There was a somewhat infamous clip on I think a German talk show just a bit before the war where some lady was talking about how the life expectancy in Russia is shorter than in Europe, so death is more normal in their culture and they don’t value life in the same way (and thereby aren’t really European). Naturally no mention is made of the fact that even at the time Ukrainian life expectancy was even lower, because it’s just a backward justification for the same century-old racist tropes.
It’s so ridiculous how libs can look at the silly way Russia is depicted and just go on doing a sick man of europe evil man of Eurasia thing, because this nation that has long been an opponent of their country just seems to always be dominated by especially evil people, even when those people had radically different ideologies and in several cases killed each other. Except that one time Russia was a wholesome republic when we were doing shock therapy to it and killing millions of people, but we’ve forgotten about that plot line now.
It feels like, as much as this is obviously a geopolitical tool, part of the reason libs love this story so much is it let’s them designate the Other as being docile and subservient to deflect from the fact that most Americans never back up their complaints about their own government with meaningful action. Trump is Mussolini and the world will be incomparably better when he’s gone? Okay, but then I can’t help but notice that he’s upside down and you don’t have any plans for setting him right side up.
(Obviously I think adventurism is bad, but for someone in the “Hitler cast a spell on Germany” school of political bedtime stories, adventurism is suddenly much more justified because they say the problem is a Great Man)
This was Churchill’s take on European fascism too — it’s good for the Italians or the Germans, but an Englishman cared too much for liberty to allow himself to be governed like that (ofc he fucking hated even bourgeois democracy really, but was smart enough not to say that part out loud lol)
That’s an interesting comparison. My own thought when I heard it was that it’s exactly what Americans said about the Koreans, the Vietnamese, the Chinese, and several other groups that they killed or sought to kill in droves.
I had a German neighbour who grew up in the war who unironically said Hitler was a good leader, and that Russians are so lazy that when they farm potatoes, they take the long way around the ridge so they waste time instead of doing it the efficient, normal way™
Russians are so lazy that when they farm potatoes, they take the long way around the ridge so they waste time instead of doing it the efficient, normal way
It rings a bell in my head about how the potatoes were left by the fleeing people to feed the red army that was coming in to contest that area, and many were in anguish about this because it was their food and homes
That’s about all I can remember about “Russian potatoes” in WWII
Florence Gaub (born 1977) is a Franco-German researcher, security expert and futurist who focuses on foresight based policy formation for international relations and security policy. She is director of the research division at the NATO Defense College (Rome). She worked as deputy director at the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) in Paris from February 2018 until May 2022, worked as foresight advisor at the General Secretariat of the Council and was Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Councils on Complex Risks (2021 - 2025).
From what I heard she often gets invited on TV as an off-the-shelf pundit on Russia-Ukraine.
Someone managed to sneak in Benjamin Norton into the citations:
“You see, what I love about capitalism is how it ranks people. Yes, it has killed millions but those are the good deaths! Preventable deaths are fine as long as its all for the Right ReasonsTM
There was a somewhat infamous clip on I think a German talk show just a bit before the war where some lady was talking about how the life expectancy in Russia is shorter than in Europe, so death is more normal in their culture and they don’t value life in the same way (and thereby aren’t really European). Naturally no mention is made of the fact that even at the time Ukrainian life expectancy was even lower, because it’s just a backward justification for the same century-old racist tropes.
It’s so ridiculous how libs can look at the silly way Russia is depicted and just go on doing a
sick man of europeevil man of Eurasia thing, because this nation that has long been an opponent of their country just seems to always be dominated by especially evil people, even when those people had radically different ideologies and in several cases killed each other. Except that one time Russia was a wholesome republic when we were doing shock therapy to it and killing millions of people, but we’ve forgotten about that plot line now.It feels like, as much as this is obviously a geopolitical tool, part of the reason libs love this story so much is it let’s them designate the Other as being docile and subservient to deflect from the fact that most Americans never back up their complaints about their own government with meaningful action. Trump is Mussolini and the world will be incomparably better when he’s gone? Okay, but then I can’t help but notice that he’s upside down and you don’t have any plans for setting him right side up.
(Obviously I think adventurism is bad, but for someone in the “Hitler cast a spell on Germany” school of political bedtime stories, adventurism is suddenly much more justified because they say the problem is a Great Man)
> Germans
> lecturing about who “doesn’t value human life”
Ok
This was Churchill’s take on European fascism too — it’s good for the Italians or the Germans, but an Englishman cared too much for liberty to allow himself to be governed like that (ofc he fucking hated even bourgeois democracy really, but was smart enough not to say that part out loud lol)
That’s an interesting comparison. My own thought when I heard it was that it’s exactly what Americans said about the Koreans, the Vietnamese, the Chinese, and several other groups that they killed or sought to kill in droves.
I had a German neighbour who grew up in the war who unironically said Hitler was a good leader, and that Russians are so lazy that when they farm potatoes, they take the long way around the ridge so they waste time instead of doing it the efficient, normal way™
what the fuck does this even mean
It rings a bell in my head about how the potatoes were left by the fleeing people to feed the red army that was coming in to contest that area, and many were in anguish about this because it was their food and homes
That’s about all I can remember about “Russian potatoes” in WWII
The woman in question was Florence Gaub:
From what I heard she often gets invited on TV as an off-the-shelf pundit on Russia-Ukraine.
Someone managed to sneak in Benjamin Norton into the citations: