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'The war in UKR is creating a new middle class.... Soaring incomes, plenty of jobs for anyone that wants them & huge amounts of government investment into some of Russia’s poorest regions where most of the defence industry has its factories...' 1/
'Russia's labour market is experiencing what analysts describe as an unusual trend: living standards are rising across all social groups....the war has been good for Russia and sanctions and a showdown with the US have made it stronger. ' 2/
'Despite high inflation that touched 9% in July, nominal wages have been rising even faster...leading to record-high real disposable incomes that have risen by 9.6% in July...and are fuelling a consumption boom. ' 3/
'published...in one of the world’s leading medical journals, the British Medical Journal, is titled “Excess mortality across countries in the Western World since the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Our World in Data’ estimates of January 2020 to December 2022”' 1/
British Medical Journal:
'Excess mortality across countries in the Western World since the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Our World in Data’ estimates of January 2020 to December 2022'
'In 2021, the year in which both containment measures & COVID-19 vaccines were used to address virus spread & infection, the highest number of excess deaths was reported: 1,256 ,942 excess deaths (P-score 13.8%). ' 3/
'...US ruling class ideology. Whose values? The dominant value at play there is a belief that as Western capitalists they have a right & a duty to exploit & profit off of every corner of the globe. ' 2/
'Just like capital must dominate labor, it must expand and find new sources of revenue. If governments in Russia and China impede that progress, they must be destroyed. ' 3/
'Why...are Western governments going around begging for shells to send Ukraine rather than accepting the L? The desperation seems to stem from the creeping realization that their system is coming undone. ' 1/
'The entire post-WWII elite US mindset is built on the foundation of worldwide profit expansion via silicon & fire, & if they throw everything at Russia & lose, well a whole new domino theory could come into play – one where parasitic Western finance capital is driven back ' 2/
'The Great Irony in the West’s Predicament Is That Finance Capital’s Own Greed Has Eroded Its Ability to Satiate Its Greed Around the World.
They hollowed out the West in order to make a quick buck. Where the manufacturing isn’t... gone, it’s entirely degraded (Boeing)' 3/
'The Looming Ukraine Debacle
There is indeed a serious risk that, rather than the West teaching Russia a lesson and putting Putin in his place, the opposite may occur.' 1/
'As the slow success of Russia’s Plan B becomes more apparent, the failure of the West’s own Plan A to deal w/ RUS is now clarified. This plan consisted of sanctions... diplomacy to isolate...&...NATO weapons & know-how to inflict serious damage on Russia on the battlefield. ' 2/
'The RF military has adapted to conditions of near total battlefield visibility, the mass use of drones, & the...reduced power of tanks & aircraft. This includes innovative infantry assault...new methods of using & countering drones...& the devastating use of glide bombs ' 3/
Lt. Col (ret.) NATO modelling & simulations officer, builds on earlier classic The Return of Industrial Warfare
Reads like a post-mortem of what RF has done right, & NATO has done wrong... 1/ rusi.org/explore-our-re…
"The front lines've hardly moved! Isn't that a stalemate, daddy?"
'If the West is serious about the possibility of a great power conflict, it needs to take a hard look at its capacity to wage a protracted war & to pursue a strategy focused on attrition rather than manoeuvre. ' 2/
'In attritional wars, military operations are shaped by a state’s ability to replace losses and generate new formations, not tactical & operational manoeuvres. The side that...focuses on destroying enemy forces rather than gaining terrain is most likely to win. ' 3/