A bunch of people say they do have it, though. A “decent salary” (also self-defined) doesn’t guarantee financial freedom because of things like debt, the astronomical cost of healthcare, and the fact that you’ll never be able to comfortably retire unless you’re a literal multimillionaire.

Landlords pay up front (directly or via a loan

You’re describing a developer. Most landlords aren’t developers.

And yes, the government should take on the role of developing residential properties and ensuring everyone has access to them. Housing is not a commodity, it’s a basic human need.

The Soviets weren’t removed from Afghanistan any more than we were – they left because they lacked popular support and kept taking losses (because we were arming terrorists who would go on to do 9/11, but I’m sure that type of blowback won’t come from arming Ukranian neo-Nazis!). The parts of Ukraine Russia is occupying largely wanted to leave Ukraine before the war even started. It’s not the same scenario.

Even your best case scenario is “fight a bloody stalemate until one side runs out of troops,” which is incredibly destructive to Ukraine even if they win, and of course they won’t, because the smaller country that can’t just sit back behind extensive defenses isn’t going to win a bloody stalemate.

If you want an explanation for Russia’s military actions that makes sense, read the article from the Marine Corps Gazette in this comment. Unfortunately I can’t find a PDF link.

Lmao so now you’re claiming Putin was using some old English idiom in a private conversation with a Portuguese politician? Then said politician quoted Putin as saying a different phrase?

Truly wonderful, the mind of a liberal is.

the US military wouldn’t confront Prince with immediate and overwhelming force

You realize that’s the worst-case scenario of the incident we’re talking about, right? A sane leader would want to avoid starting a pitched battle in their backyard at all costs, and that’s entirely independent of speculation about control over the military.

The scenario is borderline unimaginable in a developed country with anything resembling a modern political infrastructure.

We had a half-assed putsch of our own not even three years ago.

I’ve been following the history of the breakup of the Soviet Union, and NATO’s involvement for decades

Ukraine is now facing invasion by an enemy that’s made it clear by its actions and rhetoric that the goal is cultural extinction of Ukraine

Slobonmi Krainee

You’re in a thread with half a dozen comments like “wow libs and tankies are celebrating this?”, followed by a bunch of “tankies” explaining (again) that they do not actually like modern Russia.

Russia has won, though. They have taken the separatist parts of Ukraine and cannot be removed. So the choices are:

1. Keep grinding poor Ukranians into hamburger and go to the bargaining table later, with a weaker position; or
2. Go to the bargaining table now and get the best deal you can.

That’s how you know it didn’t just crash

They Lin Blow’d his ass out of the sky

“Cartoon villain” here means “a villain who is just intrinsically evil and does evil things as a result.” Contrast this with real people, who generally have material or ideological motivational for the actions they take.

The left views NATO as evil not because it’s full of cartoon villains, but because it is an organization that consciously, due to material and ideological motivations, chooses to immiserate the global south for the benefit of its constituent countries’ ruling classes.

most people of the left or right can see the situation for what it is

I couldn’t disagree more. In this thread I have someone telling me Ukraine is currently pushing Russia back despite the front not moving appreciably for nearly a year now. It’s also common to hear Putin described as a mustache-twirling villain who just woke up one day and said “I will conquer the whole of Ukraine in three days,” a take similarly detached from reality.

Do you know what an example is? What about an analogy?

Putin reportedly said. “But if I wanted to, I could take Kiev in two weeks.”

Besides the issue of not being able to verify this was actually said, “if I wanted to I could take Kiev in two weeks” is a lot different from “this entire operation will be over in three hours.” “If I wanted to” in fact implies taking Kiev was not a goal, which aligns with it not being officially stated as a goal.

If Erik Prince marched Blackwater through some American cities and – instead of sending the U.S. military to start a hot war on its own soil – American leadership pressured Prince and Blackwater to go home, would you be calling the president weak for not turning Virginia into a battlefield?

Delusions like “a 3 hour special military operation”

Yes, you have deluded yourself into thinking Russia said this. I guess reddit said Russia said it, so that’s basically the same thing, right?

And tell me more about your thoughts on countries that assassinate their own citizens without due process. What kind of countries do that?

Do you think I’m talking about the USSR, or about how American propaganda cultivates the mentality of “they are wrong no matter what they do”?