Is Putin sinister and diabolical or a man simply playing the hand he’s been dealt?

He is KGB, a death machine, he’ll deal his own hand of cards.

One vote for the deck.

So if the cards are responsible for his behavior, should we be surprised?

What he’s playing was never dealt to him. He’s built his own deck, chosen his loyal face cards, shuffled out the lowly numbers. Keeps control of all the aces himself. That is, within the Russia game. In the world game, it may not work out the same. It’s a bigger deck, and he’s not the only one with aces.

There might even be a joker or two.

I see what you’re doing.

It really won’t matter.

People don’t just stumble upon being in that position in life….
“Oh geez, how do I keep ending up running entire countries and organizations! So odd!”

I take that as a vote for sinister and diabolical.

I think I’m asking if perhaps one trait drives the other. I mean is sinister and diabolical a requirement to arrive at the top in Russia? Considering the situation, should we assume it a necessary attribute? If so can it
be an acquired trait or was the man simply born evil? Chicken or egg?

He is just like any other leader trying to find a way to get himself in the history books no matter what.

From what I gather he is ruthless in his drive for his country with 87% approval rating. His accomplishments for his people are significant.

I suppose I’d say a mixture of both, like many politicians around the world.

I don’t think of him as sinister and diabolical though he has done sinister and diabolical things. I think of him as a small man blown up with pride.

H doesn’t HAVE TO play the hand he’s dealt. He could do the purely humanitarian thing.

How long would he last as a “humanitarian”? I mean the top at the Kremlin isn’t exactly a kind and gentle environment.

Wiki-

During his first tenure as president, the Russian economy grew for eight straight years, with GDP measured by purchasing power increasing by 72%, real incomes increased by a factor of 2.5, real wages more than tripled; unemployment and poverty more than halved and the Russians’ self-assessed life satisfaction rose significantly.[10] The growth was a result of a fivefold increase in the price of oil and gas, which constitute the majority of Russian exports, recovery from the post-communist depression and financial crises, a rise in foreign investment,[11] and prudent economic and fiscal policies.[12][13] Putin also led Russia to victory in the Second Chechen War. Serving as prime minister under Medvedev, he oversaw large-scale military reform and police reform, as well as Russia’s victory in the Russo-Georgian War. During his third term as president, falling oil prices coupled with international sanctions imposed at the beginning of 2014 after Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea led to GDP shrinking by 3.7% in 2015, though the Russian economy rebounded in 2016 with 0.3% GDP growth.[14] Other developments under Putin has included the construction of pipelines, the restoration of the satellite navigation system GLONASS, and the building of infrastructure for international events such as the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Under Putin’s leadership, Russia has shifted to authoritarianism. Experts do not generally consider Russia to be a democracy, citing the jailing and repression of political opponents, the intimidation and suppression of the free press and the lack of free and fair elections.[e] Russia has scored poorly on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, and Freedom House’s Freedom in the World index.

Well done @KNOWITALL

@HP I still don’t like his LGBTQ stance but major military and police reform were also implemented. Huge changes that benefit the citizens.

People automatically recoil at knowing he was KGB, but it is possible that from that, he observed what was wrong with the Soviet past, what other leaders were doing, and what seemed good policy.
He has achieved much. He has many various ethnicities to look after, and for the most part, has left them to traditional lifestyles. Each occupy separate regions, so there is little issue with conflicts.
I think he has had to come across as hard, because it is what the majority respect in power. I mean, this is where people kick bears for fun.

@HP If someone kills him they kill him. Who could be worse than Putin??

His replacement?

Is Putin diabolical?

Ask the Ukranians.

Or the Georgians, the 5 million Syrians forced to flee their own country, or the families of over 60 journalists, dissidents, and defectors assassinated by Russian agents since 2006.

He’s not playing cards, or chess, or wordle. Suggesting he’s somehow a “victim of history” is ridiculous, and treating his actions as justifiable use of power is blind indifference.

Here’s what his record really looks like to people who’ve been watching -
“The Result of 20 Years of Putin: Russia as a Mafia State”
https://imrussia.org/en/opinions/3067-the-result-of-20-years-of-putin-russia-as-a-mafia-state

“Putin’s early presidency was perhaps misleading: he launched reforms, lowered barriers to business, revived negotiations to admit Russia to the WTO. Still, about one third of growth in Putin’s first decade came off the back of the eightfold increase in oil prices in 1998–2008. Ultimately, though, the reforms promised by Putin, and the anticipated economic results, never came to fruition. Even after a rapid post-crisis recovery in 2010–2011, the Russian economy soon started to slow down: in 2013, GDP grew just 1.8 percent. As a result of the decrease in oil prices, annexation of Crimea, war in Donbass, and consequent self-isolation, any hope for reforms and accelerated economic growth were buried for good. Foreign investment significantly dropped, capital outflow increased.

“Starting in 2000, independent media in Russia have been purposefully destroyed, brought under the state’s control or that of industrial groups close to the Kremlin, and pressured into loyalty by the government. In parallel, a machine of total state propaganda has been built in the country, targeting both domestic and foreign audiences. One of the messages of this propaganda is Russia’s reclaiming its status as a great power. But if we look objectively, how does this status manifest itself?

“Over the last 20 years, a special type of elite has been grown in Russia, steered toward Putin personally and dependent on him. This elite has built a system of feudal rule inside Russia, and views the country solely as a source of personal enrichment. In 20 years, entire dynasties have risen within this system: Timchenkos, Rotenbergs, Kovalchuks, Patrushevs, Murovs, Shamalovs, Bortnikovs, Sechins. The Russian economy has been rehashed to serve their interests. State and political institutions were reformatted in a way that, while retaining a veneer of democracy, they would strengthen the regime and preserve it for years to come. Essentially, the result of the Putin rule is the transformation of Russia into a mafia state.”

Putin is a brutal, repressive, devious, corrupt, autocratic, manipulative thug who can never be trusted to respect international agreements or boundaries that aren’t backed up by force. Treating him as anything else is foolish.

^
A lady at my work is literally here as a Syrian refugee.
Her husband is dead and she’s in America now with her child, alone.

@JLOON I see what you’re doing. Seems it might just matter after all.

@H elp P utin – What, no “Well done”?

I’m so sad.

I agree completely with your assessment of Putin. And you will not find one word I’ve written in either of these threads which counters that fact. That you haven’t noticed this is both revealing and truly disappointing.

@HP – This is what I’ve noticed :

“How long would he last as a “humanitarian”? I mean the top at the Kremlin isn’t exactly a kind and gentle environment.”

”...And put yourself in Putin’s shoes. You watched the Soviet Union dissolve with the silly promise of democracy. There wasn’t a hope in hell of it happening minus the sort of assistance from the West we gave the Germans, the Japanese and every other participant in the war—except one! Instead, he and anyone who could, snatched as much as they could of whatever wasn’t nailed down and whisked it to hide in the West. He just took the abbreviated route to capitalism only with Russian “capitalists” the criminality is more or less out in the open.”

I’m not sure what you think you’re explaining, or to who. I just know that when I look at what’s really happening it seems very different than what you see.

Perhaps I need to specify something. This isn’t a question asking: is Putin a victim of circumstance? It’s more along the lines of: who other than the devil should you expect to rule in hell?

@HP – Hell is full of people with excuses.

You regard that paragraph you chose to quote as an excuse? Or perhaps, “sympathy for the devil”? The point to my questions as well as my “explaining” my thoughts is not about Putin as victim. It is exactly the opposite. If you rise to the top in Russia and stay there, you are by definition diabolical and sinister. No other explanation should be considered. And as for playing the hand he’s been dealt? He’s at the top. Loser is not what we’re talking about. In the end, I want to understand his motives. And I’m tired of all these versions of “he’s mean”. And hell is also full of airheads.

@HP – So that’s your real point – We’re all stupid, clueless, American airheads?

And that just leaves you to explain to why Putin is only doing what he has to do, and it’s actually our fault.

What a responsibility.

Somone should let the Ukrainians know you’re handling everything.

Again, I’m giving you my views on motives for his behavior. And I welcome yours. But you insult us both with “he’s bad and I have proof”.

@HP – You only got the answer you asked for.

It obviously doesn’t suit you. But that doesn’t mean anyone owes you an apology.

Far from it. It is I who must apologize to you. Forgive me for clearly wasting your time. Go in peace.

@HP – Peace is a good thing.

And sleep is handy too. Good night.

No wonder Russia wants to get their hands on it (again)



Today, here is how Ukraine ranks in Europe and the world:

1st in Europe in proven recoverable reserves of uranium ores;

2nd place in Europe and 10th place in the world in terms of titanium ore reserves;

2nd place in the world in terms of explored reserves of manganese ores (2.3 billion tons, or 12% of the world’s reserves);

2nd largest iron ore reserves in the world (30 billion tons);

2nd place in Europe in terms of mercury ore reserves;

3rd place in Europe (13th place in the world) in shale gas reserves (22 trillion cubic meters)

4th in the world by the total value of natural resources;

7th place in the world in coal reserves (33.9 billion tons)

Ukraine is an agricultural country:

1st in Europe in terms of arable land area;

3rd place in the world by the area of black soil (25% of world’s volume);

1st place in the world in exports of sunflower and sunflower oil;

2nd place in the world in barley production and 4th place in barley exports;

3rd largest producer and 4th largest exporter of corn in the world;

4th largest producer of potatoes in the world;

5th largest rye producer in the world;

5th place in the world in bee production (75,000 tons);

8th place in the world in wheat exports;

9th place in the world in the production of chicken eggs;

16th place in the world in cheese exports.

Ukraine can meet the food needs of 600 million people.

Ukraine is an industrialized country:

1st in Europe in ammonia production;

2—е Europe’s and 4th largest natural gas pipeline system in the world (142.5 bln cubic meters of gas throughput capacity in the EU);

3rd largest in Europe and 8th largest in the world in terms of installed capacity of nuclear power plants;

3rd place in Europe and 11th in the world in terms of rail network length (21,700 km);

3rd place in the world (after the U.S. and France) in production of locators and locating equipment;

3rd largest iron exporter in the world

4th largest exporter of turbines for nuclear power plants in the world;

4th world’s largest manufacturer of rocket launchers;

4th place in the world in clay exports

4th place in the world in titanium exports

8th place in the world in exports of ores and concentrates;

9th place in the world in exports of defence industry products;

10th largest steel producer in the world (32.4 million tons).

@HP. Putin’s replacement is worse than Putin? You don’t know that and you can’t know that. The dice get rolled and we see what comes up. That’s life. That’s fate. We can only hope for the best, or better than what we’ve got.