Tomasz + 1,608 January 20, 2021 Russia now a net food exporter (overall - not just wheat), first time since Bolshevik management lost it that status in the 1950s. 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Warnick + 6,100 January 21, 2021 1 hour ago, Tomasz said: Russia now a net food exporter (overall - not just wheat), first time since Bolshevik management lost it that status in the 1950s. Well done! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meredith Poor + 898 MP January 22, 2021 Well, we now know who the 'Russians' are on this exchange. It's probably worth pointing out this thing is way off topic for this site. There are some YouTube videos of people riding around in Russian off-road vehicles exploring various abandoned farms or villages in various parts of Russia. Evidently a lot of agricultural land was abandoned either during or after the USSR's existence. Presumably some or most of that is back in production. Three things I find 'bizarre' about Russia: How a country with less than half the population of the US and double the land area ever needed to import food. Why people live in 30 story condominiums or apartment buildings all scrunched together in Moscow. Why kids in the videos like the one below are wearing what are clearly shirts discarded in the US. Some of these aren't just 'Western' in that they might have come from Europe - they deal with North American brands such as Detroit-made trucks or American sports teams. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marcin2 + 726 MK January 23, 2021 18 hours ago, Meredith Poor said: Well, we now know who the 'Russians' are on this exchange. It's probably worth pointing out this thing is way off topic for this site. I have reading comprehension issues or some people at this site just became racists when I was away for 3 months ? As far as Russia becoming net exporter is concerned, the main reason of it is import substitution due to weak rouble after US attack on rouble since 2014. 1 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tomasz + 1,608 January 23, 2021 (edited) Well, my father is Polish, my mother is Russian. I often present on this forum the Russian point of view, often sticking with texts from the Russian press about Rosneft or Gazprom which you will not find in the western press So if someone wants to ban me, I just don't know if I'm more on this strace or forum. The truth is, of course, that I present a pro-Russian point of view, but I am afraid that you in the West are much too used to de facto pro-Western and essentially anti-Russian Russians like Kasparov or Khordorkovsky or some other dissidents and de facto anti-Chinese Chinese people like Honkong rioters or some mad dissidents against the chinese regime. So I don't think a moment of sobriety that for most Russian or Chinese West and especially USA is an enemy will do you anything wrong. We live in a time when the Russian-Chinese alliance against the West is slowly becoming a reality. But of course you can still believe that the pro-Western liberals in Russia and the Hong Kong pro western rioters are the majority of these societies. The hard inconvienient facts are that 72% of Russians have a positive view of China and 29% of the US. When asked about the main enemy of their country, 70% of Russians indicate the USA and only 4 % China. These are the hard facts from the study of the independent Levada institute, and you can accept reality that my views are representative or ban them. At most I'll get myself writing elsewhere and you will continue to live in your beliefs and exceptionalism of declining US empire. Edited January 23, 2021 by Tomasz 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jan van Eck + 7,558 MG January 24, 2021 (edited) 21 hours ago, Tomasz said: and you will continue to live in your beliefs and exceptionalism of declining US empire. The USA is not an "Empire," as you say, at least not on the global stage. I would concede that the USA is an Empire internally, but that is a problem that Americans are going to sort out. The USA, and especially under Trump, is a society that is disentangling itself from the rest of the world - a world that has conveniently looked to the USA as their guarantor of freedom, from being invaded and taken over by their Empire neighbors. Admittedly, the USA failed in that duty in the case of Ukraine, where the real Empire, your Russia, invaded the Donbass and dropped paratroopers into the Crimea, simply taking those lands at gunpoint. The USA just spent many billions developing what is termed the "littoral combat ship." Now, when it did that, it was not building those at great expense to protect its own littoral waters. Those are not under any credible threat. The Canadians are not about to go invade the Coast of Maine, for example, or go seize islands in the St. Lawrence River. Those ships were developed to protect the smaller nations of Asia, specifically the Philippines and Malaysia, from Chinese military seizures. Americans spend vast sums to be the world's policemen, not the world's Empire militarists, which specifically includes your two favourites, China and Russia. The USA has this history of refusing the role of Empire. Yes, it ended up with the Philippines after the Spanish War of 1 898, but it set the islands on the course of independence soon enough, right after WWII. And it turned over the Panama Canal Zone to Panama in a very peaceful transfer, without charge for building the canal. It would like to cut the Puerto Ricans loose, the USA has nothing in common with that Spanish-speaking island, but the Puerto Ricans refuse to leave and refuse to surrender their US citizenship privileges. "Empire" is just not in the US lexicon. Edited January 24, 2021 by Jan van Eck typing errors 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boat + 1,325 RG January 24, 2021 17 hours ago, Tomasz said: Well, my father is Polish, my mother is Russian. I often present on this forum the Russian point of view, often sticking with texts from the Russian press about Rosneft or Gazprom which you will not find in the western press So if someone wants to ban me, I just don't know if I'm more on this strace or forum. The truth is, of course, that I present a pro-Russian point of view, but I am afraid that you in the West are much too used to de facto pro-Western and essentially anti-Russian Russians like Kasparov or Khordorkovsky or some other dissidents and de facto anti-Chinese Chinese people like Honkong rioters or some mad dissidents against the chinese regime. So I don't think a moment of sobriety that for most Russian or Chinese West and especially USA is an enemy will do you anything wrong. We live in a time when the Russian-Chinese alliance against the West is slowly becoming a reality. But of course you can still believe that the pro-Western liberals in Russia and the Hong Kong pro western rioters are the majority of these societies. The hard inconvienient facts are that 72% of Russians have a positive view of China and 29% of the US. When asked about the main enemy of their country, 70% of Russians indicate the USA and only 4 % China. These are the hard facts from the study of the independent Levada institute, and you can accept reality that my views are representative or ban them. At most I'll get myself writing elsewhere and you will continue to live in your beliefs and exceptionalism of declining US empire. Don’t be a drama queen. Of course the Chinese are pro China. The Russians are pro Russia and Americans are pro America. Get the trend? Who cares if Russia and China become strong Allies. They have a better chance of that than Texas and California agreeing on much. But here is the rub. If you attack the Ukrainian/Crimeia and support Iran/Syria your putting a target on your back. If you go in the South China sea and threaten US allies your asking for trouble. You do realize that after WWII the US became the military umbrella for aggressive behavior. When countries bounce their aggression off that umbrella it’s gonna create a reaction. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites