McDonalds shuts down 847 restaurants in Russia, as Visa, Mastercard and other big U.S. brands cut off services to helpless Russians in ways that won’t affect President Vladimir Putin in the least. Will saying “No Big Mac for Putin” stop the tyrant who devastates Ukraine?
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26 replies on “No Big Mac for Putin: Big U.S. Brands Cut Off Helpless Russians as Tyrant Devastates Ukraine”
“The appearance of doing something makes you feel better about something but it actually causes more harm.” Gun control in a nutshell.
Do NOT learn from History and YOU are Fated to repeat it. HOW? Is it possible to be “right” when you don’t start from RIGHT?
WISDOM???
Some simple words of WISDOM with a very Powerful message: “ARTIFICIALITY is a result of UNAWARENESS & UNCONSCIOUSNESS then expand AWARENESS and it will lead to Genuine UNDERSTANDING.” The Complex is just that because “ALL difficulties are caused by psychic Hypnosis, and ALL DIFFICULTIES are cured by SELF-AWAKENING,” therefore, Reject THE TRUTH for UNCONSCIOUSNESS and you will spend Eternity with STUPIDITY.
“You become the Commander of EVERYTHING by not needing to command ANYTHING but YOURSELF”
Time for a pushup contest between the kings.
Seems like corporate virtual signaling is now going to hurt everyone. What are the Unintentional consequences? Our sjw’s getting their virtue at the expense of more than just our nation?
I’ve been reading The Gulag Archipelago … this sounds like it’s starting all over again in Russia. Be careful identifying your Russian friends and family as the source of anything Putin might consider seditious.
Like Bill, I have a Russian wife (24 years), plus family and friends in Russia and Ukraine. We also have a number Russian and Ukrainian friends here who have family there. My wife indicates that everybody here in the US who is asking “what’s going on there?” has been very respectful. I told her if anybody pushes just tell them “I don’t know. I have a call into Putin, but he hasn’t gotten back to me.” My mother-in-law, 86, (in Kurgan, Russia) says “It’s awful. I’m against it, but they don’t ask me.”
Our reports from the ground in Ukraine, some direct via text message and some indirect through friends, differ somewhat from the news reports we see here.
The common belief in the West is that the people are responsible for their government. The beliefs of the people toward their leaders in Russia is, as far as I have ever seen, apathetic. I say this comparing their attitudes to Western standards of citizenship and individual political activity. This belief is given further support by the first hand accounts Bill gives in this Right Angle about what he had seen and heard from these communities. Russians don’t take ownership over their country.
These next things are really hard thing to write, because I don’t want to cast shade on or in any way disparage the immense respect I have for Bill. He has been involved in a long, consistent, and difficult work for the better part of my adult life. I truly admire his perspectives, and am sure I will continue to value his insights and opinions for hopefully many years to come. In this one case, however, I have to say I think he is too close to the issue.
I have kept my eye on Russia since I went there in 1995. I have Russian friends, and Russian and Ukrainian Neighbors. In all the cases of individuals and how they see their government, the single greatest political feature across the board has been the singular lack of personal interest or involvement in anything political. For those in Russia, the belief is that the government is something big, and far away, and ultimately beyond the influence of the “common” person, as Bill represented. In the US, I see the political disinterest stemming from the relief that they are not in Russia anymore, and nothing in their lifetime will ever look like what they grew up with, so, “It’s not bad here.”
At the risk of sounding horribly culturally centric, that’s a grossly unhealthy way to view government. To hear Bill present what amounts to an apologetic for the case of the Russian people in this instance is something I find fundamentally at odds with the past 20 years of reading his writings, listening to his podcasts, and watching his videos. I understand people change over time, and that we should, and must, consider the impacts of our actions on others. I find this impetus on his part quite laudable, actually. We should do this on the level of individuals, and nations. However, to say on one hand that Russians can’t do anything about Putin so this war is not their fault, and on the other hand make the (completely justified) statements about how Biden is handling this situation poorly, is inconsistent. When everything is boiled down, The people always have a choice in who rules them.
I don’t envy the average Russian right now. They have a mad man in control of their nation, and he will vigorously punish any dissent from his will being exercised in the minds and bodies of those he has power over. That means anyone standing against him will be put in prison for years, or possibly much worse. It is a difficult, costly proposition. That does not, however, remove the responsibility they each have over the state of their country and how it is behaving. The people of Ukraine are being killed in their cities, in their hospitals, in their schools, in their jobs, and in their very homes. The Russian people have tacitly consented to the conditions that have allowed that to happen. They have filled this cup, and now the world is making them drink an arguably small part of it.
In case there is any further foolishness about the people of Russia not being able to do anything, or being powerless, I would offer some names from our own history of those that chose to risk their lives and fortunes in rejection of that notion:
John Adams, Samuel Adams, Josiah Bartlett, Carter Braxton, Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, Abraham Clark, George Clymer, William Ellery, William Floyd, Benjamin Franklin, Elbridge Gerry, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, John Hancock, Benjamin Harrison, John Hart, Joseph Hawes, Thomas Heyward Jr., William Hooper, Stephen Hopkins, Francis Hopkinson, Samuel Huntington, Thomas Jefferson, Lee Francis Lightfoot, Richard Henry lee, Francis Lewis, Phillip Livingston, Thomas Lynch Jr., Thomas McKean, Arthur Middleton, Lewis Morris, Robert Morris, John Morton, Thomas Nelson Jr., William Paca, Robert Treat Paine, John Penn, George Reed, Caesar Rodney, George Ross, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Edward Rutledge, Roger Sherman, James Smith, Richard Stockton, Thomas Stone, George Taylor, Matthew Thornton, George Walton, William Whipple, William Williams, James Wilson, John Witherspoon, Oliver Wolcott, and George Wythe.
All those men pledged their sacred honor to make the country I live in today, and many codified their courage at the cost of their lives. They made a world where We the People have the ability to change the powers serving us with historically relative ease. This ability came at a cost to them in fortunes of blood and gold.
Russians now have, and have always had, the ability to change their leaders and the direction of their nation. The cost for such change will and in all probability must be high, but it is no less than many free nations have paid. The red in the ledger of our nation is written in the blood of those that sacrificed to give us the world we now live in, and that debt will never be repaid.
With the leadership of their nation bringing so much pain and anguish to the world, how can we not place the responsibility at the feet of the Russian people? Should they be allowed the richness and wonders of the West while sending their children to sow strife and suffering among the nations at the whim of despots they tolerate?
No.
Bill, I don’t know if you read these comments, but in case you do, I have something to share.
I value you and your work more than you may ever know. I have and will continue to support your efforts to stand against the ever-encroaching tide of barbarity and darkness. While we may disagree in this particular instance, know that you have in me an ally and I consider you mine as well.
You have given me ammunition for battles nobody has ever heard of. You have trained my very thinking process at times. You are without question one of the great patriots of our time. I look forward to linking shields with you in the future.
In this fight for our nation, how many times must we throw ourselves into the breach?
Always once more.
I am with you on the ammunition I have gotten from Bill for the little daily battles that in the long run, if we fight enough of them within our spheres of influence, will make a larger, lasting difference over time.
I had many of the same thoughts. I certainly see the perspective and he’s probably right about the psychology over there, but the point you raise about responsibility was running through the back of my head the whole time.
On the other hand, I think the idea of putting the screws to the people to foment general unrest (which is exactly what Russia has been doing to us … using social media to foment division and unrest) to try to pressure Putin to stop actually IS a western-centric viewpoint – we can change our leaders (although that’s getting more and more fuzzy with lax security measures on elections and our own oligarchs in the political class) without a bloodbath. Of course we can thank our founding fathers for this luxury. Not only do the Russians not see it that way, it pretty much ISN’T that way over there.
I like the idea of putting the screws to the Russian elite around Putin … but … how do you do that?
And when you put the screws to insane men like Hitler, Stalin, and it’s looking a lot like Putin is going down that path, they tend to dig in and become more insane. We’ve seen it again and again through history.
Hi Phil,
You bring up some very good, thoughtful points.
When you mentioned in your third paragraph the fomentation of unrest, I completely agree that is a negative and potentially useful to Putin side effect of the position I advocate. To be completely transparent, I don’t see any other option.
I suppose the only thing I can respond with is that at some point, the checks that Putin’s propaganda machine are writing will need to get cashed in the Bank of Reality by the Russian people. When that time comes, they need to see first hand the notice of, “Insufficient Funds.” The only real and lasting change Russia will ever see must come solely from the people. In any country, the people and what they will allow or tolerate are the headwaters of the systems and people that develop or are adopted.
If outside forces remove the oligarchs, the people will simply allow more to come into power in time. If the people remove the oligarchs, they will not allow them in the future.
So, in your question of how to put the screws to the people and elites around Putin, I would say your lack of knowing how to do that isn’t a failing. I think you see the situation quite clearly. We can’t.
As far as putting the screws to people like Hitler, Stalin, and Putin, the consequences of not doing so are historically far worse.
Now, having said all that in response, I am of course open to the possibility I could be missing something. If you see anything like that, let me know that I may consider it and hopefully attain a more robust set of beliefs on these issues.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I think it is clear we are both giving this serious consideration as responsible citizens and patriots should.
Have an awesome day!
“If outside forces remove the oligarchs, the people will simply allow more to come into power in time. If the people remove the oligarchs, they will not allow them in the future.”
This just “sounds” right. It’s probably right. People have a much larger stake in things that they expended their own sweat … and blood … obtaining. It means they have identified the problem and have deemed it important enough to make the effort themselves to rectify it.
Before I say anything else let me be perfectly clear that I agree that the sanctions which are hurting the average Russian citizen more than anyone else in Russia are not fair, not right, and are counterproductive.
Much of this denial of Big Macs and Visa Card transactions is nothing more than virtue signalling of the worst sort. If MacDonald’s cared about the Russian people and Putin’s war with Ukraine they’re not doing anything that would have a positive effect on either situation. They’re doing what they’re doing to jump on a bandwagon which is playing a death dirge.
That said …
I personally have a hard time feeling overly sorry for the Russian People.
The United States of America has provided the world with a shining example of how to get where we are. How to …
We have had to fight for that in one form or another every minute since the American Revolution. Those ideals we have provided as an example to the rest of humanity are always under attack. Sometimes we have been more successful than other times but here we are still at the apex of human political endeavor and Western Culture.
I think most of the people here on this site are here because we’re fighters for our ideals and our ideals have proven to be the best so far in human history.
Russians have caused an unprecedented amount of suffering both around the world and to themselves.
The old saying “You get the government you deserve” applies in spades to Russia.
I know it’s easy to sit here at my desk and say “It’s your fault, Russians, do something about it”. Being easy for me to say doesn’t make it any less true.
There’s only one way that we get from Russia what Steve said he was hoping for. That Russia finally joins the rest of the world in a positive effort to improve the human condition as exemplified by Western Culture. That will only happen when enough Russian People decide it must.
We should not wash our hands and walk away leaving that task to the Russian People alone. We should do everything we can to help them join us in The Light.
Because we’re not doing that and if we don’t we will always see someone like Joseph Stalin or Vladimir Putin percolate to the top of Russian power and become a dictator.
Bear in mind, Russians have only ever known kings and dictators. There has never been a system of self government by The People that has taken root, been fertilized, watered and flourished in Russia.
It is up to us in the West to show them the way and once they see that then help them on the path to being an asset to humanity instead of a constant political pariah and a lethal, existential threat to us all.
We start by helping the Russian People understand that what we have is what they want and I don’t mean Big Macs and Visa cards.
There’s no guarantee that will work, because Russians have to want it too. If they don’t then they don’t. In which case things will continue as they are, another strongman will rise to power even if Putin is deposed. Wash, rinse, repeat.
This is why I do not now have a lot of sympathy for the Russian People. This isn’t the first time they’ve allowed this to happen and though it’s a hard rut to climb out of, it’s on them to take the steps and make the effort. If they do not then they will continue to inflict suffering on the rest of the world and to suffer themselves —
Which is what they will deserve. Because the opportunity is there. You can take a Russian Bear to the vodka distillery but you can’t make him drink.
But McDonalds is still open in the US? Why are WE being punished?
Because being overweight and diabetic are two main comorbidities of the WuFlu. Need to cull the population somehow.
(This is intended to be sarcasm. It is hard to tell these days when a manufactured virus hits people with specific markers)
Yeah, no kidding, sarcasm indeterminacy justified here.
I don’t know what the real numbers are but the reported just-short-of a million American deaths of elderly and less-than-healthy from COVID is one hell of a gruesome way to cut down on the number of Social Security and Medicare checks being mailed out.
It’s suspicious enough that it’s not hard to make a case for that being intentional. I’m not making that case but it’s easy to see how some conspiracy theories get started even so.
This discussion brings to mind how much we need real leadership and how bereft we are of wisdom in this world. We live in an age when emotional arguments rule the day. Very little critical thinking goes into it. We want someone to ‘do something’ to make it all better, and politicians and corporations are only too eager to comply, because at the end of the day they want to be at the top of the heap, regardless. No one does an assessment to figure out what the unintended consequences might be. They want to feel good about themselves, so they pull Russian Dressing off the shelves and rename the Moscow Mule on their menu, they pull credit card access and revoke student visas. The person we all want to punish and remove is not concerned in the least. In fact, he uses these actions in his propaganda. Wisdom, and the courage to apply it in the face of constant emotional pressure, is very much needed. It’s also nearly non-existent among the people leading the nations of the world. .
It’s Freedom Fries all over again. Empty gestures rule!!
We have some (real) Russian Vodka. We will dispose of it in the usual manner.
And of course, The Bee is already on this story!
Hillary Vows To Stop Importing Dossiers From Russia
Punishing the regular people instead of the leaders responsible? Thsi almost sounds like something else that’s been going on for the last two years. If only I could put my finger on it…
I understand the losses that the Soviet Union suffered in WW II- horrific, and Germany might have won. One must remember that the Soviet Union SUPPORTED Nazi Germany before the war began. The deal was that the Soviet Union would get Poland and other eastern lands. In many ways their WW II losses were due to their own gluttony.
…and the Axis Powers (Germany, Aust-Hungary, et al) did not invade Russia at the beginning of WW I.
Much of Putin’s historical memory/paranoia is iatrogenic.
Does one really believe that the expansion of NATO caused Putin to become aggressive towards the former Soviet captive nations?
Really?
Huh? What was the name of the physician?
Jah, I see what you did there. Clever and accurate.
David- my bad, good catch. I am a dentist and I used the word iatrogenic as it would apply to me in my professional capacity. It was clearly wrongly used here.
What I meant to say is that Putin’s state of mind/beliefs has been created by him and is not based in historical fact.
Regardless, thanks for showing me a new word. Not being a doctor, I will likely never have an reason to use it.
Learned a new word!! Thanks!