The “adult in the room” was being an elitist smug who only cared about civility. A textbook liberal basically.

They are ignorant, but not by choice or inaction, they are simply not capable of more, which explains their station.

What does that even mean? It’s like you’re saying they have some innate quality to them.

They also lack integrity, and rather than admit their station is their fault, they blame government, liberals and minorities.

That seems to contradict what you previously said.

All of this leaves them susceptible to misinformation by the actual people standing on their necks.

Yes. The government, the liberals, and a minority, the capitalists. That is, for those who are poor and don’t have much to gain from fascism.

I remember that strip club story posted here on lemmygrad, and the video was alarming, but I did learn a little about that from Blackshirts and Reds. Certainly, the West wants Ukraine on their side to further exploit them, and that includes their women. Their hatred of Russia is also rooted in anti-communism; they still think of it as a communist country, and they see Ukraine as a victim of communism. Maybe, without realizing it, they hate Russians because the soviet union didn’t permit exploitation by Western capitalism. For those countries, it’s less about race and more about that. Capitalism and white supremacy are now strongly linked together, and white people feel entitled to everything. They become enraged when people don’t comply with their demands. In the end, it’s anti-communism and white supremacy that guides them. The thought of all humans becoming ‘equal’ is, to white people, a significant loss of privilege, which is their biggest fear.

Regardless of any proclamations, they see Ukrainians as untermenschen, Bandera learned it the hard way and Zelensky is learning now.

True, it doesn’t mean they genuinely consider them more ‘white’ than Russians or part of the West. However, I do think they are trying. Most likely because of the war. It’s useful propaganda and helps the liberals gather support against Russia, a people they despise with passion.

Ukrainians are a separate nation. This was never doubted under USSR.

I know that Lenin and Stalin recognized the differences and granted Ukraine self-determination. But again, I do believe liberals are trying very hard to separate them completely. They want them on the side of the West rather than anything close to Russians.

I’m in the middle of Against Empire by Parenti. It’s good, but I enjoyed Blackshirts and Reds more. Parenti is a great writer, and he is easy to understand, so I will continue to read his stuff. As for novels, I ordered 2001: A Space Odyssey not too long ago and will try to read it sometimes. I have manufacturing consent sitting on my bookshelf, plus some others from Chomsky I haven’t read yet. I bought them during a short anarchist phase I had and grew out of very quickly after reading Lenin’s stuff. Often, I buy books and end up never reading them. Uhh I should stop doing that and download them illegally instead.