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The American empire is imploding
(michael-hudson.com)
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this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2023
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Late Stage Capitalism
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Do y'all genuinely believe this?
Oh shit! You're right! Thanks friend, I was so close to being tricked by evil Putler, but you saved me with your comment! You're important and special and absolutely have original thoughts that aren't just empty regurgitation of things you've been told to believe! You're absolutely a free thinker for realising that Putin is Voldemort and Zelenskyy is Harry Potter! And you've helped me become a free thinker too! Slobber Zucchini! Now I'll be off to watch a Marvel movie and clap and cheer when Iron Man and Captain America appear on screen, because the US and billionaires are heroes who save the day from evil baddies! Thanks friend, I'm now a better person because of what you just commented, you're so important, special and free thinker!
I mean it's literally what happened. It implies a bit of a rosy anthromorphization of the many varied and impersonal security interests that lead a nation-state to war, sure, but factually speaking, that's how it went down.
So, help me understand what literally happened.
This one has some actual credibility to it; although I don't agree with the summary it at least seems plausible. Can you send me some arguments I can read for why it was more a coup d'état than a legitimate revolution? What percentage of Ukrainians, as a ballpark, would you estimate supported Yanukovych's removal?
How many Ukrainian troops are literally on the eastern side of the border vs. Russian troops on the western side of the border?
Around how many literal casualties were there in this war? How many Russian-speaking Ukrainians killed or wounded by NATO weapons (pre-Russian-invasion, if you're going to argue that the Russian's special operation was in defense of Ukrainians)?
Can you tell me more about the planned fortress? Where is the base or bases planned to be built, and where can I read more about the timelines or other plans?
What statements or actions by US or NATO members can you point to that attempted to "draw" Russia into attacking Ukraine?
I'd agree with this part, yes. I'm still lost as to why it's the US's fault that it happened.
Can you elaborate on the provocation? Did Ukraine, for example, annex any territory from the Russian Federation, or bomb apartment buildings or hospitals on the Russian side of the border? If they had done either of those things, what would you say a reasonable response from Russia would have been?
How many people injured in this ethnic violence? What was the aim of the special military operation -- removing Zelensky from power? Disarming the Ukrainian military? Annexing Ukrainian territory? I'm still trying to get a sense of what is your assertion of what the goals and motives were on the Russian side.
A revolution involves a change in the mode of production. This was a coup with a change of government, regardless of its legitimacy.
The issue at hand is whether NATO had a role in it. The statistics are by-the-by.
Nobody is denying that Russia has troops in Ukraine, and I doubt anyone is denying that it gave military support in Eastern Ukraine before the invasion. The question, again, is whether NATO was involved. The two are not mutually exclusive.
I doubt very much that this is literal language. Does it change the meaning if it was imagery, instead?
It's in the suggestion that Ukraine could join NATO, which lead to putting NATO nukes within the 'safe zone' of Russia's nuclear program. That is, NATO could nuke Russia before Russia could retaliate.
Shelling ethnic Russians. See links above.
Within Ukraine, the parts inhabited by majority ethnic Russians. See links above.
See links above. Minimum 10,000, likely over 14,000 deaths. Tens of thousands injured. Millions displaced.
If you believe Russia, demilitarisation of and denazification within Ukraine, to prevent the indefinite targeting of ethnic Russians. If you believe NATO? Who the fuck knows; they change their interpretation every week.
I'm about to head out of town for a while, so I don't really have time right now to talk about all your questions. But here's a quick overview. It's is a fairly old article from just before the war, but I thought it was a pretty good overview of how we got here. There's a great deal of citations, and I suggest you fact check them for yourself.
This is fascinating. Thank you for sending me this. It doesn't change most of the attitudes and conclusions I've been stating in this thread; I would point to two excerpts from this article as reasons why:
Both of these seem like very accurate and evenhanded summaries to me. Things that have been said to me elsewhere in this thread -- that Yanukovych's removal was a Western coup, and that Ukraine's relationship with ethnic Russians in the east could be described as "pogroms" -- seem very inaccurate to me, and I would actually point to this article's summary of those situations as a pretty good description of what the honest truth is.
If you're sending me this to poke a hole in the "Ukraine good, Russia bad, protestors good, Yanukovych bad" narrative, then I support you in that endeavor. The real actual facts are important whether or not they support your or my ideology. I'm guessing that I'm getting such a high ratio of downvotes to responding messages because people assume I'm some kind of anti-Communist stooge... I assure you I am not an anti-left or universally-pro-US-government person.
It is super weird to me to see people who oppose the very real violence and imperialism that the US government engages in, who at the same time support violence and imperialism from Russia or China. From me in my point of view, as a person who's generally leftist and generally anti-US-imperialism, it makes no sense. That's why I want to have this long conversation about it and see if maybe there's something I'm missing, but nothing I've seen so far has made any inroads as far as convincing me that there is. But, that being said, this article is showing me some sides to the whole equation I wasn't aware of before. So, thank you.
Also... Mark Ames is still around and still doing journalism in Russia? How is that possible? Is this real life?
I'd challenge you to find a single example of Chinese (PRC) imperialism, even with a simplistic definition like "invading other countries"
Glad you read it! I'm sitting at the airport right now, so I'm going to hope someone else talks about it further with you. There's plenty of reasonable people here. I want to clarify first though that I think most (all?) people here are not big fans of modern Russia or the war. I think the best result for all involved at this point is a swift Russian victory, but the best result would have been NATO minding its own business or working to broker peace instead of instigating.
im not sure if you're posting in willful ignorance or trolling, but the result is about the same either way
Bro the US government literally uses Michael Hudson's work as a guide, you have no idea who you are talking about
If you're talking about his book super imperialism, it's not a guide but an exposition. The fact it's used as a guide just tells us how good the people doing imperialism are at hiding it that the rest of their organization doesn't even know and how well written it is. I'm not sure what you're reading from this but I hope it's similar to my interpretation?
You are welcome to read the OSCE recorded ceasefire violations in which you find the majority of violations coming from Ukrainian govt troops and militias before the war and they brought out armaments forbidden under Minsk 2.
Well, how would you say it happened?
Just turn on CNN, Reddit, or FOX, it’ll be easier to get it straight from the source then any watered down explanation this lib will give.
Bout what I figured, I just wanted to see if he'd really grab that rope.
Russia annexed territory from Ukraine, and was amassing troops for a further invasion. US intelligence said as much, Russia denied any such plans, then invaded, and ever since, hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian human beings on Ukrainian soil have been having their flesh shredded by high-powered weapons.
I'd say the fact that Russia:
... shouldn't really be facts in dispute, and to me those that adds up to "Russia is in the wrong" even without adding in any additional facts which might be more disputable. But you don't see it that way?
No, I do not in the slightest; considering your analysis rather tellingly leaves out Amerika's armament of fascists, said armed fascist pogroms against "ethnic Russians" in their territory, the endless violations of the Minsk agreements on the part of the West, and, oh yeah; Amerika literally blew up Nordstream to cut off Germany's access to Russian gas.
So forgive me when I see you clutching pearls about "how many people injured in this ethnic violence" and think you're literally so full of shit that when they give you your pre-burial enema, you'll lose five and a half feet of height.
I'm really not trying to be combative with you brother. I'm not going to be friendly to the viewpoint you're supporting, but I'm just a person like you -- trying to make sense of the world and telling you how I see it. You've got no call to be getting insulting or cursing at me just because I'm disagreeing with you.
I think the fascist pogroms against ethnic Russians in Ukraine didn't exist. The Russian government's lies leading up to the invasion are well-documented, so it seems weird to argue that their claims of violence against ethnic Russians in Ukraine is unimpeachable evidence that it was happening. Do you have documentation or support for it happening? Do you have a ballpark for how many people were killed or injured in this violence?
I don't know why you're talking so mockingly about that question. The objective facts of what was happening are important.
You are right to ask for evidence. The propaganda machine makes it hard to find the truth. The historical context of this war is rarely reported in western media. They used to report on it but now they pretend the history is different and are silent on any facts that would support an alternative narrative. A brief internet search reveals (and I have deliberately found a mixture of sources, most of which are anti-Russia):
spoiler
That's the problem, you are denying a genocide that has lots of evidence.
Edit: sorry replied to the wrong person
Can you send me some of this evidence? How many people were killed in this genocide?
Look two comments above that was posted 15 minutes before you asked this. It seems you're bent on trying to deny what doesn't fit your 'feelings'.
Nah, see, I'm not cordial with sealions at all. And that's exactly what you're doing. JAQ'ing off, I think they call it now. So we're just gonna ignore all the shelling in the leadup to the 2020s? We're just gonna ignore the GLOBAL HEADLINES that made? We're just gonna ignore the 14,000 dropped bodies since 2014? We're just gonna ignore all the Wolfsengels, Totenkopfs, and other assorted nazi paraphernalia while you hoist all those water buckets?
I can't wait to see what you'll ignore when those chickens finally come home to roost. Fuck out my inbox; you're no longer welcome to a dialogue with me. It was funny, now you're just sickening me.
Nothing says "My viewpoint's on solid footing" like responding to clear factual questions with vigorous anger, insults, and angry refusal to continue the conversation.
But sure, it's 100% up to you who you want to communicate with and how. I'll not respond to you again if that's your preference.
How about response on the wall of info Redtea sent you? You didn't commented any of that, signifying BCR is absolutely correct.
Here's russian propaganda from US Congress in 2018.
This is accurate, yes; the neo-Nazi organization and their involvement in the 2014 revolution are real.
How does that justify Russia's invasion? Are they defending Ukrainians against neo-Nazis, by bombing Ukrainian cities, and a Jewish leader is leading the Ukrainians in a war of aggression on Ukrainian soil against their well-intentioned de-Nazification effort? I'm not trying to be flip about something so serious, but it sounds like that's what some other people in this thread are telling me. Would you agree with all of that, or how would you characterize it?
Russia sees this war as a war for their existence. They tried to join NATO several times after the fall of the USSR and were prevented from doing so. The current Russian state is capitalist, yes, but they are on the other side of the imperialist bloc they would have rather been a part of. What does that make NATO but an explicitly anti-Russian alliance? And even if we were to pretend it isn't, why should Russia trust NATO? Especially after the US and EU sank the Minsk agreement and revealed that they only supported it in bad faith anyway? Especially since the US has been openly talking about shutting down the Nord Stream pipeline since even began construction? Especially since US state representatives were present during the Maidan revolution, shaking hands with Nazis in photos, and discussing in leaked audio how they will engineer regime change in Ukraine (said engineer has continued to be involved in the Biden White House).
Given that last time Nazis were on Russia's border, over 10 million Russians (over 20 mil Soviet citizens) perished in a war of record-breaking proportions, and now Nazis are here again and the US is attempting to make them part of the Western imperial club with nukes and everything... What, in your opinion, is the rational, compassionate action that Russia supposed to take?
I think the real reason Russia invaded was because they could not tolerate Ukraine joining NATO. The US wouldn't do anything different if this had happened in Canada during the cold war. Hell, they invaded Cuba for this. I'm sympathetic to Russia on this one because I do NOT want a unipolar world.
A Jewish leader does not mean that Ukraine is not dangerously far right wing. It's like saying racism is defeated in the US because it had a black president. As for bombing Ukraine? Look up Ukraine's cluster bomb usage in 2014-2022. When your soldiers are using weapons that are banned in most of the world on your own citizens, and your soldiers are wearing skulls on their uniforms, you surely have to ask if you're the baddies?
Basically, I think NATO didn't leave Russia much choice. And I don't support fascist nations anyway. Sorry, no links this time. At the airport.
You conveniently skip over the reasons WHY Russia invaded.
Of course they did; conveniently skipping over the why is literally the only reason Empire gets to sit back and pearl-clutch and breathlessly justify their literally terrorist movements against the EU's access to resources. Exactly what I thought.
Do you know of Hudson? Of his track record? This isn't a rhetorical question. I'm genuinely curious.
He predicted the 2008 thing before it happened so I'd say his track record is uh decent.
No small feat!
Internet blog? No sources? What’s not to trust here?
What do you believe?