RedditAtWorkIsBad

Wow, thanks for doing this AMA! I very much, well, "enjoyed" (maybe a terrible word for it) Red Notice, and have been following you on various podcasts. I always look forward to your insight.

I have to ask the same question I'm sure you repeatedly get: What is Putin's motivation and goal. The "conventional wisdom" in both the mainstream media and in the reddit echo chambers is that he's trying to reassemble the Soviet Union, although not under communism so much as his totalitarian regime. Can you explain your reasoning why you may think that this isn't his primary goal?

Stay safe Bill. I am not alone in being concerned for the well being of you and your family.

Something about this bothers me as inadequate but I have hard time pinning it down. I mean, Putin already has total control over the media. He is spreading blatant falsehoods and it is working on the Russian population. If he has this kind of power already, it seems to me that he could have maintained enough public approval through propaganda alone and not have to actually attempt a full scale invasion of the largest European country. Couldn't he have achieved the same goal by through propaganda alone, or through a much more toned down invasion, for instance, of Donbass only?

Both Mr. Browder and you have offered some valuable insight! Sometimes when I ask questions I may come across as argumentative (maybe not in this case but I never know) when all I'm trying to do is learn why my intuition is incorrect, and both of you have helped me on this.

Also, you have my sympathy as a Russian citizen for being stuck in this. I wish the economic war being fought didn't have to affect the regular public. Please stay safe!

I use edibles because it helps me sleep but I have to admit that 1) I almost never dream now so I'm missing out on REM, 2) I wake up more groggy, 3) it's usefulness is going down as I build tolerance and 4) now it is harder still to sleep if I don't use it.

So, kind of a classic "drug" response where I have to use now just to function (sleep) "normally" but if I stop I'm a full-blown insomniac.

I need to figure out a different solution.

Of course, one must ask, how many left wingers are "staunch" vs right wingers. Does it have to be equivalent?