That's fair

Centuries, really

I assume that's somewhere where weed is legal and cheap (and vapes are available)

In my country, 90 grams of weed would cost you 1800 euros at street prices (though I suppose at 90 grams a month you're moving more than some low level dealers so maybe you get a discount). That's slightly above the median monthly salary of ~1600 euros.

I believe it's common for ADHD folks that caffeine doesn't energize you, but it might help you concentrate better. Or it might not. I don't know, really. I drink copious amounts of coffee and energy drinks and still have trouble concentrating.

It has no practical use cases.

Yup, so while those people technically volunteer, I wouldn't be so sure that they're volunteering out of their love for the motherland.

Still, I reckon the order of motivation goes: Patriots who fight for the cause > Well-paid volunteers > Conscripts. So you've got that right. Unfortunately, I doubt Ukraine can offer any contractors nearly as much as Russia does.

I do hope there's peace soon, but that's still entirely up to Putin and literally nobody else. I'm pretty sure Ukrainians would be ready to accept a white peace immediately at this point, without even regaining Crimea or anything, but Putin needs to have territorial gains beyond that.

I like how for different people it can be the beginning OR the end of that ID that tips them off.

Value proposition for me isn't nearly as good considering my current income and potential foreign legion income. Would be a major loss. Putin's offer is way better if you consider the median salary in Russia and what the recruits are apparently being offered.

Some at least pretend to. "If we didn't have to police the world, we could save so much on military spending, Europe should get its' own shit together"

And while I as an European agree about the last part, I still think NATO is a beneficial alliance to everyone involved.

It’s just that what Zelensky is doing to us is infinitely worse than what would probably be “under Russian rule”.

I guess that's true, I'm not a fan of forced conscription and punishable desertion either. But if Russia wins, have you escaped forced conscription for good? Or will you be forced to fight in Putin's next conquest?

For now, you have a chance to build your own country still. Yes there's a lot of corruption and many, many other issues. Yes, the GDP per capita is pretty weak so Ukrainians are better off working abroad. But you still get a say in matters. Zelenskyy the comedian was elected because people were tired of the status quo. Has he fixed everything? Probably not, but he can still be replaced. In the modern day Russian empire you either vote for Putin or your vote doesn't count.

Crimean Tatars - I’m not very familiar with this topic so I’m not sure what exactly you’re referring to (I guess it’s the deportations?), but I’m sure it was also indeed a bad thing.

Yes, I meant the deportations. Russia deported every single one of them because they saw them as a geopolitical threat in Crimea. Here in the Baltics at least it was mostly people with land or nasty back-stabbing neighbours that were deported, not specific ethnic groups generally.

Anyway, I'm glad to see you're not a Russian shill, but an actual person with a real view to the entire issue. Obviously I support your right to not go to war against Russia. But I think just laying down arms isn't a solution either. Of course, I have a vested interest of my own. The more your brothers and sisters weaken Russia, the safer I am too.

Otherwise we might as well hand him all of Europe on a silver platter.

And sadly I believe that a lot of Americans would prefer isolationism and are fine with this, as they'd get to cut military spending.

Of course, Europeans buy American goods and vice versa. If Russia ruled over all of Europe, Putin could just stop all trade with the US as a giant middle finger.

I mean, same is true for Russian patriots, no?

Russians abroad always talk about how great the motherland is, but nobody wants to move back there and not just because of the war. Or have you moved back to Russia yet?