Comments by "LancesArmorStriking" (@LancesArmorStriking) on "Why Does Russia Hate the West (and NATO) - TLDR News" video.

@cdcdrr Well, theres your problem. NATO is just a military alliance, there is no state-building mechanism within it. I think NATO should have stayed out completely. With the US running the show, it never would have worked. They think all you need for democracy is the will of the people and 'spirit'... ignoring natural resources, trade, institutions, etc. All they did was destroy a country that was opposing their economic system (wanted to trade oil in Euros instead of dollars), and try to prop up a friendly government. If that isn't modern-day imperialism, I don't know what is.
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@VeryIntellijent You do understand how the flow of time works, yes? NATO was invented first, specifically to contain the USSR. And now it's expanding closer to Russia's border. We've also seen what happens to countries that submit completely to the West. Why would Russia, knowing all of this, ever take a chance on having American bases or troops, or weapons, near its border? It's a terrifying prospect, the US isn't exactly a benevolent power itself.
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@daxasd3270 You'll have to show me which studies you are referencing for your claims, because the Russian heartland's genetic pool is full of the (mostly east slavic) haplogroup R1a. In fact the only place that has a higher percentage is Poland, but Ukraine has less than both of them. Also, how can you talk about Russians being a mix of anything when, as you said, modern Ukrainian is very influenced by polish? (40% of spoken vocabulary is taken from it!) Ukrainians (Ruthenians, or Rusians) could make that claim before the Commonwealth occupation and heavy Polonization, but the language now is almost 1/2 West Slavic. Also I hate to bring this up, but the reason for the repression of the language was precisely because it was polonized. Russia wanted to re-unite the former territory of the Kievan Rus under a single language, as it has been. Ukrainian and Belarusian were both influenced by another language, so they were seen as having deviated from the unbroken line of East Slavic language tradition.
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I don't deny that this would put a dent in Russia's goals for European geopolitics, but the idea that "Russia hates the West because they're scared of a free, strong, prosperous country right next to them, then their people will get mad at Pootin and revolt!" --Is such a naïve, childish view. About the same as "they hate us for our freedoms". Straight from Bush's mouth, and even Americans agree he wasn't very bright. So why do they enthusiastically parrot this talking point? Do Westerners see Russians as children, with no object permanence beyond their neighboring countries? Even if we assume that view, the Baltics already exist. Nothing has changed-- and enormous Western investment, access to technology and prosperity built on hundreds of years of slavery and colonialism will do that for a country. Also, if we are using 'miracle' in the typical sense, such as Japan, Germany, or China, Poland's case is not miraculous. Its growth does not approach those examples, and still loses a lot of intellectual capital to England in particular, but also Germany.
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@Oblivion No, the West didn't like Putin even before the 2014 invasion, because he extended his term limits past the constitutional 3. But you are correct about the rest.
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"Secure it" kind of sounds like you want the country as a resource, not much better than Russian goals
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@aircoolguy5218 It's because they really, really dont want to give Russia any credit for anything. To do so would be... humiliating? I guess.
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@666Tomato666 Russia is 64% frozen, its real size is about Kazakhstan. In fact, the only comparable country is Canada, and (although population is much, much smaller and so per capita is much higher) economy actually is about even. You seem to assume that government can just magically solve anything, and geographical limits are just a personal problem. No matter how hard it tries, Canada will never have a citrus industry as large as Florida, and no amount of democracy will ever change that fact about Canadian economy. Nor can the rocky Canadian Shield be repealed by Parliament.
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@Conservator. Well, I think his logic is that unless you are on the side of the US, your democratic political affairs will be interfered with. See: latin America Basically, the US (under Clinton) already helped rig Yeltsin's re-election in 1996, so it is unlikely they will sit by and miss an opportunity to pacify their biggest rival again. Yeltsin was what happened when Russia opened itself up to the political process- it proved inseparable, given Russia's position, from election meddling by the US. So to save Russia's sovereignty, its democracy was scrapped. You may not know this, but Russia under Yeltsin was bad. The economic drop was comparable to the Revolution or the Great Depression. So Putin's reversal of the complete mess was seen as a good thing.
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Well, it's a little different in France's case, since 2 of the invasions never got so close to Paris as to almost seize the entire country. Plus, and this is the source of Russian paranoia, Russia is very flat. Not even rolling hills like France's south has, once a country gets in there is little stopping it from steamrolling any Russian settlements in its path. France's borders have decent security- forested boundary with Germany, Mediterranean and Atlantic, and Pyrenees mountains. Russia has no such defenses in Europe.
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@valenrn8657 Look at a map sometime- the Urals aren't Europe, they are the boundary between Europe and Asia. Most invading powers either went around the mountains (Mongols, Tatars) or did not concern with them at all (Moscow is in front of the Urals, not behind).
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@MrMediator24 I hate to say it, but without you, there will be no system to rebuild. You really planning on taking your wife and kids to Russia? Drop everything in your life for a patriotic cause?
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@elpred0 I will trade vodka for sangria)
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@Conservator. You seem to have ignored what I was trying to say. Did you read at all before replying?
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