Comments by "DasBubba" (@dasbubba841) on "Good Times Bad Times" channel.

  1. Most of it was self-inflicted, beyond the population increase. Egypt's agricultural infrastructure is decrepit and very inefficient (irrigation systems are old and leaky). It is also geared towards cash crop production, like cotton and sugar. Both are very water intensive. Wheat production has made a comeback recently (wonder why) but is still held back by poor infrastructure.
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  2. The US has serious problems, but compared to the other major powers its issues are relatively tame and fixable.
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  3.  @blackcatdungeonmastersfami5311  Actually, Russia has a terrible homeless problem, and many homeless die because of the brutal climate and general age of them (with many being elderly).
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  4.  @TheOffkilter  Wealth is also spread out more evenly in the US, with states like South Dakota and Kansas having a high GDP-per captia due to oil and large farms. Wealth in Russia meanwhile flows into Moscow and St. Petersburg, leaving the rest of Russia very poor.
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  5. Never mind the logistical nightmare of taking care of millions of men. Russia can barely handle the troops they have on the field, how could they handle hundreds of thousands more?
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  6. Because Serbia claims ALL of Kosovo as its territory and has refused to budge from that position.
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  7. Russia can't really use their full strength. Apparently, their supply status is pretty horrible: Units running out of fuel and ammunition. Increasing their troop numbers would exacerbate this, compounding the fact that their advancing into hostile territory. Also, the bill for all of that would be crippling. They could pump 200,000 troops in Ukraine, but it would ruin the already weak Russian economy. Time is actually on Ukraine's side I think. They're being funded and resupplied by NATO, while being able to get more of their populace and army mobilized. Russia meanwhile is on a clock of their budget and people's will (and the will of the oligarchs). The longer the war, the worse the economy gets (as Russia will effectively be under North Korea-esqe sanctions).
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  8.  @SoloRenegade  The easy occupation of Crimea made the Russians overconfident. They expected the Ukrainians to easily fold.
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  9.  @blackcatdungeonmastersfami5311  And yet Russia is basically stalled out. What is the Kremlin hoping for? That the West will tell Ukraine to give it up? Or does Moscow believe they can conquer all of Ukraine?
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  10.  @FRIPPE_THE_GREAT  Russia makes it very easy to dislike them.
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  11.  @blackcatdungeonmastersfami5311  1) Casualties are hard to discern, because both sides are tight lipped about figures. Civilian casualties are probably equal to or more than military casualties for Ukraine, though. The Russians themselves have suffered heavily, based on visual equipment losses (the VDV especially). Though, a lot of those were front loaded at the start of the war, and due to heavy entrenchment of both sides, I'd say casualty figures aren't that high (for both sides) as of late. Also to note is that Ukrainian morale hasn't suffered due to casualties. 2) Inflation is rather uncomfortable in the West, though that has flattened out recently. It also hasn't led to any decrease in support from Ukraine's largest backers, namely the US, UK, and Poland where public support for Ukraine has consistently remained high. 3) The EU has made serious efforts to soften the blow the onset of winter will have. This has included stockpiling energy, diversifying suppliers, and reducing consumption. Also, said blow won't be felt equally in the EU. Ukraine's most consistent and impactful backers, notable Poland, are not dependent on Russia. The US, the largest backer (and supplier of the very effective HIMARS) is not dependent on Russia at all, and any crisis the EU may face will not impact them at all.
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  12.  @schuschnix5261  Sanctions do work. They don't destroy a country, but they make it far more difficult to carry out objectives. North Korean and Iran have militaries that are basically stuck a Cold-War technology level. Cuba's economy is tiny, and dependent on tourism (and cheap oil from Venezuela). Sanctions make it harder for Russia to assemble sophisticated weaponry. Yes, they can smuggle chips in from third-party sources, but that is expensive and slow. Europe is hurting, but it's temporary. Oil and natural gas aren't sourced from only Russia. Energy sources are being sourced from other suppliers like Qatar, the US, and Saudi Arabia. The longer the war goes on, the weaker the dependence becomes, especially as LNG infrastructure is constructed. What happens when Russian suppliers are replaced? The EU was Russia's largest market BY FAR. And if Russia hasn't mobilized by now, they never will because the political cost of doing so outweighs the costs of potentially losing the war.
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  13.  @damnbrosky  It is a mentality that dates back to the Mongol invasions almost 800 years ago. Security and power at any cost. The brutal German invasion of 1941 reinforced this mindset.
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  14.  @profile1172  One, the Russians didn't curb stomp the Chechens. They lost the first war against them, in '94. The second war was long and drawn out, even with the Chechens divided by infighting and having no support internationally. Ukraine is a nation state that is far bigger than Chechnya and far more organized, with a national army and defense industry. It has popular support, and has vast international backing. The Russians are universally seen as invaders, even among the Russophone community (the area taking the brunt of the invasion) and no one has risen in support of the Russians, in contrast to the Chechen war.
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  15. Putin is a risk taker, but he is not stupid. The fact that he has maintained power for longer than I've been alive (I'm in college) illustrates this. He made a very poor gamble, but to give up and thrown in the towel in unthinkable. This is because I'd say it is not Putin that has the fragile ego, but the entire Russian citizenry that does. Russia is an immensely proud nation that has suffered immensely. The economic situation is terrible (even before sanctions), having probably one of the greatest wealth gaps in the world, suffocating corruption, an ageing population, terrible living standards for the average Russian, and HIV epidemic caused by a dysfunctional healthcare network, crumbling Soviet-legacy infrastructure, and the list goes on and on. Pride is all Russians have left. Unlike the Germans, whose defeat in WWII forced them to come to terms with authoritarianism, and who had an economic miracle to promote optimism for the future, Russians never had that. Only stagnation and endless recollection of the "glory days".
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  16. The myth of Russian superiority is a hard myth to dispel.
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  17. Usually not, but the burden of keeping up the economy will fall on an increasingly shrinking class of youth.
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  18.  @davrosdarlek7058  I haven't heard of any problems of desertion of Ukrainian troops. It makes sense since the war is happening in many cases literally at their doorstep. Both armies suffer from logistics issues, with Ukraine's mainly coming from a lack of ammo (and dealing with many different systems) and Russia from a general lack of resources (due to sheer distance, artillery strikes, and corruption), most keenly trained manpower (something also shared by Ukraine). Your inflation claims are wrong. Forbes put it at 9.3%, and some models even lower. Even so, it has had little impact on Poland's support for Ukraine. Regardless, the US provides the bulk of support. Your final statement proves your true colors though. Every nation has the right to defend itself from an aggressor. Russia brought death upon its troops and Ukrainians through their unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and weapons will continue to be supplied until Russia is humbled and retreats. There won't be any end to support to Ukraine. There won't be an end to the fighting until Russia either torches the entire country and enforces it's will through violence and force of arms, or until Russia is driven back across the '91 borders.
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  19.  @Byyaroff  North Korea is a small, very homogenous country that has kept itself extremely isolated. Yet, it only really survives because China keeps it on life support. Russia is vast and diverse, and information still pours in from every possible angle. There are many ethnic minorities that are loyal only because the Kremlin basically bribes them. Chechnya is only loyal because Kadyrov receives massive subsidies and is granted wide autonomy. The second Moscow is broke and weak, he will likely rebel. And if he doesn't, someone else most certainly will.
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  20. China is not innovating more than the US. Maybe the country is experiencing great progress in areas that the party extensively supports, but elsewhere is neglected. The USSR suffered the same issue. It was able to keep parity with the US in areas like military technology and rocketry, but was behind in areas neglected like computers and consumer products. That's just what happens when the economy is controlled by the state. China's property sector collapsed. Youth unemployment is around 40%. Birthrate is continuing to fall. The US is seeing a dramatic increase in Chinese immigrants, legal and illegal. Local governments are extremely deep in debt. China has some serious issues, and denying them now, when even the party is admitting there's a serious problem, is delusional.
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  21. Don't watch then.
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  22.  @ashiinsane90  So that is why Egypt racks up a massive foreign debt to import wheat that it subsidizes to its populace?
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  23. People leave Canada for the US, not the other way around.
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  24.  @TapOnX  The EU may long be a stable and relatively wealthy place in the world, but it increasingly won't be dictating the direction of the world, only following it. In essence, it'll do well in its niche, but it won't be able to expand outside of it. Most innovation and progress will belong to the US and the PRC.
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  25. Yeah, because America is the land of opportunity.
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  26. Plenty of people want to come to the US, because many see its advantages as outweighing its disadvantages, mainly its unrivaled economic and social mobility, relative economic stability, strong property rights, etc. Yeah, it sucks being poor in the US, but if you're NOT poor, you enjoy a standard of living unparalleled elsewhere.
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  27. Regardless, it is a great humiliation for the Russians. Either it was sunk by a nation that supposedly had its navy and heavy weaponry "liquidated", or sunk by incompetence and poor damage control measures. Being the flag ship of the Black Sea Fleet and named after the capital compounds that humiliation. And while the Americans have had some slip ups (most notably the fire on the Bonhomme Richard), they haven't actually have had one of their ships sink.
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  28.  @ashiinsane90  That too. I had forgotten that Egypt has been doing some pretty extensive military shopping lately. Not to mention that the Egyptian Army has a massive hand in the economy.
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  29. By contrast, the dollar is likely to be strengthened by this crisis.
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  30.  @taxesdeathandtrouble.1886  Clearly not.
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  31.  @sinoroman  The republics are largely powerless, except for Chechnya (which is basically a direct vassal of Putin). Over the past decade, their powers have been gradually stripped, all the way down to the title of the head of state (Only Tartarstan has stubbornly kept it's head as a "President")
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  32.  @Ophaganestopolis  Artillery shells are very easy to produce in bulk, compared to something like a tank or cruise missile. Transportation and secure storage are the bottleneck.
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  33.  @sinoroman  And the alterative is to... parrot the RT line?
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  34.  @95601  No, it really doesn't. If anything, the Belt-n'-Road Initiative has been a big money sink for the Chinese. None of China's big overseas infrastructure projects have translated into increased energy security, as the vast majority of China's energy imports come through the Straight of Malacca (out of range of Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles and land-based aircraft, I might add). The BRI was more of a diplomatic move to build ties and to continue fueling the Chinese economy with construction demand (which is drying up in China proper).
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  35.  @AnatolyPotapov  Again dependent on Ukrainian and NATO acceptance of a defeat. Also Poland, Hungary and Romania taking Ukrainian land seems very implausible.
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  36. Serbia is Albanian.
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  37. Any credibility Russia has on the international stage would be gone. It would also encourage acceptance of US nukes in Eastern Europe or Korea.
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  38.  @tulippasta  Even in Georgia, they lost three Su-25s and a Tu-22M bomber.
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  39. tariffs =/= more expensive.
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  40. It appears things are getting increasingly desperate for Putin. Russia has been humiliated on the battlefield, and any hopes for a quick, painless victory are gone. Russia has totally lost the narrative war, with much of the developed world throwing diplomatic support behind Ukraine. They can still win, as they have military superiority, but the price of victory is spiraling ever higher. Peace talks are actually a sign of weakness for Russia, as they're trying to "cash out" and gain some concessions. Otherwise, they'd had to continue the war to the brutal end, and thus risk rupturing at the seams.
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  41.  @Styxswimmer  East Germany was also one of the best off nations in the Eastern Bloc, while North Korea is easily one of the poorest nations in the world.
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  42. Armenia also occupies Azeri exclaves. The two occupied old Soviet exclaves that were deep in each other's territory. Given that they were rather remote and small, no one really cared about them.
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  43. Liberation requires surrender. Pfft. It is the sovereign right and duty of every nation to resist invasion and conquest from foreigners.
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  44. Both profited heavily from the previous status quo pre-invasion. France for geopolitical reasons, and Germany for economic reasons. The war illustrated how wrong their policies towards Russia were, and thus have left them weak. The pride of their governments makes them reluctant to admit that Russia wasn't logical, that America is needed, and both have less clout than they thought.
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  45.  @Megalomaniakaal  Also, plenty of the Midwest's agriculture goes to industrial use. Here in Missouri, basically all the soybeans and corn grown here isn't fit for human consumption, rather for livestock feed.
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  46.  @DBZHGWgamer  I wasn't using proud in the positive sense. Russia has more in common with the long-gone Mongol Empire (an empire of conquest, pillage, and brutality) than a modern nation-state we'd recognize. Pride is a crutch for Russians. They measure the strength of a nation not by its living standards, stability of government, or functioning economy, but by its military strength. Why else does Russia have so many military parades? Thus, the average Russian cannot accept that Russia is flailing around in Ukraine (to a bunch of "hohols"), as it means Russia is weak. That is simply not acceptable because military strength is all Russia had. Take away that "2nd strongest military in the world" and you have a country that is little more than giant Detroit. No one drank the "Russia Stronk" Kool-Aid more than Russia itself.
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  47. The Black Sea is a very confined body of water. The Pacific, meanwhile, is vast and open. Most drones used by Ukraine lack the range for any meaningful use in the Pacific.
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  48. It's only better for as long as a stagnant EU can afford to maintain its social security net, which with its ageing population is far from guaranteed. Or assuming that America doesn't get its act together.
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  49. Doesn't really matter. Ukraine got a huge propaganda victory from it.
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  50. The Yugoslav Wars weren't actually that intense militarily. During the Croat War for Independence, over 4 years, only about 15,000 Croat soldiers died. Russia lost that amount in about a month.
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