The Kiss Your Arse Goodbye Thread

[PTK]

Despite all the hubris at the time, the 'victors' totally fucked the end of the Cold War, due to an over-confidence in their favoured doctrine of neo-liberalism, which they seemed to believe had the power to overcome all serious conflct, domestically and internationally.

Little more than 30 years later we see a possible all-out war in the Middle East and the very real threat of a nuclear exchange, if not full-scale nuclear war. And that's leaving aside all the avoidable international bloodshed in between. Meanwhile, societies in the European capitalist heartlands are riven by irrconcilable conflicts, the ongoing threat of ethnically-based civil conflict and the rise of the most serious fascist movements since the end of WW2. So serious that the liberals are co-opting some of the neo-fascists into the established order. And all this against the backdrop of a climate crisis that looks to have gone beyond any human solution-and which can only add fuel to the fire of the domestic and international crises.

But the people of Moscow had the opportunity to taste the delights of US fast food, so some good came out of it

 

[Favelado]

'You' can only calculate how much risk you are willing to take.

I've seen Threads mate.

 

[Favelado]

But the people of Moscow had the opportunity to taste the delights of US fast food, so some good came out of it

Even that famous branch of Mcdonalds is gone now. it was on TV every day for a month in 1990.

 

[RD2003]

But the people of Moscow had the opportunity to taste the delights of US fast food, so some good came out of it

Yes, I visited fhe famous first MacDonald's in the USSR while in Moscow in 1990. It really felt like I was contributing to the victory of civilised values as I handed over a fistful of roubles for my dog burger.

 

[RD2003]

Even that famous branch of Mcdonalds is gone now. it was on TV every day for a month in 1990.

Just like when they opened a branch of Harvey Nicholls in Leeds, it was heavily pushed as the answer to something.

 

[PTK]

Just like when they opened a branch of Harvey Nicholls in Leeds, it was heavily pushed as the answer to something.

We had love, if just for a day.
No regrets, as I die of radiation poisoning.

 

[RD2003]

Well then it's an impasse. 'You' can only calculate how much risk you are willing to take. How much concession you are willing give. That's where we are.

I know. What a time to be alive.

And more relevant-what an indictment of those who imagined that the fall of Communist rule represented a path to a way of life where such terrifying calculations would cease to be necessary.

 

[Favelado]

Just like when they opened a branch of Harvey Nicholls in Leeds, it was heavily pushed as the answer to something.

They could have opened a branch of Armley Bigdiscount Store in Knightsbridge as a way of twinning the two districts.

 

[RD2003]

The more MacDonalds' in the former Communist-ruled world, the less the chance of war seemed to go the propaganda. East and West would be united in our love of junk food. (The backlash against junk food was already burgeoning in the west at the time, but it was good enough for dazzling and pacifying the subjects of the soon-to-be former eastern block.)

The atmosphere in those early western franchises could be faintly eerie. A bit David Lynch-like (or summat.) Pizza Hut also opened up in Moscow in 1990. I went there on December 25th, which was a normal working day over there. Apart from me and my Russian companion, it was full of male western business types accompanied by Russian female 'escorts.' Young Russian waitresses exhorted us all to 'Have a nice day,' with forced smiles. My strangest Christmas dinner ever.

I seem to recall that a few years later these franchises lost custom to fast-food outlets the Russians had opened themselves, serving food more in line with their own culinary traditions and tastes.

 

[krtek a houby]

This is nice

Top Russia diplomat warns west not to fight ‘nuclear power’ in UN speech

Sergei Lavrov accuses west of using Ukraine ‘to defeat’ Russia days after Putin shifts Moscow’s nuclear posture

www.theguardian.com

Tldr?

Everything is fine.

 

[T & P]

Looking at current events in the Middle East, I wonder if this thread would be better placed in the general World News discussion thread Frankly, I’m
amazed China hasn’t begun an invasion of Taiwan, and India and Pakistan settle once and for all who has the best nukes.

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

What would you do in the shadow of the nuclear holocaust other than think about how unlikely this was (1962 excepted) in the good old days of Cold War stability?

If I had 4 minutes, drive up to the top of the white cliffs, Dover, and just watch. Then if i survived the initial blast i could always jump off the cliff.

 

[PTK]

Looking at current events in the Middle East, I wonder if this thread would be better placed in the general World News discussion thread Frankly, I’m
amazed China hasn’t begun an invasion of Taiwan, and India and Pakistan settle once and for all who has the best nukes.

Why would those things happen now?

 

[Larry O'Hara]

Just like when they opened a branch of Harvey Nicholls in Leeds, it was heavily pushed as the answer to something.

The question is what…

 

[yield]

Looking at current events in the Middle East, I wonder if this thread would be better placed in the general World News discussion thread Frankly, I’m
amazed China hasn’t begun an invasion of Taiwan, and India and Pakistan settle once and for all who has the best nukes.

Japan sails warship in Taiwan Strait for first time
BBC. 26 September 2024

There has been an increase in patrols by the US and its allies to assert their freedom of navigation in the 180km (112-mile) Taiwan Strait.

Both the US and Taiwan say it is a key shipping and trade route through which about half of the global container fleet passes, and is part of international waters and is open to all naval vessels.

Beijing, which claims sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait, disagrees.

For decades the US Pacific fleet was the only foreign navy that regularly transited the strait. But recently, it was joined by Canada and Australia, Britain and France. Two weeks ago Germany sailed two navy ships through the strait for the first time in decades.

China's military accused Germany of increasing security risks by sailing though the strait on 13 September, but Berlin said it acted in accordance with international standards. It was the first time in 22 years for a German naval vessel to traverse the strait.

These transits are highly political and designed to show China that America and its allies do not accept Beijing’s claims.

uptick in sabre rattling

 

[T & P]

Why would those things happen now?

The India-Pakistan suggestion was gallows humour, but if I were the Chinese leadership and the Middle East situation were to deteriorate into open war, with the US already having a sizeable presence in the region which would only increase significantly if fully fledged war flared out, I’d be tempted to wager the US government wouldn’t have the stomach to to get involved in a second major conflict at the same time.

A rational person wouldn’t want to risk it, but the expansionist leader of an increasingly powerful regime bent on claiming territory it considers its own, and itching to do so by any means necessary, it’s hardly a rational player.

Anyways, this is mostly me venting steam about the depressing state of affairs the world finds itself in during a period of non-global conflict- or should that be described as an interwar period?

 

[Silas Loom]

The assumption that large wars risk snowballing into global conflicts is overly pessimistic, and it’s a product of WW1 and WW2’s dominance in our collective memory of what really nasty wars look like.

Those European wars only went global because the main players had actual empires to defend, which made multi-theatre conflict inevitable. The US and China may throw their weight around globally, but they are not empires.

 

[A380]

The assumption that large wars risk snowballing into global conflicts is overly pessimistic, and it’s a product of WW1 and WW2’s dominance in our collective memory of what really nasty wars look like.

Those European wars only went global because the main players had actual empires to defend, which made multi-theatre conflict inevitable. The US and China may throw their weight around globally, but they are not empires.

Not sure people in Tibet or Puerto Rico would agree with your last sentence…

 

[Silas Loom]

Not sure people in Tibet or Puerto Rico would agree with your last sentence…

I’d probably not argue the toss with them out of politeness, any more than I would with a Ukrainian about whether Russia was imperialist or merely irredentist, but we’re well beyond the days of carving up plum puddings. And I’d definitely bet against Taiwan, Iran/Israel, India/Pakistan or Ukraine/ Russia escalating beyond their respective regions.

 

[Pickman's model]

The assumption that large wars risk snowballing into global conflicts is overly pessimistic, and it’s a product of WW1 and WW2’s dominance in our collective memory of what really nasty wars look like.

Those European wars only went global because the main players had actual empires to defend, which made multi-theatre conflict inevitable. The US and China may throw their weight around globally, but they are not empires.

You're ignoring eg the war between China and Japan which began rather before Hitler and Stalin invaded poland. The eurocentric construct you propose doesn't really match up with the facts outside Europe. There's well known to be an American empire which doesn't have to be formal as eg the British empire was.