Ukraine on the brink (video) - coming to a country near you?

So what's it like when your country's economy goes right over the edge?

BBC Newsnight Special Report on the Ukraine

I perceived an eerie, almost blockbuster-like quiet before the event.

But many people over there are already partly self-sufficient. It's a legacy both of the Soviet-era inefficient farming system and of the way of life inherited from time immemorial. Many westerners will be clueless. They no more know how to cultivate a crop than fly a space shuttle.

And how interesting that it is only in recent years the Ukrainians have 'learned' how to live off credit. Had they not swallowed the much-vaunted western way of life they would now be in a far better position to face what's coming.

So what is coming? Looks like 2 choices: total bankruptcy or total indebtedness to the IMF for generations to come.

What would you say we can learn from all this?


Sorry folks - forgot it was on the BBC site & posted it with YouTube code!



[edit on 28/3/09 by pause4thought]

The URL contained a malformed video ID

Crud. Can you try fixing it for others, im just going to look it up. I'm intrigured.

reply to post by Republican08


if you find it can you please link or upload to here? I want to see also

I found this, pretty funny

www.youtube.com...

Having a hard time finding what he found though....

Sorry folks - now corrected.

(explanation added)

I do beg your pardon.

Wow, just as I found it, you fixed the link.

Well i'm giving myself kudos for the hard work.
And i've learned a ton about Ukraine I never knew before.

You get a flag, and a star.

reply to post by pause4thought


the Ukraine has problems becasue the ukraine is still trying to recover from communism.

They actually have some rules regarding the influence of western civilization.

But when you have a country like the ukraine that has spent a long time under strict communism, to give them freedom, they wander like lost sheep with no guidance.
Not to mention, the country wasn't even remotely rich to begin with.

My aunt spent two years there recently as a missionary.

And they are so used to having someone tell them what to do that she even had to teach folks simple tasks such as how to organize a meeting.

her sole job was just to teach them to be a little more self sufficient.

[edit on 28-3-2009 by nixie_nox]

reply to post by Republican08


It is rather though-provoking isn't it? Glad to be of service.

Your video was also - ahem - interesting. But I think you got the wrong end of the stick. If you watch it to the end you can see what it was all about. The parliament had just installed Windows. They wanted Macs.

Anyway, looking forward to people's reactions.


reply to post by nixie_nox


That's an interesting angle. I too know the territory very well.

What you say relates to an innate apathy as regards what we would call entrepreneurial dynamism and political engagement. I agree these attitudes are deep-seated. However since the fall of communism many people - particularly in the cities - have also, by necessity, learned how to supplement their (paltry) income by a bit of wheeling and dealing here & there. And the 'Orange Revolution' showed that with respect to political interest and even involvement, these days there is more beneath the surface than meets the eye.

And I can explicitly say - without a shadow of doubt - that when it comes to survival, these people are past masters.

(Please don't tempt me - I'd have to write a book to give anything like a fitting summary!)





[edit on 28/3/09 by pause4thought]

I didn't watch it all the way through, I was wondering what they were fighting about!!

Ukraine 'seems' to be handling it ok, for citizens at least.

news.bbc.co.uk...
Russia has backed off and relieved their gas debts to them.

That may help, but more missionaries going in their and trying to make the citizens more self sufficient is definately a help.

I feel our fate is heading this way, and won't be near as pretty, I couldn't imagine working up to 5 months with no paycheck!

This just left a unsettled feeling in my stomach.

Star and flag for you. This is a very good video to watch, it leaves you very torn on how to feel. Do you feel anger or scared because of how these people are just people like us in the US who trusted the banks and have nothing? Do you feel hopeful how so many can go through something so bad yet still play music and crack a smile?

For me I get a little of each of these going through me but in the end life will go on.

reply to post by Republican08

...I couldn't imagine working up to 5 months with no paycheck!

Well how about working in a bicycle factory and getting paid in bicycles?

Admittedly that was some years ago. I'll wager the place eventually shut its doors.

Of course if you work in a service industry, you're a bit stuck.

Am I giving a new vision of the future here?

Wow, if my boss tried to say I wasn't going to be getting cash this month, but don't worry here's a 10 speed bike. I would go completely APE S!

I'm thinking a Victory Garden, isn't such a bad idea, neither is an emergency pack.

If and When Wells Fargo goes down. I will be the first one up their with Glen Becks infamous stack of pitch forks!!!

reply to post by Republican08

...if my boss tried to say I wasn't going to be getting cash this month, but don't worry here's a 10 speed bike. I would go completely APE S!

After checking out at the end of the day they used to stand outside the factory trying to flog them to passers by. It was a pathetic sight, I tell you. And having traveller's checks / dollars in your pocket didn't make you feel any better.

(Sidenote - in that part of the world it's dollars that talk when it comes to anything of real value. Though in recent years there have been measures to curb open trading in what they call 'hard currency'. Still, I may well take a pocket-full of yen in future.)

It won't come as any surprise that the workers were probably open to a bit of barter, BTW. Another hint of things to come?

reply to post by pause4thought


The Ukraine, while it's story is a bit different than Iceland, much of the same. How can the people pay their bills when the bank will not give them their money? This is just crazy...the banks are basically robbing the people, and the IMF is the enforcer!

Fantastic Post! S&F!

Landing in Kiev he finds Ukraine - already in receipt of $16.5bn loan from the IMF - is on the brink economically and politically.

Accepting a $16.5bn loan from the IMF was their first mistake...

The Ukraines are a very resourceful people. They will suffer a little and some a lot more but they will get out of it one way or another. Good people as well. Amen.

[edit on 28-3-2009 by Brothers]

reply to post by pause4thought


Screw the IMF, the NWO's Bank, this is basically what happens when you're an independent state... down with the NWO!!!

my grandfather who grew up on a farm during the great depression always talked about buying some land and moving our family there and becoming self sufficient. a couple years ago i wasnt so fond of the idea but now a days its not a bad idea.

These people are people too. They deserve our support, even if it's only our prayers. Take care------PC

This is what is happening here. And yet we refuse to admit it, because the Government has managed to turn a good chunk of the population in to dependent children. It is certainly time for change. A total change of attitude, a change of thinking in general needs to take place before we can change anything at all. We have to be Brave Americans again, not the pussified bumbling crap hole we've let our political leadership create.

I hope the Ukrainians take back their country.

[edit on 29-3-2009 by projectvxn]

[edit on 29-3-2009 by projectvxn]