannot do this in the modern age (Hamas knows this and exploits this) so the best Israel can do is go after Hamas with a heavy hand, unavoidably snaring up civilians as Hamas hides amongst them. I hope Israel can do better too I agree that settlement expansion is problematic and fuels the cycle of violence, Palestinians get so fanatical that they do these kinds of terror attacks that make them suffer even more. The problem is both the current Israeli government and that the Palestinians are so underdeveloped that they can't fight for their rights in a healthy way that would win them significant sympathy, dignity and decency. Because right now the Palestinians seem like rabid terror supporters and incredibly low brow riff-raff. Palestinians are also not absolutely oppressed, they live in decent houses often with big gardens with olive groves.

Oke, but I wasn't talking about individual cases. I was more talking about a wider modus operandi of barbarity like going into villages and butchering children in their beds and raping young women. Obviously, shady stuff will go on in interrogation rooms. Even so, Ukrainians at their worst are still magnitudes better than Russians at their best. Wagner for example glorifies executing people with a giant hamer. One of those hammers they have sent to the European Union, all bloodied up and everything. Just imagine how morally deprived you gotta be to be proud of such a thing. Regular Russian army is not much better, getting absolutely dehumanized is the main part of a Russian soldier's training. I would also add that Amnesty International kind of discredits itself by being such a whiny and deeply green organization lacking a certain level-headedness, realistic view of war, understanding of context and circumstances and responsibility to distinguish between degrees of barbarity. They have irresponsibly played into the hands of Russian propaganda despite there not being any real comparison between Russian and Ukrainian crimes. And yeah Ukraine is the one being invaded. It's true that Ukraine was a poor and highly corrupt country, much like Russia (the inequality in Russia is incredibly stark so GDP per capita might not be a fair metric. Obviously, they have more mineral/gas wealth and the two largest cities are relatively prosperous). Unlike Russia though, Ukraine is aware and has ideals and a vision to fix their country and build it up again according to the Western model and ideals. Russia doesn't like Ukraine thinking for itself. If you don't seem to understand why a country cannot allow for a "few hundred dead" from time to time, I don't think you understand some incredibly basic stuff about life. My conclusion would be different. Israel does employ tactics to save civilians. I don't think Russians would bother themselves with such things. I think if Hamas was fighting Russia the civilians would flee immediately because they would know that Russians would not fuck around. Hamas can hide amongst its civilians, in hospotals and transport in ambulances precisely because they know it will make Israel think twice before striking. Off course after 7/10 Israel is so pissed it would more easily gravitate towards striking. But still, don't deny all the tactics Israel is employing to save civilians. Sure, you can argue what you want I am no fan of Netanyahu but at the end of the day Netanyahu and Putin are in different tiers. Netanyahu is like an American conservative (he actually is incredibly Americanized as he has lived there). Putin is like... well... A Russian dictator, a mob boss. It's understandable that 7/10 generated a lot of anger. Yes, relative to the Uk and France, Isreal might be more racist because of the survival challenges they face. You cannot show weakness to a guy like Putin. A big part of why he invaded Ukraine and had his sights on Moldova is because of their perceived weakness. Its a general rule of life that people feel more closeness to the people they have cultural/ethnic/value affiliations with. In the case of stage green people, they will feel the most affiliation with "oppressed people". After 7/10 it became starkly obvious how little these people care for Israelis. I would say if Netanyahu succeeded in hollowing out democracy and Israel would have only been ruled by the far right and religious messianic people, alienating out the "modern" secular people. I would too get alienated from Israel. But this is not the case, the 7/10 attack ironically united the country and discredited the extreme rightwing giving some hope to Israel's future political course. There was even talk of civil war. I do think Israel is too developed and Israelis too wealthy to have a civil war but there was this real danger of secular people emigrating out en masse due to political discontent and basically surrendering the country to rightwing religious rule.

Azov doesn't hide amongst civilians, nor do they brutally rape and mutilate. They are damn good fighters as they held of hordes of Russians many times their number. They are reasonable actors, they have for example the capacity for surrender. They are not some death cult that dehumanizes its own population. They exist to protect Ukrainian women and children and to ensure that future generations of Ukrainians don't have to live in some Russian shithole but are free to determine their own destiny. Being concerned at some "far right" aspects of the group is given the context and circumstances quite petty and irrelevant. Oh boy, I am glad you're not in charge of Israel's security. How am I supposed to take this comment seriously? Well they cannot destroy Israel but they can on occasion rape, mutilate and kidnap a few hundred people. It's true that both try to undermine democracy but on completely different levels and with completely different methods. It's an interesting question. How would Israel have reacted if it was the same level of development as Russia, led by Putin and not being allied with the West? I wouldn't be so quick to judge. Maybe you'll be surprised if you visit Israel. But obviously, racism and conservatism will be more prominent in a society that is facing these kinds of survival challenges. The general rule of any society is that the majority of people are pretty low-brow. But still Israel is way more "intellectually diverse" and developed than you might think. Jews and Arabs live together on day to day basis. Jews don't view them as evil and Arabs are to large degree contempt living or working in Israel. If you walk the streets in Israel you'll see enough Arabs. Again, glad you're not in charge of Europe's security. I am not saying the West is perfect, nobody is. I also oppose any intervention into some foreign land, unless they do some really fucked shit like Isis for example. My bias is protecting people from barbarism. Not applying "geopolitical relativism" to discredit the West.

@Karmadhi I am glad you brought that up. First of all, there is a difference between 'threaten' and 'attack'. Hamas always threatens Israel, but it also attacks. Something Ukraine never did, at least not before the Crimea takeover and not on Russian soil before the all-out invasion. The Americans only really got involved with Ukraine after the Crimea takeover. Israel fights for bare survival against barbarism to protect its people from rape, murder and mutilation. Meanwhile, Russia dehumanizes its own people by mercilessly employing meatgrinder tactics. Even with a highly problematic government Israel is still a democracy with a strong civil society that ferociously fights for the maintenance of democracy and liberal values. It also has a relatively strong peace movement. Centrist and leftwing Israelis are very reasonable people and even the rightwing like Netanyahu is still relatively reasonable. You cannot compare him to Putin for example. Just compare something as the Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel and Haaretz to Russian propaganda. Look at corruption levels, gay rights, freedom of speech, minority rights like Israeli Arabs, you name it. It's not about hate and I don't think Westerners feel hate towards Russia but more the realization that we have to fight such aggression and backwardness otherwise we will be next. Western societies are more soft and compassionate and life is relatively easy, they never experienced direct threats to their survival. so naturally they will be turned off by the backwardness inherited in Russian and Arabic societies and there is also a lot of criticism of Israel.

You cannot attack a well-armed enemy and expect no response. The world has never worked like that. Hamas doesn't have the right to immunity when sheltering amongst civilians. You can do that but don't blame Israel when some civilians are snared up along the way.

The West is mostly secular, which already does away with 80% of the bullshit and backwardness.

@Leo Gura Come and visit Israel and Palestine. Just to see how people live and think. I think it will deepen your understanding. Most Palestinians in the West Bank live in decent houses with big gardens, they are not some kind of slaves. Gaza would also be much more open and integrated if it wasn't for Hamas. @Emerald Sounds really nice but still a bit too naive. Also, Israel might be literally the most multicultural country on earth. The issue is with the West Bank and Gaza Palestinians that needs to be resolved. Not with the concept of "ethnostate".

That was the fate of Lebanon. It went from a prosperous Christian country to a dysfunctional Arab one. I am definitely more optimistic for the long run of Israel. For the time being Israel has to remain strong.

Oh come on, life is not exactly a flowery meadow with the sunshine always shining. I am not going to apologize for Israel existing. Neither will the Jews saved from prosecution or being at the mercy of other often barbaric peoples. At the end of the day, Israel is a developed society with strong institutions. It needs to strike some things out like many other countries.

It's not about excusing anything. Israel had to be established because of the most unnegotiable stark reasons imaginable. The Jewish people needed an army. Period. Yes, in the process it brought with it the Palestinian issue which is the tragedy of history and definitely needs resolving.