The TLDR of the video is that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was bad, and that Western and Ukrainian aggression didn't poke the tiger. He doesn't mention that the West could end the war tomorrow.
To be fair, I'm not pro Putin. I know Russians in Russia who are risking their safety to be peace activists, which is the correct and noble position to have in Russia. An Australian guy taking the position that Putin bad just seems easy and is doing the work of the State department.
Agree that this is a very bad take. There are Cable leaks from US diplomat going back DECADES that confirm just how serious the notion of Ukraine joining nato was to Russia and that it would likely mean a war if it ever came to fruition.
This is 2008 so it's pre 2014 coup
I think the other side of this that's rarely talked about are the families with members that were on the ukrainian side and the russian side. For Russia a huge issue with Ukraine joining nato is the quantity of families with individuals who then become nato and will be turned into natoites. The effect that these family members will have on their family across the border is of major concern. They don't want a base being created for colour revolution, or worse.
america has a long and storied history of ignoring the advice of their ambassadors. Not that the stupidity is a defence, but it is believable to me that natos were surprised.
Incredible post! Hate to be that guy, but do you have any sources? I’d love to be able to walk people through this timeline, but it’s a hard sell when the sole source is “some commie on bear website”
Exactly what I was going to ask. I have a lib friend who I think could be pushed somewhat away from the "correct" lib take on the war with write-up like this, but his first question is going to be about the sources.
👏 I especially enjoyed reading the prologue. I didn't know this history. That's some incredible foreshadowing, I'd say if this wasn't reality. Thank you for sharing!
He always sucked when it came to Ukraine. Virtually indistinguishable from the Western leftists he so cheerfully derides.
and that Western and Ukrainian aggression didn't poke the tiger.
I think his argument is more that they did poke it but that doesn't justify a full scale land invasion.
I don't agree with him, but honestly his take here seems way more consistent and rational than Libs on the topic. He's still wrong, but I was honestly expecting it to be worse given his history.
If this was the entire argument, his position would be kind of valid. Nato poking the bear is an explanation, but not an excuse for Russia.
But then he later states that the forced conscription in Ukraine is just what any nation would do. Which, sure, but that's not a fucking excuse either then.
No I agree.
He made points here I respect tho and think it's good for Libs to hear.
Comparing this to Gaza is ridiculous, Ukraine has a government and a military, more specifically a military with the backing of the most powerful governments on earth.
There's no evidence of genocide, Russia's goal is clearly to take territory not to wipe out a group of people, most of the casualties are combatants not civilians.
I strongly disagree with his downplaying of how entrenched neo-Nazis clearly are in the Ukrainian military though, and suggesting there 0 genuine, non-astroturfed Russian separatist sentiment in eastern Ukraine.
His sentiment is overall much better still than most liberals, of course. It's just his dismissal of very valid leftist positions that irks me. This is a fight between two capitalist nations and the principled take would be no war but the class war. To that end, the forced conscription of both sides should be highlighted as the barbaric thing it is, where the state forces unwilling men to die for the profits of oligarchs. BadEmpanada rightfully points out that this whole war is a pointless meat grinder that doesn't serve either people.
Russia doesn't care about the fascists, but they are still there, and fucking Bandera is now widely celebrated. Ukraine is not a nation worth the blood shed over it. Defending Ukraine serves no purpose for the cause of any denomination of socialism. It is also not our responsibility as westerners to deal with the Russian imperialism either, we got our own house to clean. This shit is what broke the second international, we should know this by now. Working against the war effort of "our" side is the fucking point, because they are not our side, and we are responsible for it. So what, if Russia "wins" or there is a peace treaty? It puts an end to the dying and there are still capitalists in control. Boo hoo. But there is no need to put it this way.
This isn't a fight where leftists should pick a side to "support", it's a pointless war we should oppose. The senselessness and cruelty of it all, of either side, should not be excused, but highlighted. This is what capitalism fucking does. Don't say Ukraine or the West is right, don't say Russia is right, say this war is shit. It was preventable, neither leadership cares about its people, and it should end. If you wanna go for the "good guy" appearance, say you support UN monitored referendums in the contested areas after a peace treaty, or something like that. Put the people first. They live on the land, they get to decide. That's democracy.
Sorry for the rant.
What you just wrote is also BE's opinion though
I'm not sure what was lost in his words, but it's very obvious that he mourns for the loss of life primarily in Ukraine but also for the Russians.
He's against this war not because he's against war generally, but because he's against imperialist wars. Which of course includes everything Israel does.
To "prove" this it's not all that hard. He regularly talks about Hamas and generally any sort of Palestinian resistance, militant or otherwise, as being perfectly legitimate and beyond criticism from him (and anyone on the left being the implication). He supports Palestinians because their cause is truly anti-imperialist. Whatever it takes for them to achieve victory is acceptable or at least we shouldn't try to stand on moral high ground and speak down to them.
Russia's cause is not anti-imperialist. It's actually just the opposite. Ukraine is stuck in the middle between the larger imperialist aggressor, NATO/US.
Anyway, don't feel like typing more, but you and BE already agree. I think he uses purposefully (for engagement or just being an asshole troll- who can say) inflammatory language or at least sort of... gives off a vibe of something. Smug? Snark? Hard to pinpoint, but it makes you want to kneejerk reply with something. But regardless of him poking at people (maybe it's unintentional- but I know it isn't. I've watched enough of his trolling over the years) his underlying sentiment remains aligned with yours and most people on hexbear/lemmygrad. He's just an asshole.
That is good then. I don't really watch streams and went off the few minutes I saw, and maybe got hunger up on his take on the forced conscription Videos.
For me the subtext of the video came across as “this is horrific for the working class of both countries and should stop”, which is literally the correct take.
"war is bad and should stop", when removed from context and analysis is not a take, it's a platitude.
The fact that he whitewashes the West's role in the war, pretends Ukraine is not a country with a significant Russian-friendly minority, and puts the blame for the war's consequences and continuation on Russia means that his "war is bad and should stop" ends up being an endorsement of NATO's position - that only Russia can and should take measures to stop the war, and that any escalation from the West is justified.
Why would I spend my free time consuming neither educational material nor actual entertainment and escapism? And this dude is a lot more ‘political commentary’ than he is ‘entertainment’ so I’m fucking out
Kind of a sidebar here but he says that Russia is a dictatorship and that people should gtfo about the "elections".
Now, I don't really know much about Russia at all, but polling shows that Putin is immensely popular, right? So what's the point in rigging elections that you're going to win anyway? I don't think he was trying to make a broader point either, I think he was saying the elections themselves are shams? So... Are they?
The elections aren't shams. The fact various powers in Russia will kill any threat and get away with it is the main drawback. With that said it's not like the US doesn't have a history of assassinations of political figures, carried out both by the state and by non-state actors.
says that Russia is a dictatorship
lol is George even a Marxist? all states are class dictatorships
It's not a sidebar
You found the weakest thing in the video. The elections can be questioned. We literally cannot know either way because it's not like Russia will be allowing in the UN to inspect voting.
But Putin is objectively very popular and has been for over 20 years or so. So, following your same logic, it of course makes sense for them to elect him repeatedly. Is it a de facto dictatorship? Maybe. I don't really care either. It's clear that the people of Russia like him for better or worse
It's an admittedly half-assed video which probably was made only because he never made a proper one when the war started it's to be taken as seriously as his live stream slop content. It's good to piss off both Z-leninist/banderites and harvest that good good engagement nectar.
My general rule is that i dont watch videos of his that doesnt have at least 20 citations in the description.
Hard disagree. His long form videos are some of the most meticulously sourced content on that shitty platform. And tbh the fact that he’s upfront about wanting money is just being more honest about it than the average video essayist. I really don’t see how he could be “grifting” by running away from most popular opinions and content lol. “Grifting” by being one of the most aggressively pro-Palestine people on the platform doesn’t seem like the best way to make a buck, but it seems like you just have some personal hatred of him so you do you, lol.
it's all a facade, he's probably intentionally taking the L here to make his video about debunking the Holodomir conspiracy theory have more credibility among the libs, a strong long-term move if you ask me.
I doubt it, I think this is his actual opinion. Dudes way too irascible to give a shit was Libs think.
Yeah, no part of me believes BadEmpanda would hold back one of his opinions for the libs.
The guy whos pfp was an IED and name on twitter was "Troop Exploder" is really interested in reaching out to liberals lol
Holy fuck you people and your parasocial relationships he's just a ficking grifter
Cold take: Putin is, in fact, bad.
The war is also bad insofar as victory on either side will not serve the working class. As usual, they are being thrown into the meat grinder so that whoever wins can exploit them better. I won't call it an inter-imperialist conflict, but there's certainly not a socialist element to it.
The only benefit is a slightly weakened empire (US) which will have less regional power. A worthwhile goal, but to be honest, it seems like the price has been really high.
The sheltering Nazis for decades while crushing native populations might be good reasons to hate Argentina. For more contemporary reasons, its regression towards aiding the US and other capitalist powers is pretty good. It's the least good south American country.
They also tried really hard to eliminate their black population, to the point you don't even hear anything about them.
There's also the fact that Argentina is extremely racist and have a pretty clear case of thinking they are European complex.
There's a good point made here that "if Russia gained influence in Mexico, that wouldn't justify the US invading it".
But we know that the US would absolutely do that, if it came to it. We know from the Cuban Missile Crisis, we know from the unmatched number of foreign interventions/coups the US has done, we know from the contingency plans that the DoD has had for a long time for invading Mexico and toppling the government, and we know from Trump's threats over the cartels that he'd do it for a lot less than a great power rivalry.
There is a gap between what many countries ethically ought to do, and what they practically can be expected to do. We should be able to tell these apart.
It has been pretty entertaining watching him dunk on Ethan Klein, but I get it.
Feels like a number of people in this thread are a couple of weeks away from genuinely thinking “Putin is based secret communist trying to re-establish the USSR” lol.
This is a very bad faith take. I don't see a single poster here saying anything positive of Putin or Russia.
- Show
The guy who posted this gem of a take has bad takes?
Damn what a surprise lol
i think so he just got banned so often that he had like 300 alts
Misses on smo and Uyghur genocide means high possibly of being a fed. That shit isn't hard to figure out.
