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....Russian crypto-mobilization efforts are stagnating due to Russians’ growing awareness that causality rates for Russian soldiers in Ukraine are high. Hromov stated that Volgograd and Saratov oblasts have only met seven percent (134 of the 7,800 recruits) and 14 percent (270 of the 7,600 recruits) of their regional recruitment quotas for the first quarter of 2023 respectively.
"Crypto-mobilization", is better translated as "covert mobilization". The Russians are quietly trying to recruit soldiers, but are unable to do so.
Evidently, everyone in Russia is aware of the small chances for survival among soldiers.
Brain drain, collapsing demographics, economic decline - it all adding to Russia's problems.
Have been reading lately that men have disappeared in Russia. It's mostly women in the restaurants, shops, and on the street. A barber shop that used to have four busy chairs and men waiting, now has one barber and few waiting customers. One of the barbers has been conscripted into the military, and the two others have disappeared.
Some have left the country, others are just out of sight. Since the new conscription process involves tracking men down via their credit cards, etc., they are staying out of sight as much as possible.
Regardless of what you might think about this war, a Russian victory is bad for the United States. I'll be shocked if America steps down as global hegemon without a fight. Historically that almost never happens.
Also, democracy is inherently more fragile than authoritarianism. Democracy only exists because America exists. Pull America off the map and there is no democracy.
Not quite true, old European countries are a democracy too, however you are right in a sense that they are too small and weak in the sea of non-democracies out there.
One more point I'd like to make is that Democracy is fragile (and particularly American democracy lately,) because two different ideas are pulling the country apart in two different directions ( two different trains of thought so to speak.)
But on another hand Russia is not currently as monolithic as it seems to be either ( it has its own internal forces that are bifurcating there because of this war...)
However China ( and other autocracies) are a whole different thing. They come across as very monolithic and internally strong, except for may be Iran.
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And the only reason American democracy exists is because it is completely safe in its own hemisphere.
My personal impression is that American democracy still exists only for a reason that someone somewhere didn't decide what rout America should take - "right" or "left," because lately they become less and less compatible with each other.
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It's why we have to "make the world safe for democracy". China and Russia are challenging the world order,
But you need to remember that it was America first that decided to eliminate Russia as a force that was standing on the way of American world domination, and Putin out of revenge opened the floodgate of China.
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and China is doing everything it can to destabilize the United States and turn the world against us. And it is working.
This is basically correct, because once Russia turned to China for help, China saw the opening to do what they were probably hoping to accomplish for long time.
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America should be doing everything it can to win this war. Otherwise we will lose Europe, we've already lost the Middle-East, Asia is beginning to turn, and lastly will come Latin-America.
The war that it unleashed itself for no good reason, other than trying to rule the world unchallenged.
The problem with this scenario is - every imperfect state/empire throughout history falls apart, giving the way for new powers/states.
So in this particular case we see the old power ( the US) with its contradictive internal ideas being on a very shaky ground, with no viable new replacement - only a string of some ANCIENT civilizations clutching to the flag post.
And this war in Ukraine is what brought it all about.
Regardless of what you might think about this war, a Russian victory is bad for the United States. I'll be shocked if America steps down as global hegemon without a fight. Historically that almost never happens.
Also, democracy is inherently more fragile than authoritarianism. Democracy only exists because America exists. Pull America off the map and there is no democracy. And the only reason American democracy exists is because it is completely safe in its own hemisphere. It's why we have to "make the world safe for democracy". China and Russia are challenging the world order, and China is doing everything it can to destabilize the United States and turn the world against us. And it is working.
America should be doing everything it can to win this war. Otherwise we will lose Europe, we've already lost the Middle-East, Asia is beginning to turn, and lastly will come Latin-America.
We lost the Middle East because of terrible foreign policy decisions. We are making the same mistake in Ukraine. The outcome of the Ukraine war does not concern us, Ukraine is a corrupt country that our politicians intervened in and profited from. We need to work on improving our democracy at home before trying to push it abroad.
If we continue down the path you are suggesting we will lose, when the time comes to defend our standing as the global leader it should be for a righteous and worthy cause. Zelensky and his government are not something the average Americans will enlist to fight China and Russia over. The sentiment has already shifted against them, ask the average person on the street and they are against sending more of their money to fund this war.
Last edited by ColoradoOnMyMind; 04-13-2023 at 09:41 PM..
They likely never were, the fog of war and propaganda has been very thick. They have fought valiantly but they should of chose the path of negotiation. The west is largely at fault for this failure and Ukrainians have paid the blood price ever sense.
1) Old European countries are a democracy too
2) Democracy is fragile because two different ideas are pulling the country apart in two different directions.
3) Russia is not currently as monolithic as it seems
4) China comes across as very monolithic and internally strong.
5) China saw the opening to do what they were probably hoping to accomplish for long time.
6) The war that it unleashed itself for no good reason, other than trying to rule the world unchallenged.
1) Democracy, just like every political idea/ideology, is a weapon. Democracy is the way the United States undermines foreign governments and justifies interventions/war.
2) Democracy is fragile because it is a fraud. Democracy is rule by money. Democracy only works when the capitalists don't have hostile and competing interests, and where foreign money is incapable of interfering/organizing/taking sides.
3) Russia isn't monolithic, which is why it needs a strong government to keep out foreign influence. Russia only pretends to be democratic to keep the population subdued(which democracy is especially good at).
4) China is internally stronger than Russia but it is still a fragile country. It is linguistically divided, the west is filled with Muslims and Tibet/Taiwan want independence. It also has border disputes with most of its neighbors. The only thing that prevents China from falling apart is its authoritarian government.
5) China is flooding the United States with drugs via Mexico. I'm convinced that China wants to use Mexico to destabilize the United States by essentially promising them a reconquista. For reference, California was 94% white in 1950. It is now only 36% white and dropping.
1) Democracy, just like every political idea/ideology, is a weapon. Democracy is the way the United States undermines foreign governments and justifies interventions/war.
2) Democracy is fragile because it is a fraud. Democracy is rule by money. Democracy only works when the capitalists don't have hostile and competing interests, and where foreign money is incapable of interfering/organizing/taking sides.
3) Russia isn't monolithic, which is why it needs a strong government to keep out foreign influence. Russia only pretends to be democratic to keep the population subdued(which democracy is especially good at).
4) China is internally stronger than Russia but it is still a fragile country. It is linguistically divided, the west is filled with Muslims and Tibet/Taiwan want independence. It also has border disputes with most of its neighbors. The only thing that prevents China from falling apart is its authoritarian government.
5) China is flooding the United States with drugs via Mexico. I'm convinced that China wants to use Mexico to destabilize the United States by essentially promising them a reconquista. For reference, California was 94% white in 1950. It is now only 36% white and dropping.
6) This war is the same as every other war.
We're a Republic. The ideal of a democracy is forced universal equality, the ideal of a Constitutional Republic is individual liberty. A democracy always deteriorates into a dictatorship which promises guaranteed government equality and security but it delivers nothing except poverty and serfdom from the people it robs and rules. We were founded as a Constitutional Republic to safeguard the people against the tyranny of democracy.
1) We lost the Middle East because of terrible foreign policy decisions.
2) The outcome of the Ukraine war does not concern us.
3) We need to work on improving our democracy at home before trying to push it abroad.
4) Zelensky and his government are not something the average Americans will enlist to fight China and Russia over.
5) The sentiment has already shifted against them, ask the average person on the street and they are against sending more of their money to fund this war.
1) They were only terrible foreign-policy decisions because we failed.
2) The Ukraine War is not a border dispute. It is a battle for the future world order. If America loses this war, American hegemony is dead. Marco Rubio even admitted what was going on(at least some of it).
3) As America grows weaker, America will be left with two options, become completely politically subverted, or become authoritarian.
4) George Soros talked about that thirty years ago. He said... "The combination of manpower from Eastern Europe with the technical capabilities of NATO would greatly enhance the military potential of the Partnership because it would reduce the risk of body bags for NATO countries, which is the main constraint on their willingness to act."
5) The government will do whatever it has to do to win. All it takes is one false-flag and the average American will be clamoring for war.
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