jodokus31 wrote: Wed Mar 23, 2022 11:35 am
Switzerland has other type of securities. Also, I'm deeply shocked, what Russia is doing currently. I just think, it wasn't good to stress a very fragile relation.
I don't believe the narrative of pure russian aggression and evilness.
Right, Switzerland could easily protected itself against Nato with its mountains, while Russia with its nukes would be totally helpless. Seriously, Switzerland's (replace with Austria, Sweden, Finnland and so on) best protection is that they aren't ruled by a bat sh*t crazy dictator.
This isn't about narratives of evil and such but simply about how the Western World should handle dictators who are going nuts.
jodokus31 wrote: Mon Mar 21, 2022 9:00 pm
No, you got it twisted. The deeds they did or are doing are not cool. But they are still human, who made mistakes.
Who decides, that you are better? Are you better, because your mistakes were less severe? Or do you never made any mistake? Or simply, because you are better by some other measure? Who else is worse than you? Are there any people, who are better than you? Are they allowed to condemn you? Who is neutral enough to decide?
That's getting philosophical!
I even confirmed earlier that I am well aware that the likes of Putin are humans, why did you feel the need to clarify this yet again?
And how did I misrepresent what you said? Because they are not cool as I implied you suggested, just not bad human beings? You can call it philosophical to claim Hitler isn't a bad human, I call it BS. The question who decides whom
I consider to be a better or worse human is really simple to answer, it's obviously me. And while I would assume that any reasonable being would come to the same conclusion, in a free society (which should apply to at least some of us) you can of course have more "philosophical" interpretations like that Hitler isn't bad, just a bit uncool.
jodokus31 wrote: Wed Mar 23, 2022 11:35 am
So, you think it's a good thing? You are from Canada? Why do you even care, if they turn they backs against Europe?
I think, it's a loss for whole human society, esp. for Europe
Because I focus on plausible options rather than clinging on to naïve visions. My impression is that many people who used to have no strong opinion about Russia are finally starting to wake up and realize that it might not be the smartest move to just hope for peaceful coexistence with a megalomaniac dictator while strengthening each other through cooperation and trade. It would have been lovely if this wakeup call wouldn't have come at the cost of Ukraine, but still, better late than too late.
This outcome would be much less of a loss for Europe than if it would continue to dig its own grave. The writings were on the wall since Putin came to power, yet Europe was largely delusional (mainly the countries in Western Europe like Germany, not so much the ones that were less ignorant to signs of Russian aggressions like the Baltics).
The synergies between Russia and China are rather limited, and I'm sure China won't hesitate for a second to leverage dependencies, especially if they are well aware that Russia's isolation leaves them no alternative. As China's lapdog, I'm confident Russia will be much less dangerous. You might want to point out that the Chinese leadership isn't necessarily less "evil", but they have shown to be much more tactically than emotionally driven, which is why a MAD based relationship with China is comparatively relaxed.
