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...quite few Latin American countries have "no consecutive" term limits in their constitutions and popular presidents come back in power...including the "darling" of the west in that side of the world (Chile) considered one the best examples of modern Latin American country (stability, human rights, democracy and economic development)
I love when our friend DKM talk about Putin "stagnation" and lack of development...I wish he heard even a minute of current Putin speeches when he literally obsess about the goals of economic development, focus on high tech and productivity, improving living standards making absolutely clear that he is not happy with the current state of affairs (despite enormous improvements) and a lot has to be done....he talks about income inequality all the time.
DKM talk about a caricature of Putin that does not exist in the real world, only in the fantasies of many in the western media establishment and political circles.
You would think that Sunday election would hit them like a 2X4 in the head and wake them up but do not hold your breath on that one....
The difference is that none of those leaders are treated as idols. Merkel got a lot of flack for allowing tons of refugees into the country. In Russia, Putin holds godlike status. It doesn't help that Russia is incredibly shady when it comes to elections.
If you experienced Russia recent past you would understand better Putin's appeal....Russia is definitely not a model of democracy and Putin is a democratically elected authoritarian but in many areas of the western world we are not exactly a shining example...the EU is a good case in point..... and in in recent years, during the crisis, Brussels get agitated before election time in certain countries and they tried to go out of their way to prevent the "wrong" (in their view) parties to gain power...
All this talk of Putin's appeal and performance... He had no competition. He managed/approved of his opposition. This system cannot produce living standards rivaling the governance of liberal democracies. Not ever, without extreme oil wealth (which hides the problem). Corrupt fake democracy with no rule of law does not count.
Russia's GDP is still negative in total over the past 10 years. EU is far and above that. The longer a country has been in the EU, the higher its relative wealth. This is evidence of how better governance can be achieved than the stagnant strongman regime.
Look at North Korea, stable government, nobody argues with the leader and compare it to South Korea which just emerged from dictatorship 31 years ago. You want to compare Latin America, take Putin's allies there (Bolivia, Venezuela, and Cuba) and tell me how much greater they are doing than Chile, who do actually have open competition for president which is far more important than term limits.
Look at North Korea, stable government, nobody argues with the leader and compare it to South Korea which just emerged from dictatorship 31 years ago. You want to compare Latin America, take Putin's allies there (Bolivia, Venezuela, and Cuba) and tell me how much greater they are doing than Chile, who do actually have open competition for president which is far more important than term limits.
The comparison you draw between North Korea and Russia is all you need to know to realize that any meaningful discussion with you is pointless...you talk with the language of a ninth grader....
Russia GDP growth?? Debate with Goldman Sachs.....
The comparison you draw between North Korea and Russia is all you need to know to realize that any meaningful discussion with you is pointless...you talk with the language of a ninth grader....
Russia GDP growth?? Debate with Goldman Sachs.....
Seems to me what people like DKM deny is the effects the sanctions are having on western investors. America is not the only country in the world to invest. America forbidding investment in Russia's energy sector has simply created opportunity for others while obstructing domestic interests.
You should look into it. I'm only going to allow myself one addiction when it comes to video games. I have been playing almost 6 years and I have most of the Soviet ., German and American lines. Over 80 vehicles total. The Soviet line is the biggest and most interesting. German and American are comparable but smaller and therefore a little limited in comparison. You can advance easily with the stuff they have available. Problem is that they've made it so easy us veterans are in our tier 10 tanks going against other tier 10 players that may have 20% of the experience we vets do. You end up kicking puppies in tier 10 tanks. if you do take it up don't go up too fast.
The was made by some computer nerds in Minsk and has been a huge success world wide. They can afford Superbowl adds. I also checked the stats and stuff about players ratings. I'm at 56% which is very good. What's weird is that the vast majority of top players in the world play on the RU server. You do find others from other countries but not very many. Maybe it's because Russians are cooped up in their apartments all winter so they play more.
Does the game have microtransactions or does it use a subscription model?
Seems to me what people like DKM deny is the effects the sanctions are having on western investors. America is not the only country in the world to invest. America forbidding investment in Russia's energy sector has simply created opportunity for others while obstructing domestic interests.
It's like pissing in the wind.
In some aspects the sanctions are one of the best thing happened to Russia in recent time...gave them the much needed kick in the butt to try to escape the Dutch disease....Russia is an immensely rich country, both in terms of natural resources and human capital potential.
You are way too intelligent, cultured and articulate to make a comment like that...come on Milky....
I don't think it's really out of place though. Consider all the tech coming out of the US and the importance of the IT sector in our daily lives. Look at the footprint tech Giants like Microsoft, Google and Apple have. Nowadays every one using an IT device relies on them. Every one who has a smartphone will be likely using one of the three big OS's (I'm being generous to Microsoft here as their mobile division is terrible).
How about the fact that the US is defending our planet from incoming asteroids/comets.
It may seem like I'm always bolstering the US, but I'm mostly just pointing out things that seem a little too obvious, yet seem to be neglected by most people. Even Iran's president uses Twitter despite the fact that the 2 countries have no official diplomatic relations.
That's not to say that this position is guaranteed and any country with the right resources can take over the mantle, just as the US did, but for the time being it is what it is.
Does the game have microtransactions or does it use a subscription model?
No subscription necessary but if you want a premium account it's $99 a year. You can buy gold and do various different things with it, including gold ammo. There are premium vehicles you can buy for cash or gold but it's not always such a great deal. Just because you payed for a premium tank doesn't mean that tank is better and in fact they're usually pretty mediocre. A good premium is the Obj 252 Defender which I love. I've bounced Grille 15 rounds in it. Down side is even though it's incredibly tough and powerful it's a major threat and therefore everyone makes it a priority target. Regular tanks such as the T54 which you need to grind to get is a much more fun tank. It's not for noobs either. I had to do 500 matches in it to get reasonably good in it.
The comparison you draw between North Korea and Russia is all you need to know to realize that any meaningful discussion with you is pointless...you talk with the language of a ninth grader....
Russia GDP growth?? Debate with Goldman Sachs.....
The NK/ Russia comparison may be out of place, I'll give you that, but the other one holds a lot of water. In fact, many across South America are turning their backs on left wing governments. The problem with individuals like Castro and Chavez is that they were using nationalism as a political tool to build up a strong domestic base. They made a lot of promises that sadly ended up not holding much water. They were pretending to stand up to the West only because they knew many would fall for their ploy. They were able to grab on to power in the first place thanks to the fact that the regimes they overthrew were corrupt in the first place.
Chile had a socialist leader in the 70's that was overthrown in a CIA backed coup. Now Pinochet himself, was convincted following the end of his reign as he did execute opposition, but at the same time he set the stage for the country's rapid growth following the 90's.
DKM isn't wrong on his assessment that many of the countries that followed a forced socialist model are worse off today. The US's biggest allies Chile and Colombia are much better off even if they have suffered quite a bit in the past.
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