this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2026
361 points (86.8% liked)

Memes

54242 readers
2357 users here now

Rules:

  1. Be civil and nice.
  2. Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Russia is the 4th largest economy by GDP, adjusted to PPP, and isn't as heavily reliant on finance capital as the EU is. Moreover, Russia has no colonies nor neocolonies, and doesn't run their economy based on export of capital and plundering the surplus value of the global south, like the US and EU do.

Imperialism is characterized by the following:

-The presence of monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life.

-The merging of bank capital with industrial capital into finance capital controlled by a financial oligarchy.

-The export of capital as distinguished from the simple export of commodities.

-The formation of international monopolist capitalist associations (cartels) and multinational corporations.

-The domination and exploitation of other countries by militaristic imperialist powers, now through neocolonialism.

-The territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers.

The global north, Europe included, uses this export of capital to super-exploit foreign labor for super-profits. It also engages in unequal exchange, where the global south is prevented from moving up the value chain in production, allowing the global north to charge monopoly prices for commodities produced in the same labor hours. Russia does not do this, it has a paltry sum of the world's finance capital, and this is proven by just how low their nominal GDP is compared to it's GDP adjusted to PPP.

The Russian Federation and the EU are both right-wing, but the EU is actively imperialist. The fact that progressive nationalist movements like the Alliance of Sahel States are kicking out European plunderers, and the PRC is presenting as an alternative to western domination, is exactly why conditions within the imperialist west are declining and causing a shift to the far-right. Austerity politics are enforced due to capitalist decay.

[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think long term a post-Putin Russia should really just join the EU (along with Ukraine). Russia has always been European. The cold war fuelled by the US is over. There's no reason to divide Europe ethnographically when with open borders, free trade and unified economic policies everyone can do what they want.

The only thing the EU should realize faster is unified wages across regions and some sort of control over private property/housing, else western capitalists will keep buying land and homes creating serfdom.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Putin tried to join NATO, and be closer to the west. The west said no, and that they wanted to imperialize Russia. Post-Putin, it seems demographics are trending more towards the communists, which is opposed to the EU.

[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nothing says there can't be a socialist revolution in the EU!

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Hopefully one comes! I just think Russia's closer to one at this point.

[–] greywolf0x1@lemmy.ml 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 3 points 22 hours ago

The CPRF is the largest and growing opposition to United Russia, as capitalism has been a failure.