• encelado748@feddit.org
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    3 days ago

    You define imperialism as military conquest alone

    Not true. I will use wikipedia definition: “Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultural imperialism).”

    This perfectly matches both the behaviour of the US and the behaviour of Russia. This does not matches every war in history. It was coined in the 19th century to describe Napoleon III’s attempts to gain political support by invasion.

    You claim the Ukrainian people support their current government. Under martial law, with opposition parties banned, media consolidated, dissent criminalized, what does that support actually measure? Polls in a war zone with no free press are not evidence. They are propaganda tools.

    You are getting confused with Russia. Free press is allowed in Ukraine. According to Reporters without Borders, Ukraine ranked 62nd out of 180 countries, one of the strongest performance since it’s independence.

    Russia has offered terms: neutrality, demilitarization, recognition of Crimea, self-determination for the Donbas.

    You are forgetting also all territories currently occupied, the entirety of of Donbas and Luhansk they do not control. Neutrality and demilitarization with an imperialistic power at the border that has attached and conquered their neighbor since it was born as country means letting the door open for further conquest down the line. With no guarantee this is surrender. Russia is not willing to give anything for peace.

    You ignored the core of my last message

    Because it is irrelevant and a waste of time. US meddle with external country as it is an imperialistic nation. Russia meddle with external countries as it is an imperialistic nation. So what is there to discuss? Who does it more globally? The answer is the US. Who does it more in Ukraine? The answer is Russia. Now that we have this out of the way let’s focus on the core of my first message.

    The position that serves Ukrainian workers is peace, sovereignty, and the right to determine their own future.

    And the only way we saw this can be achieved for countries that border Russia is join the EU or NATO. Poland is now free, Czechia is now free, Romania is now free, Slovakia is now free, the Baltic states are now free, Hungary is now free (but we need to wait for next election to know if this will remain true).

    • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
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      3 days ago

      Not true.

      Lol. Just straight up denying what you said in the last comment as if people can’t just go back and read it

    • 9skyguy0@lemmy.ml
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      3 days ago

      And the only way we saw this can be achieved for countries that border Russia is join the EU or NATO. Poland is now free, Czechia is now free, Romania is now free, Slovakia is now free, the Baltic states are now free, Hungary is now free (but we need to wait for next election to know if this will remain true).

      They’re free alright, freely exploited by Western-backed capitalists and now are vassals.

      You continue to demonstrate how you’ve fallen for imperialist propaganda. As has been explained above, the Donbas and its people have been under attack by the Ukrainian government and the AFU for more than a decade now. You are ignoring hard evidence of what really has happened since 2014. The notion that the fighting in the Donbas is only the result of Russian support is a delusion, and you seem also oblivious (likely willfully so) to the fact the Ukrainian government is openly fascist.

      The solution for Ukraine that serves its populace the most is peace, sovereignty, and the right to determine their own future, which NATO and EU membership will not give them.

      • encelado748@feddit.org
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        3 days ago

        If you deny life in Poland is much better on all useful metrics now that Poland is sovereign and allied with european nations in the EU than before as dominion of the Soviet Union then your brain is rotted and I pity you.

        • 9skyguy0@lemmy.ml
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          2 days ago

          You’re welcome to examine the conditions of Poland prior to the second world war and compare that through the rest of the 20th century. But at this rate, you’ll most certainly dismiss it all as “Soviet Propaganda” as well.

          In fact, here’s a snapshot of that industrial growth Poland experienced under socialist governance spanning the 60s through the mid to late 70s, as shown in the 1978 edition of the United Nations Statistical Yearbook.

          Page 168 https://www.un-ilibrary.org/content/books/9789210452977/read

          But that’s Soviet Propaganda, right?

          • encelado748@feddit.org
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            2 days ago

            No, not propaganda, it is reality with data, and totally inconsequential to the discussion. Industrial growth is a small part of all the factor involved in quality of life, and while Soviet growth in the 60s and 70s was real, that stopped in the 80s and 90s causing the fall of the Soviet Union. The same industrial growth was common in all European countries post WW2.

            What you should care is the vast majority of poles agree that joining the EU was one of the success stories of the century for Poland, with 70% to 85% saying that life is better under the EU. Poles are some of the most pro EU countries in Europe. The amount of independent pools on this is staggering. You need to be really dumb to not see this. And yes, some people have communist nostalgia, but the vast majority agree that was a dark age for Poland.

            • 9skyguy0@lemmy.ml
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              2 days ago

              Nowhere have I denied it. Even by your own words, the growth during Soviet times improved the quality of life of Poles significantly beyond what they had prior, only halting during the 80s and 90s as the Warsaw Pact collectively entered recession and then endured shock therapy. Are you suggesting that entire period of socialist governance is the dark period or only the 80s and 90s?

              Though there has been further growth, income inequality has hugely increased, and there’s the compromises in sovereignty the EU imposes on its member states. Poland is a vassal.

              • encelado748@feddit.org
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                2 days ago

                No, Poland is not a vassal. Hungary demonstrates it is quite possible to have a foreign policy that is literally hostile and still being part of the Union. At any time any country can leave the Union as UK demonstrated. So all member in the EU wants to be part of the union, they are not vassal. Poles do not want a communist government influenced by Russia. This is a fact. As of 2022, 97% of poles view Russia unfavorably and 89% view EU favorably. You cannot be more clear than that.