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You're free to do as you wish, Christie, but why don't you visit Russia to see for yourself what I am talking about? By the way, you misunderstood my remark on 'choosing life over death'. Bert.

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An excellent read Bert. Thanks for your first hand impressions of this part of the Russian territory. I have a number of friends who have stayed in Russia for extended work placements. Their experiences very much echo yours:

The obvious lack of "chemtrails" was rather conspicuous too; even a sceptic friend seems to have twigged.

The generally high standards of living, cleanliness, civic pride and patriotism (sans jingoism). Low utility prices and cheap petroleum/diesel.

Homelessness seems to be non existent too. A few drunkards here and there but the police take a very dim view. They are hauled off, not just "moved on".

I'm sure that there will be negatives, of course there must be. But it does seem, that here in the West, our politicians impose national policies which are diametrically opposed to those of the Russians.

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Thank you for that confirmation, Lagrande. I am constantly amazed at how those critical of my position base their criticism on mainstream media disinformation about Russia, instead of on direct experience of the country and its people. Then there are the agent provocateurs, specially instructed to undermine every attempt to provide an alternative viewpoint. The Russian people we met were 'real, genuine people', although, like anywhere n the world, there will be scoundrels among them, too, as your remark about negatives implies.

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Thanks for sharing. Great to hear alternative perspectives. I knew something really strange was going on in early 2022 when a lot of the commentary about Zelensky was borderline pornographic, and there were multiple super hero-esque accounts of Ukrainian troops.

So not only does the US propagandize its people, but it does so poorly.

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Thanks for that, Lisbeth. To add to your observations, as Putin has remarked, it is a shame that, ultimately because of Western interference in Ukraine since before the 2014 Maidan coup, Russians and Ukrainians have been killing one another. It amounts to 'brothers' waging a war at the behest of foreign powers.

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May 5·edited May 5

An enlightening read!

Personally, I rarely share my political thoughts on the internet, so it was refreshing to see the directness and fearlessness with which you went about sharing yours. Thank you very much for recognizing the complexity behind the Russian-Ukrainian predicament, especially for being able to see it from a non-mainstream point of view. I don't think anybody in the West really cares about the safety of our state or recognizes the threats we are surrounded with. A lot is at stake.

To give some insights about why I like living in Russia. I moved back to Russia from the U.S. a couple of years ago for the sole reason of having affordable housing and a plot of land that I can actually use as I please (in the U.S., and probably in Europe too, regulations around land and the commons are way too prohibitive and not allowing to live outside the system, but in Russia it's different).

As far as politics is concerned, I don't follow the news because I don't trust the media as well as politicians. The "good/bad cop" dynamics manipulate you into whatever they want you to do. (Probably making me stay away is also part of their manipulation, but if that is the case, then you just can't win, so just stay calm and follow the categorical imperative)

So despite things being far from perfect here (I'm unaware of anything perfect in the phenomenal world), Russia is a unique place with a very complex context, its own contradictions, yet its merits deserve to be acknowledged and celebrated.

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Thsnk you so much for your venlightening comment, Kirill - it is good to get such an affirmatyive response from a Russian! And your English is superb. I hope we meet again sometime.

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A wonderful read. Thanks Bert.

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Thank you, Louisa - coming from a person of your intelligence, it means a lot to me. Regards, Bert.

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I never thought that an article that alludes to Kantian philosophy could hide pro-Russian gaslighting.

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No gaslighting here, Luis. Go to Russia to see for yourself. The US and EU are collapsing, by design, courtesy of the WEF and their cronies. If the people don't resist soon, it will be catastrophic. Russia still functuions normally; no sign of collapse there. Go figure.

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I also think the same. Putin issued ultimatum in December 2020 after the covid operation was initiated. He clearly stated, that he will attack if they will push NATO further. In my opinion, NATO is defense aliance, then why you need to expand further all the time? There are so many questions and my only concern is that they just vilified the other side and refuse to negotiate. They did it with covid and same with Ukraine war. If Ukraine is right and Russia is terorizing them, I will support their resistance but in this case, I do think it's little bit reversed same as with covid operation.

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Thank you for that, Explorer - if only most people would see the situation for what it is, as you do, instead of being bamboozled by the mendacious mainstream media, then perhaps they might start telling the NATO countries' governments to stop pushing for a new (hot) world war. As an information war, the 3rd WW has been raging since at least 2020, and arguably since 9/11, of course.

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I am aware of the situation, it's very bad, but me and others here are working very hard to improve it. The important thing is to understand, that the manipulation is happening. You know, why it was so hard to counterattack when it happened? The history is very sad but many efforts, hard work and knowledge has been invested into open-source and IT since 2000. Everyone was contributing world-wide. We and many others allowed to use their work, feedback and time to improve for example Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Seznam. It was fun, open, free, and it was stated to be used for good purpose. Do you know what they did? They took all the knowledge, build by decades by hundreds of smart people, privatize it and turn against us! That's why so many people fell for the covid hypnosis and other crazy narratives. I couldn't believe that technology, which was build by world-wide cooperation, will one group take for them self's and weaponize against others.

It takes time to build all the ecosystem again with so few resources. The mo*her fu*kers take years of hard work and turned it for their profit. That's so disgusting that I still feel hard to absorb it. Anyway, we're building, building and results are coming. When we free the ecosystem again, then the society will return to sanity. The problems are also that everyone is busy surviving in their crazy society (mortgages, housing, broken families, relationships, traffic, jammed communication, fanaticism) and the burden is on productive people, the unproductive do nothing just making it hard for others.

Let this be a warning to all intellectuals, there is always evil, and you have to assume it will attack you eventually and prepare the mechanism for it. Never allow the "we are all happy" society thinking. There will be always psychopaths and society should never all them to take control. Specially not in so centralized world like during Internet era.

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Wonderful information, Explorer - you are certainly working on the side of the Resistance! What you have written makes perfect sense. Ordinary people want peace and the ability to improve their lives in various ways, but for the cabal, who regard us as 'useless eaters' (which really applies to them, ironically!), peace is out of the question because they want to reduce the world's population. We should start arresting them all - citizens' arrest - and conduct Nuremberg-type trials.

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Dear Bert Olivier:

Your report from Kaliningrad made me pleased with your attitude toward Russia and toward life.

It also made me feel gloomy when reading the section 'Russia has chosen life over death'

To be clear, Putin himself said not long ago: "We have a different philosophy, a different attitude towards life and towards people."

But the Russian state's attitude towards their people can also be viewed through these information:

https://vk.com/wall-110310316_785646?lang=en

https://edwardslavsquat.substack.com/p/optimized-russia

https://edwardslavsquat.substack.com/p/yes-russia-is-complicit-in-the-great

Still, it is not my wish to be blackpilling, nor to sound sour as the author of the linked articles. There are, for example, views that the demographic decline in Russia in recent years is substantially due to artifacts of statistical methodology. And there are doubtless very positive trends in Russia.

My message is basically a call to look at Russia closely, and treat its riddles with reflection.

'til the next reading ... :)

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Thank you for that, Dors. I do realise that the situation in Russia, as in fact in the rest of the world, is very complex, and that my short article cannot do jutice to all of it. I am aware of some of the things written in the articles whose links you have sent me, but I believe that a lot of it is attributable to the fact that Putin does not want to come across as divorcing Russia completely from the rest of the world, while still retaining its autonomy. I may be wrong, but with the information at my disposal, this seems to me to be the case at present.

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your junket at the conference was very gratifying

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Thanks for helping me choose to unfollow this bullshit apologia of Putin and his penchant for choosing death over life (see not just Mariupol and Kramatorsk, but Grozny and Aleppo). I hope y

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May 4·edited May 5Author

To be clear: unless the piece in question is authored by 'Real Left' it should not be assumed that it necessarily represents the views of the editorial. See our February editorial for clarification on Real Left's analysis of the (global) 4IR agenda.

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