I’m inclined to think the same actually. The way the US approached the war in Ukraine and trying to stifle China’s tech development clearly indicates that there’s a big disconnect between US policy and reality.

For sure, the US is in a very tricky situation now. They need the dollar to stay the dominant trade currency, but any attempts to coerce countries into using it inevitably result in fuelling further dedollarization.

just the cost of doing business

exactly, there is a continuation of policy regardless of which clowns are overseeing it

indeed

The beauty of Lemmygrad is that you can have a discussion like this. :)

I find Bernie is basically modern day Bernstein.

I think it’s worth keeping in mind that the UK is a dictatorship of the capital owning class. Corbyn has a lot of popular support, but his party fought tooth an nail to sideline him. It’s pretty much the same pattern we saw with Sanders in the US. The game is rigged.

it really is

oh yeah absolutely agree

I mean you’re not far off there https://www.popsci.com/technology/stinger-missiles-raytheon-ukraine/

For the west it kind of is, the realization that the empire is dying is starting to set in.

I’d argue we all have an ideology, it’s the way we interpret the world around us and construct a coherent narrative. I see ideology as a world model that we construct. I think the difference is that some of us go through this process consciously while others aren’t aware of it. Those of us who are conscious of the fact that we have a model of the world, are able to test whether the model aligns with what’s actually happening in the world and updating our world views as necessary.

The US military industry is designed to soak up money without producing much of anything. Once they run through the existing stockpiles of ammunition, new ones can’t be produced at the rate they’re being consumed. For example, from 2008 to present, Lockheed Martin was able to produce 800 missiles, around 50 a year. https://armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/2023/lockheed-martin-announces-delivery-of-800th-thaad-interceptor-missile-system

or too old to be conscripted, which isn’t a big range at this point

Of course, the goal of propaganda is to create a narrative for the population in both cases. However, the nature of propaganda is different. I would even go as far as to argue that it stems from respective ideologies that are prevalent in the west and Russia. The idealist mindset places the realm of thought at the forefront, this leads to the notion that you can just will reality into existence. I think therefore I am. Meanwhile, the mindset in Russia has been shaped by materialism over many decades and people see material reality as having primacy.

I agree that it’s easier for Russia to simply acknowledge reality because it aligns closer with Russian point of view and objectives. However, the fact that Russia finds itself in this position is itself an outcome of materialist thought.

I recall watching an interview with Jacques Baud where he pointed out that propaganda in the west serves to create a narrative that’s divorced from reality, while propaganda in Russia is used in service of what’s actually happening materially. Russian propaganda might spin things in a particular way to present them in a favorable light, but it’s not fundamentally at odds with what’s actually happening on the ground. Meanwhile, western propaganda aims to create a whole alternate reality that ignores the material world.

It’s funny how all the western countries were doing hand wringing regarding climate change, but when push comes to shove nobody actually gives a fuck.

I mean given that Ukraine is under martial law and everybody is scared of being dragged off to the front, the fact that the poll still comes up with majority wanting to stop the war immediately is itself pretty telling. I completely agree that the real number must be much higher.