• Nurgus@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Unpopular opinion: We should offer all dictators and their friends a safe retirement package.

    Cornered dictators are dangerous. They will always keep escalating because the alternative isn’t just their neck on the block, it’s all of their friends and family too.

    • Randelung@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      That’s exactly why total annihilation of a populace is always a bad idea. Putin sucks, but the world must be ready to integrate the Russian population after everything’s done or we’ll be back where we started in a few years. Germany taught that lesson, but look at all the historians crying in the corner.

        • Furbag@pawb.social
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          2 days ago

          Yes but that was supposed to be the magnanimous and merciful “safe retirement package” as an alternative to certain death at the hands of an executioner. Exile wasn’t a death sentence. Life definitely wouldn’t have been easy, but he had servants who joined him in exile to help keep him alive and happy.

          Instead, he found a way back to France and the first army that arrived to intercept him immediately put themselves under his command again. That’s the danger of allowing warmongering dictators to have their cushy exit strategy - they may not see it as a way out of ultimate punishment, but as a reset button.

          • ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works
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            2 days ago

            I’m less worried about that in this case. Napoleon was one of the greatest generals in human history, he was inspiring. Putin has been failing to conquer the poorest country in Europe for over four years.

            • Furbag@pawb.social
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              2 days ago

              With the frankly shocking number of Americans who espouse their unwavering support for Trump, no matter what he says or does, I have very little faith in humanity’s collective ability to judge leaders objectively.

        • Krumm@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Holy whoosh batman.

          Gotta chat with air traffic controllers for how much airspace there is between you and this comment chain.

    • Smaile@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      Putin had that posibiblty by not doing what he did, giving this option to them means they have no reason to not try this shit, I disagree firmly with this idea

    • abc@suppo.fi
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      2 days ago

      I don’t think most of them would do it if they had to give up their power and wealth.

      • Nurgus@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        It’s not for when things are going well. It’s for when their backs are against the wall. They are very heavily incentivtized to fight to the last no matter the cost.

          • Nurgus@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            It’s always rational at a personal level. Everyone thinks they’re doing the right thing for some combination of themselves, their friends and their allies.

    • skaffi@infosec.pub
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      2 days ago

      I absolutely agree. What good is retribution, in the face of all the untold future injustices and suffering that could be prevented by allowing dictators and their ilk to simply… stop being dictators?

      At the end of the day, “just desserts” really aren’t all that they’re cracked up to be. Tasty as they may be, they are just desserts. Have a strudel or a pudding instead.

    • OrteilGenou@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I appreciate the sentiment.

      I disagree.

      They have never hesitated to chop necks on blocks, why shouldn’t they be Romanoved out of the gene pool?

    • anewfox@lemmy.zip
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      2 days ago

      how about a free prescription for lake city quiet pills with unlimited refills?

    • DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      We didn’t do such for Hitler and Mussolini.

      Besides, Putin can take refuge in China or North Korea, maybe even Belarus, Cuba, or Nicaragua.

      • ms.lane@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        We didn’t do such for Hitler

        Not so sure about that…

        Mussolini, sure. Hitler may have died an old man in Argentina.

    • ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      I don’t know man, this sounds good at first but think of how many thousands of lives would be saved if we let a handful of evil people go unpunished.

      • abc@suppo.fi
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        2 days ago

        The most probable “punishment” that Putin is going to get at this rate is dying while sleeping without any pain.

    • sunbytes@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Think of how many people (Russian, Ukrainian or otherwise) who have lost a loved one because of this man’s selfishness.

      How many people out of that group would give their lives to take his?

      He might live the rest of his natural lifespan, but he’ll probably do most of it behind bulletproof glass and security cordons.

  • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    One source said Putin believes ending the war without capturing at least all of the Donbas could threaten his survival.

    Even if all of Donbas is captured, he had relegated all of Russia into irrelevance for generations to come. Russia will become a vassal to China. The future Russians will despise him for it. Putin may not personally care what people think of him, but he certainly cares what will happen to Russia’s prestige.

  • ms.lane@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    About two weeks ago, another Penza resident reported that her 61-year-old husband, who has no teeth, suffers from hearing problems, and has a disabled arm, was summoned to the military enlistment office on Skladskaya Street. According to her, he was suffocated with a plastic bag and forced to sign a contract.

    She said that her husband had previously fought in the war in 2022 and returned home after being wounded. Their son has also been mobilized.

    .ml users will continue to support Russia and Putin though…

      • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        It looks like there’s one who downvoted many people. I’m assuming it just hasn’t been seen by them yet. We’re also in .world, which is defederated from them, so they won’t see it without alts.

          • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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            2 days ago

            Is it not? I know it is from hexbear. I thought .ml was too. It’s hard to keep track of all that, especially since I’m from a different instance.

            • kuiskaaja@lemmy.ml
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              2 days ago

              lemmygrad.ml is defederated, not lemmy.ml

              there are a lot of people that are quite far to the left on this instance, including me, because i want to engage with hexbear and also the normie stuff on the liberal subreddits, but it’s not a “tankie” instance like some people want to make it out to be when they get intellectually challenged by people outside of their comfy bubble.

              it kinda sucks though, cus of some people that have lost the plot, pretty much everyone here who isn’t aggressively anti-china and anti-soviet union and think they have accomplished good things alongside some bad things, gets branded as an evil tankie or in some cases even what they call a “red fascist”.

              a lot of people, especially from .world, when they see someone from .ml disagree with them on something, they start looking to fulfill their own criteria for a “tankie” and if they fill some of that criteria, they completely dismiss everything you say because you’re a “tankie” and that means you’re irrational and nothing that you say is worth considering. it really sucks, but it is what it is.

              edit: but i’ll add that there are non far-left people on this instance too, people that don’t engage with the politics but have some other reasons to be here. it’s not a political instance, so that is going to be the case.

              • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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                2 days ago

                pretty much everyone here who isn’t aggressively anti-china and anti-soviet union

                This is pretty indicative of the issue. The Soviet Union hasn’t existed for quite a while now! The people defending modern day authoritarian Russia are no Communists, or Marxist-leninists. They’re Authoritarians. They say they’re leftist, but they support the oligarchies oppressing the people. That is the furthest thing from leftist.

                • kuiskaaja@lemmy.ml
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                  2 days ago

                  most of the people you’re talking about only support russia critically, as in support their anti-imperialist efforts.

                  i personally appreciate russia’s aid of iran against the united states and israel, alongside their support for cuba in this inhumane blockade by the united states and their fight against the ISIS in the sahel. that’s basically all i can appreciate them for. a lot of what they do is messed up

                  some people are of the opinion that the russian war on ukraine is an anti-imperialist act as ukraine was joining nato, but i disagree with this out of principle as i’m against all aggressive wars. i can see where they’re coming from, but i disagree with it.

                  a lot of people have this misconception that these claimed “tankies” are russia fans in everything they do, but in reality, their support for russia is quite limited. i recommend giving these people a good listen to get immersed in what they really believe in and clear your misconceptions

  • Kirp123@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Because sending 400 000 more people to die will just make them love him even more.

  • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Imagine making the decision of sacrificing hundreds of thousands of additional lives to delay your own inevitable demise caused by your own astronomical fuck up.

    Putin is a cowardly bitch.

    • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Honestly it need not even be his demise. There are any number of countries he could flee to, countries without extradition treaties and willing to look the other way for any rich despot looking for a safe harbor. Some small Middle East dictatorship seems a logical choice. But even China would probably offer him refuge. Even North Korea if he’s truly desperate. Hell, if he offered to end the war tomorrow, most Western countries would probably be willing to offer Putin amnesty, as painful as that would be. If the choice is between holding Putin accountable and saving another hundred thousand innocent lives, I’ll let Putin go.

      What he is truly afraid of is losing power. He can keep his life. He can keep at least a lot of his wealth. The one thing he can’t flee the country with is his power.

      In the modern world, dictators never need fear their personal survival. International pariah dictators all support each other. There’s a reason Trump cozies up to despots. The dictators all realize that any of them could be deposed, and that losing power will result flight or death. They’re all paranoid and afraid of losing power and their lives. So they all backstop each other and provide what assistance they can. And what even the poorest dictator can offer is protection from extradition.

      • Squizzy@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        No self respecting western country would take him The russians would kill him if he went to the US. Whoever takes over will decide if he is returned from an ally. Stalin had much tighter control and he couldnt leave office because of te same fears. He would give up the power if it meant he wouldnt die immediately. They would hang every failure on him, publicly trial him and sentence him the rest of his natural life in a camp.

      • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        I don’t think you’re correct. They may not have extradition treaties, but they also don’t want to negatively affect relations with the successor for nothing in return. They aren’t going to defend Putin, because most of the world, and especially the Russian successor, would be after him. There’s just no benefit. They may not extradite, but they won’t host him either (outside of a prison). He’d likely either be held in captivity or executed, if he isn’t extradited, or let The Hague take care of him.

    • kurmudgeon@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Imagine blindly following such an asshole and allowing your own fathers, sons, brothers to blindly become part of the meat grinder because you’re too ignorant to fucking rise up and get rid of this dipshit.

      • GreenBeard@lemmy.ca
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        3 days ago

        We’re still talking Putin right? Not Trump’s Iran debacle? I suppose it’s technically not a meat grinder… yet… we’ll see what he does after the midterms.

        • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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          2 days ago

          As much as I hate Trump, he’s got nothing on Putin yet. A few dozen American soldiers have died at most, and many suffered, but it’s nothing like what’s happening with Russian soldiers and infrastructure. People are not being drafted yet either. He’s cost a lot of money, but there’s not hundreds of thousands of men dying in an invasion.

              • GreenBeard@lemmy.ca
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                2 days ago

                Sure, but psychologically he’s 12. Gambling on a man who admittedly has one foot over the grave and the other on a banana peel dropping dead before millions of Americans get a dirt nap in war(s) none of them want to be a part of seems… reckless. I know gambling is more American than mom and apple pie, especially lately, but maybe don’t put your children up for collateral to a loan shark.

  • ironpangolin29@lemmy.ca
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    2 days ago

    Something is coming we do not know about. 😏 The billionaire/ultra wealthy class have been erratic the past couple years, plundering all the wealth they can thinking it matters.

  • Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    3 days ago

    The actual quote:

    One source said Putin believes ending the war without capturing at least all of Donbas could threaten his survival. “They will hang me,” he reportedly told people close to him.

    So this isn’t him saying “I think we’re gonna lose the war and I’ll get hanged” it’s more “if I don’t completely win the war I may get hanged”

    There’s no indication that he thinks they’re going to be defeated. I think he recognizes that at worst this will result in a pyrrhic victory and they walk away with a large chunk of Ukraine, not Ukraine defeating them and driving the Russians back out.

    • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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      3 days ago

      Yeah. It does show where the political motivations are currently in the war and why it isn’t going to be over any time soon. There is no politically acceptable end to the war for either side, so the war of attrition continues.

    • DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      at worst this will result in a pyrrhic victory and they walk away with a large chunk of Ukraine

      They won’t be easily walking away from 1000s of drones.