You gotta have the patience of an angel, man. Me, I've just about had it with all these types and their phony "analyses". It's a particularly unctuous mixture of lies, half-lies and make-believe that corrodes almost all of the so called alternative media. Whatever they are up to, they're not helping the cause.
Re: Kissinger-Putin and their relationship, the very experienced American diplomat Harald Malmgren had this to say about it: From winter 2022, shortly before the not-war began:
"In 1999, Vladimir Putin suddenly sprang from bureaucratic obscurity to the office of Prime Minister. When, a few months later, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned and Putin was voted in as President, governments around the world were taken by surprise yet again. How could this unknown figure have amassed national voter support with so little media attention?
I had first met Putin seven years before and was not surprised by his rapid domination of the new Russia. We were introduced by Yevgeny Primakov, widely known as “Russia’s Kissinger”, who I had met in Moscow multiple times during the Cold War years when I advised Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford. Primakov was a no-nonsense thinker and writer. He was also a special emissary for the Kremlin in conducting secret discussions with national leaders around the world.
When Yeltsin tasked his advisor Anatoly Sobchak with identifying and recruiting Russia’s best and brightest, Putin, then a local politician in his hometown of St Petersburg, was top of his list — so Primakov took Putin under his wing to tutor him in global power and security issues. Eventually, Primakov introduced Kissinger to Putin, and they became close. That both Primakov and Kissinger took time to coach Putin on geopolitics and geosecurity was a clear demonstration that they saw in him the characteristics of a powerful leader. It also showed Putin’s capacity for listening to lengthy lessons on geopolitics — as I was soon to learn.
In 1992, I received a call from a meeting organiser at the CSIS think tank inviting me to join a US-Russia St Petersburg Commission to be chaired by Kissinger and Sobchak. The purpose would be to help the new Russian leadership in opening channels of business and banking with the West. Most of the Western members would be CEOs of major US and European companies, as well as key officials of the new Russian government. I would attend as an expert. I was told that a “Mr Primakov” had personally asked if I could make time to participate. I could hardly refuse such a request, and I was intensely curious about the emerging Russian leadership, especially about Putin.
Arriving at the first meeting, I saw several people gathered around Kissinger and a man I was told was Putin. An official identified himself to me and said he had been asked by Primakov to introduce me to Putin. He interrupted the conversation with Kissinger to announce my arrival; Putin warmly responded that he was looking forward to chatting with me about how I see the world from inside Washington."
Their willful ignorance regarding this man and the kleptocracy he manages most certainly doesn't help the cause of human liberation from the global superclass, of which he & his claque remain firmly entrenched to.
Here's another case where Schwab mentioned Putin [1].
[1] “So we penetrate the cabinets”, Here is Klaus Schwab in 2017 discussing how the WEF have penetrated governments with its young global leaders - like Justin Trudeau (Canada's PM): https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/1488472558425063430 | Twitter
Simplicius sounds like so many ":alt" media analysts/commentators and their consumers, in the US and elsewhere in the West. They are *desperate* to have someone, some power figure, they can cling to, so as to attain or retain hope that some knight on shining armor is out there on the world's power play stage, fighting for them against the powers-that-shouldn't-be which they are directly dealing with.
What are they supposed to do, trust their fellow human beings, the rest of the 99.9%? (well, that's where change will come from, if it comes, the future's here, we are it, we're on our own, but they don't wanna hear THAT!). Thanks for continuing to shed light on this dark matter, Riley!
Agreed. I was also a Putin/Russia admirer up until the SMO started. Looking for a saviour in these times is understandable and there has been some very well placed propaganda pieces that gave the impression that Putin had eliminated all the oligarchs and nationalised many of Russia's resources. The rising of the English RT channel was another reason for me to hope that there was a chance that Russia was truly going to make a big difference to the globalist dominance. RT like old mate Simplicius told us in the West what we wanted to hear , here comes our knight in shining armour to slay the globalist dragon. It was the failure and the contradictions of the SMO policy that caused myself to rethink my assessment. Most folk do not have the desire to reassess their beliefs , it is mostly a painful process which means one must now admit to oneself and ones friends that I was wrong. Having said that I certainly don't see Putin/Russia as the reincarnation of Hitler/Nazism although the Kremlin of late seems to be sliding back into it's old ways, eating it's own. My view these days is that Russia and it's government is very much like our own. The Russian people suffer from many of the same policy/oppressions that we do and their government does exactly what it wants without any real regard for the majority of the citizens. Right now in Australia out most recently elected government , Labor , is holding a referendum which if I understand it correctly will lodge an Australian native faction , a race based party , an Australian BLM if you like , an unelected faction into our parliament for ever . Now I don't recall that the Labor party mentioning this policy at all in the run-up to the election but here it is as the biggest policy on their agenda, sleight of hand stuff that we have come to expect from all sides of politics. Hopefully the Australian people will reject it but race and gender politics has become the norm now and nothing else seems to matter.
Everywhere, it's the 99.9% against the elites and the states which enforce their interests. None of those states is really better or worse than the others, none of them are our friends.
After the Covid-lie thinking about previous political decisions I'm now more or less convinced the states were always installed and fully controlled by the elites to herd us cattle.
And as soon as these elites think they don't need all those cattle anymore to produce their wealth they just get rid of us.
They'd be wrong. WE are the ones who keep them alive. The production of wealth isn't simply a matter of technology and physical production. It's about social energy, specifically surplus social energy. Working people work for longer hours per day than the time it takes society as a whole to produce what such people need to survive for a day. That's the secret of capitalism. The capitalists work hard to eliminate humans from the production process, in order to cut costs. But in doing do, they eliminate the geese that lay the golden eggs. The core contradiction.
The modern state and capital emerged in history at the same time, same place. late medieval rural England, joined at the hip, have been so ever since.
Ellen Meiksins Wood Agrarian Origins of Capitalism
Nah. Surplus wealth is created by genius and technology. Working longer hours without putting creativity and brain power into it is just working longer hours.
I read some of the comments on his page. Some of his followers seem to literally perceive Putin as godlike. I guess those memes like him riding a bear or the crow saluting him really has the intended effect of elevating him above all.
the way he stupidifies the entire convo makes it obvious he is tellling fairy stories that he doesn't necessarily believe in to mentally deficient children in adult bodies. with concomitant checking accounts in tow.
same for all of these bozos. they take up a party line. so who is giving the instructions for what this party line says? because they all are in unison even if they are taking up different threads of the overall line, and that kind of convergence requires organization.
Aug 11, 2023·edited Aug 12, 2023Liked by Edward Slavsquat
GREETINGS to you Riley, on this Friday afternoon from far West Texas.
EXCELLENT piece you've published!
If nothing else, I find it rather bewildering or perplexing that others in the alternative information space are so, shall we say, nonchalant about Putin's signing of the Digital Ruble in to effect.
Perhaps even more perplexing, University of Missouri Economics Professor, Michael Hudson, in an interview two or three days ago was asked point blank about his thoughts as to whether or not the new Digital Ruble would be "different" and "safer" than other CBDCs, particularly those in the "collective West" and "some other countries". My jaw almost hit the floor when, much to my dismay, Hudson rattled off an utterly unbelievable statement, declaring something to the affect of, "Well, you know, I don't know that much about the Central Bank Digital Currencies......."
WHAT!? The Professor of Economics at University of Missouri doesn't know that much about Central Bank Digital Currencies? That is utterly preposterous and entirely implausible, is it not? Any individual in similar position as Hudson would, in fact, have to be living under a rock (and for a long, LONG, time at that), wouldn't he (or she), particularly in light of Agustin Carstens' (Managing Director of the Bank for International Settlements)
2019 public announcement of "Going Direct" and what that initiative means? Let's face it, while Carstens' statement was quite concise, it left no allusion (illusion?) as to it's full gravity, did it? At least for those of us with an understanding of the English language. And, YES, in spite of the current chapter of the decades-plus long debacle between the collective West and Russia (using Ukraine as the pry bar..... remember the neverending message from the collective West : "We'll fight Russia to the last Ukrainian!"), just another spoke in the wheel of "Mr. Global's" overall agenda, the Russian Central Bank is in fact still directly connected to the Bank for International Settlements.
Perhaps not so ironically, I watched the 2011 (or is it 2012?) film titled "The Four Horsemen" the same day as Michael Hudson's live discussion. I had never watched that film before. To my surprise, Hudson provided commentary in that film. Perhaps it is only me, Hudson seemed far more clear-minded back then, than during his live discussion only two days ago. Perhaps I'm missing something, after all, I'm just a regular ole far West Texas working stiff (no doubt, HRC would label me a "deplorable," though I have no political affiliation whatsoever....does that make me even more deplorable? Lol!)
Interestingly, some of the same commentators in the alternative information space that provide daily commentary on the economic and political machinations going on in Europe, are equally ecstatic about the (ironically?) rollout of the new Russian "e-Visa" system! They are flat out giddy about how many countries the new Russian "e-Visa" system has reciprocity with, pretty much the entire E.U., the U.K., the U.S., and several countries in the Global South. Nothing to see here, is there? Especially with all those "sanctions packages" (with van Der Crazy and her cohorts currently working on their 11th sanctions package) against Russia in effect? Nah! Nothing to see here at all.
Interestingly, one or two days ago, one of those same commentators (he is based in Cyprus/Greece), who is currently reporting from Russia, made a visit to the Cultural Centre in St. Petersburg. He was excited about how easy and simple it is to "register" by simply answering some online questions and. "scanning a 'QR Code' to be allowed entry."
How do these people not see any connection with the U.N./W.E.F./W.H.O./B.I.S./I.M.F./World Bank (and those only to list some) driven agendas?
Ok, I get it. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt (and I'll include Simplicius The Thinker too). I suppose it is possible that Putin is looking out for the best interests of the Russian people, even so, he is not going to be around forever. And most certainly Nabiullina and Gref are not the only ones espousing hard-"Mr. Global" allegiances, are they?
Dr Michael Hudson is an adviser to the Chinese government, whose central bank creates their domestic currency debt free in order for the Chinese government to pay its workforce to build infrastructure, provide free healthcare and university education, without resorting to taxation.
To be clear, the majority of information you provided I'm already well aware of, with the exception of that "missing 13th Amendment". I'll most definitely look in to that.
That said, the information you provided is of utmost importance for those not yet informed.
I will add to that list of "must reads", G. Edward Griffin's magnum opus "The Creature From Jekyll Island : A second look at the Federal Reserve." It may be only my opinion, that is an excellent book for all to read (and re-read a few times over).
Turning my attention back to Hudson's interview only a couple days ago, in all his discussion never once did the, even more mention, of the Bank for International Settlements come up! Why is that? After all, when the Managing Director of the most secretive "banking institution" in the world makes a public declaration exclusively about Central Bank Digital Currencies and why they are being implemented. (....I say, ONLY if we let them!), wouldn't that be impetus for expanded and unending discussion all across the world, in all alternative information space, particularly those content providers that seem to have such a clear picture of what is taking place in the most turbulent locales at present? Or are those sources so hyper-fixated on what's going on in their immediate region that they suffer some level of myopy? I don't know. To be fair, I certainly don't know of many things going on. Even so, the subject of CBDCs is not anomalous to a few select countries. Please do correct me if I'm wrong, Anri, isn't it 110+ national "govern-ments" and their respective central banks that are in some stage of development of their version of CBDC? On a side note for those not already aware; and seemingly irrelevant but quite relevant indeed; it is 194 nations that "officially" signed on to Agenda 21 at the United Nations' "Earth Summit" held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. Coincidence? The machinations of the world do not operate on "coincidence", as you've so rightly pointed out, Anri. By the way, another good read for those not already aware: "TOWER OF BASEL : The Shadowy History of The Secret Bank That Runs The World". And is it any wonder that the world headquarters building of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland looks eerily similar to the Tower of Babel described in the Old Testament? But symbolisms don't carry any significance whatsoever, do they?
I like your comment, Anri, about the IRS, CIA and Wall Street. along with that quote from Gen. Smedley Butler about the military personnel. Indeed, apropos. Gen. Butler's book is another "must read," wouldn't you agree Anri? And his message is concise yet packs a poignant punch!
I could easily continue on, Anri, yet I'll leave off here, only to finish by saying that you and I could have a good discussion on numerous topics over a good coffee or a cold pint of good craft brew.
I'll add one more excellent read for those not already aware : "The Politics of Opedience : The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude" written 1572 ~ 1573 by Étienne de la Boétie. Boétie's overarching message : WE DON'T HAVE TO ACQUIESCE, ACCEPT, NOR CONSENT TO ANY FORM OF TYRANNY THE BANKER/BUREAUCRAT/POLITICAL CLASS WANTS TO FEED US!
I'll end there.
Thank you again Anri for the entirety of your comment. And I will most certainly look in to "the missing 13th Amendment". I'm most certain it will provide added fire for my correspondence with our "representative" in the (D)istrict of (C)riminals, as she, herself, happens to be; yupp, you guessed it, a lawyer. And one with a corrupt history tracing back to her days in local "govern-ments".
I am delighted 'Simplicius' wrote this article. Until then I was not 100% sure the recently paywalled Rolo was right about his function as ZAnon. It is now crystal clear that, as you have divined, his function is to play an entertaining tune for the children so as to hold their attention. Don't worry folks, (Russian) patriots are in control, it's all gonna be fine. Given that Simplicius' main focus is on keeping our eyeballs on the SMO I am now also 100% convinced that its function too is to ensure our gaze is averted, while the digital prison doors are closed behind us.
Who on earth reads doomer blogs that don't promise a happy ending anyway?
Aug 12, 2023·edited Aug 12, 2023Liked by Edward Slavsquat
I’m fluent in German and I frequently watch Thomas Röper’s “Tacheles” show on YouTube (2-3 hours praising Russia & Putin every show) and the way he brushes all criticism under the rug reminds me of Simplicius’ way of thinking. I see the same with ZH TrumpTards and expats that I've recently visited in Russia: they have invested too much mental energy into believing the “Putin is playing 3-D chess against the WEF” narrative that they are no longer able to go back and objectively look at how Russia copies everything the West does; vaccines, war industry, CBDCs, 24/7 monitoring their citizens etc.
"Why would the Bank of Russia need a centralized, programmable, traceable digital token to extricate Russia from the Western financial system, when it already has its own payment system (Mir)?"
Because the current Mir payment system is just a temporary operation deployed until the Kremlin transitions to a CBDC interconnected to all the other central bank digital currences throughout Eurasia, Western Europe, and North America.
That being said, many supposed independent bloggers and YouTubers idealize China and Russia a bit too much. This is particularly the case for Ben Norton, Danny Haiphong, and Brian Berletic. They would like their viewers to believe Xi and Putin are on a mission to slay the big ugly Globalist dragon.
This type of propaganda is extremely useful as it herds the politically disaffected into believing more ideological hopium. A political fantasy which lulls believers into accepting the same repressive technocratic biosecurity surveillance state they initially rejected.🙊
The hopium crowd should really learn about the Cheka's Monarchist Union of Central Russia (MUCR).
"MUCR kept the monarchist general Alexander Kutepov (Александр Кутепов) from active actions, as he was convinced to wait for the development of internal anti-Bolshevik forces"
Every good Orthodox Christian knows that so long as more churches are being built in Russia; so long as the Moscow Partriarcate seems to be more traditional than other jurisdictions; so long as Putin continues to denounce gays and trans and the like, it's perfectly ok to accept the mark of the beast. In fact, why stop at one when you could probably have two.
Simplicius is a bloviating blowhard who enjoys being " fellated " on a daily basis by his gaggle of 5D chess yes man. Additionally, The Russian situation is very easy to dissect logically if one asks the right questions.
1) Who wrote the Russian constitution ?
2) Who mandated the rules for Russia's banking and financial systems ?
3) Why doesn't the Russian government print its own debt free money ?
4) Who brought obscure Putin into power ?
5) Why is he still in power decades later ?
6) Why is the Russian central bank setup in a identical manner to the US central bank ?
6: Easy integration and control into the matrix ran by the rainbow bolshevix.
In my own Eastern European country of residence the same rules apply. Members of the central banking establishment enjoy uber-legal, untouchable status. They are simply beyond jurisdiction of the State, regardless of citizenship. It is well documented.
Ferinstance:(first hit on a search engine)
"The President shall be authorized, in the light of the functions performed by any such international organization, by appropriate Executive order to withhold or withdraw from any such organization or its officers or employees any of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided for in this subchapter (including the amendments made by this subchapter) or to condition or limit the enjoyment by any such organization or its officers or employees of any such privilege, exemption, or immunity. The President shall be authorized, if in his judgment such action should be justified by reason of the abuse by an international organization or its officers and employees of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided in this subchapter or for any other reason, at any time to revoke the designation of any international organization under this section, whereupon the international organization in question shall cease to be classed as an international organization for the purposes of this subchapter."
Now, I have no time to lead you to the source, I just want to illustrate one fact, namely:
The concept of the President of the US claiming jurisdiction to "by appropriate Executive order to withhold or withdraw from any such organization or its officers or employees any of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided for in this subchapter" does suggest, that those "privileges, exemptions, and immunities" do indeed exist. Don`t ya?
These "privileges, exemptions, and immunities" exist de jure in all the Nations participating in the international banking system. In Russia as well - till the SMO - at least.
Where we stand now? Who knows?
I have said so back when, that the mass confiscation of certain properties will bring down the system. It will create precedence, that is unrecoverable/inexplicable/inexusable.
I stand by that.
You can close your fucking universities, burn your libraries, make barns out of your courthouses.
You have turned your back on everything you confess to stand on.
You are FUCKED before man and God - opened the gates of Hell.
You have unburdened my hands and soul as to what is to be done...
Well, it's easy and a cheap shot (maybe) to sneer at people who are just hoping/wishing there might be a place in the world where the gov't wouldn't cut off your digidollars and threaten you with prison and financial ruin for misgendering a person/being Christian/objecting to children's castration and in-school exposure to porn/wondering whether vote fraud exists/ etc. I am not speaking of your article, Mr. Slavsquat, which I find to be a refreshing splash of cold water. And, realistically, I don't doubt that you are correct. Still, I wonder whether, withal, Russia might be about the best choice of a place to flee as things get worse and worse here. Except...I also am eyeing Belarus--since I found out Lukashenko would have nothing to do with the covid nonsense. Perhaps you could knock some sense into me on that idea as well.
Not very many people, I think, have ever regarded Putin as god-like. Rather, we have been so consistently lied to about everything we are doing, and everyone we are supposed to hate, that a few have gone overboard in the other direction. Most people here regard Putin as evil and a murderer (Skrypals?) since there must be a fire somewhere, when there is so much smoke. We have been programmed for almost 100 years to believe all Russians are liars and worse! And look at the things our own leaders seem to believe--Russia is weak, a gas station masquerading as a country, they're taking the chips out of washing machines to make weapons, their economy is in tatters, Russian soldiers are hopelessly demoralized, etc. But many are now comparing Putin to what we have...and wondering why we cannot have someone with at least half brain and a modicum of good will toward his/her own country. And toward the rest of the world (as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians die for our delusions). But anyway, sorry for rambling.
Perhaps you could clarify, Mr. Slavsquat, what sort of nefarious controls your adopted country might seek to effect with its digiruble? What kind of behavior/thought might it seek to punish? Perhaps this digiruble will be used primarily to enforce vaccine tyranny? Just looking for your thoughts on this.
Of course, I understand that giving this much power to ANY government is something you WILL regret bitterly. Just wondering what in the short term might be the scheme. One thing about Russia, though, is that it is so huge, and so much of it not well developed, that I think it is still possible to avoid a lot of the pain that will be inflicted upon Muscovites, Saint Petersburg, and other larger regional cities. If you are willing to live in the sticks. We in the west KNOW what plans our countries have for the near term, and they are horrendous. Our leaders just want to be more efficient at what they are trying to do already. And no, we are not thinking of taking the mark of the beast so long as lip service is paid to the Patriarch (as one commenter suggested.). Just casting about in desperation to see if there might be an exit from all the craziness.
Desperation on the side of the ZAnon. Alex Jones and the pillow guy are not up to snuff. Trump? RFK? DeSantis? Signing a Florida hate speech law into effect in izrahell??? Did ya get that?
I mean who if not Russia? Who if not Putin? Grasping for straws in the face of the upcoming zombie georgefloyd-alyps - unless the dollar is dethroned.(which of course will lead to an apocalypse of some differential nature).
It is now here. Tomorrow or the day after. Exchange your funny money into something tangible. NOW!
The CBDCs are just a red herring they are effectively the same thing as online/cellphone payments, so they are nothing more than government run debit card accounts, as if the governments did not already have access to all the transaction on those from private providers.
NN Taleb, 2020: “every financial transaction done on Planet Earth since 2005 is traceable (the aftermath of Sep 11). Even if one uses prête-noms. Even if one uses cryptocurrencies, art work, etc. You cannot hide anything anymore.”
Damian McBride "Power Trip", 2013, page 124:
“In all the controversy in June 2013 over the US security services accessing people’s social media interactions through the PRISM system, it’s often forgotten that they had since 9/11 been accessing details of most of our financial transactions through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication system (SWIFT). [ ... ] But it also raised uncomfortable issues around America’s potential access to the private finances and spending records of prominent politicians and businesspeople around the world.”
If you are in jail for being "disloyal", does it matter if you have a box buried somewhere with 1 billion roubles in banknotes? And even if not in jail, if you have 1 billion roubles in banknotes (or gold) in a box buried somewhere, isn't all you own some pieces of paper (or some slices of metal) unless you can spend them?
All that banknotes (or gold) gain you as to that is make confiscation more difficult, but in the 1930s even if the USA Congress "confiscated" by law (forced the conversion into dollars) all private gold.
But banknotes do give you *some* better privacy than online/cellphone bank accounts and payments.
The people who get worked up about technicalities should worry more about the politics...
Look at that: The comment section is opened to us, barefoot volk! Yeehaa! Then again, this is a guest piece, so I guess you can`t just charge for other people`s work right out...well, since I`m on the side of private property, I guess I can not blame ya, Mr Slavskiy, but I feel butthurt for being rejected by my "frens"... 😉
Would be a worthwhile journey for some Russian speakers to dig into the genealogy of this nice lady named in a typical Russian fashion. She reminds me of other squat monsters like nuland, yellen, albright(???), feinstein and such.
Well, if Russia and the WEF are totally on the same page, why is the west trying desperately to destroy Russia? Why did that Verkhovna Rada member (I forget her name) say early in the SMO, that Ukraine is all that stands between the west/WEF/globalists and Russia?Why do they believe they are fighting this war FOR THE WEST, and say they are protecting the west from Russia's predations, if Russia is hand-in-hand with the WEF? Why do the Rothschilds/ (who, with British royals, ARE the instigators behind much of our globalism) have basically zero presence in Russia, by their own admission? Why were Soros' NGOs kicked out of Russia? I agree, and have always agreed, that digicurrency is an unmitigated evil for us proles, but there is something more going on here that doesn't add up. And I don't believe that this can be explained by simply stating that the whole war is a sham. There clearly is a very real struggle going on here. The hatred for Russia is palpable.
The hatred for Russia is not palpable? The war is a sham? What is this bullshit you are referring to?
I am actually looking for some way to reconcile the things I noted in my post, with the things Mr Slavsquat has pointed out. I agree with him, and what he says is very compelling and disheartening. But how do these other observations, which are also true, fit in?
Yes, naked greed and jealousy play a big part. I remember Madeleine Albright, Clinton's sec'y of state, saying that 'Siberia was just too big and too rich for one state to control.' Racial hatred? I can't quite see racial hatred. It just doesn't feel right to me. But there is something there that I can't quite put my finger on.
You gotta have the patience of an angel, man. Me, I've just about had it with all these types and their phony "analyses". It's a particularly unctuous mixture of lies, half-lies and make-believe that corrodes almost all of the so called alternative media. Whatever they are up to, they're not helping the cause.
Re: Kissinger-Putin and their relationship, the very experienced American diplomat Harald Malmgren had this to say about it: From winter 2022, shortly before the not-war began:
"In 1999, Vladimir Putin suddenly sprang from bureaucratic obscurity to the office of Prime Minister. When, a few months later, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned and Putin was voted in as President, governments around the world were taken by surprise yet again. How could this unknown figure have amassed national voter support with so little media attention?
I had first met Putin seven years before and was not surprised by his rapid domination of the new Russia. We were introduced by Yevgeny Primakov, widely known as “Russia’s Kissinger”, who I had met in Moscow multiple times during the Cold War years when I advised Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford. Primakov was a no-nonsense thinker and writer. He was also a special emissary for the Kremlin in conducting secret discussions with national leaders around the world.
When Yeltsin tasked his advisor Anatoly Sobchak with identifying and recruiting Russia’s best and brightest, Putin, then a local politician in his hometown of St Petersburg, was top of his list — so Primakov took Putin under his wing to tutor him in global power and security issues. Eventually, Primakov introduced Kissinger to Putin, and they became close. That both Primakov and Kissinger took time to coach Putin on geopolitics and geosecurity was a clear demonstration that they saw in him the characteristics of a powerful leader. It also showed Putin’s capacity for listening to lengthy lessons on geopolitics — as I was soon to learn.
In 1992, I received a call from a meeting organiser at the CSIS think tank inviting me to join a US-Russia St Petersburg Commission to be chaired by Kissinger and Sobchak. The purpose would be to help the new Russian leadership in opening channels of business and banking with the West. Most of the Western members would be CEOs of major US and European companies, as well as key officials of the new Russian government. I would attend as an expert. I was told that a “Mr Primakov” had personally asked if I could make time to participate. I could hardly refuse such a request, and I was intensely curious about the emerging Russian leadership, especially about Putin.
Arriving at the first meeting, I saw several people gathered around Kissinger and a man I was told was Putin. An official identified himself to me and said he had been asked by Primakov to introduce me to Putin. He interrupted the conversation with Kissinger to announce my arrival; Putin warmly responded that he was looking forward to chatting with me about how I see the world from inside Washington."
https://unherd.com/2022/01/what-the-west-gets-wrong-about-putin/
Their willful ignorance regarding this man and the kleptocracy he manages most certainly doesn't help the cause of human liberation from the global superclass, of which he & his claque remain firmly entrenched to.
Bravo, Observer
Here's another case where Schwab mentioned Putin [1].
[1] “So we penetrate the cabinets”, Here is Klaus Schwab in 2017 discussing how the WEF have penetrated governments with its young global leaders - like Justin Trudeau (Canada's PM): https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/1488472558425063430 | Twitter
Simplicius sounds like so many ":alt" media analysts/commentators and their consumers, in the US and elsewhere in the West. They are *desperate* to have someone, some power figure, they can cling to, so as to attain or retain hope that some knight on shining armor is out there on the world's power play stage, fighting for them against the powers-that-shouldn't-be which they are directly dealing with.
What are they supposed to do, trust their fellow human beings, the rest of the 99.9%? (well, that's where change will come from, if it comes, the future's here, we are it, we're on our own, but they don't wanna hear THAT!). Thanks for continuing to shed light on this dark matter, Riley!
Agreed. I was also a Putin/Russia admirer up until the SMO started. Looking for a saviour in these times is understandable and there has been some very well placed propaganda pieces that gave the impression that Putin had eliminated all the oligarchs and nationalised many of Russia's resources. The rising of the English RT channel was another reason for me to hope that there was a chance that Russia was truly going to make a big difference to the globalist dominance. RT like old mate Simplicius told us in the West what we wanted to hear , here comes our knight in shining armour to slay the globalist dragon. It was the failure and the contradictions of the SMO policy that caused myself to rethink my assessment. Most folk do not have the desire to reassess their beliefs , it is mostly a painful process which means one must now admit to oneself and ones friends that I was wrong. Having said that I certainly don't see Putin/Russia as the reincarnation of Hitler/Nazism although the Kremlin of late seems to be sliding back into it's old ways, eating it's own. My view these days is that Russia and it's government is very much like our own. The Russian people suffer from many of the same policy/oppressions that we do and their government does exactly what it wants without any real regard for the majority of the citizens. Right now in Australia out most recently elected government , Labor , is holding a referendum which if I understand it correctly will lodge an Australian native faction , a race based party , an Australian BLM if you like , an unelected faction into our parliament for ever . Now I don't recall that the Labor party mentioning this policy at all in the run-up to the election but here it is as the biggest policy on their agenda, sleight of hand stuff that we have come to expect from all sides of politics. Hopefully the Australian people will reject it but race and gender politics has become the norm now and nothing else seems to matter.
Everywhere, it's the 99.9% against the elites and the states which enforce their interests. None of those states is really better or worse than the others, none of them are our friends.
After the Covid-lie thinking about previous political decisions I'm now more or less convinced the states were always installed and fully controlled by the elites to herd us cattle.
And as soon as these elites think they don't need all those cattle anymore to produce their wealth they just get rid of us.
They'd be wrong. WE are the ones who keep them alive. The production of wealth isn't simply a matter of technology and physical production. It's about social energy, specifically surplus social energy. Working people work for longer hours per day than the time it takes society as a whole to produce what such people need to survive for a day. That's the secret of capitalism. The capitalists work hard to eliminate humans from the production process, in order to cut costs. But in doing do, they eliminate the geese that lay the golden eggs. The core contradiction.
The modern state and capital emerged in history at the same time, same place. late medieval rural England, joined at the hip, have been so ever since.
Ellen Meiksins Wood Agrarian Origins of Capitalism
https://monthlyreview.org/1998/07/01/the-agrarian-origins-of-capitalism/?fbclid=IwAR1blmLND8qFdONIblk1Vutv-4Eo-iUTEZyRmAvX7b8id_Ra9aoewuEY6S4
It's hard to argue with an optimist, but I just hope you are right. ;-)
Nah. Surplus wealth is created by genius and technology. Working longer hours without putting creativity and brain power into it is just working longer hours.
Even Adam Smith and David Ricardo knew better than that.
I can't help but to think this yearning has some religious undertones.
I read some of the comments on his page. Some of his followers seem to literally perceive Putin as godlike. I guess those memes like him riding a bear or the crow saluting him really has the intended effect of elevating him above all.
YEP!
You provide a good description of Simplicius' readership. I'd suggest his own motives are rather more cynical (see my other comments).
he be shillin', shillin'.
the way he stupidifies the entire convo makes it obvious he is tellling fairy stories that he doesn't necessarily believe in to mentally deficient children in adult bodies. with concomitant checking accounts in tow.
same for all of these bozos. they take up a party line. so who is giving the instructions for what this party line says? because they all are in unison even if they are taking up different threads of the overall line, and that kind of convergence requires organization.
GREETINGS to you Riley, on this Friday afternoon from far West Texas.
EXCELLENT piece you've published!
If nothing else, I find it rather bewildering or perplexing that others in the alternative information space are so, shall we say, nonchalant about Putin's signing of the Digital Ruble in to effect.
Perhaps even more perplexing, University of Missouri Economics Professor, Michael Hudson, in an interview two or three days ago was asked point blank about his thoughts as to whether or not the new Digital Ruble would be "different" and "safer" than other CBDCs, particularly those in the "collective West" and "some other countries". My jaw almost hit the floor when, much to my dismay, Hudson rattled off an utterly unbelievable statement, declaring something to the affect of, "Well, you know, I don't know that much about the Central Bank Digital Currencies......."
WHAT!? The Professor of Economics at University of Missouri doesn't know that much about Central Bank Digital Currencies? That is utterly preposterous and entirely implausible, is it not? Any individual in similar position as Hudson would, in fact, have to be living under a rock (and for a long, LONG, time at that), wouldn't he (or she), particularly in light of Agustin Carstens' (Managing Director of the Bank for International Settlements)
2019 public announcement of "Going Direct" and what that initiative means? Let's face it, while Carstens' statement was quite concise, it left no allusion (illusion?) as to it's full gravity, did it? At least for those of us with an understanding of the English language. And, YES, in spite of the current chapter of the decades-plus long debacle between the collective West and Russia (using Ukraine as the pry bar..... remember the neverending message from the collective West : "We'll fight Russia to the last Ukrainian!"), just another spoke in the wheel of "Mr. Global's" overall agenda, the Russian Central Bank is in fact still directly connected to the Bank for International Settlements.
Perhaps not so ironically, I watched the 2011 (or is it 2012?) film titled "The Four Horsemen" the same day as Michael Hudson's live discussion. I had never watched that film before. To my surprise, Hudson provided commentary in that film. Perhaps it is only me, Hudson seemed far more clear-minded back then, than during his live discussion only two days ago. Perhaps I'm missing something, after all, I'm just a regular ole far West Texas working stiff (no doubt, HRC would label me a "deplorable," though I have no political affiliation whatsoever....does that make me even more deplorable? Lol!)
Interestingly, some of the same commentators in the alternative information space that provide daily commentary on the economic and political machinations going on in Europe, are equally ecstatic about the (ironically?) rollout of the new Russian "e-Visa" system! They are flat out giddy about how many countries the new Russian "e-Visa" system has reciprocity with, pretty much the entire E.U., the U.K., the U.S., and several countries in the Global South. Nothing to see here, is there? Especially with all those "sanctions packages" (with van Der Crazy and her cohorts currently working on their 11th sanctions package) against Russia in effect? Nah! Nothing to see here at all.
Interestingly, one or two days ago, one of those same commentators (he is based in Cyprus/Greece), who is currently reporting from Russia, made a visit to the Cultural Centre in St. Petersburg. He was excited about how easy and simple it is to "register" by simply answering some online questions and. "scanning a 'QR Code' to be allowed entry."
How do these people not see any connection with the U.N./W.E.F./W.H.O./B.I.S./I.M.F./World Bank (and those only to list some) driven agendas?
Ok, I get it. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt (and I'll include Simplicius The Thinker too). I suppose it is possible that Putin is looking out for the best interests of the Russian people, even so, he is not going to be around forever. And most certainly Nabiullina and Gref are not the only ones espousing hard-"Mr. Global" allegiances, are they?
I'll leave off there for now.
Again, EXCELLENT piece Riley! Thank you!
CHEERS!
Dr Michael Hudson is an adviser to the Chinese government, whose central bank creates their domestic currency debt free in order for the Chinese government to pay its workforce to build infrastructure, provide free healthcare and university education, without resorting to taxation.
GREETINGS Anri_Jonis!
Thank you so much for your reply.
To be clear, the majority of information you provided I'm already well aware of, with the exception of that "missing 13th Amendment". I'll most definitely look in to that.
That said, the information you provided is of utmost importance for those not yet informed.
I will add to that list of "must reads", G. Edward Griffin's magnum opus "The Creature From Jekyll Island : A second look at the Federal Reserve." It may be only my opinion, that is an excellent book for all to read (and re-read a few times over).
Turning my attention back to Hudson's interview only a couple days ago, in all his discussion never once did the, even more mention, of the Bank for International Settlements come up! Why is that? After all, when the Managing Director of the most secretive "banking institution" in the world makes a public declaration exclusively about Central Bank Digital Currencies and why they are being implemented. (....I say, ONLY if we let them!), wouldn't that be impetus for expanded and unending discussion all across the world, in all alternative information space, particularly those content providers that seem to have such a clear picture of what is taking place in the most turbulent locales at present? Or are those sources so hyper-fixated on what's going on in their immediate region that they suffer some level of myopy? I don't know. To be fair, I certainly don't know of many things going on. Even so, the subject of CBDCs is not anomalous to a few select countries. Please do correct me if I'm wrong, Anri, isn't it 110+ national "govern-ments" and their respective central banks that are in some stage of development of their version of CBDC? On a side note for those not already aware; and seemingly irrelevant but quite relevant indeed; it is 194 nations that "officially" signed on to Agenda 21 at the United Nations' "Earth Summit" held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. Coincidence? The machinations of the world do not operate on "coincidence", as you've so rightly pointed out, Anri. By the way, another good read for those not already aware: "TOWER OF BASEL : The Shadowy History of The Secret Bank That Runs The World". And is it any wonder that the world headquarters building of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland looks eerily similar to the Tower of Babel described in the Old Testament? But symbolisms don't carry any significance whatsoever, do they?
I like your comment, Anri, about the IRS, CIA and Wall Street. along with that quote from Gen. Smedley Butler about the military personnel. Indeed, apropos. Gen. Butler's book is another "must read," wouldn't you agree Anri? And his message is concise yet packs a poignant punch!
I could easily continue on, Anri, yet I'll leave off here, only to finish by saying that you and I could have a good discussion on numerous topics over a good coffee or a cold pint of good craft brew.
I'll add one more excellent read for those not already aware : "The Politics of Opedience : The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude" written 1572 ~ 1573 by Étienne de la Boétie. Boétie's overarching message : WE DON'T HAVE TO ACQUIESCE, ACCEPT, NOR CONSENT TO ANY FORM OF TYRANNY THE BANKER/BUREAUCRAT/POLITICAL CLASS WANTS TO FEED US!
I'll end there.
Thank you again Anri for the entirety of your comment. And I will most certainly look in to "the missing 13th Amendment". I'm most certain it will provide added fire for my correspondence with our "representative" in the (D)istrict of (C)riminals, as she, herself, happens to be; yupp, you guessed it, a lawyer. And one with a corrupt history tracing back to her days in local "govern-ments".
Take care Anri! Be well!
CHEERS!
I am delighted 'Simplicius' wrote this article. Until then I was not 100% sure the recently paywalled Rolo was right about his function as ZAnon. It is now crystal clear that, as you have divined, his function is to play an entertaining tune for the children so as to hold their attention. Don't worry folks, (Russian) patriots are in control, it's all gonna be fine. Given that Simplicius' main focus is on keeping our eyeballs on the SMO I am now also 100% convinced that its function too is to ensure our gaze is averted, while the digital prison doors are closed behind us.
Who on earth reads doomer blogs that don't promise a happy ending anyway?
Nobody thinks "Russians are in control". They do seem to be prevailing in this war, however, for which I am glad.
i thought Russian patriots ran the Kremlin?
I’m fluent in German and I frequently watch Thomas Röper’s “Tacheles” show on YouTube (2-3 hours praising Russia & Putin every show) and the way he brushes all criticism under the rug reminds me of Simplicius’ way of thinking. I see the same with ZH TrumpTards and expats that I've recently visited in Russia: they have invested too much mental energy into believing the “Putin is playing 3-D chess against the WEF” narrative that they are no longer able to go back and objectively look at how Russia copies everything the West does; vaccines, war industry, CBDCs, 24/7 monitoring their citizens etc.
My noodle. My poor little noodle!!
Please just Stop!!!
"Why would the Bank of Russia need a centralized, programmable, traceable digital token to extricate Russia from the Western financial system, when it already has its own payment system (Mir)?"
Because the current Mir payment system is just a temporary operation deployed until the Kremlin transitions to a CBDC interconnected to all the other central bank digital currences throughout Eurasia, Western Europe, and North America.
That being said, many supposed independent bloggers and YouTubers idealize China and Russia a bit too much. This is particularly the case for Ben Norton, Danny Haiphong, and Brian Berletic. They would like their viewers to believe Xi and Putin are on a mission to slay the big ugly Globalist dragon.
This type of propaganda is extremely useful as it herds the politically disaffected into believing more ideological hopium. A political fantasy which lulls believers into accepting the same repressive technocratic biosecurity surveillance state they initially rejected.🙊
The hopium crowd should really learn about the Cheka's Monarchist Union of Central Russia (MUCR).
"MUCR kept the monarchist general Alexander Kutepov (Александр Кутепов) from active actions, as he was convinced to wait for the development of internal anti-Bolshevik forces"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Trust
QAnon and 'Simplicius' serve the same function today by convincing believers that they need not act, as "patriots are in control".
ZAnon
And Liberal governments in the West resemble the Weimar Republic. Both situations will lead to a very unfortunate ending.
Truer words seldom spoken. 👏👏👏
Right on the target. Great article.
Every good Orthodox Christian knows that so long as more churches are being built in Russia; so long as the Moscow Partriarcate seems to be more traditional than other jurisdictions; so long as Putin continues to denounce gays and trans and the like, it's perfectly ok to accept the mark of the beast. In fact, why stop at one when you could probably have two.
Sarcasm off
Simplicius is a bloviating blowhard who enjoys being " fellated " on a daily basis by his gaggle of 5D chess yes man. Additionally, The Russian situation is very easy to dissect logically if one asks the right questions.
1) Who wrote the Russian constitution ?
2) Who mandated the rules for Russia's banking and financial systems ?
3) Why doesn't the Russian government print its own debt free money ?
4) Who brought obscure Putin into power ?
5) Why is he still in power decades later ?
6) Why is the Russian central bank setup in a identical manner to the US central bank ?
So many questions, so little time.
1: The globo-homo-schlomo-pedo-trans fent. disco.
2: The usual suspects(jeffrey and his ilk)
6: Easy integration and control into the matrix ran by the rainbow bolshevix.
In my own Eastern European country of residence the same rules apply. Members of the central banking establishment enjoy uber-legal, untouchable status. They are simply beyond jurisdiction of the State, regardless of citizenship. It is well documented.
Ferinstance:(first hit on a search engine)
"The President shall be authorized, in the light of the functions performed by any such international organization, by appropriate Executive order to withhold or withdraw from any such organization or its officers or employees any of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided for in this subchapter (including the amendments made by this subchapter) or to condition or limit the enjoyment by any such organization or its officers or employees of any such privilege, exemption, or immunity. The President shall be authorized, if in his judgment such action should be justified by reason of the abuse by an international organization or its officers and employees of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided in this subchapter or for any other reason, at any time to revoke the designation of any international organization under this section, whereupon the international organization in question shall cease to be classed as an international organization for the purposes of this subchapter."
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter7/subchapter18&edition=prelim
Now, I have no time to lead you to the source, I just want to illustrate one fact, namely:
The concept of the President of the US claiming jurisdiction to "by appropriate Executive order to withhold or withdraw from any such organization or its officers or employees any of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided for in this subchapter" does suggest, that those "privileges, exemptions, and immunities" do indeed exist. Don`t ya?
These "privileges, exemptions, and immunities" exist de jure in all the Nations participating in the international banking system. In Russia as well - till the SMO - at least.
Where we stand now? Who knows?
I have said so back when, that the mass confiscation of certain properties will bring down the system. It will create precedence, that is unrecoverable/inexplicable/inexusable.
I stand by that.
You can close your fucking universities, burn your libraries, make barns out of your courthouses.
You have turned your back on everything you confess to stand on.
You are FUCKED before man and God - opened the gates of Hell.
You have unburdened my hands and soul as to what is to be done...
Simplicius: ".... Elvira and her cohorts have zero ties to nefarious Western institutions. "
Simplisticus doesn't seem to know that the Bank of Russia is the most nefarious Western institution for the Russian people.
Well, it's easy and a cheap shot (maybe) to sneer at people who are just hoping/wishing there might be a place in the world where the gov't wouldn't cut off your digidollars and threaten you with prison and financial ruin for misgendering a person/being Christian/objecting to children's castration and in-school exposure to porn/wondering whether vote fraud exists/ etc. I am not speaking of your article, Mr. Slavsquat, which I find to be a refreshing splash of cold water. And, realistically, I don't doubt that you are correct. Still, I wonder whether, withal, Russia might be about the best choice of a place to flee as things get worse and worse here. Except...I also am eyeing Belarus--since I found out Lukashenko would have nothing to do with the covid nonsense. Perhaps you could knock some sense into me on that idea as well.
Not very many people, I think, have ever regarded Putin as god-like. Rather, we have been so consistently lied to about everything we are doing, and everyone we are supposed to hate, that a few have gone overboard in the other direction. Most people here regard Putin as evil and a murderer (Skrypals?) since there must be a fire somewhere, when there is so much smoke. We have been programmed for almost 100 years to believe all Russians are liars and worse! And look at the things our own leaders seem to believe--Russia is weak, a gas station masquerading as a country, they're taking the chips out of washing machines to make weapons, their economy is in tatters, Russian soldiers are hopelessly demoralized, etc. But many are now comparing Putin to what we have...and wondering why we cannot have someone with at least half brain and a modicum of good will toward his/her own country. And toward the rest of the world (as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians die for our delusions). But anyway, sorry for rambling.
Perhaps you could clarify, Mr. Slavsquat, what sort of nefarious controls your adopted country might seek to effect with its digiruble? What kind of behavior/thought might it seek to punish? Perhaps this digiruble will be used primarily to enforce vaccine tyranny? Just looking for your thoughts on this.
Спасибо Вам болъшое за ваши замечателъные статъи!
Of course, I understand that giving this much power to ANY government is something you WILL regret bitterly. Just wondering what in the short term might be the scheme. One thing about Russia, though, is that it is so huge, and so much of it not well developed, that I think it is still possible to avoid a lot of the pain that will be inflicted upon Muscovites, Saint Petersburg, and other larger regional cities. If you are willing to live in the sticks. We in the west KNOW what plans our countries have for the near term, and they are horrendous. Our leaders just want to be more efficient at what they are trying to do already. And no, we are not thinking of taking the mark of the beast so long as lip service is paid to the Patriarch (as one commenter suggested.). Just casting about in desperation to see if there might be an exit from all the craziness.
Desperation on the side of the ZAnon. Alex Jones and the pillow guy are not up to snuff. Trump? RFK? DeSantis? Signing a Florida hate speech law into effect in izrahell??? Did ya get that?
I mean who if not Russia? Who if not Putin? Grasping for straws in the face of the upcoming zombie georgefloyd-alyps - unless the dollar is dethroned.(which of course will lead to an apocalypse of some differential nature).
It is now here. Tomorrow or the day after. Exchange your funny money into something tangible. NOW!
The CBDCs are just a red herring they are effectively the same thing as online/cellphone payments, so they are nothing more than government run debit card accounts, as if the governments did not already have access to all the transaction on those from private providers.
https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1186271838386774018
NN Taleb, 2020: “every financial transaction done on Planet Earth since 2005 is traceable (the aftermath of Sep 11). Even if one uses prête-noms. Even if one uses cryptocurrencies, art work, etc. You cannot hide anything anymore.”
Damian McBride "Power Trip", 2013, page 124:
“In all the controversy in June 2013 over the US security services accessing people’s social media interactions through the PRISM system, it’s often forgotten that they had since 9/11 been accessing details of most of our financial transactions through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication system (SWIFT). [ ... ] But it also raised uncomfortable issues around America’s potential access to the private finances and spending records of prominent politicians and businesspeople around the world.”
https://www.wired.com/1999/01/sun-on-privacy-get-over-it/
Scott McNealy, 1999: “You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it!”
The real issue is not the introduction of CBDCs which is nothing new, but the potential abolition of government cash. That's the big deal.
...and of course the fact, that if you do not hold the money - is it really yours?
If you are in jail for being "disloyal", does it matter if you have a box buried somewhere with 1 billion roubles in banknotes? And even if not in jail, if you have 1 billion roubles in banknotes (or gold) in a box buried somewhere, isn't all you own some pieces of paper (or some slices of metal) unless you can spend them?
All that banknotes (or gold) gain you as to that is make confiscation more difficult, but in the 1930s even if the USA Congress "confiscated" by law (forced the conversion into dollars) all private gold.
But banknotes do give you *some* better privacy than online/cellphone bank accounts and payments.
The people who get worked up about technicalities should worry more about the politics...
Why not worry about both?
Look at that: The comment section is opened to us, barefoot volk! Yeehaa! Then again, this is a guest piece, so I guess you can`t just charge for other people`s work right out...well, since I`m on the side of private property, I guess I can not blame ya, Mr Slavskiy, but I feel butthurt for being rejected by my "frens"... 😉
Would be a worthwhile journey for some Russian speakers to dig into the genealogy of this nice lady named in a typical Russian fashion. She reminds me of other squat monsters like nuland, yellen, albright(???), feinstein and such.
Well, if Russia and the WEF are totally on the same page, why is the west trying desperately to destroy Russia? Why did that Verkhovna Rada member (I forget her name) say early in the SMO, that Ukraine is all that stands between the west/WEF/globalists and Russia?Why do they believe they are fighting this war FOR THE WEST, and say they are protecting the west from Russia's predations, if Russia is hand-in-hand with the WEF? Why do the Rothschilds/ (who, with British royals, ARE the instigators behind much of our globalism) have basically zero presence in Russia, by their own admission? Why were Soros' NGOs kicked out of Russia? I agree, and have always agreed, that digicurrency is an unmitigated evil for us proles, but there is something more going on here that doesn't add up. And I don't believe that this can be explained by simply stating that the whole war is a sham. There clearly is a very real struggle going on here. The hatred for Russia is palpable.
Bullshit.
The hatred for Russia is not palpable? The war is a sham? What is this bullshit you are referring to?
I am actually looking for some way to reconcile the things I noted in my post, with the things Mr Slavsquat has pointed out. I agree with him, and what he says is very compelling and disheartening. But how do these other observations, which are also true, fit in?
Resources? Racial hatred?
Yes, naked greed and jealousy play a big part. I remember Madeleine Albright, Clinton's sec'y of state, saying that 'Siberia was just too big and too rich for one state to control.' Racial hatred? I can't quite see racial hatred. It just doesn't feel right to me. But there is something there that I can't quite put my finger on.
Simplícius is simplíciusly the " godson " of the Saker (rust in peace). That simple fact says it all to anyone with an IQ above room temperature