Comments by "LancesArmorStriking" (@LancesArmorStriking) on "The New Atlas" channel.

Not quite yet. The Soviets neglected microtechnologies (transistors, chips, foundries), and Russia has only recently started investing in them. This will be fixed in a few decades assuming investment continues and accelerates. Thinking there are no problems is a fast way to expose your vulnerabilities.
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@Nylon_riot I suppose so... but looking at the long-term fate of countries allied with the US vs USSR, it seems that would have been better (for example) for Afghanistan to be communist vs. extremist— courtesy of the US funding anyone who would oppose the Soviets. Secular communism just prepared countries better for statehood than fascist (or theocratic) capitalism.
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@GETJUSTICE4U Thank you for your insight. I agree that microchips make economies of scale easier, but that isn't Russia's problem. It already has sub-90nm domestic chip capabilities. The issue comes down to 1) funding— new projects are extremely expensive to get off the ground 2) specialized tools. Russia still lacks crucial components in the semiconductor supply chain Zeiss is the only manufacturer in the world of the lenses used to etch at sub-5nm scale (using EUV). So Russia would not only need to produce its own chips but also every component needed to make the chips. That's what will take decades, filling in gaps in the supply chain does not happen overnight. Electroplating, lenses, machine tools, mechanical engineering design, lithography, all need to be upgraded first. Then the consumer-grade chips and tech will come. Basically Russia needs to achieve what China already has; its own consumer tech infrastructure. Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, Alibaba, TikTok etc.
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@kasperiization You're missing a key point in your equation: "Russian influence" didn't happen in a vacuum. The US threatened any country that did business with the Soviets, with heavy sanctions. Not unlike Cuba or Iran today. If the Soviets were allowed to trade (note: markets =/= capital) then every citizen's quality of life would have improved, including Estonians'. It wasn't bad Russian policy that hindered development, but aggressive US containment strategy. So when the USSR fell, the US poured millions into your country to keep it out of competing Russian or Chinese influence. It was always just about using your country as a resource colony and military base. The fact that your consumer goods improved was a nice side effect, but the US doesn't really care about that. Lastly: for all the improvements you just listed, they are all creature comforts, and don't reflect the viability of Estonia. Case in point: since liberalization, Estonia's manufacturing capacity has disappeared, courtesy of following the US' guidance. A good 1/3 of your people have left for Western Europe and will never come back, and Tallinn is sucking the rest of the country dry. I'm glad you finally had some good comfortable decades, because they will be your last. Eventually your population will get so small and so old that Estonia will cease to be anything but a NATO outpost. Hope you enjoy being the token member of the Western bloc.
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There's zero chance they haven't already acquired it years ago. Come on now
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And if you're talking about yourself and not the Kremlin, there are definitely VPNs that will give you access
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Now there's a sentence you don't hear everyday. Of all countries no one hates Russia and specifically Putin more than the UK, perhaps only outdone by Poland Estonia or Finland.
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@charlescarabott7692 I agree, but as I mentioned before, it will take decades to rebuild the entire ecosystem outside of Western supply chains. The neglect started in the 1980s USSR, where central planners rushed several projects to align with Revolutionary holidays instead of properly developing their personal computer analogues to Western ones. Then the USSR later turned down a contract with a British computer maker and opted for reverse-engineering American units.
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