"But whether the global reserve currency is the US dollar, or Pokémon cards, or a digital ruble pegged to borscht, nothing will fundamentally change for Russians if their political elites continue their time-honored tradition of stubbornly refusing to invest in Russia."
The global reserve might even be called a "Unicoin" nah, most likely a "Unicorn" a virtual mythological currency controlled by international financiers floating throughout the planet with the possibility of being capriciously turned off with one tiny click of the finger. 🖕
That being said, everyone not just Russians are at the mercy of bankster/gangsters and techno/fascists.
Oligarchs, deplete Russian resources on the cheap and in the end Russian plebs pay the full price. And in the US,
warprofiteers pillage the treasury so that the debt ceiling is four feet tall for the middle-class, but the sky's the limit for the arms industry and the national security state.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz an obedient vassal to the Global Empire said it best:
"If you are a good leader,” you listen to the people, but you never think they really want you to do exactly what they propose.” A dictum followed by all the mediocre nation-state managers operating within the global cartel.
"judicious public servants and God-fearing 'entrepreneurs' build hospitals and roads and other useful, life-nurturing things." This needs to be true everywhere; it ran out in the US around 1930 or there-about I think. Nobody now living remembers small public hospitals run by hard nosed church and philanthropist boards. Another thought provoking article, thank you.
Well, the Robber Barons were guilted (at least Carnegie was) into investing in public well being - that's how all those wonderful public libraries got built. Trying to cancel out sins committed in the hunt for profit and generation of obscene wealth. On the other hand that kind of funding of public infrastructure also ran out when "fear of afterlife" e.g. fear of God's judgements ran out.
Speaking of which, hospitals in my country - and no doubt in yours - are so callous today that mothers and their new born babies are nothing but a burden, to be kicked out onto the street within days. And yet, when the godless authority recently seized control of one of the last remaining vestiges of a real hospital, the intelligentsia went into a frenzy - excited by the scent of blood - because now the hospital could 'show compassion' and perform abortions
Wow, I encourage people to look at the uncropped version of the “Novgorod Marketplace” painting Edward used for the Economic Sovereignty article. Or take a look through other artworks from Appolinari Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov.
Edward (or somebody else), how hard of a read is Gogol’s Dead Souls? Nikolai Gogol looks interesting. For Russian literature I’ve only read Tolstoy, Solzhenytsin, Bulgakov, Nabakov. Dostoevsky is somehow too intimidating / I’m afraid to read him. Dunno about Gogol; I haven’t gotten an impression.
The “turn inward” thing is similar to MAGA and populist-right developments in Europe. Seems the elites are hollowing out their countries everywhere, and gobbling up and hoarding assets, and generally being indifferent to needless suffering and death.
Is Russia also turning against its own farmers because of muh climate? Interesting that this seems to be happening mostly just in the Netherlands at the moment.
"Is Russia also turning against its own farmers because of muh climate? Interesting that this seems to be happening mostly just in the Netherlands at the moment."
I don't know about the farmers but I came across this curious link regarding Russia and "decarbonization" the other day. I quote:
"Despite the difficult geopolitical situation in Russia, the problem of climate change has not disappeared, and the country’s leadership continues to move according to its plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
In this regard, the most important climate event in Russia within the first half of 2022 is undoubtedly the decision to conduct a regional experiment to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The first region to take part in the experiment will be the Sakhalin Region.
...
So, starting from September 1, 2022, quotas for greenhouse gas emissions for certain organizations will be introduced in the Sakhalin Region as part of the experiment.[1] The regulatory system assumes the following:
Selection of companies – classification of organizations into the category of regional regulated organizations (RRO).
Establishment of quotas – a limit of annual greenhouse gas emissions will be determined for each RRO.
Carbon Reporting – PPOs will be required to provide annual emission reports, which must be verified by accredited legal entities.;
Quota fulfillment – if the company’s emissions are less than the limit, then after submitting the report, the RRO receives quota fulfillment units to an account in the carbon units register.
Exceeding the quota – if an organization has exceeded the limit, then, according to the Draft
Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation[2], it pays 1 thousand rubles for each ton of CO2 emitted over the limit.
Carbon offsetting – in order not to pay a fine or reduce its size, a company can reduce its carbon footprint by offsetting carbon units or quota fulfillment units that it previously received independently or acquired.[3]"
Last year, thousands of square kilometers of forest burnt in Russia, and the government did not provide enough aircrafts to extinguish the fires. No carbon offsetting can resolve such a huge problem. Residents of affected areas have noticed that after big fires, mining companies began working on the cleared land. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtVqQ1piCVY
It is a pattern of government behaviour everywhere there are huge parts of un-developed land which can be bought for pennies and then sucked dry by the known parasites, mostly Jews. And judeo-christians, their puppets.
All being coordinated by higer ups in governments while orders are coming from central bank owners, almost exclusively Jews! Weird how no one wants to emphasize this fact when discussing economic policies which are obviously made to benefit oligarchs and ..., well, I hate to repeat myself LOLZ
I am from Croatia. All our resources are under the control of these SAME parasites. Our prime real estate is mostly been sold to foreign investors. 90% of industry has been destroyed. 1 million Croats went towards west in search of economic opportunity. My homeland is raped and pillaged and laws are written to discourage any solution while people are made psychopats through state and mass media, satanic LGBTQ ideology and its implementation has completely subverted majority of urban society. Encouraging native population to turn homo and stop reproducing while enabling human trafficking from Africa and importing hundreds of thousands of Indians, Pakistanis, Nepalese, Phillipinos etc. All done per instructions from Protocols of Zion and following guidelines from the Kalergi plan and UN-Agenda 2030. Again, no one wants to emphasize and state the obvious! And in that case there cant be a solution to this problem. Simple af
I understand. That is the reason why I use a pseudonym. When alone, people can not do much! Still, it is very frustrating and it means we can never be free in the urban setting. And there is so so much evidence for these claims!! Makes me angry how satanic scum is getting away with murder rape and pillage so easily!
"the colder it gets the denser it becomes" ...only at constant pressure. Pressure drops with altitude, so does density. Adiabatic lapse effect.
Diffusion mixes gases even in gravity. If your analysis were correct, there'd be a sea of the heaviest gas at the surface, then a layer of the next heaviest, and so on. Ponder why the atmosphere is a mixture of gases and not layers.
Wow that’s a weird one. Incidentally, this looks to be an example of one of the regions in Russia that is producing tons of oil and gas, but doesn’t even have it’s own gas services built out (exactly like Edward’s post is talking about):
> There has been significant criticism, including from Presidential Envoy Kamil Iskhakov, that Sakhalin is not caring for its citizens. Despite sizable gas deposits and incoming investments from gas companies, the regional administration does not yet have plans for the installation of gas services on the island. The oblast also continues to have the highest rate of juvenile crime in all of Russia, and more than 40% of its businesses are unprofitable.
Isn’t it strange to do a net-zero experiment in a region that is anyways exporting fossil fuels? What’s the point in avoiding or offsetting fossil fuel usage when your main product is ... fossil fuels. Sounds sort of absurd. Not that these industries shouldn’t minimize their own output; I get that. It just seems a bit suspicious.
From the above link:
> There have been suggestions[by whom?] that the Russian government is using the environmental issues as a pretext for obtaining a greater share of revenues from the project and/or forcing involvement by the state-controlled Gazprom.
You can start with Dostoevsky's short novel Humiliated and Insulted or with Crime and Punishment. They are very easy to read. If you have read Bulgakov, then you can read any Russian author.
Crime and Punishment was on our High School honors reading list many many years ago. Today, not one of the 'classics' of the Western cannon are taught, assigned read or discussed it seems. We must keep our people dumbed down, unthinkingly programmed. I found the Russian literature we covered heavy, but considering the things discussed, perhaps that is why it was heavy emotionally to read and think about. Deep. On the other hand, I did like War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Doctor Zhivago and some of the poetry we covered. I loved Chekov's plays. I am sure something was lost in the translated versions we read, so there is that to consider as well. But Russian is a hard language to learn.
How come no one ever mentions Dostoyevsky's "Diary of a Writer"?
I know why. In that book Dostoyevsky writes about the psychopats who are rulling the world with central banking.
Jews control publishing, printing, creation of 95% of content in any form of media. Do I have to ask why almost no one is willing to say this devastating fact? If this issue is not addressed, this catastrophic situation can only get worse!
I think Riley's gloss on Dead Souls has many layers of irony. Do you know the premise? (not really a spoiler): down on his luck Russian landowner contrives a scheme to buy from other landowners the deeds of dead peasants (serfs) - not yet reported as deceased and still on the census. He then plans to use those deeds as collateral for loans with which he will realize his dreams. From there it's like the classic Seinfeld "nothing happens" scenario; or rather, what happens is just this guy traveling around Russia meeting and negotiating with various landowners for such a purpose- in, I think, five very long chapters each a tour de force of language, description, humor and more (e.g. a 4 or 5 page description of an overgrown garden at an elderly, decrepit landowner's estate). Gogol eventually tired of the project and concluded with a very cursory Part II where the guy learns the error of his ways.
In short, it is a grand allegory of his times (and ours) - just who are the Dead Souls? - the serfs physically dead or us, spiritually dead? Corruption, ambition, deception mutual and self: "You want to charge me THAT much?! - But they're dead! - Ah! But you want them!" and so forth for 5 or 6 hundred pages.
Not to everyone's taste. It is not an easy read - requiring much focus (I assume we are talking English translation). But wait! - You completely missed someone crucially important! Turgenev - why not start there. Good taste of 19C Russia - strong characterizations - vivid scenery - moral and otherwise. Start with Fathers and Sons - and much, much shorter per novel than any of the names above. Turgenev was consciously aiming at a result less heavy and ponderous than Dostoevsky and other near contemporaries.
This is a wise recommendation! Turgenev is the most Western of Russian writers and even influenced writings of Henry James, who knew him when they lived in Paris.
Your description and reflections make me want to read it! in spite of it sounding yes difficult in terms of focus and dedication to get through it.
Yes I was talking about an English translation, so more about yes this sort of difficulty (how much focus and emotional fortitude required to get through something; less so about the complexity of the language although that can also have an impact).
Turgenev - Fathers and Son. I’ll remember it; thanks.
Good to see you alive and KICKING, Riley, i was getting concerned about your long silence.
While sympathizing with you, i'm afraid i'm gonna have to pour a bucket of cold water here. Mikhail Khazin and his friends are dreaming. There is no going back to autarky, that genie is out of the bottle, the horse has long ran out of the barn. Capitalism can only develop outward, toward unlimited growth, it cannot do de-growth. And those who dream of turning inward are not talking about ditching capitalism, so there is no way for their fantasies to come true.
Russia's oligarchs and managers are committed to globalization because they are committed to keeping the capitalist social relations now dominating Russian society in existence. They are NOT about taking care of the people. No ruling elite in the world is. They are mere personifications of chunks of capital which they are managing, and failure to make their chunk of capital grow as fast as possible would result in them being thrown on the scrapheap and replaced.
From one new moon to another (66:23), we'll be happy as they grab and consume the wealth of the nations, or else. Moe Hammadism is basically the same way, which I'm sure is just a coincidence related to common desertlike origins.
A decent political party would make all this a geopolitical issue without being stupid militarists. New religion is needed, though, and not just to repel conservatives who are too dull to suspect that communism is a tactic.
Well, there's a bigger chance they somehow set up a holographic show of some guy floating down from the sky: the Saviour come to save us all.
Then again, "iron-fisted communist dictator" Stalin agreed to create the UN on a plot of Rockefeller land in Jew York, and then rushed to be the first to salute the creation of the Rothschild neocolony in British Palestine. Russia's current greatest ally (China) has more Disneylands than the European part of terrorist USEUNATO conglomerate, that's how willing to look inward the patriotic and sovereign Russian political management class are.
Not that that's new, though, Russia decided to fight 2 world wars allied with the ones that crushed it in the Crimean war, ultimately losing 1/4 of the Russian/Soviet empire and barely keeping Kaliningrad.
Here's yet another latest masterstroke of multipolarity (choreographed with NATO's second largest member who just rubberstamped the addition of Finland and Sweden.)
19 May, 17:42
Grain deal was extended due to Turkey’s ‘special relations’ with Putin — Erdogan
wow no gas in schools and hospitals. what? are russians living in the stone age. it freezes in russia year round. w.t.f. i live in united states of america. we have heat in schools and in hospitals. i am very sad for russians.
Putin should have chatted to realestate salespersons and they would have told him the golden rule, "never do business with a school teacher, a Christian, or an Indian". All three entities can be relied upon to renege on deals and Indians, in particular, will backdoor you every time.
Happily for Russia, school teachers are scarce on the oil market but Christian UK and US will not be satisfied until their evangelism has wiped Russia off the map. And, no, you cannot be Christian Russia because as every American knows, you are all godless and Satan's spawn.
Meanwhile, one might think that Indians would be mindful that Russia supported their drive for independence while other nations offered a smiley cringe to the City of London. But, no, that is not the Hindu way. A truck load of untouchable rupees constitutes India's undying gratitude because they still dream of ruling the world hand-in-hand with America. Yes they are that delusional. Read the 'letters to the editor' column of any Indian newspaper. This is the real Voice of India.
My comment/conclusion under Rolo's article [1] applies here as well: Russia is still occupied and Putin is colonial administrator.
[1] Interview with Andrei Tsiganov, a journalist and popular conservative-patriot in Russia about 10 days ago. Tsiganov’s “Katyusha” news portal is a good source for alternative patriotic viewpoints from within Russia.: https://roloslavskiy.substack.com/p/russias-elites-are-suffering-from
"A Russian government audit published in 2020 found that hundreds medical facilities across the country were without running water or central heating."
The critical detail here is what counts as a medical building and a medical building with outpatient care. There's a huge difference (>5 times) between these two categories. Also, they could be counting even little sheds with nonmedical equipment inside and just enough space for two people to pass by each other. The linked article mentions warehouses and garages, which probably don't need water, sewage, or heating. Grifters with contractor businesses would, I'm sure, like to raise a great hue and cry about sheds and garages not having these comforts for the shovels, brooms, and gas cans.
The article is a bit confusing, so I can see why you came to that conclusion. Initially, the audit included buildings where patients weren't treated -- resulting in the claim that up to 30% of facilities lacked water and/or heating. Then they revised the numbers, which still showed that an astonishing number of clinics and hospitals lacked basic infrastructure. As someone who lived in rural Bashkortostan for a year, I can tell you that the report's findings do not surprise me at all.
I'll have to defer to your judgement since I've never been to Russia. This does remind me, though, of the time I visited a medical building on Koh Phuket, Thailand. (My friend needed pebbles removed from under his skin, then stitches, after crashing his motorcycle on a dirt road.) The two rooms which I saw were rather spacious but sparsely equiped. The toilet was a hole in the concrete floor of a rear room, which proved to be challenging for my injured friend since he was also nauseous from ringing his bell. Of course there was no toilet paper anywhere, so while waiting for him in front I suddenly heard his voice pleading for help.
Riley, another excellent report, written in your usual knowledgeable style infused with your signature humor----am so glad I renewed my subscription.
Thanks Rhiannon, and my sincere gratitude for your continued support.
riley
"But whether the global reserve currency is the US dollar, or Pokémon cards, or a digital ruble pegged to borscht, nothing will fundamentally change for Russians if their political elites continue their time-honored tradition of stubbornly refusing to invest in Russia."
The global reserve might even be called a "Unicoin" nah, most likely a "Unicorn" a virtual mythological currency controlled by international financiers floating throughout the planet with the possibility of being capriciously turned off with one tiny click of the finger. 🖕
That being said, everyone not just Russians are at the mercy of bankster/gangsters and techno/fascists.
Oligarchs, deplete Russian resources on the cheap and in the end Russian plebs pay the full price. And in the US,
warprofiteers pillage the treasury so that the debt ceiling is four feet tall for the middle-class, but the sky's the limit for the arms industry and the national security state.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz an obedient vassal to the Global Empire said it best:
"If you are a good leader,” you listen to the people, but you never think they really want you to do exactly what they propose.” A dictum followed by all the mediocre nation-state managers operating within the global cartel.
"judicious public servants and God-fearing 'entrepreneurs' build hospitals and roads and other useful, life-nurturing things." This needs to be true everywhere; it ran out in the US around 1930 or there-about I think. Nobody now living remembers small public hospitals run by hard nosed church and philanthropist boards. Another thought provoking article, thank you.
Well, the Robber Barons were guilted (at least Carnegie was) into investing in public well being - that's how all those wonderful public libraries got built. Trying to cancel out sins committed in the hunt for profit and generation of obscene wealth. On the other hand that kind of funding of public infrastructure also ran out when "fear of afterlife" e.g. fear of God's judgements ran out.
Speaking of which, hospitals in my country - and no doubt in yours - are so callous today that mothers and their new born babies are nothing but a burden, to be kicked out onto the street within days. And yet, when the godless authority recently seized control of one of the last remaining vestiges of a real hospital, the intelligentsia went into a frenzy - excited by the scent of blood - because now the hospital could 'show compassion' and perform abortions
Wow, I encourage people to look at the uncropped version of the “Novgorod Marketplace” painting Edward used for the Economic Sovereignty article. Or take a look through other artworks from Appolinari Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov.
Edward (or somebody else), how hard of a read is Gogol’s Dead Souls? Nikolai Gogol looks interesting. For Russian literature I’ve only read Tolstoy, Solzhenytsin, Bulgakov, Nabakov. Dostoevsky is somehow too intimidating / I’m afraid to read him. Dunno about Gogol; I haven’t gotten an impression.
The “turn inward” thing is similar to MAGA and populist-right developments in Europe. Seems the elites are hollowing out their countries everywhere, and gobbling up and hoarding assets, and generally being indifferent to needless suffering and death.
Is Russia also turning against its own farmers because of muh climate? Interesting that this seems to be happening mostly just in the Netherlands at the moment.
You wrote:
"Is Russia also turning against its own farmers because of muh climate? Interesting that this seems to be happening mostly just in the Netherlands at the moment."
I don't know about the farmers but I came across this curious link regarding Russia and "decarbonization" the other day. I quote:
"Despite the difficult geopolitical situation in Russia, the problem of climate change has not disappeared, and the country’s leadership continues to move according to its plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
In this regard, the most important climate event in Russia within the first half of 2022 is undoubtedly the decision to conduct a regional experiment to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The first region to take part in the experiment will be the Sakhalin Region.
...
So, starting from September 1, 2022, quotas for greenhouse gas emissions for certain organizations will be introduced in the Sakhalin Region as part of the experiment.[1] The regulatory system assumes the following:
Selection of companies – classification of organizations into the category of regional regulated organizations (RRO).
Establishment of quotas – a limit of annual greenhouse gas emissions will be determined for each RRO.
Carbon Reporting – PPOs will be required to provide annual emission reports, which must be verified by accredited legal entities.;
Quota fulfillment – if the company’s emissions are less than the limit, then after submitting the report, the RRO receives quota fulfillment units to an account in the carbon units register.
Exceeding the quota – if an organization has exceeded the limit, then, according to the Draft
Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation[2], it pays 1 thousand rubles for each ton of CO2 emitted over the limit.
Carbon offsetting – in order not to pay a fine or reduce its size, a company can reduce its carbon footprint by offsetting carbon units or quota fulfillment units that it previously received independently or acquired.[3]"
https://www.climatescorecard.org/2022/08/sakhalin-is-planned-to-become-the-first-carbon-neutral-region-in-russia/
Last year, thousands of square kilometers of forest burnt in Russia, and the government did not provide enough aircrafts to extinguish the fires. No carbon offsetting can resolve such a huge problem. Residents of affected areas have noticed that after big fires, mining companies began working on the cleared land. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtVqQ1piCVY
It is a pattern of government behaviour everywhere there are huge parts of un-developed land which can be bought for pennies and then sucked dry by the known parasites, mostly Jews. And judeo-christians, their puppets.
All being coordinated by higer ups in governments while orders are coming from central bank owners, almost exclusively Jews! Weird how no one wants to emphasize this fact when discussing economic policies which are obviously made to benefit oligarchs and ..., well, I hate to repeat myself LOLZ
I am from Croatia. All our resources are under the control of these SAME parasites. Our prime real estate is mostly been sold to foreign investors. 90% of industry has been destroyed. 1 million Croats went towards west in search of economic opportunity. My homeland is raped and pillaged and laws are written to discourage any solution while people are made psychopats through state and mass media, satanic LGBTQ ideology and its implementation has completely subverted majority of urban society. Encouraging native population to turn homo and stop reproducing while enabling human trafficking from Africa and importing hundreds of thousands of Indians, Pakistanis, Nepalese, Phillipinos etc. All done per instructions from Protocols of Zion and following guidelines from the Kalergi plan and UN-Agenda 2030. Again, no one wants to emphasize and state the obvious! And in that case there cant be a solution to this problem. Simple af
https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/138/374/071/original/7d2a401dd7affbe6.mp4
yep, seen it!
https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/138/375/506/original/ff717753ce2dc662.mp4
I understand. That is the reason why I use a pseudonym. When alone, people can not do much! Still, it is very frustrating and it means we can never be free in the urban setting. And there is so so much evidence for these claims!! Makes me angry how satanic scum is getting away with murder rape and pillage so easily!
https://media.gab.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=568,quality=100,fit=scale-down/system/media_attachments/files/138/375/969/original/d4b6c404a9f6de9f.jpg
Climate justice!
"the colder it gets the denser it becomes" ...only at constant pressure. Pressure drops with altitude, so does density. Adiabatic lapse effect.
Diffusion mixes gases even in gravity. If your analysis were correct, there'd be a sea of the heaviest gas at the surface, then a layer of the next heaviest, and so on. Ponder why the atmosphere is a mixture of gases and not layers.
"Him and for you, it seems more interested in "climate change fraud", but I didn't want to have a dumb conversation because I am not."
No, here I'm only concerned with dumb ideas about gas transport, I'm inferring nothing at all about climate.
Wow that’s a weird one. Incidentally, this looks to be an example of one of the regions in Russia that is producing tons of oil and gas, but doesn’t even have it’s own gas services built out (exactly like Edward’s post is talking about):
> There has been significant criticism, including from Presidential Envoy Kamil Iskhakov, that Sakhalin is not caring for its citizens. Despite sizable gas deposits and incoming investments from gas companies, the regional administration does not yet have plans for the installation of gas services on the island. The oblast also continues to have the highest rate of juvenile crime in all of Russia, and more than 40% of its businesses are unprofitable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk#Economy_and_infrastructure
Also see here; the region is basically a huge oil and gas producer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakhalin#Economy
Isn’t it strange to do a net-zero experiment in a region that is anyways exporting fossil fuels? What’s the point in avoiding or offsetting fossil fuel usage when your main product is ... fossil fuels. Sounds sort of absurd. Not that these industries shouldn’t minimize their own output; I get that. It just seems a bit suspicious.
From the above link:
> There have been suggestions[by whom?] that the Russian government is using the environmental issues as a pretext for obtaining a greater share of revenues from the project and/or forcing involvement by the state-controlled Gazprom.
You can start with Dostoevsky's short novel Humiliated and Insulted or with Crime and Punishment. They are very easy to read. If you have read Bulgakov, then you can read any Russian author.
Crime and Punishment was on our High School honors reading list many many years ago. Today, not one of the 'classics' of the Western cannon are taught, assigned read or discussed it seems. We must keep our people dumbed down, unthinkingly programmed. I found the Russian literature we covered heavy, but considering the things discussed, perhaps that is why it was heavy emotionally to read and think about. Deep. On the other hand, I did like War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Doctor Zhivago and some of the poetry we covered. I loved Chekov's plays. I am sure something was lost in the translated versions we read, so there is that to consider as well. But Russian is a hard language to learn.
How come no one ever mentions Dostoyevsky's "Diary of a Writer"?
I know why. In that book Dostoyevsky writes about the psychopats who are rulling the world with central banking.
Jews control publishing, printing, creation of 95% of content in any form of media. Do I have to ask why almost no one is willing to say this devastating fact? If this issue is not addressed, this catastrophic situation can only get worse!
Thanks, cheers mate.
Yes, I heard about the Wizard of Oz! Thanks for the link.
Idk, but I guess holocaust can be milked indefinitely, while the poor old cow has given all the milk it could.
Have you heard how ChatGPT destroyed the holocaust? Theres an excellent article about it on Unz.com - I recommend :)
Okay! thank your for the tips and the encouragement Sonja.
I think Riley's gloss on Dead Souls has many layers of irony. Do you know the premise? (not really a spoiler): down on his luck Russian landowner contrives a scheme to buy from other landowners the deeds of dead peasants (serfs) - not yet reported as deceased and still on the census. He then plans to use those deeds as collateral for loans with which he will realize his dreams. From there it's like the classic Seinfeld "nothing happens" scenario; or rather, what happens is just this guy traveling around Russia meeting and negotiating with various landowners for such a purpose- in, I think, five very long chapters each a tour de force of language, description, humor and more (e.g. a 4 or 5 page description of an overgrown garden at an elderly, decrepit landowner's estate). Gogol eventually tired of the project and concluded with a very cursory Part II where the guy learns the error of his ways.
In short, it is a grand allegory of his times (and ours) - just who are the Dead Souls? - the serfs physically dead or us, spiritually dead? Corruption, ambition, deception mutual and self: "You want to charge me THAT much?! - But they're dead! - Ah! But you want them!" and so forth for 5 or 6 hundred pages.
Not to everyone's taste. It is not an easy read - requiring much focus (I assume we are talking English translation). But wait! - You completely missed someone crucially important! Turgenev - why not start there. Good taste of 19C Russia - strong characterizations - vivid scenery - moral and otherwise. Start with Fathers and Sons - and much, much shorter per novel than any of the names above. Turgenev was consciously aiming at a result less heavy and ponderous than Dostoevsky and other near contemporaries.
This is a wise recommendation! Turgenev is the most Western of Russian writers and even influenced writings of Henry James, who knew him when they lived in Paris.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/05/liberals-radicals-and-the-making-of-a-literary-masterpiece-ivan-turgenevs-fathers-and-children-slater-translation
Your description and reflections make me want to read it! in spite of it sounding yes difficult in terms of focus and dedication to get through it.
Yes I was talking about an English translation, so more about yes this sort of difficulty (how much focus and emotional fortitude required to get through something; less so about the complexity of the language although that can also have an impact).
Turgenev - Fathers and Son. I’ll remember it; thanks.
Pretty much the same in China and US, methinks.
WWIII is the Plutocrats against the people.
Great piece, thanks.
Good to see you alive and KICKING, Riley, i was getting concerned about your long silence.
While sympathizing with you, i'm afraid i'm gonna have to pour a bucket of cold water here. Mikhail Khazin and his friends are dreaming. There is no going back to autarky, that genie is out of the bottle, the horse has long ran out of the barn. Capitalism can only develop outward, toward unlimited growth, it cannot do de-growth. And those who dream of turning inward are not talking about ditching capitalism, so there is no way for their fantasies to come true.
Russia's oligarchs and managers are committed to globalization because they are committed to keeping the capitalist social relations now dominating Russian society in existence. They are NOT about taking care of the people. No ruling elite in the world is. They are mere personifications of chunks of capital which they are managing, and failure to make their chunk of capital grow as fast as possible would result in them being thrown on the scrapheap and replaced.
Dedollarization is meaningless without dedeuteronomization (15:6).
28:12, too. 26:19 suggests a root problem to be smothered. Same problem as Ber. 49:10.
Isaiah 61:6 also tells you that one day "you will own nothing".
From one new moon to another (66:23), we'll be happy as they grab and consume the wealth of the nations, or else. Moe Hammadism is basically the same way, which I'm sure is just a coincidence related to common desertlike origins.
A decent political party would make all this a geopolitical issue without being stupid militarists. New religion is needed, though, and not just to repel conservatives who are too dull to suspect that communism is a tactic.
I did not know that. Thank you for the tip.
You're welcome.
Well, there's a bigger chance they somehow set up a holographic show of some guy floating down from the sky: the Saviour come to save us all.
Then again, "iron-fisted communist dictator" Stalin agreed to create the UN on a plot of Rockefeller land in Jew York, and then rushed to be the first to salute the creation of the Rothschild neocolony in British Palestine. Russia's current greatest ally (China) has more Disneylands than the European part of terrorist USEUNATO conglomerate, that's how willing to look inward the patriotic and sovereign Russian political management class are.
Not that that's new, though, Russia decided to fight 2 world wars allied with the ones that crushed it in the Crimean war, ultimately losing 1/4 of the Russian/Soviet empire and barely keeping Kaliningrad.
Here's yet another latest masterstroke of multipolarity (choreographed with NATO's second largest member who just rubberstamped the addition of Finland and Sweden.)
19 May, 17:42
Grain deal was extended due to Turkey’s ‘special relations’ with Putin — Erdogan
https://tass.com/economy/1620389
That was an excellent (and illuminating) thought experiment you provided at the beginning my friend, great work.
Excellent analysis indeed, it demolishes putin's económic " Miracle"
wow no gas in schools and hospitals. what? are russians living in the stone age. it freezes in russia year round. w.t.f. i live in united states of america. we have heat in schools and in hospitals. i am very sad for russians.
istinipravoslavnizhdot
Putin should have chatted to realestate salespersons and they would have told him the golden rule, "never do business with a school teacher, a Christian, or an Indian". All three entities can be relied upon to renege on deals and Indians, in particular, will backdoor you every time.
Happily for Russia, school teachers are scarce on the oil market but Christian UK and US will not be satisfied until their evangelism has wiped Russia off the map. And, no, you cannot be Christian Russia because as every American knows, you are all godless and Satan's spawn.
Meanwhile, one might think that Indians would be mindful that Russia supported their drive for independence while other nations offered a smiley cringe to the City of London. But, no, that is not the Hindu way. A truck load of untouchable rupees constitutes India's undying gratitude because they still dream of ruling the world hand-in-hand with America. Yes they are that delusional. Read the 'letters to the editor' column of any Indian newspaper. This is the real Voice of India.
Thanks for this. All totally new information to me and valuable pertinent to the times information.
Great article Riley! Thanks for the insights.
My comment/conclusion under Rolo's article [1] applies here as well: Russia is still occupied and Putin is colonial administrator.
[1] Interview with Andrei Tsiganov, a journalist and popular conservative-patriot in Russia about 10 days ago. Tsiganov’s “Katyusha” news portal is a good source for alternative patriotic viewpoints from within Russia.: https://roloslavskiy.substack.com/p/russias-elites-are-suffering-from
"A Russian government audit published in 2020 found that hundreds medical facilities across the country were without running water or central heating."
The critical detail here is what counts as a medical building and a medical building with outpatient care. There's a huge difference (>5 times) between these two categories. Also, they could be counting even little sheds with nonmedical equipment inside and just enough space for two people to pass by each other. The linked article mentions warehouses and garages, which probably don't need water, sewage, or heating. Grifters with contractor businesses would, I'm sure, like to raise a great hue and cry about sheds and garages not having these comforts for the shovels, brooms, and gas cans.
The article is a bit confusing, so I can see why you came to that conclusion. Initially, the audit included buildings where patients weren't treated -- resulting in the claim that up to 30% of facilities lacked water and/or heating. Then they revised the numbers, which still showed that an astonishing number of clinics and hospitals lacked basic infrastructure. As someone who lived in rural Bashkortostan for a year, I can tell you that the report's findings do not surprise me at all.
I'll have to defer to your judgement since I've never been to Russia. This does remind me, though, of the time I visited a medical building on Koh Phuket, Thailand. (My friend needed pebbles removed from under his skin, then stitches, after crashing his motorcycle on a dirt road.) The two rooms which I saw were rather spacious but sparsely equiped. The toilet was a hole in the concrete floor of a rear room, which proved to be challenging for my injured friend since he was also nauseous from ringing his bell. Of course there was no toilet paper anywhere, so while waiting for him in front I suddenly heard his voice pleading for help.