Off Topic Politics Thread

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All I’m saying is are the sanctions and sending weapons to Ukraine genuinely in their best interest? Is it better to turn the country into a permanent kill box.. or best to try and broker peace as quickly as possible? The only people benefitting from our current strategy seem to be the military industrial complex… and Putin

I see that the propaganda has started today “Putin is weaponising energy”… yes.. he is - but only after we chose to weaponise the financial system.

The more we provoke Putin the worse this gets.

I believe we should strengthen NATO and our allies to prevent him going any further. And back a peace deal in Ukraine if at all possible.

Yeah, it's just "a quarrel in a far away country, between people of whom we know nothing." We know what's best for them.
 
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Why does everyone on one side of this talk as though Ukraine has no agency, no say whatsoever in what it wants or what its people want?

I note also no answer to the Home Counties question. Would we be expected to accept peace terms because other countries wanted us to? Or would we tell the invaders to **** off and take help wherever we could get it? If we asked for US help and received it would that be despicable? I'm genuinely interested how you would deal with that scenario.

I also genuinely hope that if you give it some real thought, truly think of Canterbury, South East London, Dover, Worthing and Brighton under foreign rule gained by military power, you might just might have a clue about how Ukrainians feel about being told it's in their best interests not to fight. Give it ten minutes thought. Consider how you'd feel if civilians were found with bullet wounds in the back of their heads in Woking after the invaders were pushed out. Consider how you'd feel if, during the invasion, West Quay had been hit by a naval missile aimed to hit it when packed.

Then, if you tell me you'd be OK with just saying, "Yeah, don't worry we can't win, war's bad, let's sue for peace", I'll know that you haven't actually given it even a moment's thought.


Sorry, who are these imaginary invaders of the Home Counties? I’m afraid that analogy fails on every level bar the purely emotive. There is a civil war taking place in the Donbas; if you want an analogy closer to home, try Northern Ireland. A 30 year civil conflict sustained in part by the support of idealistic Americans with no understanding of the issues bar a sentimental view of the ‘old country’ - which few had ever visited.
 
Yeah, it's just "a quarrel in a far away country, between people of whom we know nothing." We know what's best for them.

Again back to the original point though - I don’t think it’s in our interest to get more and more involved in this.

Ultimately if energy prices continue as they are, Europe will be on the brink of societal collapse. I understand the emotional “let’s save Ukraine”.. and obviously I agree.

But when your energy bills are £2k per month, will you still think it’s worth it?

I don’t.
 
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Again back to the original point though - I don’t think it’s in our interest to get more and more involved in this.

Ultimately if energy prices continue as they are, Europe will be on the brink of societal collapse. I understand the emotional “let’s save Ukraine”.. and obviously I agree.

But when your energy bills are £2k per month, will you still think it’s worth it?

I don’t.


At least armaments industry will be happy someone is playing with their new toys.
 
I notice no one has answered..

How high will energy prices have to go before you consider the sanctions a bad idea?
 
Sorry, who are these imaginary invaders of the Home Counties? I’m afraid that analogy fails on every level bar the purely emotive. There is a civil war taking place in the Donbas; if you want an analogy closer to home, try Northern Ireland. A 30 year civil conflict sustained in part by the support of idealistic Americans with no understanding of the issues bar a sentimental view of the ‘old country’ - which few had ever visited.

It was hardly an organic civil war. Here is Igor Girkin, the FSB colonel who staged it, explicitly stating that there was basically no support in Crimea for Russian control, and that they rounded up all of the deputies and forced them at gunpoint to support the 'self-defense forces':

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Also, "why should we care about Ukraine if it makes our heating costs rise?" is staggeringly cynical.
 
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I notice no one has answered..

How high will energy prices have to go before you consider the sanctions a bad idea?

The difficulty is that it is both a serious problem for the West to stand up to Putin and to turn a blind eye. The anology with Northern Ireland was spot on. The situation in Ukraine is too complicated to make things this simplistic and it is worth while remembering that the mindsets of both countries are radically different from much of Western Europe. By aeming Ukraine, we could easily be creating a problem for later on whereas it is also fair enough to say that not interferring may be a good choice if the Russian people decide to do something themselves about Putin. People tend to forget that a little over 100 years ago little had effectively changed much for these peoples since the Middle Ages. Democracy as we would understand it is only a recent concept for many of these peoples.

With Putin using fuel as a weapon, I think that this will ultimately have an adverse effect as it will wean people off fossil fuels far more effectively than Greta Thunburg. The West will innovate and I am sure this will only be an issue in the short term. The effect on Russia will be a disaster as it's industries effectviely produces nothing that the West want to buy. Our only interest is really with the amount of grain prodiced.
 
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Sorry, who are these imaginary invaders of the Home Counties? I’m afraid that analogy fails on every level bar the purely emotive. There is a civil war taking place in the Donbas; if you want an analogy closer to home, try Northern Ireland. A 30 year civil conflict sustained in part by the support of idealistic Americans with no understanding of the issues bar a sentimental view of the ‘old country’ - which few had ever visited.

The armoured thrust by vast Russian forces towards Kiev with the stated aim of replacing the government of Ukraine equates to Northern Ireland?

Laughable. I'm done.

Vin
 
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I notice no one has answered..

How high will energy prices have to go before you consider the sanctions a bad idea?

Gosh, I have a life off the forum and didn't respond instantly...

Where's your answer to the "giving up the Home Counties" question?
 
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Again back to the original point though - I don’t think it’s in our interest to get more and more involved in this.

Ultimately if energy prices continue as they are, Europe will be on the brink of societal collapse. I understand the emotional “let’s save Ukraine”.. and obviously I agree.

But when your energy bills are £2k per month, will you still think it’s worth it?

I don’t.
Our energy bills are nothing to do with the war in Ukraine! We get 4% of our gas from Russia!
The prices are all about the companies realising that Europe needs the gas, so they’re floggingbit back to them at high prices and making obscene profits. At the same time, as we have no storage any longer (shut down by the Tories) we’ll be buying it back at inflated prices in the winter, so they’re just buttering us up and preparing us.
Now, Mistrust is going to “find” £100 billion or thereabouts to “lend” us to help the energy bills in the short term. This money will have to be paid back, but, no doubt, it will be championed by the right wing media as a superb help …. Then a quick election so the sheep voters will return them to power ….. if they get in again, I will move abroad - I couldn’t stand to see another term of these lying, cheating crooks …..
 
Our energy bills are nothing to do with the war in Ukraine! We get 4% of our gas from Russia!
The prices are all about the companies realising that Europe needs the gas, so they’re floggingbit back to them at high prices and making obscene profits. At the same time, as we have no storage any longer (shut down by the Tories) we’ll be buying it back at inflated prices in the winter, so they’re just buttering us up and preparing us.
Now, Mistrust is going to “find” £100 billion or thereabouts to “lend” us to help the energy bills in the short term. This money will have to be paid back, but, no doubt, it will be championed by the right wing media as a superb help …. Then a quick election so the sheep voters will return them to power ….. if they get in again, I will move abroad - I couldn’t stand to see another term of these lying, cheating crooks …..
And 100% of that £100 billion will end up in the pockets of……

the ****ing energy companies.
 
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The difficulty is that it is both a serious problem for the West to stand up to Putin and to turn a blind eye. The anology with Northern Ireland was spot on. The situation in Ukraine is too complicated to make things this simplistic and it is worth while remembering that the mindsets of both countries are radically different from much of Western Europe. By aeming Ukraine, we could easily be creating a problem for later on whereas it is also fair enough to say that not interferring may be a good choice if the Russian people decide to do something themselves about Putin. People tend to forget that a little over 100 years ago little had effectively changed much for these peoples since the Middle Ages. Democracy as we would understand it is only a recent concept for many of these peoples.

With Putin using fuel as a weapon, I think that this will ultimately have an adverse effect as it will wean people off fossil fuels far more effectively than Greta Thunburg. The West will innovate and I am sure this will only be an issue in the short term. The effect on Russia will be a disaster as it's industries effectviely produces nothing that the West want to buy. Our only interest is really with the amount of grain prodiced.

I disagree with this.

It will not be a positive. We can’t just miraculously switch to green energy. That isn’t how innovation & technology works.

Putin using fuel as a weapon is catastrophic for Europe.

l am truly baffled that someone above said the war in Ukraine has nothing to do with energy prices. What planet are you on?? It plays a massive and fundamental part. The supply has been decimated meaning demand and price skyrockets

I think many people are underestimating what this all means. There will come a point (soon) where industry has to shut down. Where there will be blackouts.

Maybe I’m too worried. I hope so. But I don’t think many people will care about Ukraine when they can’t get food for their family.
 
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Gosh, I have a life off the forum and didn't respond instantly...

Where's your answer to the "giving up the Home Counties" question?

In answer to your question; if someone rolled into England I would be the first to go and fight them off. But we are not in Ukraine. It’s comparing apples to oranges.


Now answer my question; how much are you willing to give up from your own life to defend Ukraine? £1k a month? £2k a month?

because this is the very real choice facing us