Don’t know that this is a defense of putin by any stretch. Obviously you can’t annex Kiev. But if you are trying to analyze what putin is thinking (he’s fucking crazy, let’s be honest) this is useful to know
I dunno I take issue with Putin being "crazy" I think he's quite sane but he just wants power and shit, as we see him trying to scoop up more territory and make more of a bulwark against NATO. Not defending him btw, he sucks.
I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong to also question Putin’s sanity in all of this, although that’s obviously a small factor in a long list of historical material causes for this.
He’s getting old, and allegedly has had some health scares recently. He’s also apparently suuuuper afraid of covid (rightfully so) and has been very isolated for the last two years, and that kind of isolation can certainly fuck with your head after a while.
Conspiracy time: putin is terminally ill, has 12-18 months. Not that it is making him act irrationally, but he might be thinking about things from an end of history (his history) and reputation perspective.
Agreed, putting this all as “That crazy Putin!” is very stupid and ignores like 90% of why this is happening. But, the mental state of a leader is still a factor to take into consideration, in the same way we take Biden’s obvious cognitive decline into account.
Don’t know that this is a defense of putin by any stretch. Obviously you can’t annex Kiev. But if you are trying to analyze what putin is thinking (he’s fucking crazy, let’s be honest) this is useful to know
I dunno I take issue with Putin being "crazy" I think he's quite sane but he just wants power and shit, as we see him trying to scoop up more territory and make more of a bulwark against NATO. Not defending him btw, he sucks.
I mean crazy ideologically. He’s a nuanced character, that’s for sure.
Oh yeah for sure. His ideology is a toxic mess, that much is for sure.
I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong to also question Putin’s sanity in all of this, although that’s obviously a small factor in a long list of historical material causes for this.
He’s getting old, and allegedly has had some health scares recently. He’s also apparently suuuuper afraid of covid (rightfully so) and has been very isolated for the last two years, and that kind of isolation can certainly fuck with your head after a while.
Conspiracy time: putin is terminally ill, has 12-18 months. Not that it is making him act irrationally, but he might be thinking about things from an end of history (his history) and reputation perspective.
Just an interesting thought exercise
Oooh that’d be a real interesting thing to find out at the end of this
I really don't know, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, you know. But just kneejerking to him being crazy I think is a poor analysis.
Agreed, putting this all as “That crazy Putin!” is very stupid and ignores like 90% of why this is happening. But, the mental state of a leader is still a factor to take into consideration, in the same way we take Biden’s obvious cognitive decline into account.
Don’t you understand that Putin’s mom didn’t breastfeed him? That’s the problem here
Yeah, it should be a factor and not the end all be all.
True, it very much can be helpful in the context of understanding Russian national chauvinism.
To be fully honest, I didn't take that to be the intent of the post since it wasn't explicitly framed that way and I've been quite critical of the analysis /u/Alaskaball has done of Ukraine in the past.
Saw that when looking through your first link. Good post.