I usually listen to both these guys, but this conversation is unusually insightful and also emblematic of what best replaces the “news” i used to be able to follow with only minor qualms.
Vlad Vexler was born in Russia, was educated mostly in England, and now lives there. He is a stupendous scholar of the philosophy and sociology underlying politics.
BREAKING NEWS!!! Trump trusts Putin
I’ve seen this movie before.
Steve
Did it star a certain Neville Chamberlain?
Can’t buy it, Yahoo! Finance does not list it.
Had to look it up
Meaning of epistemically in English
in a way that relates to knowledge or the study of knowledge: Their beliefs are epistemically defective because they are formed using unreliable methods. Sharing our evidence has been epistemically beneficial to everyone in the class. Related word. epistemic.
What does it mean when you feel discombobulated?
Discombobulated is when you’re a little bit confused, disconcerted, don’t know whether you’re coming or going, and are generally feeling like a little bit of a mess. Today’s episode is for everyone who can get stuck feeling discombobulated and it then derails their entire day, week or year.
Trouble is that by the time I figured out epistemically discombobulated I forgot what Vlad was talking about.
Back to Vlad. That was at 2:48, almost an hour to go, at this rate it will take all day!
Former befuddled, latter leader?
By 7:56 Vlad explained his thinking, almost two minutes what could be explained in four words. Sorry, but I can’t add Vlad to my favorite speakers, verbose beyond my attention span.
On the issue of NATO membership, recently the Monroe doctrine was discontinued and NATO was expanded to Russia’s backyard. Not accepting Ukraine into NATO is a (partial?) return to the Monroe doctrine. The current status is the West protecting Ukraine without openly involving NATO. Sounds like a reasonable compromise, no epistemic discombobulation that I can think of.
The Captain
This is an insult to Neville Chamberlain.
Thus far, the US has floated the following proposals: Russia keeps all its gains, Russia rejoins the G7, Ukraine cannot join NATO, and the US will not provide any security guarantees or further aid to Ukraine.
Putin gets everything he wants and negotiations haven’t even started yet.
The Art of the Deal!
At this point I have only witnessed the “art” of waving hands in the air and blathering things, from both those two self-aggrandizing “main” figures. Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to fight and I expect will continue to fight, and neighbors to the west of Russia and Ukraine continue to help out.
An opinion offered on the news last night was that, with the US selling Ukraine out, the educated and talented Ukrainians will leave, joining their relatives that evacuated when the war started. Ukraine will slowly bleed out, until it collapses and the Russians move in.
Steve
And worth noting that in the recent months since Ukraine invaded Kursk in August Russian advances have slowed while casualties have increased. Russia has captured no towns of significance, mostly tiny settlements and open fields. The North Korean mercenaries have reportedly been withdrawn due to high casualties.
Russia is increasingly using civilian vehicles (including scooters and horses) instead of armor to advance troops to the battlefield. Russia can still make advances due to numerical superiority, but only at high cost. This does not mean Ukraine is winning, but Russia is showing some signs of cracking.
I should hope so but Russia is not going away and we have to deal with that reality. Bretton Woods and the Marshall Plan cured Germany’s and Japan’s virulent militarism after being throughly defeated and humliated. How can Russia be cured?
The fall of the Soviet Union and the privatization of Russia ended badly. The privatization of Venezuela also ended badly. Many Russians thought that Capitalism was no better than Communism, maybe worse. I recall a neighbor in Caracas complaining about eliminating price controls. I tried to explain that by shopping around she could get better prices. “Too much work” she complained.
The danger is the Messiah Syndrome, many want a Savior. Some are good, some are bad. The bad ones are hard to get rid of. I trust that the American system is sturdy enough to continue changing sides by legal means.
The Captain
If Europe opposes the reconstitution of the USSR enough, they should probably put together an army to oppose it. By now they (Europe) should have learned their lesson that these things need to be nipped in the bud rather than starting with appeasement which only leads to larger wars later on. I mean, I know they’ve gotten used to the USA bailing them out over the last century or so, but we’re broke and would like to improve our finances instead of financing their defense for now.