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dostoyevsky-official · 2 years

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do most Russians generally seem to understand that Putin is full of it? I imagine they can’t do much about it either way but just wondering

most russians support putin. the open questions are: will they keep supporting him after war with ukraine? what do they think of DNR/LNR independence? and the answer is that it is too early to really say, although it's known that war with ukraine is incredibly unpopular in russia. the people i know are shocked and appalled by putin's speech, but i'm a little bit of an outlier.

here is an interview with the director of Levada-Center, Russia's independent polling agency, translated and edited by me:

Is it possible to really talk about unqualified support for DNR/LNR independence among Russians?

Of course we don't have any research on the latest events, but the data we've collected in the last few years, in particular, at the end of 2021, allow us to more or less understand how people react. They have several ideas about the conflict and what's happening in general. First: America is to blame for everything. Not Ukraine, but America and the West. They pressure Ukraine, which is plotting something against the unrecognized republics, and Russia should interfere on their [the unrecognized republics'] side, because they are the Russian-speaking population, people with Russian passports, in general - our people. It's a situation where our people get beaten - of course, we need to help and protect our people.

Over the past seven years we have regularly asked people how they see the fate of these republics. Some—a little more than a quarter—said that these republics should be independent; a quarter said that they should be incorporated into Russia. About the same number of people said that they should remain part of Ukraine. The rest had difficulty answering.

That is to say, there is no consensus. But when we asked: what if these republics ask to be part of Russia, should they be annexed, about 70% said that yes, they should. We have to help, we have to accept them. So I think now that the decision has been made, and it is presented as a threat to the Russian-speaking brotherly population, not even to the brotherly population, but to the same people, like in 2014, the majority will most likely support [this decision].

What are people's attitudes toward possible military action?

It's hard to predict, because what can we compare it to? We can only compare with 2008 [when there was a war with Georgia].

In Georgia everything happened very quickly, but here, if, God forbid, something starts, it will be long, with casualties on all sides. And it is difficult to predict how long it might last.

In one of your columns you wrote that society is "internally prepared for conflict. Specifically for a military conflict?

In essence, yes. Again, society is subconsciously prepared, because there is already so much talk about it. But this does not mean that attitudes will not change, that there will not be fatigue. It is impossible to predict how the situation will develop, how people will react to it. Initially, there will probably be mobilization around the leader. And then what?

Does the government care about ratings when making decisions?

Of course, they pay attention to ratings, but what Putin does in foreign policy, he does not do for ratings, but rather because he can afford it. The public will not judge him, and the ratings will not seriously suffer.

If you compare the situation with 2014, how has it changed?

Now the level of anxiety, the fear of war is higher. There's also a difference in the state of civil society—back then it was freer, more visible, there was an anti-war movement, there were opposition politicians who had support after 2011-2012 in part of society: [Boris] Nemtsov, [Alexei] Navalny, the whole bunch. Now there is no one, except Yabloko, which is not so popular, so to speak. And rallies are banned. That's why we don't see an anti-war movement: both independent politicians and the independent media have been thinned out.

Have Russians' attitudes toward Ukraine changed over the years?

In general, the attitude toward Ukraine is 50-50. The attitude toward Ukrainians is predominantly good: they are ordinary people, they do not decide anything, they have suffered. There is definitely a bad attitude with regards to the leadership of Ukraine. When [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky was elected, there were hopes for improvement, but they quickly melted away. "Ukraine is not self-sufficient:" people mostly agree with this. But no one really cares about Ukraine.

here is a new article by the NYT on the issue:

For months, Russians of all political stripes tuned out American warnings that their country could soon invade Ukraine, dismissing them as an outlandish concoction in the West’s disinformation war with the Kremlin. But this week, after several television appearances by Mr. Putin stunned and scared some longtime observers, that sense of casual disregard has turned into a deep unease.

Pollsters say that most Russians probably support Mr. Putin’s formal recognition of the Russian-backed territories in eastern Ukraine this week, especially because they had no choice in the matter and because no significant political force inside the country has advocated against it.

But going to war is one of Russians’ greatest fears, according to the Levada Center, an independent pollster. And now that possibility has lurched closer toward becoming reality.

[...] “This hatred that you could read in him so clearly, it wasn’t fake,” said Gleb Pavlovsky, a political analyst and former adviser to Mr. Putin, referring to the Russian leader’s angry speech and a cryptic televised meeting with his Security Council on Monday. Mr. Pavlovsky acknowledged that this week’s events had forced him to revise his skepticism that the president would go to war against Ukraine. “This is not a game,” he said.

[...] Mr. Putin’s address on Monday, for all its emotion, was in tune with the grievances of many older Russians still smarting from the poverty that followed the fall of the Soviet Union and the lost prestige that accompanied it.

But for others, especially younger people, the sudden threat of war and of another downward spiral in relations with the West feel like the imminent loss of much of the freedom and opportunity that remains in Russia.

And yet there is desperately little that Russians can do to change their country’s trajectory. [...] In society, opposition to this aggressive policy has been muted. The liberal-minded activists who could have been expected to lead an antiwar movement have largely been exiled or imprisoned.

[...] In central Moscow this week, Aleksei Ivanov, 53, who works in a construction company, reflected that even the Crimea annexation had made him “neither richer nor happier.” Ever since, he said, it has felt like Russia’s leadership runs the country focused on their own goals.

“They want something, they have some plans,” he said. “Common people don’t fully get their true intentions.”

#ukraine #russia

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hetalia-headcanons-and-scenarios · 3 years

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General headcanons: Allies

I'll be posting my general headcanons for the main characters (so allies and axis), if y'all want for some other characters I'll do it no problem. In my headcanons I'll put mainly, sexuality, age, professions (or in some cases if they are students), and random headcanons as in to fit in some sort of human au, it is mainly for me to use as a referent while writing.

I'm sorry if some characters sound too out of themselves I'll try to do my best.

(also even if I assign sexualities don't take them too much into account, as I can mold them for different scenarios)

America - Alfred Jones

- straight, I just don't see him as anything else

- 19 years old

- college student, has a scholarship due to his athletic ability

- is studying to become an astronomer, originally wanted to be an astronaut but due to his sight he couldn't

- very cool and popular dude

- is a nerd, but he makes it cool

- loves marvel movies and the comics (yeah he is team marvel)

- even if he is popular he is very reserved when it comes to love, he believes in soulmates and wishes to find his

- he is a dumb smart person

- like he would solve an almost impossible equation and the next minute he will ask you what's Obama's last name

- also makes shitty decisions

- like he will jump out off a cliff if dared to

- mega competitive

- he really wants to be the number one on everything

- even if it's not something he is good at or even enjoys

England - Arthur Kirkland

- bisexual with a slight preference for men

- 26 years old

- semi-famous author and college professor of literature

- very polite to strangers

- but very grumpy

- has a strong temper

- very headstrong and competitive

- has the ability and will fight you

- has no patience with his students (except for the ones that read his books)

- an introverted

- enjoys staying home a lot

- loves books and reading (as it wasn't obvious enough)

- can't hold his liquor so he avoids drinking too much

- fights people on the internet

- huge cat person

France - Francis Bonnefoy

- bisexual, no preference

- 27 years old

- main chef at a fancy french restaurant

- very interesting man

- really nice

- kind of flirty, maybe he goes a little bit overboard sometimes

- very instinctive

- has no difficulty reading people like he knows how you are feeling by just looking at you

- also a sarcastic jerk sometimes

- fights people online

- will correct you on your french

- but don't you dare correct him

- if you correct him he'll be grumpy the rest of the day

- holds grudges

- dramatic af

- knows how to cry on command

- gets emotional watching romcoms

China - Yao Wang

- bisexual with a slight male preference

- 29 years old

- chain restaurant owner

- acts older than he really is

- has some health problems

- loves cooking

- loves cute things

- enjoys hyper pop surprisingly

- very social but has little patience with people

- he can also be very immature about some things

- but he is a mature man in general

- very good with money

- but he does online shopping as a coping mechanism

- which is not good

- he is working on it

- he will talk about anything, even if he doesn't know anything about it

- can't eat alone

- respectful king

- a king in general we love him

Russia - Ivan Braginsky

- bisexual with a preference for men

- 24 years old

- surgeon

- very intimidating man

- but he is a sweetheart

- has a lot of difficulties communicating in an effective manner which causes a lot of misunderstandings

- even if he has some aggressive tendencies he can control himself

- he loves people but he doesn't really understand them

- has a pretty traumatic childhood but is working on bettering himself

- he is a family man, but due to some problems it's been some years since he spoke to his sisters

- extremely nice to everyone he likes

- he tries to follow the rules as best as he can

- is scared of hurting others

- a little bit awkward

- he hates being awkward tho

Canada - Mathew Williams

- gay gay homosexual

- 19 years old

- university student, and ski monitor in winter

- extremely nice person

- very soft spoken (he is working on it)

- very competitive as well

- he is majoring in education and wants to be a teacher

- loves children

- wants to be a dad so bad

- he is shy

- like really shy

- great therapist

- mom friend

- always carries bandages

- and medicine

- loves animals and nature

- very sporty

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echo-three-one · 3 years

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Whatever It Takes : RELOADED

Ghost fights his hurt feelings and discovers something in the process. Could this be the key to locating Samantha?

Table of Contents

Previous Chapter : Delayed Flight

Chapter 18 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

Lurking in the Shadows

Simon "Ghost" Riley

Task Force 141 - Disbanded

400 meters east of Safe House 110197, Brazil

Ghost checked his phone by the hotel nightstand. It's 3:34 am and not a single notification from the team. They probably believed he was out to get intel and didn't bother to look for him. He was fine with that.

"What time is it?" a female groan murmured beside him as she circled her soft arms around his bare chest.

"3:34" he whispered, making the girl giggle as he ran his hand on her hair.

"We aren't supposed to be cuddling like this, remember?" She said, sighing as she got up slowly. Ghost immediately followed, groaning as well.

"I'm sorry Alexandra. It's just…"

"Don't worry. I know this sounds too odd for you at the moment. To be honest I got carried away too…" the interpol agent frowned and wrapped herself up with a towel, making her way to the showers. Ghost trailed his eyes at her and sighed.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Simon?" he murmured and turned to his phone, rereading their conversation.

It was as clear as day that they both agreed to this whole "No strings attached" thing together and he only said yes because he was too broken about France. He needed someone who could treat him well but this was the closest thing he could find.

Sure, he had no regrets about the woman, she was amazing, but while his body was happy, the heart yearned for something more. It was getting worse every day especially when he woke up to see the two lovebirds chasing against each other around the house.

Just as he placed his phone beside hers, Alexandra's notification tone beeped and her screen lit up, as it showed a message from an unknown number.

Simon wanted to take a peek but the message itself is encrypted, his mind wandered more as the security detail of such a message meant that it was of high importance. It might've been from the EMP machinery they're still investigating on which could also be a lead to Nero. He's debating whether he's going to ask her for information just as he intended to, but he's scared that she'll think he's just using her.

"Hey, you got a message." Simon called her from the bed.

"Who's it from?" she asked, her voice was faint as the shower sounds concealed it. Ghost wore his pants and grabbed her phone, leaning by the bathroom door as he announced the details.

"It's encrypted." he murmured. The water stopped pouring and the shower curtains peeked open.

She didn't even bother how she looked as she quickly wiped off her fingers and grabbed her phone.

"Shit." she cursed scrolling to the contents of text, which Ghost observed as very lengthy.

"Wh-" he paused and hesitated. He didn't tell her of their little rogue act so any questions might come off as suspicious.

"Shepherd wants to exchange Samantha for the I.P. Address." she mumbled, looking at Ghost.

"What's his deal?"

"To fund his EMP Nuke that he'll get from Nero." she replied as she continued scrolling.

"With New York already in chaos, the President would most likely be desperate enough to fund this, now that the economy is in shambles."

"What's stopping them from fighting against the New York attacks?"

"We have no idea where the small EMP interferences are, and our strongest lead is that the missing persons are being manually controlled to travel and situate themselves near the stock exchange where they blindly emit blasts through their phones. Like the one we found back in Europe."

"They walk and interact like normal civilians, so with millions of people around the city. It'll look like we're looking for a needle on a haystack." She added, wrapping herself with a towel and quickly dressed up.

"Where are you going now?" He asked as she walked past him.

"I'll try to talk some sense into someone who can talk some sense to the president. The EMP nuke is not a joke." She spat, the worry in her eyes made Ghost want to console her. But now was not the time for that.

"Can I ask a question?" Ghost said.

"Be quick." She said, putting on her jacket and collecting her stuff.

"Do you have any idea where Shepherd is?"

The sun wasn't up when Ghost decided to return to the Safe house. He expected that it'll still be closed but it looked like Price and Jack were already sipping coffee by the balcony.

"Where have you been?" Price asked, his tone wasn't that strict so Ghost decided to lie.

"I just took a walk around the town." he replied, hoping that there will be no more follow up questions.

"For Twelve hours. Okay." Price noted as Ghost got inside the house. Ever since he started this little team of rogue soldiers, Price became protective. And Ghost knew that it was bound to happen. Any injuries under his care will not be funded by any higher department and they need to be careful.

He immediately accessed their little command center and began searching. He got two locations to research on, and he needed to act fast.

He did the best he could, hacking into public and unsecured CCTV footage, squinting his eyes over the poor quality videos just to look for Samantha. She was last spotted in Moscow about 30 minutes ago. Ghost had to admit his cryllic knowledge is a little low and his fingers were trembling in panic. He needed help.

He slowly creaked the door open and saw Alex, Soap and Roach peacefully sleeping, Roach was upside down and clung onto Alex's metal leg, a sight worth taking a photo on but he didn't. It almost made him guilty to wake John up, but knowing the guy, he'll understand the urgency.

"Psst." he nudged his shoulders. It felt very awkward now that he's still frustrated about the guy winning France's heart but he needed to act professional, besides no one but Alex knows about his emotions toward the duo.

Soap groaned and slowly opened his eyes, flinching at the skull face that woke him up.

"Bollocks!" he exclaimed, making Alex and Gary shuffle and reposition while Ghost quickly pulled his mask and shushed him.

"Sorry Soap. But I need your help." he whispered as he slowly got up and collected himself following him outside.

"What about?" his heavy accent echoed against the quiet halls while he rubbed sleep off his eyes.

"Russian Alphabet."

"Okay." he murmured lazily. "What for?"

"A lead on Samantha." he said. The expression on Soap's face changed from sleepy-scotsman to what-are-we-waiting-for as he jumped to the control center and began typing.

The two teamed up together translating codes of texts and typing commands on different kinds of webcams all across Russia, all they had was a barely readable plate number of a black van which allegedly housed Samantha and three of Shepherd's men which were designated to protect her.

Hours passed and they barely got through any possible lead. The rest of the team woke up one by one and slowly helped the duo. Once Alex woke up, they got another additional pair of hands to help and it made them more efficient. If only Ghost knew that Alex knew Russian, it would've been less awkward. But then again, he needed this kind of interaction with Soap, so he could finally be comfortable around them.

Then there it was. The first solid lead with Samantha's face on it. A hotel not far from the airport. Alex couldn't help but creep his head close to the monitor, his eyes had that longing look on the blurry screen. He was sure it's her.

They later reported their findings to Price and Jack, and it was indeed a lead worth pursuing. But when asked how they got such info overnight, they all turned to Ghost to which he said that it's still within the phone's encrypted messages. Price and Jack nodded and Ghost sighed in relief. He didn't want anyone to know about his little fling.

"Then let's have breakfast and have a little briefing after. I'll make calls to Nikolai to arrange us a visit to his homeland." Price announced as everyone, especially Alex's, face lit up and felt energized.

HAPPY TRAVELER INN PARKING AREA

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

8:52 PM

Ghost set up his little command set up at the back of the van. The plan was easy, Alex, Soap and Roach sneaked inside her room, silently knocking down the three guards, taking their clothes and escorting her back to the van to safety. While Price would take down their driver and replace the getaway vehicle with this one.

The group of five didn't bring any weapons so as to not raise suspicion, after all they're just sneaking Samantha from Shepherd's hands. No need for violence.

"Can you hear me, lads?" Ghost muttered softly against the microphone.

"Loud and clear, mate." Gary responded.

"Yes pal." Alex commented.

"Aye lad. I can hear ye." Soap added.

Price gave a thumbs up from the driver's seat. Ghost pressed some buttons and after a few moments, he now had access to the whole building's cameras and some controls.

"Chuckles, I'm in." Ghost commented to which Gary snickered. It looked like he was the only one who understood the reference.

"Okay lads. The janitors are on their break. They're inside that incoming elevator." Ghost informed as he looked at the live feed. The three carefully grabbed the janitors without intention of hurting them. Carrying some rope and cloth, they quickly tied the janitors and hid them on a blind spot away from the camera's eyes. Ghost could hear Alex muttering something to the three in Russian, he couldn't translate it fully but it had the word sorry, don't worry and okay in it. After that, they immediately wore their janitor uniforms and the janitors were already on their way to the 10th floor.

"I don't have cameras inside the rooms. But your hallway is clear."

"Okay. Your ride home is ready." Price muttered, Ghost never noticed the old man exit the van but apparently he already took care of the driver.

"Great. It's all on you three now. Let's save Samantha." Ghost said as the cameras show three janitors knocking on Samantha's room.

Next Chapter : Vlad the Janitor

Notification Squad my Beloved

@samatedeansbroccoli @smokeywhalee @ricinbach @enderio @beemybee @whimsywispsblog

#horrayfic #john soap mactavish #john price #simon ghost riley #alex echo 3 1 #gary roach sanderson #whateverittakes #horRAYfic

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bittersweetsongbirdsworld · 5 years

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So Show Me (I'll Show You)~ NamJin Social Media AU

There everyone sat, knee to knee in a uncomfortable booth that no one was comfortable with. With the two youngest on stage, singing terribly into the microphone, the small group laughed hysterically. Jin, Sangwoo, Hoseok, Namjoon, and Jimin sat at the booth, the second eldest missing all the fun. Yoongi was deeply missed by everyone, Jimin seeming to be the one taking it the worst.

Jin reached over and grabbed the sleeve of Jimin's shirt, grabbing the younger boy's attention. The sad eyes that looked back at Jin made his heart swell with sympathy, but Yoongi came first. Jin motioned for Jimin to scoot closer, which he complied by basically pressing his body against Jin's.

"Yes, Jin hyung," Jimin muttered under his breath, loud enough for Jin to hear, but no one else. "You called?"

"Yoongi told me about your fight-." A loud groan came from Jimin as he rubbed his eyes with his small hands. "You hurt him Jiminie. He told you about his father, correct?"

Jimin just shook his head as he looked down at his hands, his tired eyes staring intently at the rings that decorated his hands. A small habit Jimin does when he's nervous, especially around his elders. He'd avoid eye contact, mess with his hands, and bite his lip. It was cute indeed- and Jin is going soft again!

"Yoongi's father was mentally abused towards Yoongi. He dreamed of being a producer, but his father disagreed heavily on his dream. They always fought. His father would grab his shoulders and shake him, trying to get it through to his son that producing wouldn't get him anywhere. He wanted Yoongi to be a lawyer. Can you imagine that? Our little Yoongi being a strick, scary lawyer."

Jimin let out a weak chuckle as he covered his mouth with a small hand, his other wrapped around his glass. He sniffled, took a sip of his drink, before bring his focus back to Jin. He motioned for Jin to continue with his hand, making Jin smile in the process.

"Well, the fight got physically one day. Yoongi's father grabbed him by his shoulders, hoisted him up in the air before he proceeded to slam Yoongi on the kitchen table, breaking both the table and Yoongi's arm. That's when Yoongi decided to run away. He drained his life saving, booked the earliest plane to Korea, and became a famous snowboarder instead. If you listen very closely, you can hear his accent."

A wide eyed Jimin looked back at Jin, his large brown eyes full of wonder, but sorrow at the same time. The color drained from Jimin's face as Jin continued on.

"His parents are Korean, but Yoongi grew up in Russia. He mastered both Russian and Korean, speaking both of them fluently. He worked his ass off for what he has today, and I doubt he regrets dating you. Understand something though, Jiminie. Yoongi is sensitive, very sensitive. What his father has done to him has Yoongi confused, but also afraid of people. He has social anxiety and often has panic attacks. You've gottem lucky and haven't seen one it action, but I hate. All I ask you is that please be careful with him. Take your time and don't rush things with him. After all, he does ca-" The sound of Jin's phone vibrating on the table top cut Jin off.

Strange, he wasn't expecting anyone to call him. He grabbed his phone, turned it over, and looked at the number. He was even more confused when he recognized the number. He quickly excused himself before rushing out of the loud room, leaving behind a confused Jimin.

"Yes, Hello?"

"Kim SeokJin? This is Dr. Kim."

___________________

The phone call didn't last long. Jin was done talking within seconds, Jin throwing his phone into his pocket before he ran back into the karaoke room. He waved down Taehyung and Jeongguk, both stopping mid scream as they looked at the pale man. Normally the two would ignore him and continue, but the look of dread on Jin's face made them shutter.

Jin had everyone out of the building within seconds, Jin yelling to Hoseok as he pushed Jimin and Namjoon to his car. Everyone was beyond confused. They were pissed, but also fearful.

"Hoseok, take your BoyToy, Taehyung, and Jeongguk. Follow behind me in your car. Jimin and Namjoon." Jin turned to the two shaking males. "You're riding with me."

"What's going on, Jin hyung?" Jimin sputtered as he reached for his phone, which was sitting in Jin's front seat. He turned it on, saw his notification, and gasped loudly. He gave Jin a look and that's when Jin knew Jimin already knew.

"What did Yoongi text you?" Jin whispered as he watched tears start to fall from Jimin's large eyes.

"He said, 'I forgive you.' What happened to Yoongi hyung?" Jimin yelled as he stormed over to Jin. "The hospital called you. I know they called you because they called me. What happened to him?" Jimin spat as his hands balled up.

Jin put his hands up and took a step back. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he faced the group. Now was not the time for tears, but it's ready too late. Tears streamed down Jin's cheeks as he looked closely at everyone.

"Yoongi's been in a life threatening accident. He hit 'Chocolate Chips' which are rocks that stick out of the snow. They caused him to lose control and go right over the edge of the mountain. He tumbled hundreds of feet till he landed on a pile of snow. God-" Jin choked on air, silent, silver rivers tricking down his face.

Jimin was a sobbing mess. He was on his knees, his jeans dirty with the sand and mud that covered the pavement. He had his hands clasped over his mouth as to muffle his shaky sobs.

"I- He broke a few ribs, but punctured his lung with side rib. He cracked his head open, fractured his neck, broke his shoulder, and more. Please, just get in the vehicles so we can see him," Jin pleaded, Taehyung and Jeongguk helping a sobbing Jimin to his feet.

"I'll take Sangwoo and Namjoon. You take the three youngest. Lead the way, Jin hyung," Hoseok said with a strong voice, even when his whole body was shaking.

Everyone got into said vehicles before speeding off, Jin going twenty over the speed limit, Hoseok clearly keeping up with him. The three sat in the back, Taehyung and Jeongguk comforting a shaking, crying Jimin as they cried with him. Jin would be lying if he said he wasn't crying as well.

When they reached the hospital, everything bailed out of their car and practically ran into the hospital. The sliding glass doors felt like they took forever, which just pissed Jimin off even more. He pushed past everyone, walked up to the desk, and in the sweetest voice he could muster, he simply said-

"What room is Min Yoongi in?"

"Min Yoongi? Let me pull him up real quick." The lady behind the desk typed away on her computer, her brow pinched together as she looked at the screen.

"I'm sorry sir, but Min Yoongi has passed away not that long ago. I'm sorry for your loss."

Oh fuck.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After his terrible accident on the ice, Kim Namjoon must give up his passion for skating and find a new career. Not wanting to give up the cold, but thrilling adventures of winter, he decided to hire himself a snowboarding instructor. Well, he's in luck. By mere coincidence, he is set up with the gold medalist, Kim Seokjin, champion of snowboarding for the last five years. Will these two be able to keep things between them professional, or will one of them slip up at the worlds biggest game?

16/20

#yoonmin #namjin #taekook #jhope #original character #bts angst #angst #love #bts fluff #bts #fluffy #ice skating #ice skating au #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #snowboarding #snowboarding au #bts suga

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sineala · 6 years

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Hi! I came up with a question but it might sound like I want to not do research and simply ask, but it's not like that, I'm just curious. Mostly. I read you different verse comparisons and loved them and I've wanted to ask for some time now. How do you think 616 Tony would react to MCU civil war conflict? Not to Bucky stuff, to the accords and not talking it out and to MCU Steve's position?

I wasn’t really going to get into it because I have seen enough CACW fights to know that I don’t really want to be a part of that -- which is, uh, why I am not writing the 616/MCU crossover story that would have answered this question in more detail -- but this is hopefully the least inflammatory way of putting it that I can manage. Please nobody fight me.

I think the MCU Accords and the 616 SHRA, though narratively they are both “that thing that Steve and Tony disagree over,” actually are very different things when you get to talking about what they do, even after you account for the part where canon doesn’t seem to be interested in being specific about exactly what it is that they do. (For example, does the SHRA require American superhumans to be employed by SHIELD -- say, on Initiative teams -- or does it only require them to be registered with SHIELD? Who knows? Not me!)

And the thing is, as far as I can tell, what the MCU Accords are about is not only not what the 616 SHRA is about -- what it is about is something that, as far as I can tell, the 616 Avengers have basically had since their founding (or if not since the founding, then at least for a long time), which is UN authorization to operate. I can’t find the panels right now, but I have definitely seen reference to the 616 Avengers having a UN liaison. This is in addition to their regular US governmental liaison (a spot often filled by Gyrich, who, depending on the arc, may or may not be being evil or just weirdly capricious; I think that was him capping the number of Avengers in the 70s or so).

But anyway, the 616 Avengers are used to operating within governmental strictures. There are all sorts of offhand references to them being cleared to be wherever they are (for example, I found one in the middle of IM v3′s Mandarin arc, where Steve confirms that they all are cleared to be in Russia as they pile off the Quinjet into battle). One of the recurring plot points of Avengers is the fact that the government likes to start trying to pull their clearances; narratively, it’s an easy way to add tension to the plot. And then there’s something like Red Zone, where one of the ways that the Avengers start suspecting something is up is the fact that the Secretary of Defense does pull a bunch of clearances for no real reason and, y’know, it turns out he was secretly the Red Skull. COMICS. Sometimes the Secretary of Defense is the Red Skull! Sometimes Norman Osborn is the Director of SHIELD! Sometimes Hydra Steve is the Director of SHIELD! The 616 US government really sucks! The Avengers still mostly work with them anyway!

So, honestly, I think that 616 Tony would be kind of bewildered that the MCU Avengers are having a massive fight over something that, in his universe, has absolutely never been an issue, and that 616 Steve has definitely agreed to. That’s just my guess, anyway.

I mean, I think 616 Tony also knows Steve -- 616 Steve, at least -- well enough to understand that if the MCU team is having a fight -- even if he doesn’t really understand why they are bothering to have the fight -- Steve isn’t going to talk about it, because he knows what Steve is like when he’s made up his mind about something.

(I also feel like 616 Tony’s reaction to Bucky might be a little different given that mind control/brainwashing is a little more popular in 616 and 616 Tony, y’know, has murdered people under mind control on multiple occasions -- and even if no one ever wants to mention The Crossing again, Tony would probably be a little more sympathetically inclined if this was a period of time in which he remembered the events of Execute Program. Which, yes, would be the period of time in which the story I am not writing would have been set -- it would be DoS for 616 and post CACW. Director Stark also would not be able to understand why his counterpart isn’t making every possible effort to reach out to Steve because MCU Steve is still alive, and, oh God, if he could have Steve back he would do ANYTHING, and here this guy is just not talking to his Steve who is still alive. So his reaction to any events would also be very much colored by his grief.)

#Anonymous #replies

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saraseo · 4 years

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brenna · 7 years

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Hi, so I see you reblogging anti capitalism posts. This is genuine curiosity so please don't take it the wrong way. I'm a libertarian (not liberal) at heart, so I just can't seem to understand why people around my age seem so keen on supporting communist or ant capitalistic ideals when in my opinion there is so much historic evidence against it. I wonder if you could explain a bit to me?

Apparently this ask arrived 9 days ago. I’ve been using mostly mobile lately, and I didn’t notice it until about 2 days ago. Then I wasn’t sure how to answer it. I’m going to try. As you said, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way. I only want to explain myself the best I can, and I am not trying to attack you or anyone else. I am only trying to explain what I think about the issue.

I’m not sure what your age is, since you didn’t say. I’m 34, and frankly I’m filled with hope by the increasing number of people noticing that Capitalism does a lot of harm to a lot of people.

I think we need government, federal government, to protect the little guy. In a world where it’s all about individual choice and small or no government influence on people’s lives--at least in Capitalism--if you don’t have means, you get trampled on. I think that’s wrong. In the US, our government is often disliked, and people tend to think our government is how all governments are, or that this is the best we can do. It’s not. In the United States, and any Capitalist country, the government is set up to support the Capitalist class, to protect them and their beliefs. There are lobbyists; there is the fact that you basically have to be rich to run for major office. There’s the fact that we spend most of our money on the military, which goes out and fights wars for Capitalism. Just for examples of what I mean.

When we need to spend a little, tiny fraction of the amount of money we spend on war on helping our fellow human beings, the right goes wild. They get angry. They throw a fit. I’m the opposite. I want all of my tax money to go to helping others. The reason I am basically a Communist (I haven’t joined any groups or anything) is that I want a government for the little guy. I want economic equality. That cannot be in Capitalism. That’s the way it’s built. People have to be at the bottom, a lot of them, for this system to work.

You brought up something you call historical evidence. That term is hard for me. You have to realize that growing up in a Capitalist society, much of our history is told in a way to make Communism look as bad as possible. The rich would not want us thinking it could ever possibly work. It’s biased. And yes, I know that in a Communist society history would be biased against Capitalism. I think the problem is that people assume the Communists living under that society would be unaware of that, just as everyone in the United States seems unaware that our history is biased, and often made up, when it comes to telling the story of Communism. It’s propaganda, but we pretend it’s not. I don’t pretend.

You didn’t mention what historical evidence you mean, but here’s what I think of when people talk about evidence against Communism:

There are numbers thrown around about how many people were supposedly killed by Communism in the Soviet Union. Largely inflated numbers, but let’s just think about the fact that there are numbers at all. There aren’t numbers thrown around by our historians as to how many people were supposedly killed by Capitalism or Feudalism--at least, if there are, non-historians have never tried to quote them to me, and that’s my point. In my opinion, if we tried to calculate that, we would come up with very large numbers. But my point is that you can’t really calculate numbers of people economic systems have supposedly killed.

Do you count workers killed by poor work conditions? I would. Capitalism doesn’t look so good then. Numbers of people whose lives are shortened by lack of access to insurance? Do you see what I mean?

Some numbers about the Soviet Union try to guess how many babies were not born because abortions became available and include that in the number. What? Not only is that an insane thing to include, it’s just a GUESS.

If you think peasants in Czarist Russia were better off than people in the Soviet Union, you haven’t seen a lot about what that life was like in Czarist Russia or the USSR. There’s a reason there was a revolution. And when the Soviet Union stopped being communist, a lot of people’s lives got worse.

There’s a lot of historical evidence on the side of Communism, too. But is that what’s really important? Could we not make our own society based on socialism that learns from that history rather than uses it to pronounce it a supposedly bad system? We could.

All I think is that we can do a lot better than this. Than Capitalism. No one has shown me an idea I like better than Communism. That’s all. I think it can work. That’s why I post things about it. Because I’m tired of keeping inside how upset I am with the system I live in. I’m very upset about it.

I don’t think our system is sustainable, and I wouldn’t want to sustain it, if it were up to me.

#i'm not very good at political arguments #also #i didn't want to respond #because i figure i'll get hate #from people misunderstanding what i'm saying #or people that just like sending hate #a rare ask #Anonymous

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ramialkarmi · 7 years

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I'm a Silicon Valley liberal, and I traveled across the country to interview 100 Trump supporters — here's what I learned

After the election, I decided to talk to 100 Trump voters from around the country. I went to the middle of the country, the middle of the state, and talked to many online.

This was a surprisingly interesting and helpful experience — I highly recommend it. With three exceptions, I found something to like about everyone I talked to (though I strongly disagreed with many of the things they said). Although it shouldn't have surprised me given the voting data, I was definitely surprised by the diversity of the people I spoke to — I did not expect to talk to so many Muslims, Mexicans, Black people, and women in the course of this project.

Almost everyone I asked was willing to talk to me, but almost none of them wanted me to use their names — even people from very red states were worried about getting "targeted by those people in Silicon Valley if they knew I voted for him." One person in Silicon Valley even asked me to sign a confidentiality agreement before she would talk to me, as she worried she'd lose her job if people at her company knew she was a strong Trump supporter.

I wanted to understand what Trump voters liked and didn't like about the president, what they were nervous about, what they thought about the left's response so far, and most importantly, what would convince them not to vote for him in the future.

Obviously, this is not a poll, and not 'data.' But I think narratives are really important.

Here's what I heard.

The TL;DR quote is this:

"You all can defeat Trump next time, but not if you keep mocking us, refusing to listen to us, and cutting us out. It's Republicans, not Democrats, who will take Trump down."

What do you like about Trump?

"He is not politically correct." Note: This sentiment came up a lot, probably in at least a third of the conversations I had.

"He says true but unpopular things. If you can't talk about problems, you can't fix them."

"I'm a Jewish libertarian who's [sic] grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Over the last few years the mainstream left has resorted to name-calling and character assassination, instead of debate, any time their positions are questioned. This atmosphere became extremely oppressive and threatening to people, like myself, who disagreed with many of Obama's policies over the past several years. Intelligent debate has become rare."

"It's a lot like political discussion was in Soviet Union, actually. I think the inability to acknowledge obvious truths, and the ever-increasing scope of these restrictions makes it particularly frustrating. And personally, for whatever reason, I find inability to have more subtle discussion very frustrating — things are not white or black, but you can't talk about greys since the politically correct answer is white."

"He is anti-abortion." Note: This sentiment came up a lot. A number of people I spoke to said they didn't care about anything else he did and would always vote for whichever candidate was more anti-abortion.

"I like that he puts the interests of Americans first. American policy needs to be made from a position of how Americans benefit from it, as that is the role of government."

"He is anti-immigration." Note: This sentiment came up a lot. The most surprising takeaway for me how little it seemed to be driven by economic concerns, and how much it was driven by fears about "losing our culture," "safety," "community," and a general Us-vs.-Them mentality.

"He will preserve our culture. Preservation of culture is considered good in most cases. What's wrong with preserving the good parts of American culture?"

"He's not Hillary Clinton."

"I'm Mexican. I support the wall. The people who have stayed have destroyed Mexico, and now they want to get out and cause damage here. We need to protect our borders, but now any policy is like that is called racist. Trump was the first person willing to say that out loud."

"I am socially very liberal. I am fiscally very conservative. I don't feel I have a party — never have. I grew up in a more socially conservative time and picked the "lesser of two evils" during elections. Now, the more socially liberal side supports bigger governments, more aid and support and that money has to come from somewhere. I see what's deducted from my check each week. I'm OK with never being rich but I'd like more security and that doesn't come from more government spending."

"We need borders at every level of our society."

"I'm willing to postpone some further social justice progress, which doesn't really result in loss of life, in favor of less foreign policy involvement, the opposite of which does."

"Brown people are always the out-crowd. I think subconsciously, part of the reason I supported him was a way to be in the in-crowd for once."

What don't you like about him?

"The way he talks about women is despicable."

"Everything about his style. We only voted for him because this election was too important to worry about style."

"I don't like most things about him. The way it worked is we got to choose one of two terrible options."

"I think our nation needs Trumpism to survive long term, and to me that supersedes almost every other reservation I have. My issue is with Trump himself — I think he's the wrong vessel for his movement, but he's all we've got so I'm behind him."

"I think the rollout of the immigration executive order is emblematic of a clusterfuck, to be completely frank."

"I now believe the Muslim ban actually makes us less safe."

"Isolationism and protectionism at this point is insane. We've done that before."

"I, too, worry about the dishonesty. His relationship with Russia, his relationship with women. His relationship with questionable financial matters. These all worry me and were they to continue I would lose all respect."

"He continually plays into a character that he has created to rile his fan base. Accepting anti-semitism, white nationalism, or hate emanating unnecessarily, creates a vacuum of fear on social media, on television, and around the dinner table. Even though the policies may be similar to that of any recent Republican President, the behavior to act so immaturely sets a bad example for children and undercuts many cultural norms, which more than anything causes disruption to our sociological foundations."

"I hate that he discredits the press all the time. That seems to forebode great evil."

What are you nervous about with Trump as president?

"The thing I'm most worried about is war, and that he could destroy the whole world. I think I may have underestimated that risk, because he is more of an alpha strongman that I realized when I voted for him. Otherwise I still like him." Note: Most people weren't that worried about war. More frequent comments were along these lines:

"I know he's taking strong positions on certain foreign issues, but I feel in negotiations you need to do things to move the needle and when a whole country is watching its hard to keep a poker face, but at least his business track record overall gives us reason to believe ultimately stability will prevail."

and

"He's crazy, but it's a tactic to get other nations not to mess with us."

"I worry he will drive us apart as a nation. I believed him when he said that would stop with the campaign, but I haven't seen signs of it so far."

"I am nervous that his mental health is actually bad."

"I worry he is actually going to roll back social change we've fought so hard for. But I hope not."

What do you think about the left's response so far?

"You need to give us an opportunity to admit we may have been wrong without saying we're bad people. I am already thinking I made a mistake, but I feel ostracized from my community."

"The left is more intolerant than the right." Note: This concept came up a lot, with real animosity in otherwise pleasant conversations.

"Stop calling us racists. Stop calling us idiots. We aren't. Listen to us when we try to tell you why we aren't. Oh, and stop making fun of us."

"I'd love to see one-tenth of the outrage about the state of our lives out here that you have for Muslims from another country. You have no idea what our lives are like."

"I'm so tired of hearing about white privilege. I'm white, but way less privileged than a black person from your world. I have no hope my life will ever get any better."

"I am tired of feeling silenced and demonized. We have mostly the same goals, and different opinions about how to get there. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you're wrong. But enough with calling all of us the devil for wanting to try Trump. I hate Hillary and think she wants to destroy the country of us but I don't demonize her supporters."

"I'm angry that they're so outraged now, but were never outraged over an existing terrible system."

"The attacks against Trump have taught me something about myself. I have defended him and said things I really didn't believe or support because I was put in a defensive position. Protesters may have pushed many people in this direction BUT it is ultimately our responsibility and must stop."

"I'd like to also add that the demonization of Trump by calling him and his supporters: Nazis, KKK, white supremacists, fascists, etc. works very well in entrenching Trump supporters on his side. These attacks are counter-factual and in my opinion very helpful to Trump."

"So far his election has driven our nation apart. So far I see most of the divisiveness coming from the left. Shame on them. I don't see it quite as bad as during Nixon's era but we are truly headed in that direction. I could not speak with my parents during that time because political division would intrude. This Thanksgiving and holiday season were as close as I've felt to that in 40 years. We are increasingly polarized. It doesn't seem to be strictly generational, though that exists. There is an east coast-west coast, rural vs. urban, racial, and gender division forming now. It has the potential to be devastating."

"The amount of violent attacks and economic attacks perpetrated by the left are troublesome. My wife and I recently moved to the Bay Area. I was expecting a place which was a welcoming meritocracy of ideas. Instead, I found a place where everyone constantly watches everyone else for any thoughtcrime."

"Silicon Valley is incredibly unwelcoming to alternative points of view. Your curiosity, if it is sincere, is the very rare exception to the rule."

"There is something hypocritical about the left saying the are uniters not dividers, they are inclusive and then excluding half the population with comments on intelligence and irrelevance in the modern world."

What would convince you not to vote for him again?

"War would be unforgivable."

"If the Russia thing were true, I'd turn against him. Why don't y'all focus on that instead of his tweets?"

"Give us a better option, and we'll be happy. But it needs to be a moderate — Sanders won't win."

"I'll happily vote for someone else. There's a lot I hate about Trump. But our lives are basically destroyed, and he was the first person to talk about fixing that."

"Generally hard to say. Extreme corruption would do it."

Second person in the same conversation: "I don't care if he's corrupt. Y'all voted for Hillary and she was the most corrupt candidate of all time."

"Another worry is an escalation of overreaches between him and the left that culminates in the breakdown of our system of law. I'd hold him responsible for that."

"If he were to get the US involved in a major military conflict (I think the odds of this have actually decreased versus Hillary, but I'm willing to be proven wrong). If he were to substantially increase the cost of doing business (by increasing regulation or taxes for instance)."

"I'm socially very liberal. If he were to do something like restart a war on drugs, try to restrict rights of LGBT, or make first trimester abortions difficult or dangerous, I'd rethink my position. I think these type of things are extremely unlikely though, especially with an election a few years away the country as a whole becoming more socially liberal."

"I think if 2008 happened again (further into Trump's tenure, so that causation can be shown, hypothetically), the base would evaporate."

"Based on Trump's history before politics I don't believe he is racist, sexist, homophobic or bigoted. If that were true it would supersede everything else since it would be even worse for individual liberty and freedom than any freedom of speech restrictions or increases in government size proposed by the Democratic Party."

Sam Altman is the president of Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's largest startup accelerator. This post originally appeared on his blog.

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