Valve sparks outrage by removing the LGBTQ+ inclusive game Flick Solitaire from Steam in Russia, bowing to Kremlin censorship demands while Apple and Google refuse.
What Steam should do, and what every other country and business should do is leave russia (and israel etc etc etc). They should completely stop importing or exporting until that country starts to play nice with others.
The. Fucking. End.
If they are invading/causing genocide/generally be cunts then 100% ignore and sanction that country. Nothing in, nothing out. Physically or digitally. Nothing. Fuck 'em until they stop being scummy pieces of shit.
It won’t happen, obviously, because nearly every politician and upper corporate ghouls are corrupt. But that’s what should happen.
I think that is the wrong approach. North Korea is the result of what you advocate for, a people who do not know the possibility of other lifestyles. The complete isolation of a country is similar to locking up a child in a basement: It corrodes the mind and prevents escape for something better.
This isn’t to say that Russia, Israel, nor North Korea shouldn’t be impacted by their harmful characters. Instead, they should be treated like post-WW2 Japan, where outsiders force reforms. In Japan’s case, that was the dismantling of mega-corporation zaibatsu, ensuring democratic voting, removing previous leadership, reconstruction programs, and so forth.
It isn’t much different from tending a garden, where you both help and harm to ensure that the best plants get ahead of weeds.
Of course, none of that is possible against a nuclear power, because it first relies on unconditional surrender. I also don’t think any leaders in the world have to political will to do that, either.
IMO, the key points for handling a nuclear power is two or three things:
1: Identify potential replacement of leadership, who would be open to negotiation. They just need to see value in having dealings with other powers. It could be a gift, political legitimacy, or the threat of being removed from the census.
2: Collaborate with “outside” powers to cushion the repercussions of removing the target country’s inconvenient leadership. For example, offering aid to civilians, moving military forces around to increase or ease tension, establishing narratives, ect.
3: The actual removal of the existing leadership. Trump sent a special forces team into North Korea. That was stupid, but a carefully planned operation with a genuine goal, such as eliminating the Kim family, might work out. This assumes that China is participating, as the northern border is probably less secure against intrusion. At this point, China probably doesn’t want North Korea around, because Kim could point a missile at someplace unwanted, and unprompted.
I am not saying it to be easy, it is more about leaders having enough guts and foresight to consider such measures. Putin’s Russia certainly does some of this, considering the shadow fleets, hacking, and influencer operations. Krasnov is an example of removing leadership without even involving blood, by influencing politics from afar.
Yes, those things can be done, and they’re good ideas. One key difference between the U.S. and North Korea thing is that Russia can, or at least is believed to be able to, use a nuclear response anywhere in the world. North Korea couldn’t threaten the U.S. with nuclear reprisal. But, yes, removing the entrenched and uncompromising leader is the first step, and that is much harder against a nuclear power.
Considering the horrid state of economics and corruption in Russia, it is doubtful that their nuclear stockpile and submarines are fit for the job. Honestly, I think North Korea might have more reliable nukes, even if it is less than a handful. With Russia, it would be a fusion roulette.
I honestly agree, and said as much shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. Based on the world’s assessment, they should have just steamrolled them, and didn’t. I also said it would behoove the world powers to reassess their nuclear capability and got a lot of downvotes. The facts as they stand now, though, is the NK can’t get a nuke to American territory, not even Alaska (let’s not talk about Guam and Samoa, even America barely acknowledges they’re part of America). Russia, on the other hand, might be able to, and we don’t know for sure they can’t. All they need is one good sub with working missiles. None of this really matters for Europe, and even 10% of their stockpile working would be devastating for the world, or at least the people living on it. I’d like to think that Putin put more effort into maintaining their status as a nuclear world power, but I would have thought the same of being a military world power, too.
There are things that are probably within reach of NK, such as Taiwan. TSMC manufactures the majority of the world’s advanced microchips, and a fair chunk of the older stuff as well. NK can afford the oblivion of Taiwan, but almost everyone else would feel the shock for decades if Taiwan suddenly became a crater. To a lesser extent, the same can be said of Japan.
Mind, the Trump Regime doesn’t understand the value of Taiwan, so Kim probably couldn’t use that as a direct hostage against the US. Trump tried to extort Taiwan, asking for money or else the protection of the US could be pulled. That is just… 🤦
The key point, is that NK does have influence, it is just a question of how angry other nations would get if that stick smacks someone.
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What Steam should do, and what every other country and business should do is leave russia (and israel etc etc etc). They should completely stop importing or exporting until that country starts to play nice with others.
The. Fucking. End.
If they are invading/causing genocide/generally be cunts then 100% ignore and sanction that country. Nothing in, nothing out. Physically or digitally. Nothing. Fuck 'em until they stop being scummy pieces of shit.
It won’t happen, obviously, because nearly every politician and upper corporate ghouls are corrupt. But that’s what should happen.
I think that is the wrong approach. North Korea is the result of what you advocate for, a people who do not know the possibility of other lifestyles. The complete isolation of a country is similar to locking up a child in a basement: It corrodes the mind and prevents escape for something better.
This isn’t to say that Russia, Israel, nor North Korea shouldn’t be impacted by their harmful characters. Instead, they should be treated like post-WW2 Japan, where outsiders force reforms. In Japan’s case, that was the dismantling of mega-corporation zaibatsu, ensuring democratic voting, removing previous leadership, reconstruction programs, and so forth.
It isn’t much different from tending a garden, where you both help and harm to ensure that the best plants get ahead of weeds.
Of course, none of that is possible against a nuclear power, because it first relies on unconditional surrender. I also don’t think any leaders in the world have to political will to do that, either.
IMO, the key points for handling a nuclear power is two or three things:
1: Identify potential replacement of leadership, who would be open to negotiation. They just need to see value in having dealings with other powers. It could be a gift, political legitimacy, or the threat of being removed from the census.
2: Collaborate with “outside” powers to cushion the repercussions of removing the target country’s inconvenient leadership. For example, offering aid to civilians, moving military forces around to increase or ease tension, establishing narratives, ect.
3: The actual removal of the existing leadership. Trump sent a special forces team into North Korea. That was stupid, but a carefully planned operation with a genuine goal, such as eliminating the Kim family, might work out. This assumes that China is participating, as the northern border is probably less secure against intrusion. At this point, China probably doesn’t want North Korea around, because Kim could point a missile at someplace unwanted, and unprompted.
I am not saying it to be easy, it is more about leaders having enough guts and foresight to consider such measures. Putin’s Russia certainly does some of this, considering the shadow fleets, hacking, and influencer operations. Krasnov is an example of removing leadership without even involving blood, by influencing politics from afar.
Yes, those things can be done, and they’re good ideas. One key difference between the U.S. and North Korea thing is that Russia can, or at least is believed to be able to, use a nuclear response anywhere in the world. North Korea couldn’t threaten the U.S. with nuclear reprisal. But, yes, removing the entrenched and uncompromising leader is the first step, and that is much harder against a nuclear power.
Considering the horrid state of economics and corruption in Russia, it is doubtful that their nuclear stockpile and submarines are fit for the job. Honestly, I think North Korea might have more reliable nukes, even if it is less than a handful. With Russia, it would be a fusion roulette.
I honestly agree, and said as much shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. Based on the world’s assessment, they should have just steamrolled them, and didn’t. I also said it would behoove the world powers to reassess their nuclear capability and got a lot of downvotes. The facts as they stand now, though, is the NK can’t get a nuke to American territory, not even Alaska (let’s not talk about Guam and Samoa, even America barely acknowledges they’re part of America). Russia, on the other hand, might be able to, and we don’t know for sure they can’t. All they need is one good sub with working missiles. None of this really matters for Europe, and even 10% of their stockpile working would be devastating for the world, or at least the people living on it. I’d like to think that Putin put more effort into maintaining their status as a nuclear world power, but I would have thought the same of being a military world power, too.
There are things that are probably within reach of NK, such as Taiwan. TSMC manufactures the majority of the world’s advanced microchips, and a fair chunk of the older stuff as well. NK can afford the oblivion of Taiwan, but almost everyone else would feel the shock for decades if Taiwan suddenly became a crater. To a lesser extent, the same can be said of Japan.
Mind, the Trump Regime doesn’t understand the value of Taiwan, so Kim probably couldn’t use that as a direct hostage against the US. Trump tried to extort Taiwan, asking for money or else the protection of the US could be pulled. That is just… 🤦
The key point, is that NK does have influence, it is just a question of how angry other nations would get if that stick smacks someone.