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thunderlips11 says

Strategist says

Putin is just holding back the potential Russia has with his dictatorial leanings. He does not realize the future of Russia and the future of the world lies with the proven ideology of the West. Eventually he will be gone and Russia will get another Gorbachev.

Strategist, Russia had shock Capitalism right away at the start of the 90s. By the end of it, it was a basket case run by oligarch-mafiosos.

Putin is the one who reversed the downward slide of Russia, put the Oligarchs in their place, and raised the standard of living.

I remember back in the 90's they referred to the Russian economy as turning around an aircraft carrier. It takes time. Ask yourself, during their growth period was Russia more capitalistic or less capitalistic as compared to the 60's and 70's era? Also ask yourself, did China achieve it's growth due to capitalism or due to communism?
The fact is there is NO country on this planet that has achieved any lasting economic success whencompared to capitalism.
Lets do what Gorbachev did, admit the failures of communism and embrace a better system.

Strategist says

Also ask yourself, did China achieve it's growth due to capitalism or due to communism?

Both. Russia was one poor ass country the first time it was capitalist. China too.

In both situations, but especially in Russia, it was the communists who took the literacy rate, electrification, sanitation, urban expansion, steel production, railroad and rolling stock, from nothing to very high. State Capitalism/Communism is bad at delivering the consumer goods like 20 different kinds of fabric softener or frost-free refrigerators though. Great at bridges, highways, dams, nuke plants, coal mines, etc.

You'll notice that Capitalist China isn't exactly much of a Beacon of Democracy. And still about 1/3 of employed Chinese work at SOEs.

I don't think it's an accident that Russia turned around when Putin became Acting Deputy Prime Minister in 1999 (when Yeltsin became ill) and President in 2000.

thunderlips11 says

but especially in Russia, it was the communists who took the literacy rate, electrification, sanitation, urban expansion, steel production, railroad and rolling stock, from nothing to very high.

I believe that the state should put scientists and engineers on welfare.

But aside from them, since creative minds don't need much incentive to be creative, the rest of the population needs to find some modicum of work and that's why we have a mixed economy of private and public sectors.

Your a 'glass is half empty' kinda guygirl....

Our strength is our ability to create a functional prosperous economy that is fueled by our enormous military and it's ability to supply the subhuman 3rd world inhabitants with the weapons necessary for them to extract their bloodlust on one another.

JH says

Our enemy is our inability to create a functional economy that doesn't require an enormous military.

Disagree.
Russians are the assholes for letting putin take control of and endanger their very existence.
Muslims are the assholes for letting radical islam take control of the religion and endanger their very existence.
In both cases a small minority of each group is setting policy for everyone.
The only solution, as history has shown, is revolution. Time for the majority of russkies and muslims to step up to the plate and set things straight.

Strategist says

Russia itself is a well educated country that wants progress. Putin is the asshole here. Our true enemy is radical Islam for which we do not need nuclear weapons or a million tanks.

Judging from your avatar, you are highly qualified to make this call...

sbh says

You're just a fucking moron.

We Disapprovers know slow and steady wins every time.

SoftShell says

Russians are the assholes for letting putin take control of and endanger their very existence

Russia has always been a dictatorship, either by the Romanov family, prior to Lenin, or the heads of the communist party (a.k.a forefathers of today's Russian mafia).

Revolution will change that.

Rin says

SoftShell says

Russians are the assholes for letting putin take control of and endanger their very existence

Russia has always been a dictatorship, either by the Romanov family, prior to Lenin, or the heads of the communist party (a.k.a forefathers of today's Russian mafia).

SoftShell says

Revolution will change that.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/173597/russian-approval-putin-soars-highest-level-years.aspx

Second biggest political force in Russia is the Communist Party, which is really the AARP of Russia. The last time a third party got more than 10% of the vote in a Presidential Election was Alexander Lebed back in 1996 against Yeltsin.

Both Kennedy and Eisenhower enjoyed average approval ratings in the high 60s - when the US standard of living was rapidly increasing.

SoftShell says

Your a 'glass is half empty' kinda guygirl....

Our strength is our ability to create a functional prosperous economy that is fueled by our enormous military and it's ability to supply the subhuman 3rd world inhabitants with the weapons necessary for them to extract their bloodlust on one another.

JH says

Our enemy is our inability to create a functional economy that doesn't require an enormous military.

Yes you described America quite well. Is that a strength? I suppose if we ignore the fact that over 10,000 of our own citizens are murdered annually on American soil . When is the last time a VP said we would chase to hell a murderer of an American citizen on American soil? We only give a shit because chasing ISIS will stimulate our sorry ecocnmy.

Great Article about the Azov Battalion from that pro-Russian rag, Foreign Policy.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/08/30/preparing_for_war_with_ukraine_s_fascist_defenders_of_freedom

When Novorussiya (so named centuries ago) is resolved, the next war will be a civil one in Ukraine solely among Western Russian accent speakers (aka "Ukrainian" - Neapolitan would be a language if Naples wasn't part of Italy).

SoftShell says

Disagree.

Russians are the assholes for letting putin take control of and endanger their very existence.

Muslims are the assholes for letting radical islam take control of the religion and endanger their very existence.

In both cases a small minority of each group is setting policy for everyone.

The only solution, as history has shown, is revolution. Time for the majority of russkies and muslims to step up to the plate and set things straight.

Strategist says

Russia itself is a well educated country that wants progress. Putin is the asshole here. Our true enemy is radical Islam for which we do not need nuclear weapons or a million tanks.

Who's going to participate in this people's revolution? In both cases, this is what the people want!!! The Russians love Putin. He's literally turned their nation around. The Muslims love ISIS, and dream of their Islamic state killing off those dirty Christians.
The USA should:
1)make peace with Russia and open the trade gates wide open like we did with China. They are an enormous untapped market.
2) withdraw all support for and bases in Islamic countries. If they try to expand their borders or attack our friends, then we nuke Mecca. That should do it.

JH says

Terrorism killed 3k people on 9/11. Then it killed many more than that when we
walked young Americans to their deaths in the hellscapes of Afghanistan and
Iraq. Terrorism won a battle on 9/11, but it won a bigger battle when we
sacrificed our own people AFTER 9/11. We seem headed that direction with ISIS,
unfortunately.

We lost 3,000 CIVLIANS in about 90 minutes on 9/11.

We lost about 5,000 volunteer soldiers over the next 13 years fighting Islamists.

Our troops beat the ever living shit out of the women-beater cavemen Jihadis in Iraq and had things largely pacified until we foolishly pulled every last troop out of the country giving up all the hard fought gains by our volunteer soldiers.

thunderlips11 says

I don't think it's an accident that Russia turned around when Putin became
Acting Deputy Prime Minister in 1999 (when Yeltsin became ill) and President in
2000.

Petro-economies aren't hard to "turn around", especially when you have a captive market like Russia has with Europe.

What else does Russia have to offer the world?

Thunder says:
"In both situations, but especially in Russia, it was the communists who took the literacy rate, electrification, sanitation, urban expansion, steel production, railroad and rolling stock, from nothing to very high. State Capitalism/Communism is bad at delivering the consumer goods like 20 different kinds of fabric softener or frost-free refrigerators though. Great at bridges, highways, dams, nuke plants, coal mines, etc.

You'll notice that Capitalist China isn't exactly much of a Beacon of Democracy. And still about 1/3 of employed Chinese work at SOEs.

I don't think it's an accident that Russia turned around when Putin became Acting Deputy Prime Minister in 1999 (when Yeltsin became ill) and President in 2000."

Strategy says:
Impressive, but not as impressive as what capitalist West accomplished. Our standard of living is unmatched. Our freedoms are unmatched. Our inventions are unmatched. There isn't a communist country that even came close.
China is no democracy, but it's use of capitalism has raised the standard of living of a billion people in a single generation.
Russia could have achieved more without Putin. Sure he is liked, but so are all other dictators. Saddam Hussein had a 99% approval rating. The few who opposed him were mysteriously found floating in a river. So sad they could not swim.

socal2 says

Petro-economies aren't hard to "turn around", especially when you have a captive market like Russia has with Europe.

What else does Russia have to offer the world?

Sixth Largest Economy on the Planet. Large and Growing Middle Class. More academic graduates than any country in Europe - 54% of Russians have an Associate's Degree equivalent or better.

Strategist says

Impressive, but not as impressive as what capitalist West accomplished. Our standard of living is unmatched. Our freedoms are unmatched. Our inventions are unmatched. There isn't a communist country that even came close.

China is no democracy, but it's use of capitalism has raised the standard of living of a billion people in a single generation.

Russia could have achieved more without Putin. Sure he is liked, but so are all other dictators. Saddam Hussein had a 99% approval rating. The few who opposed him were mysteriously found floating in a river. So sad they could not swim.

We've been at it a helluva lot longer.

The assertion about Russia without Putin is not backed by history; indeed Shock Capitalism turned Russia into a basket case. Gallup conducted the polls, not Baghdad Bob or Jen Psaki or the Russian Ministry of Information.

Russia and China were backward agricultural countries. China before Mao was run by the Shanghai Mafia (Chiang's wife was the Chinese Connie Corleone).

Single Hoe Bitch likes to project....

Call it Crazy says

sbh says

You're a cubicle slut wearing a training bra fetching coffee for a moron

Oh, and Russia's GDP per Head? More than double China's.

Russia = ~$24k
China = ~$10k

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD?order=wbapi_data_value_2013+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_data_value-last&sort=desc

Higher than Poland's too, even though the Russians didn't get low-interest loans and lots of military and economic aid from the EU and US.

thunderlips11 says

Putin is the one who reversed the downward slide of Russia, put the Oligarchs in their place, and raised the standard of living.

Corrected version:
Oil is the one who reversed the downward slide of Russia, , and raised the standard of living in some parts of Russia.

We should just declare war on ISIS/ISIL and just kill all of them. I figure it would take about a month once we get everything in place, if we do it right.

That's good in theory.
In practice, they would just merge in with the general population and be virtually undetectable. They'd have to give up their heavy hardware but they would morph to suicide car bombings/roadside bombings, like every other terror group over there.

So a strategy that might work longterm is to
1- exit the scene and wait for them to feel safe and expose themselves
2- recruit indigents to identify targets
3- use cruise missiles/smartbombs to take out the targets
4- rinse and repeat endlessly

zzyzzx says

We should just declare war on ISIS/ISIL and just kill all of them. I figure it would take about a month once we get everything in place, if we do it right.

USA bomb factories are happy, stocks go up
No boots on the ground, USA mothers are happy
terror groups in state of perpetual hiding, cannot form government or heavy equipment militia without exposing themselves to bombing.

SoftShell says

In practice, they would just merge in with the general population and be virtually undetectable.

Exactly the problem. We don't have the stomach for the collateral damage. If we did, a nuke would be a good option.

ISIS is even making Al Qaeda jealous these days. Jihad in India...really?

Call it Crazy says

JH says

SoftShell says

In practice, they would just merge in with the general population and be virtually undetectable.

Exactly the problem. We don't have the stomach for the collateral damage. If we did, a nuke would be a good option.

Since when?? This administration regularly drones "so called terrorists" all the time that are surrounded by women and children.

...and people get pissy and post about it on patnet!!

Nuke option is like cancer treatment.
you kill 99% of the good cells to get at 1% of the cancer cells.
in the end the cancer loses, but so does the body.

better to play and beat them at their own game. less collateral damage.
spy networks and smartbombs.
we have them, they don't.

JH says

SoftShell says

In practice, they would just merge in with the general population and be virtually undetectable.

Exactly the problem. We don't have the stomach for the collateral damage. If we did, a nuke would be a good option.

SoftShell says

better to play and beat them at their own game.

Sure but we suck at this game! Think Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq...

SoftShell says

In practice, they would just merge in with the general population and be virtually undetectable. They'd have to give up their heavy hardware but they would morph to suicide car bombings/roadside bombings, like every other terror group over there.

Not if you plan includes killing everyone in the area controlled by ISIS/ISIL.

zzyzzx says

thunderlips11 says

Putin is the one who reversed the downward slide of Russia, put the Oligarchs in their place, and raised the standard of living.

Corrected version:

Oil is the one who reversed the downward slide of Russia, , and raised the standard of living in some parts of Russia.

Saudi Arabia has a better standard of living than Russia, but they are the most useless people on the planet. The Saudis don't have the ability to even make pencils. Finding oil does not make you any more talented.

zzyzzx says

We should just declare war on ISIS/ISIL and just kill all of them. I figure it would take about a month once we get everything in place, if we do it right.

May I remind you of the gentleman in the White House.

Strategist says

Finding oil does not make you any more talented

Case in point: Johnny manziel

Call it Crazy says

Strategist says

zzyzzx says

We should just declare war on ISIS/ISIL and just kill all of them. I figure it would take about a month once we get everything in place, if we do it right.

May I remind you of the gentleman MUSLUM in the White House.

There, fixed it for you!

Thanks. I'm so embarrassed.

What's a muslum?

Call it Crazy says

JH says

What's a muslum?

It's me typing too fast. :)

Boy, rough crowd with the grammar Nazis....

Well, at least I didn't restate your quote with the misspelled word struckthrough......only because five minutes ago I didn't know the code to strikethrough.

mmmmmhmmmmmm