Looking West Through Russian Eyes

[dmallord]

If Putin wants Ukraine so badly, he should make a deal to join together peacefully. I know someone who claims to be the best dealmaker in the world, and I believe he knows folks on both sides.

Seriously? I'm hoping this is just a tongue-in-cheek attitude! Or did you mean the orange-haired comedian, Carrot Top? ;-)

 

[Rightguide]

I am not Russian, but I have some sympathy for the Russian situation with the Ukraine and with NATO.

Let us imagine that the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact still existed, that NATO disbanded, and that it was the United States that collapsed. With the polarization of American politics, our fragile economy, and our recent rise in crime it should be possible to do that. This is what the collapse might look like: the United States has broken up into two or more countries; each country has high rates of crime, inflation, and unemployment. The gross domestic product (GDP) in each country is declining.

Now let us imagine that the Soviet Union is enlisting Latin American countries into the Warsaw Pact. Latin American countries remember and resent American military intervention into their countries. Mexico remembers that we conquered and annexed half of their country.

We conquered and purchased the land, including the all debt owed by Mexico to the citizens of the region purchased. Minor correction. We could have very easily annexed all of Mexico, but didn't.

 

[pecksniff]

We conquered and purchased the land, including the all debt owed by Mexico to the citizens of the region purchased. Minor correction. We could have very easily annexed all of Mexico, but didn't.

Partly because John Calhoun objected because Mexicans aren't white enough.

 

[The_Trouvere]

We conquered and purchased the land, including the all debt owed by Mexico to the citizens of the region purchased. Minor correction. We could have very easily annexed all of Mexico, but didn't.

The Mexican war was a land grab against a weaker country. The Indian Wars were the same.

 

[pecksniff]

The Mexican war was a land grab against a weaker country. The Indian Wars were the same.

And in both cases, the territory sought was sparsely populated enough that the integration of its people into white American society did not present a significant problem. We wanted the land, not the people. That's why nothing south of the Rio Grande was annexed.

 

[The_Trouvere]

And in both cases, the territory sought was sparsely populated enough that the integration of its people into white American society did not present a significant problem. We wanted the land, not the people. That's why nothing south of the Rio Grande was annexed.

What you say is true. Nevertheless, I am not proud of the Mexican War or the Indian Wars.

 

[ll74]

I guess you didn't get banned..just using the other alt because reasons...nice touvie

 

[pecksniff]

What you say is true. Nevertheless, I am not proud of the Mexican War or the Indian Wars.

What galls me most is the extermination of the buffalo. That was not an instance of reckless waste -- it was done intentionally, to break the military power of the Plains Indians by destroying their main food supply.