Comments by "John Roberts" (@view1st) on "DW News" channel.

  1. But what is populism exactly and why is it bad?
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  2. Hopefully the Russian army will refrain from more generalised attacks on civilian infrastructure, doing so only when tactically or strategically necessary, as it is bad for their public image and damages infrastructure that the civilian population – Ukrainian and Russian alike – need. In this particular case I'm given to understand that the reason behind this action was because the civilian tram and train system were being used by the Ukrainian military. I am also assuming it's a reprisal as well as a show of power designed to demoralise.
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  3.  dictatorofneptune  Another big reason is tax evasion and lack of/lax regulations and no/weak unions.
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  4. And should it? How one country treats its citizens should generally be a matter best left up to individual governments unless it effects in a direct and adverse way neighbouring countries or has a destabilising effect on the wider international community. Of course, genocide, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and other gross offences against international law should be condemned and punished wherever possible, but a country cracking down on internal dissent where that dissent threatens internal stability and is being orchestrated by outside forces is another matter.
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  5. They're retiring?
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  6. You mean the province that is recognised by most countries as being part of the People's Republic of China?
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  7.  @deaddoll1361  I disagree with that in part. It was set up primarily as the economic and political equivalent to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and to support its two main members, Germany and France (and the USA) allowing them dominate the rest. It was also set up as a cartel to compete against former European colonies and to exclude Russia/Soviet Union.
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  8. A country whose government was installed by and is controlled by a foreign government is not sovereign.
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  9. Stalemate, what stalemate? The Russians are winning. Clearly.
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  10.  @gerrycastlemanwarde5933  But independence would go against the wishes of the billionaires club.
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  11. Authoritarian, by whose standards? And what is objectively wrong about authoritarianism, it's all relative. You shouldn't set yourself up as the world's moral arbiter, especially when your own country is so very far from the moral standards it holds others to.
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  12. ​​ @SLD-bz9so some people can't mention other countries without bringing up democracy.
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  13.  @---fq2kd  and NATO, several thousand (not officially admitted to, of course).
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  14. No NATO country has been attacked militarily by Russia therefore NATO cannot reciprocate. NATO, aka the vassals of the US empire, is not officially involved here.
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  15. That's probably why the USA couped the Ukrainian government. Also probably why Biden is supporting the war; just like Bush he has investments there. With Bush it was oil, with Biden it's gas (oh, and grain, bioweapons, etc.)
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  16. I can understand a capitalist wanting to sell arms and make a killing on the oil and gas futures markets and wanting to destroy its competitors when it can't beat them in fair competition. There is nothing wrong with that ( yes there is! ) but it's clouding their judgement. Their insatiable greed and short-sightedness is leading the world to the brink.
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  17.  @miguelarribas9990  It worked only because the United States became the biggest kid on the block and defanged the most warlike states in western Europe, Britain, France and Germany, while Russia did the same in the East. The cost is being a puppet of the USA.
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  18. NATO expansion actually.
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  19.  @babblo1389  are they as good as Turkish drones; how do they compare?
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  20.  @froglifes6829  you've got it the wrong way around: it was the USA that backstabbed the Taliban.
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  21. Perhaps he is being used to keep the president of Belarus on side. A pro-Russian army is now within Belarus ready to to prevent the president of that country from being overthrown by his domestic opposition/military while at the same time threatening Ukraine with a potential second front.
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  22. It is an injustice when the means to end social inequality are available but not the will and all because of some people's belief that their hard work and academic qualifications entitle them to better treatment which ultimately leads to a society of haves and have‐nots where the haves justify their social positions though appeals to merit and end up blaming the 'less meritorious' for not doing enough to better themselves.
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  23. Exactly as planned by the USA. Ditto Germany.
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  24. It's what happens when the USA and its corporatist monopoly over western media and academia weaponises language and concepts such as human rights, freedom and democracy and uses them as a battering ram against other people's societies and cultures, especially their political economy. You end up throwing the baby out with the bath water because the distinction between valid constructive criticisms of a culture that are genuine and spontaneous and that arise organically from within a given culture's own society and malevolent criticism coming from outside forces with an ulterior and sinister agenda can no longer be made so to protect society from being made vulnerable to subversion governments have to crack down on both.
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  25. For about a month. Then it's months of darkness when the sun never rises, months of daylight when the sun never sets... and sub-zero temperatures nearly all year round. That's my understanding of Finland's climate. Perhaps Finn can enlighten me as to whether it is true or not.
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  26. Because imperialist countries Britain and France were being challenged by a rising imperialist Germany.
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  27. Not scared. Distraught. He's just lost his daughter. ¤☆¤ And no one in the public eye is immune to assassination (politically motivated murder).
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  28. Are you including the democracies of Latin America in your assessment? Or the Middle East? And do you think sanctions, embargo, blockade, paramilitary insurgency, terrorist attacks, assassinating leaders and coups d'état count as war?
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  29. Of course you won't miss her. You never knew her. You can't miss someone you never knew.
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  30.  @stevej7139  Tell me, how long have you known about Darya Dugina and how familiar are you with her written works or the ideas she espoused prior to her murder? My bet is you didn't even know about Mr Dugin, or that he had a daughter who was politically active, prior to this incident and also that your negative opinions about both of them is informed primarily by western media.
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  31. I agree. I personally prefer the term 'retconning' but "retrofitting" works just fine.
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  32. It just goes to show how controlled they are by the German government under US auspices.
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  33. Capitalism in general, Anglo-American rentier capitalism in particular. Recessions and depressions, along with fiat currency, are part and parcel of capitalism.
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  34. Does that apply to the United States, France. Israel and Britain as well?
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  35. Despite these temporary gains for the Ukrainians the war will still be lost. It's inevitable.
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  36. Tell that to the IMF, World Bank, big agribusiness, big pharma, etc.
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  37. No, the Europeans themselves (with the European Union leading the charge) are doing that by sanctioning Russian oil and gas and refusing to pay in rubles as requested by the Russian government. That and politicising the operations of North Stream pipelines 1 and 2.
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  38.  @Pegaroo_  Paying or not paying in rubles for Russian gas, oil, or whatever other products the Russian Federation wishes to sell is a political and not a financial or economic decision, in my opinion, thus it is European leaders, collectively or individually, who are to blame. To wit, the Russians aren't punishing regular Europeans, European elites are punishing regular Europeans As for reducing or stopping altogether the flow of oil/gas, well that is Russia's prerogative and given all the sanctions that the European Union has heaped upon them I for one wouldn't blame them one bit for using their own resources as a counter-sanction. But like I said, it's not so much a case of Russia not providing these resources as much as the European Union not accepting them or refusing to pay for them.
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  39.  @wom_Bat  No ruble, no oil. No ruble, no gas. No oil and gas, no heating, no factories operating, no vehicles moving on the roads. And it's their oil and gas so why shouldn't they be paid in their own currency? After all, it's no use being paid in a currency (euros and dollars) you can't use. You want something you have to both agree to the terms, which can change due to circumstance (eg. sanctions, boycotts, embargoes and blockades). Cry me a river.
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  40.  @wom_Bat  Russia, if I remember correctly, has been barred from using the SWIFT international payments system effectively preventing it from making purchases of goods in western currencies, as well as having its accounts in some European banks frozen. So, while you are correct in saying that the European Union and the Russian Federation agreed to transact in euros/dollars you conveniently omit the pesky little detail that the latter have made it impossible for Russia to do so (the EU has sanctioned itself). As for dollars and euros being the most accepted currencies that may be about to change in the not too distant future as the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China, together members with the BRICS, SCO, etc. are working on an alternative payment system using their own currencies. In your hubris you also underestimate the degree to which the world is interconnected.
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  41. You seem to forget why Germany was divided. Let me remind you. World war 2 and the US‐led cold war. Also, Germany is a puppet of the USA and its not in control of NATO (or even the EU), the United States is. So it wouldn't have made any sense in Russia asking what Germany wanted. And if the USA had "given up Europe" (is Europe even theirs to give up in the first place?) Germany would undoubtedly be carrying out a foreign policy more in keeping with its own economic interests and national wellbeing, one very different to what it's currently pursuing.
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  42. I thought they were just repositioning having achieved their primary objectives.
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