Comments on: Categorizing the Russia Debate

By: Righteous Advocate

Righteous Advocate — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:15:14 +0000

If that’s the case, then it’s a habit that will eventually benefit humanity.

By: JFreegman

JFreegman — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:28:38 +0000

@LR: “The idiocy and ignorance on display here is so barbaric one can hardly breathe.”

Shortness of breath while browsing the internet? Sounds like you need to cut back on the Big Macs pal.

By: Sublime Oblivion

Sublime Oblivion — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:15:05 +0000

Consequent to this post and the lively discussion it spawned, it occurred to me that much of Russia�s tortured and intriguing history could be rationalized as a self-reinforcing loop within a belief matrix similar to what I’ve outlined here. This schema can even be extended further to many other societies � e.g. a) Germany�s �Reich cycles�, b) America�s �liberty cycles� and c) the continuous �radical redefining of terms� that characterized Soviet history from 1914 to 1953. I plan to write these articles in the next few weeks.

For now here’s the first installment – The Belief Matrix which outlines the definitions and identifies the two most basic / common patterns of spiritual-morale developments in society: the Malthusian Loop, and the Sisyphean Loop. The articles covering specific societies (Russia, Germany, the US) will soon follow.

Sublime Oblivion�s last blog post..The Belief Matrix

By: Volodja

Volodja — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:35:06 +0000

I also have a so called russian blog. Though I’m not russian, but I really try to be. Maybe I should follow this blog to get some inspiration!
(I cant speak russian either but i use google translate to write in russian in my blog)

Volodja�s last blog post..Russian fashion #2

By: Righteous Advocate

Righteous Advocate — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:14:28 +0000

For sure.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:33:32 +0000

Shouldn’t there be a special “crazy person masturbating furiously in public” category for LR?

By: Sublime Oblivion

Sublime Oblivion — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:01:12 +0000

@LR,

So? I didn’t mention Kasparov, Illarionov, McFaul, Brzezinski, and a whole host of other male commentators other. There’s only so much space on the grid. I don’t know enough about C. Young or V. Khokhlova. A. Appelbaum would come under “neoliberals”, Latynina under “liberasts”. My intention was to illustrate a way of looking at things, not to classify every single person who ever said something about Russia or engage in political-correctness games.

When was the last time Mr. Karlin wrote a post critical of Russian sexism, for instance in the halls of power in the Kremlin that are utterly,excluslively male?’

About a year and a half ago. (At least according to a quick search of my blog’s archives).

We support the goals of the feminist movement and consider that gender equality has not yet been achieved anywhere. Men are still more valued as bread-winners and women-more as home-makers, and changing these social perceptions is one of our goals. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2007, Russia comes 45th out of 128 countries � it scores very well on female economic participation, but must make bigger efforts in political empowerment.

As for the rest of your points, it’s pretty clear that you have either a) not read the post or b) did not want to understand it. I subject the “skeptical Russophile” and “Western Russophile” perspectives to a withering critique much like “Western Russophobia”.

Sublime Oblivion�s last blog post..Categorizing the Russia Debate

By: Poemless

Poemless — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:09:01 +0000

Let’s not forget the prolific Josephina. Though I believe that aside from Kim there are no female bloggers in the English language blogosphere who consistently focus on Russian politics. Well, I consistently focus on Russian politics, but very infrequently bother to write down my thoughts. There are journalists and academics (Applebaum, Freeland, Latynina, Shevtsova…) who do. And there are bloggers who write a bit about everything (Neeka, Josephina, Svet, Expatresse…) and sometimes occasionally on politics. I think it says less about Mr. Karlin’s or the Kremlin’s misogyny than the traditional dynamics of the blogosphere.

By: J. Otto Pohl

J. Otto Pohl — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:46:29 +0000

Hosking was my internal examiner for my PhD at University of London. I was at SOAS and he was at SSEES across the street. I use his book for my political history of the USSR class. Mainly because it is easy to read and presents a very different view of the USSR from that generally taught in Kyrgyzstan. Here the Soviet Union including the Stalin era are generally still viewed as a flawless utopia. So it is interesting to see him put as a centerist when I would have firmly put him in the pro-Western camp. I have no idea where I stand on this scale since my blog and acadmic work are evidently too obscure to be rated.

J. Otto Pohl�s last blog post..Arivaca Memories

By: Righteous Advocate

Righteous Advocate — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:45:32 +0000

http://www.exile.ru/articles/detail.php?ARTICLE_ID=8450&IBLOCK_ID=35&phrase_id=25812