Comments by "Paul Gibbon" (@paulgibbon5991) on "Russia Just Lost a $500 Million Plane in Belarus" video.

  1. "We didn't need those cities / lands / tanks / soldiers / planes / ships anyway!" EVERY TIME.
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  2.  @gregluker6875  But a related question is--would you launch a nuclear missile if it had, say, a 50% chance of failing to launch-or even worse, blowing up in the silo?
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  3. "Look, we're never going to USE these things, right? They're just there to threaten people with. So how about we skip the upkeep for this year, and split the money between us?"
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  4. Have look at what the conspiracy fringe...or your average Trump voter...believes. And these people live in a society where they can freely access opposing viewpoints and verifiable explanations of why they're wrong. Now imagine what it's like when every school, and every media channel is also promoting that conspiracy theory and anyone who might contradict it is keeping quiet because they can't be sure if you'll report them to the secret police.
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  5. You'd be surprised what you believe (or at least keep your head down and pretend to believe) when every school and media channel is chanting it at you, and there are steep penalties for believing otherwise. It's not so much that Russia thinks people are stupid, it's more that they know how to make them stupid--or at least, make them act like stupid people for their own safety. Look at the conspiracy theories that have infested the West, and the fanatical devotion they can attract.
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  6. NATO and EU membership will do that. Let Russia fume as much as it wants, so long as it's caged behind a wall of NATO (which may include their southern neighbours; Kazakhstan has expressed interest in joining) and under no illusions that a single Russian bullet crossing the border will trigger a massive Article 5 reaction.
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