I'd argue we're a lot more like the British empire in their glory days- exporting authoritarianism, subjugation, and hate globally, for as long as it serves our material benefit.

We learned from the best 🤷‍♂️

[–] Meltrax@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

We are not just like Russia.

We aren't exceptional though, you got that right. America hasn't been exceptional in decades.

[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 21 points 1 week ago

Oh, it has… just not in the ways anyone would desire to be considered exceptional.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml -3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Given that Russia has a competent government and isn't on a verge of a civil war, not sure in what way America is like Russia.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

You call competent a government that pulled the "special military operation" and led hundreds of thousands of its people into death for not much of anything? You must be trolling.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, I call a government that defeated NATO in Ukraine and manged to grow the economy despite the sanctions competent.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca -5 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

So not trolling, alright. Sounds to me like you consider them competent in what they did well while not subtracting what they didn't. Let me contrast the Russian government with something that to me looks much more competent - the Chinese government.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 6 points 6 days ago (2 children)

China is indeed more competent, however we were comparing Russia to the US here. There's is no metric by which you could say the US is better governed or more politically stable than Russia at the moment.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca -3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I never implied anything about the US.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 7 points 6 days ago

The whole context of this discussion was me saying that Russia is more competently run than the US. 🤷

[–] nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca -3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

This argument is dependent on Putin being immortal.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Not sure what you mean by that. Putin doesn't run Russia single handedly like he's playing civ or something. Absolutely incredible that anybody could think that the entire Russian government hinges on Putin.

[–] nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca -3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Not sure what you mean by that.

You know exactly what I mean by that. Who runs Russia after he dies and how will that person be selected? Until you can answer that question, your claims of Russia's "stability" will remain ridiculous.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

No, I really have no clue what you mean by that because you're implying Putin's role is far larger than it actually is. When he steps down, it's most likely that it's going to be Medvedev that replaces him. You evidently have absolutely no clue about Russian politics.

[–] nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca -4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

No, I really have no clue what you mean by that because you’re implying Putin’s role is far larger than it actually is.

I'm asking a very simple question. Were there words in there that you didn't understand?

When he steps down, it’s most likely that it’s going to be Medvedev that replaces him.

This already happened. Putin was still in charge, and came back when the pretense of not being in charge was no longer necessary. What reason is there to believe Medvedev is next in line and that everyone else will just go with that when Putin is dead? Yes I'm saying dead because dictators don't have retirement plans lol.

You evidently have absolutely no clue about Russian politics.

Ah yes, the last refuge of the loser who can't answer a simple question. You're dancing around the question because your ridiculous claim that Russia is "stable" falls apart immediately when the fact that this question has no clear answer is considered. It's your ridiculous opinion dude. You can change it for free.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 4 points 6 days ago

I’m asking a very simple question. Were there words in there that you didn’t understand?

I've given you a simple answer. Were there words in there that you didn’t understand?

This already happened. Putin was still in charge, and came back when the pretense of not being in charge was no longer necessary. What reason is there to believe Medvedev is next in line and that everyone else will just go with that when Putin is dead? Yes I’m saying dead because dictators don’t have retirement plans lol.

Not sure what point you're trying to make here. The fact that you think Russia is some sort of a dictatorship further highlights just how utterly clueless you are about it.

Ah yes, the last refuge of the loser who can’t answer a simple question.

You've made it abundantly clear that you are utterly clueless on Russia by claiming that it's a dictatorship and insinuating that Putin runs the government single handedly. Nobody is dancing around anything. That's just a straw man you're making based on your lack of understanding of the subject you're attempting to debate here. If you think that Russia is going to fall apart when Putin steps down then you're in for a really big surprise.

[–] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Typical of American exceptionalism to stand other country on the verge of existential crisis and when they react call that "for not much of anything"