zazen

The negative response to Russia is mostly Western - which makes up at most 15-20% of the world. Most of the world is either neutral or friendly with Russia - much of Africa, Latin America, Middle East and Asia. Much of the world is reacting to the Western led uni-polar order as it exists -which is a imperial order that needs extricating from via a parallel order that doesn't insist on ordering others around or being sanctioned because it doesn't pick sides which is childish school yard politics. The problem is that the West doesn't take Russia seriously, or any countries legitimate interests for that matter. Because in a uni-polar order the hegemonic empires interests supersede everyone else. That doesn't mean caving in to other countries injustices or aggression, but when a country articulates again and again its own legitimate security concerns and asks for neutrality on its periphery to prevent feeling cornered - that should be respected. Post WW2 Japan and Germany were re-built and integrated into the system despite being imperially expansionist - they got some level of respect, but Russia was denied this post collapse of the USSR. This is largely because Germany and Japan subordinated themselves to the US empire via conceding to a US security architecture. Their sovereignty is strategically limited and they don't have red lines in the real sense because they are client states of the US empire - patrons rather than partners. Russia doesn’t want to concede this level of autonomy. They floated becoming part of NATO and worked with the US in counter terrorism post 9/11 - but working alongside the US isn't enough because they empire demand others working under them. The imperial mindset is the key issue here - and its most of the world that is reacting to imperialism, some aggressively (Russia) that is then gaslit and flipped on its head to be portrayed as imperialism itself. Russia isn't a superpower, but that doesn't mean it has no power or isn't a middle to great one - although definitely stagnating and in relative decline. All the more reason not to give it a reason to lash out whilst it still has enough power to fortify its Western flank. I agree with you mentioning Russia doesn’t care for occupying Ukraine for its own sake - but merely as a means to a end which is neutrality and preservation of a security buffer against the Western block that’s hawkish. Powers despite being big, small or super still need space and should be given it. France and the UK being past empires doesn't mean we shouldn't respect them, their red lines, or take away their veto power. A resource rich, nuclear armed country like Russia, with the worlds largest landmass connected multiple continents isn't a midget to just dismiss and mock. A 5ft 9 country being demonized and talked down to will eventually assert itself when cornered. The issue isn’t that Russia see’s itself as 7ft but that the West doesn’t even see it for what it is as 5ft 9 - that if a country is under 6ft it means it’s easy pickings to be bodied 6 ft deep in a confrontation - your comment that Russia can be shattered eludes to that and you mention nukes but then don’t factor it in to the equation. Their continuing ties and trade with Russia from the looks of it. Puling out of oil deals isn't neutral - it’s picking a side. The non-aligned movement in the Cold War emerged precisely because countries were tired of being forced to pick sides and didn't want to get caught in a larger geo-political power play for empire. The same is happening today. Multi-polarity allows for the freedom of neutrality, uni-polarity forbids neutrality and demands obedience and compliance, or else.. Why should India not look out for its own interests - it has over a billion people it needs to feed and lift out of poverty that cheaper Russian energy can help with. They also have historic ties. But the imperial mindset doesn't care for another countries interests or history, only its own - which is the core of the issue here. Imperial mindset and behaviour.

Great channel and Hudson is the best at covering the economic angle of empire. Just see the latest video on Brazil where a clip of Lula is played in the first minute - he lays out how the US is after maintaining primacy and demands the world be subservient to it. I'd add that there is a symbiotic relationship between finance and empire. The empires muscle (military industrial complex) threatens and enforces a game board that is favorable for itself and its own capital interests. Resistant markets or geo-strategic regions are threatened by the use of force (muscle) or are cracked open by force so that capital (money) can flow in (like blood) circulating and extracting from them. The muscle fires the shots so that money can call the shots. Because the empire was largely financialized, this has eroded their hard power. I wrote some time back on this using the analogy of rock paper scissors which ties in well with your great research and comments above:

The only democracy the US cares about is the one it can control, which is no democracy at all. American hegemony depends on the US dollar, 700 military bases, and a financial system they weaponise. Their muscle (military industrial complex - deep state empire elite) fires the shots so that their capital elites can call the shots (market access and subservience to western finance and corporations). Whether a democracy or a dictator are on the end of that deal is irrelevant to the empire. The push for democracy when it does exist is usually a Trojan horse to subvert a country away from its interests and toward the empires. It will hijack any organic ground movement and amplify it to “democratically win” - part of that win will include kissing the ring of the one who helped get them into power. If they go rogue, you know what’s next, back to firing shots lol The American way of life (consumerism) depends heavily on China who isn’t a democracy. It’s the largest trading partner for majority of the world - all the American branded products the world enjoys is being manufactured and shipped through an anti-democracy. America hurt itself when it abused its position of globalisation. Much of the world would prefer it if America isolated itself to its own region and got out of their business. Trump is isolating America diplomatically and rhetorically but not empire wise - pressuring allies to spend on military is just sharing the cost of empire rather than withdrawing it. Essentially - let Europe deal with the Ukraine quagmire and Russia, while pivoting to Asia to go after flaming dragon. Even if American empire retreated to is own region, it’s lost a lot of goodwill it initially started with because of its imperial behaviour there. Just see the first minute of this where Brazils Lula literally calls the US out for all its coups in South America:

Check out what Lula says in the beginning of this video:

Yeah and the thumbnails haha so cringe. But he’s got some good interviews like with Alastair Crook and this Victor Gao’s a straight talker from China who was on chanel 4 etc. Hate what social media and algorithm whoring has done. I think many commentators are valid for appreciating China and what it’s done, but they gotta be careful not get into glazing mode - it can definitely look like that. China actually has a crappy geography (scarce water and arable land) that makes it vulnerable, with an enormous population to feed and keep stable - yet it’s done very well despite that. Meanwhile the US is geographically blessed and with a much smaller population to feed and maintain in comparison. China has already surpassed the US in PPP terms (purchasing power parity) and will surpass it in nominal GDP (dollar terms) in the coming years. That shows us that China is competent in overcoming challenges and constraints - that it’s an enduring civilization and had an aberration of weakness in its 5’000 year history. Now a 250 year old baby country is trying dictate to it and slow it down. How audacious. Ngl though wish Europe had some more dynamism - I hope it doesn’t get left behind US and China, but then again Europes charm is its old world feel and slower pace.

I don’t think the major powers want war with each other - far too much risk today. The Thucydides trap in which majority of rising powers went to war the hegemon of the time is the model being projected onto today - but today we have nuclear deterrence and are economically integrated / globalised. But then again, we are in the economic de-coupling phase to ensure dependencies don’t exist - which means being more resilient for a potential war if it were to happen or if it’s desired. One aspect is simply to contain China’s rise, the other is to have war as a possible option on the table. Empire logic isn’t simply after profit but primacy. So even if we live in a bi-polar world where both sides (West vs East) are self reliant and gain abundance through tech advancements and AI - that doesn’t stop the imperial minded to want to be number 1 and bring down the peer competitor. Maybe nuclear isn’t enough of a deterrence either (India-Pakistan recently happened). Certain powers can be crazy enough to think war will remain conventional and thar the other side wouldn’t dare touch the nukes. Like in a street fight where both parties throw the guns away to fist fight lol Victor Gao brings up the old lens (as you mention) being used for today at 20 min here: Far right nationalism of today is also different to that of the past. The past was expansionist nationalism, today’s is more isolationist. Previous nationalism wanted to expand imperially and conquer land due to no fixed borders + lack of international law framework. Today’s nationalism wants to actually protect itself from being hollowed out and swallowed by globalisation. That doesn’t mean there isn’t going to be flashpoints and friction, just that total war like the old days is unlikely - friction but not really a fracture. The great powers will exhaust every other avenue (trade, tech, cyber and propaganda warfare) before going for it kinetically, if they ever even do.

@PurpleTree @Hatfort Countries without their own security aren’t truly sovereign - unfortunately Europe outsourced much of it to the US. Which is why many view it as a vassal - Trump simply enjoys mocking this relationship for his own ego. Look at them laughing at Rutte’s “daddy” comment. Rubio in the back cracking up 😂 Shit gets worse. How embarrassing. Fully bent over, vaselined and vassalized. Jeffrey Sachs on Taiwan: On China and EU: George Galloway on UK yapping about going to war over Taiwan: We got cheese and steak in security boxes here in London grocery stores, homelessness on the streets, and public services shrinking and shaking under pressure. But we gone fight a manufacturing technological mammoth all the way across the world and in their own sea where the have supply line advantage 😂 hold my fucking beer mate! Just like with Russia-Ukraine. The US has little to no weapons, the EU has little to no money, and Ukraine has not enough manpower. But we’re supposed to believe this is a deal of the century between the EU and US.

China re-directed capital away from the speculative property market and towards strategic industry and self-reliance after the US pivoted hard towards containing it via tech and trade. Both done under Trump and Biden (CHIPS act, export control, Nvidia) This is why all of a sudden China seems to be coming out with advancements in multiple verticals (AI, robotics, EV). The video below explains it well from 23:50-38min: https://youtu.be/4NDfFYcwyMg?si=gZdyb_tv2qQr7GXx In a chart:

Double posted somehow*

Realise it’s the system and not you who’s solely responsible for fixing things. Create your own world you can be happy within and minimise the noise from outside it. Found this channel which is quite good in covering the issues of our times. Oddly relaxing in how it validates and articulates the feeling of things not being “right”. Sometimes you don’t knowing where to begin as the problems are large and out of reach, which causes that general sense of unease, disillusionment and burnout:

They got Bassem on now:

A lot of symbolic theater from Western nations in recognizing a Palestinian state. But what tangible affect does that have on stopping Israel? Israel be like ''Oh you recognize Palestine? Okay, well we recognize that we're still being armed with everything we need to do our ethnic cleansing and are still diplomatically shielded by the US where it counts - at the UN resolution table. So be gone anti-semitic world'' Israeli Arnold Schwarznazi denying starvation and blaming khhhhhhamas Where all the proud Zionists who used to love chatting for Israel?

It's assumed in a war of attrition that both sides will suffer. I vaguely mentioned that going down that road will come at a cost and risk, emboldened below: I've mentioned before that Russia is highly unlikely to occupy all of Ukraine due to lacking the capacity for it, or the stomach for absorbing the cost it would incur. Western Ukraine is a different beast all together to hold onto as it full of hostile local Ukrainians compared to the East which has more ethnic Russians and is closer to homefront for easier supply lines and logistics. This is why the ''Putin conquering Europe'' fear is way overblown. Before talking of goalposts we should know what the goal even is. That goal hasn't changed (Ukrainian neutrality - no NATO on Russia's doorstep) but the tactics to it have - as happens when conditions on the field change in war. Their initial burst towards Kiev was expected to make Zelensky fold and concede to Russia's demands, that were diplomatically asserted 2 months prior to the invasion: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/17/russia-issues-list-demands-tensions-europe-ukraine-nato Those were shrugged off and not taken seriously, as they still aren't today - instead, the West came in with full backing and Russia re-calibrated to that reality to then opt in for a grinding war of attrition Those concerns still aren't taken seriously today, Biden didn't even engage in diplomacy the entire 3 years till Trump just came in now - hence the war continued, and still does now because even Trump's admin are foolish. The incentives have shifted to where few options remain, the one above is viable but risky and only worth pursuing if Russia's see's this is as existential - which they have articulated as their red line many times past. No Russian TV take only a real politik take here. Would love to hear how you think the current EU-US deal being floated is good for Europe? A video on that: @PurpleTree Considering any non establishment take as Russian and Chinese propaganda is as lame as Zionists taking every critique of Israel as anti-antisemitism lol Former CIA Russia Analysis Chief:

@PurpleTree Their going against them in Europe how by spying on them? That's a clear abuse of power - authoritarian not imperial which is aimed towards foreign groups. It's a grey area here because most if not all states have surveillance or spy on their citizens particularly if they pose some sort of threat - terrorism, separatist etc. That's normal behaviour for any state - to maintain territorial integrity and see any citizens threatening that as a national security risk. Especially when you have outside forces who'd like to de-stabilize and weaken you via those separatists. Right now there's lots of protests in the UK at migrant hotels from the ''far right''. Migrants being housed at native peoples expense while native people's public services are diminished and buckling under pressure - unsafe streets, NHS trouble, homelessness etc. These groups could pose a threat for civil unrest or even war (unlikely I think) but I've read many comments from them saying ''we'r not scared of civil war, we in fact need one''. Would it then be right or wrong for the UK government to spy on them to maintain national security? That's where things get murky. Even say if Catalonia wanted to separate from Spain - of course Spain is going to prevent that because its the natural way a state acts. Check enchanted's comment and especially the video which goes into why China has firewalled the internet the way it has, for the reasons it has.

Yeah, exactly that. Power by itself isn't bad, its the misuse and abuse of it - which the word overpower captures. Once it starts acting out in ways characteristic of imperialism: using force or the threat of it, coercion, domination and subjugation, denying others sovereignty. Concretely that would be things like: weaponizing the yuan in trade, sanctions, demands that subvert or take away another countries sovereignty such as accepting military bases, engineering coups and regime changes, going to war obviously and trying to secure resource rich regions through feet on the ground or political subservience. Like say someones the biggest at the dining table - physically the most powerful and dominant. That's not a issue if they got that way farming their own food, bulking and lifting. It's a issue if they're stealing other peoples food at the table, not sharing dishes, gorging and demanding they get to put first. Their not just powerful but overpowering the table.

@PurpleTree Their building a different kind of order that doesn't insist on ordering others - BRICS is multi-polar rather than uni-polar, and not coercive or systematically exploitative (yet). Their's no central country demanding ideological obedience or demanding others trade only in their currency (yuan) - countries are all settling trade in their own currencies instead. Countries can opt out or renegotiate terms (as Sri Lanka did), retain their sovereignty and autonomy. It's basically a open house party for anyone to join in on a project by project basis, despite differences (between India and China for example). There's no BRIC-ism and no ones getting sanctioned or couped for not being part of it. BRI definitely helps China gain leverage - asymmetrical gains aren't the same as imperial subjugation. If that leverage becomes non-consensual, ideological, or enforced by punishment or through the threat of punishment - then it becomes imperialism which is what we need to keep an eye on and resist when that time comes. Just as it was right to resists Soviet Imperialism, Hitler, or Japanese imperialism.

Before the counting of days, when consciousness first stirred in the vessel of flesh, there walked a being who was both less and more than what you are today. Less, for they had not yet accumulated the layers of thought and memory that now wrap around your minds like silk. More, for they touched reality with naked awareness, unmarred by the fragments and divisions that now scatter your perception. This First One did not know they were first, for such knowing requires an other to be second. They moved through the world as the wind moves through leaves - without separation, without reflection. Their eyes were not yet mirrors but windows, through which the universe gazed at itself in perfect unity. Their breath was the breath of all things. When they inhaled, they drew in not just air but the very essence of existence. When they exhaled, they did not release waste but returned themselves to the whole. Each step was a communion, each gesture a prayer they did not know they were making. They carried within them all that you are now - all possibilities, all futures, all potential forms of consciousness. But these lay dormant, like seeds in winter soil, waiting for the long spring of human becoming. Do not think of this First One as primitive or simple. Their consciousness was not less than yours but different - unified where yours is divided, whole where yours is fragmented. They were the original drop from which the ocean of human awareness would eventually flow. And here is the secret that burns like a star in the night of understanding: You are still this First One. Beneath your layers of thought and memory, beyond your boundaries of self and other, that original unity still breathes. Your fragments yearn to remember their wholeness. This is why you seek. This is why you question. This is why something in you resonates with tales of beginnings. For in understanding the First, you glimpse the Last - the circle completing itself, consciousness returning to unity while retaining all it has learned in its long journey through division. Meditate on this, you who would know yourselves. For in the First lies the seed of your completion, and in your completion lies the meaning of the First. - Anon

Guess this didn't land, no pun intended.

@PurpleTree That example always gets brought up. A key characteristic of imperialism is that it's exploitative, coercive, and has no respect for sovereignty. China offers loans to fund infrastructure at the request of Sri Lanka - they offer much lower interest rates than Western finance, build infrastructure that stays and is used in the country to provide benefit to that country - and without concessions to subvert their sovereignty by installing a military base or demand political alignment. In fact they restructured the deal into a 99 year lease (ie not ownership) as they were struggling to repay due to Western based debt - so it actually helped them out of a prickly situation. One or two bad deals which are bound to happen in business doesn't negate that many countries are doing many projects willingly with China - on terms much less subversive than the West could ever offer. That's true - US did build countries up post WW2 - they largely built them in exchange for leading the global ''rules based order'' and into their own hegemonic architecture via using the US dollar. That has given them the exorbitant privilege and position which they have weaponized and abused over the decades and has eroded much of the good will and image the US had in its earlier days.

BRI’s Pan-Asian high speed railway network bypasses the Malacca straight and integrates the region economically. The US want to “contain and encircle” China just like Russia - whether by land or sea. That’s the great game grand strategy at play in the backdrop of granular internal politics that can be endlessly observed, analysed and kept track of. The China containment pivot began with Obama and has continued through Biden and till Trump - continuity of agenda of Empire / Deep State policy which no “Democratic vote” will or can ever change - that is above the “people’s” pay grade who only ever get to vote for candidates that differ on social-cultural issue's but rarely on national security / foreign policy issues that their own citizens must die for. Western Empire is trying to strong arm countries to de-couple from China and force them to pick loyalty to either or, in order to prevent China and the regions rise. As a side note - China’s high speed rail scaling to the continent just makes the US look bad: what have they done in their neck of the woods for South America except be a market for drugs that empower a cartel dark state? China acts as an example of empire that isn't imperial but influential, and that other countries partner with, rather than be predated upon and extracted from. The example of an empire that empires better than the US is itself a threat to an empire acting imperially.

I was exaggerating to vent how angered the world is at the situation. The reason Gaza hits harder than Sudan is first because the West has a stake in it which means a leverage to stop it or continue it, and second because whilst its bad to sell weapons to war zones for capital gain, its evil to diplomatically and morally shield and justify such death and destruction. It's not simply arming the conflict but systematically enabling and holding up the conditions of that conflict - at every level. There's a distinction between good, bad and evil. Sudan's suffering is seen as a tragedy of war and collapse, Gaza's is seen as horrific and engineered whilst being ideologically excused and justified as a war for ''Western civilization and liberal democracy''. Sudan's hunger is a emergent byproduct, Gaza's hunger is a engineered condition - to pressure Palestinians into ''voluntarily'' cleansing themselves.

Great discussion: 19-41min is especially good. Azerbaijan is a linchpin state that can be used to overextend both Russia to its South and Iran to its North - hence deep ties with Israel, US and the UK. US think tanks have covered extending Russia in the caucus region before. As my earlier lengthy post on this page said - the Ukraine war is bleeding the West through attrition it’s not built for. As the West isn’t acknowledging Russia’s main concern for the war - the war will now continue and be decided by Moscow as to where and when it ends (like the guys in the vid above mention). Putin is now actually incentivised to prolong this war and weaken a Western bloc that isn’t cooperating with regards to the main security concern Russia has continuously laid out. If the other party rarely ever considers your concerns or dismisses them flippantly - the next best thing to do is weaken that party in a war of attrition, so that they are no longer a concern to your national security. A fractured, indebted, vassalized neighbour - a pussycat rather than a pitbull is what they must become, at great cost and risk of course. Europe seems to be fleecing itself for the Empire. Just see this supposed deal (yet to be ratified) between Trump and the EU - what does the EU get in return? A tax on its products that will lower their competitiveness and sales to the largest consumer market, with talks of 100’s of billions worth of investment in expensive US energy and military equipment, with money from where? Europe worked well because it had cheap inputs (energy) from the East (Russia) paired with a strong out put of products to its West (the US). Now Europe is basically squeezed from both ends and being asked to ramp up its military spending that will cut from its social welfare spending - already burdened as it is, in a political climate of right wing anti-immigration, anti-EU, anti-establishment rhetoric. How do we think this is going to work out.. An unfortunately dark decade ahead for Europe - as they say in Dragons Den - “I’m out”

Brilliant video and agree with your comment. Western frame works including Spiral Dynamics handicaps us in understanding other societies including ourselves - the map is not the territory. Spiral dynamics isn’t a ladder as if to view societies within a hierarchy from, but a spiral where values / stages are embedded, constant, and context dependent - manifesting in various ways at all times - whether latent or dominant. Life is not as linear, or black and white as it seems.