I think the reason is much simpler and much more selfish, Trump is simply angry Putin is doing so terribly at the war in Ukraine. It is making Trump look weak, so he has to host a UFC tournament to try to restore that rightwing toxic masculinity vibe.

I am not kidding, I think Trump is actually genuinely afraid to be seen as close to Putin based on what Trump is hearing about the strategic position Putin is placing Russian forces into from Trump's own military staff.

The winds have changed and Trump is a coward. Why the hell would people expect Trump to come to Putin's aid when Putin looks weak? Trump doesn't help weak people, he is far too weak himself to do that and retain power.

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago (4 children)

I like this theory, too. Regardless, I'm on board for whatever stops the killing while maintaining national sovereignty, and I mean that for any and all nations. I hope things get better for the citizens of Russia, too, but I don't think it should be at the expense of Ukraine either. I just hope the US isn't just protecting the sale of military equipment and supplies by drawing out the war.

[–] Rose@lemmy.zip 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

We're in this mess precisely because things are good for the citizens of Russia though. The world embraced Putin with open arms and boosted the country's economy, invasion after invasion. Now it's too late for the sanctions to bear fruit. The Russians, especially the pro-Putin Russians with no direct ties to the West for the sanctions to affect them, live like it's business as usual.

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

I wouldn't be surprised if that was the perception from within Russia, but I also doubt it's the case empirically and objectively. It was proobably good from 2000 to 2013 under Putin and then Medvedev, who was probably Putin's puppet president.

But now, their GDP per capita is stagnant, if not in decline while their population is decreasing, and their GINI index is similar to that of the US and China. That's a really bad combo. I can't imagine how quality of life would be improving under those conditions.

Having said that, there are better metrics like median salary and median household income both adjusted for purchasing power parity, but I haven't been able to find graphs for those. In fact it was kind of hard to find consistent economic data in general, which is another concern, but not really evidence of economic problems in and off itself.

I believe they're living like it's business as usual, but I'd attribute that to hypernormalization more than improvement in quality of life.

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