So now you’re just going to claim that “it’s not the same kind of imperialism”? That may be true from a semantic point of view. But it’s still imperialism. Imperialism is like fascism. Every Empire does their own customized version. They just all share certain underlying characteristics that define it as imperialism.
The main defining characteristic of imperialism, is dominance. Control. The Empire in question needs control over it’s vassal states. What form that control takes, or what combination of various tactics they use, is like a spectrum. But the basic common denominator is always domination.
Now, if you try and tell me that Russia isn’t trying to control it’s neighbors by any means necessary, then I will know 100%, that you not arguing in good faith.
That’s literally been Putin’s entire agenda since he first took power. Everything he’s done for the last 2+ decades has been to claw back control over all the satellite states that used to “belong” to Russia. Every country that declared its independence after the fall of the Soviet Union, has had a target on their backs this entire time. His entire worldview is built around the idea that “Back when Russia was Great…we controlled all this land. It ALL belongs to Russia.”
Except the historical reference he’s making, is also when Russia was an Empire in the classical sense of the term. He’s not a Socialist. He’s a dictator, who wants his Empire restored to its former glory.
No, I’m saying Russia isn’t imperialist, period. You’re redefining imperialism from a concrete, analyzed, material system into a vibe, an emotion, a gut-feeling, because you want Russia to be evil. That’s why you try to redefine it as something incredibly particular and formless, impossible to definitively nail down, but the problem there is that if we can’t nail it down, then we can’t analyze it.
At the end of the day, Russia is not getting wealthy off the backs of the global south. The west is, and Russia is working against that system. It may be for its own self-interest, sure, but fighting imperialism does not make a country imperialist. And yes, Putin isn’t a socialist. He’s a nationalist, over capitalist country that is not at the imperialist stage like the west is.
This is all good-faith on my part. The problem here is that you’re defining good-faith by how much it coheres to your vibes-based worldview, which is obviously going to run counter to materialist analysis.
So now you’re just going to claim that “it’s not the same kind of imperialism”? That may be true from a semantic point of view. But it’s still imperialism. Imperialism is like fascism. Every Empire does their own customized version. They just all share certain underlying characteristics that define it as imperialism.
The main defining characteristic of imperialism, is dominance. Control. The Empire in question needs control over it’s vassal states. What form that control takes, or what combination of various tactics they use, is like a spectrum. But the basic common denominator is always domination.
Now, if you try and tell me that Russia isn’t trying to control it’s neighbors by any means necessary, then I will know 100%, that you not arguing in good faith.
That’s literally been Putin’s entire agenda since he first took power. Everything he’s done for the last 2+ decades has been to claw back control over all the satellite states that used to “belong” to Russia. Every country that declared its independence after the fall of the Soviet Union, has had a target on their backs this entire time. His entire worldview is built around the idea that “Back when Russia was Great…we controlled all this land. It ALL belongs to Russia.”
Except the historical reference he’s making, is also when Russia was an Empire in the classical sense of the term. He’s not a Socialist. He’s a dictator, who wants his Empire restored to its former glory.
No, I’m saying Russia isn’t imperialist, period. You’re redefining imperialism from a concrete, analyzed, material system into a vibe, an emotion, a gut-feeling, because you want Russia to be evil. That’s why you try to redefine it as something incredibly particular and formless, impossible to definitively nail down, but the problem there is that if we can’t nail it down, then we can’t analyze it.
At the end of the day, Russia is not getting wealthy off the backs of the global south. The west is, and Russia is working against that system. It may be for its own self-interest, sure, but fighting imperialism does not make a country imperialist. And yes, Putin isn’t a socialist. He’s a nationalist, over capitalist country that is not at the imperialist stage like the west is.
This is all good-faith on my part. The problem here is that you’re defining good-faith by how much it coheres to your vibes-based worldview, which is obviously going to run counter to materialist analysis.