Poll of the Day > Oh hey one person in Russia has balls.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/gunman-detained-after-shooting-draft-office-russias-irkutsk-region-2022-09-26/

A gunman was detained after opening fire at a military draft office in Russia's Irkutsk region on Monday, the local governor said.

Adding some brains would have helped.

What a hero, shooting people for no reason.

EvilMegas posted...

What a hero, shooting people for no reason.

"no reason" huh

EvilMegas posted...

What a hero, shooting people for no reason.

You a fascist?

EvilMegas posted...

What a hero, shooting people for no reason.

You realize that Russia instituted a draft last week and they're just rounding up people off the street to go die in Ukraine, don't you? You do know that's happening?

Makes sense that this would happen in further-out regions like this. We don't get enough reporting on the little bits of resistance that have occurred in these regions in past decades.

papercup posted...

You realize that Russia instituted a draft last week and they're just rounding up people off the street to go die in Ukraine, don't you? You do know that's happening?

And they taking people arrested protesting and forcibly conscripting them, too

It's a fascist regime, and this was a heroic act of defiance.
More Russians need to take up arms against their government and refuse to be drafted.

streamofthesky posted...

And they taking people arrested protesting and forcibly conscripting them, too

It's a fascist regime, and this was a heroic act of defiance.
More Russians need to take up arms against their government and refuse to be drafted.

Well the punishment for protesting is the same as complying with the conscription order, so might as well use your voice while you can. If the mothers and sisters of Russia get fed up, we could see what is happening in Iran.

People forget that the French Revolution, and most revolutions, are led by angry, fed up women who are not going to take it anymore.

not actually fascist

authoritarian, yes; but they are just as capitalist as anyone

Lokarin posted...

not actually fascist

authoritarian, yes; but they are just as capitalist as anyone

Didn't realize fascism and capitalism were opposing systems of government. Because they're not.

https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/fascism

Fascism:a way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government

Sure sounds like Russia. Anyone that protests is arrested and beaten. Oligarchs that speak out against Putin "mysteriously" end up dead. The state has strict control over business, both in how the oligarchy takes most of the money and are all friends of or appointed by Putin, and how quickly Putin clamps down and claims state ownership of property as companies tried to leave. And now people are being literally dragged from the streets and sent off to die. Oh, and let's not forget the abduction of Ukrainian children and forced mass migration of Ukrainians to "filtration camps" (which almost doesn't sound like concentration camp!).

Lokarin posted...

not actually fascist

authoritarian, yes; but they are just as capitalist as anyone

I was going to argue that capitalism is part of fascism for a sec, but I brushed up on my reading briefly...fascists definitely yank away the levers of capitalism. You're definitely correct on the basis of definitions and their written histories - we'll have to see if Russia pushes into Fascism, I think it's definitely possible :\

streamofthesky posted...

Didn't realize fascism and capitalism were opposing systems of government. Because they're not.

https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/fascism

Sure sounds like Russia. Anyone that protests is arrested and beaten. Oligarchs that speak out against Putin "mysteriously" end up dead. The state has strict control over business, both in how the oligarchy takes most of the money and are all friends of or appointed by Putin, and how quickly Putin clamps down and claims state ownership of property as companies tried to leave. And now people are being literally dragged from the streets and sent off to die. Oh, and let's not forget the abduction of Ukrainian children and forced mass migration of Ukrainians to "filtration camps" (which almost doesn't sound like concentration camp!).

I definitely agree with you because I take this shit seriously and it's entirely fucked. But I can see how Lokarin said what he said - at least based on my reading of wikipedia's entry on fascism (with a search for capitalism), and it seems pretty well-cited here.

streamofthesky posted...

Didn't realize fascism and capitalism were opposing systems of government. Because they're not.

that's because they aren't opposing, just not the same. There are hundreds of forms of government and economies.

Lokarin posted...

that's because they aren't opposing, just not the same. There are hundreds of forms of government and economies.

You saying "they're not fascist, they're just as capitalist as anyone" implied the two are somehow contradictory or at odds.
Like, I wasn't even thinking of their economy (which still shows signs of fascism, with how Putin has jailed former gas company owners and exercises tight control of things and hands out the positions to his cronies) when I said that. It was just a total non sequitur.
How can you look at what Russia is doing this past year and not call them fascist?

When you change the constitution so you can stay president forever and announce the results before the polls close.

papercup posted...

You realize that Russia instituted a draft last week and they're just rounding up people off the street to go die in Ukraine, don't you? You do know that's happening?

I heard they're targeting ethnic minorities and people in outlying areas to avoid getting attention of the people in big cities.

BlackScythe0 posted...

I heard they're targeting ethnic minorities and people in outlying areas to avoid getting attention of the people in big cities.

Well Vlad was called to task by Xi at some point in the past couple of weeks, and he is now getting desperate. Bets on which will get him first: the cancer, his cronies, his guards or whoever still has a spine in the military.

streamofthesky posted...

How can you look at what Russia is doing this past year and not call them fascist?

Because they don't have an economic system rooted in trade unionism, nor can they be palingenetically ultranationalist since Russia is comprised of around 200 disparate ethnic groups.

Like, don't get me wrong - Russia is being bad and should feel bad, but I'm something of an economics fan so attribution of fascism is a button issue for me.

BlackScythe0 posted...

I heard they're targeting ethnic minorities and people in outlying areas to avoid getting attention of the people in big cities.

Yup, I saw in one topic that Crimean Tartars, a small ethnic minority of people there, make up the majority of the draft notices.
Apparently the eastern parts of Russia are similarly being unevenly pressed compared to the major cities.
So not only is he committing genocide against Ukraine, but also against minorities in his own empire, since the draft is basically a death sentence at this point.

Lokarin posted...

Because they don't have an economic system rooted in trade unionism,

wat

Tell me again how Caesar was a trade unionist. Do we really want to split hairs on a style of governance that predates the word itself.

streamofthesky posted...

Yup, I saw in one topic that Crimean Tartars, a small ethnic minority of people there, make up the majority of the draft notices.
Apparently the eastern parts of Russia are similarly being unevenly pressed compared to the major cities.
So not only is he committing genocide against Ukraine, but also against minorities in his own empire, since the draft is basically a death sentence at this point.

Par for the course of Russian history.

KodyKeir posted...

Tell me again how Caesar was a trade unionist. Do we really want to split hairs on a style of governance that predates the word itself.

He wasn't; ancient Rome was an autocratic fief, IE: Feudalist