Comments by "Grenade Tennis" (@hughjass1044) on "VisualPolitik EN"
channel.
-
8
-
8
-
7
-
7
-
Norway finances its operations by taxes and banks its oil wealth. As a result, the nation and it's people retain a healthy buffer against periods of low economic activity so they can maintain their standard of living. They also retain the wealth; and the attendant power, that comes with it.
High earners pay high taxes for the privilege of living and operating their businesses in a safe, secure environment, with a healthy, well educated, highly motivated workforce. Strangely though, you don't constantly hear stories about people and businesses "fleeing" this high tax jurisdiction. Wonder why?
Alaska on the other hand (along with Alberta Canada, where I live), relies on resource revenue for everything and finances most of their operations with it. Whenever there's a price drop, we/they go into crisis mode because the money dries up.
Most of the wealth that our/their vast resources produce ends up in the pockets of oil company executives, stock portfolios and transient workers who pull pole and leave whenever times turn tough.
We/they are in nearly constant crisis mode when times are tight and blow through money like drunken sailors when times are good. What used to be great infrastructure and public services are declining steadily in quality but hey;.... LOW TAXES, BABY!!
The people who have nothing invested in this place and couldn't care less if we live or die are making out like gangbusters while the rest of us watch it all fade into dust.
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
5
-
The sanctions are effective, the sanctions are not effective..... I guess, depends entirely on how you choose to define effective.
Are they likely to do serious damage to the Russian economy? Most likely, yes though it may not be as harsh or as quick as some would like. Are they likely to alter Russia's behavior in any meaningful way? I doubt it.
Remember, Iran and North Korea have been under absolutely debilitating sanctions for decades and each has only gotten more dangerous and more aggressive. And like both of those countries, Russians have been propagandized and brainwashed into believing that their governments are the heroes in all this and that they have to pull together to overcome it.
People seem to forget that deprivations, shortages and a general reduction in living standards are nothing new for Russians. They've seen all of this many times before and in each instance, the government has played victim and turned up the nationalism meter.
I've always said that sanctions are what you do when you're too gutless to do anything else. The poorer you are, the more they hurt you. The wealthier you are the less they hurt you so in a place like Russia where the government cares not a jot for anything nor anybody but itself, and where they've got the country believing that the other side are the bad guys, sanctions are likely to be of pretty limited effect.
You want Russia to stop what it's doing? You're going to have to go in and make them stop.
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
It isn't a question of grievances, it's a question of what is and is not, an appropriate and acceptable response. No doubt, Russia probably has some legitimate issues with Ukraine; especially since the latter has been a corrupt basket case heavily and hopelessly indebted to the former for nearly all of its existence.
It follows then that Russia would take steps to remedy that situation. But there are many, MANY options open to it that fall well short of what it is currently doing which is far, FAR out of proportion to whatever sins Ukraine may be guilty of.
If I have a neighbor who refuses to properly mind his dog and that dog is continually shitting in my yard, digging up my garden and snarling at my kids, I have every right to be aggrieved about that; especially if I've made multiple attempts to try to remedy the situation peacefully. I have the right to seek redress of those grievances through proper legal channels.
What I do NOT have the right to do is go kick in my neighbor's door, kill him and his family, burn down his house, poison his well and steal his possessions as well as further threaten anyone who may come to his aid which is the equivalent of what Russia is doing.
4
-
4
-
3
-
3
-
China needs to understand that any tactic it deploys against Taiwan can in turn, be deployed against it. China is boxed in by its geography and it doesn't exactly have a lot of friends in its neighborhood.
Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, The Philippines, India, Malaysia and Singapore, not to mention Australia and New Zealand, are all either direct US allies or adversaries of China or both. Any kind of blockading maneuver on Taiwan could be quickly and easily matched by any one of these nations and if that were to happen, China would be cut off from its trade both inbound and outbound and would therefore be something like 50 shades of f*cked overnight!
Not to mention all of the sanctions that would instantly be applied to it. China needs to understand that it needs the world far more than the world needs it. There are lots of other places the world can go for cheap labor and dollar store junk.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3