Niall Ferguson: Are we the Soviets now?
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UnHerd's Freddie Sayers meets Niall Ferguson.
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With public calls to remove the sitting US President, a UK election set to unseat its government and the rightward swing in Europe, it’s all change on the Western front. Best-selling historian Sir Niall Ferguson joins UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers for a wide-lens tour of populism and its discontents.
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Regarding DEI, my wife is a liberal animator. Her pitch was accepted by a children’s TV show, and they have since shaken and demoralized her with their DEI committee’s endless “notes” about how she should tweak her characters and what they do. It is literally 98% their own creation now, not her original pitch. The original pitch was abstract robots made of toys and now it’s a black girl with smooth, boring textures everywhere. “Can you adjust the skin tone? Can you make the girl cuter and happier? She can’t have an asymmetrical face. Can you make her hair more… realistic?” Btw the DEI people are plain rude by any professional standard, waiting til the last minute and completely disregarding whatever she has produced. To your thesis, these experiences change how she sees society as a whole. Hardly a death of despair situation but it is demoralizing. The resulting short is bland as hell, psychologically inauthentic, and something that cannot affect kids positively, beyond DEI’s own terms of success.
Reason i quit writing.
And my wife is an animated liberal. It's a daily nightmare.
I feel for you. Games, animation, and film are all in similar situation from my experience.
The reason I left advertising
Their attitudes and behaviors are fruit of the seed they have sown. They are driven by envy, jealousy, anger, hatred, and an unconscious (I’m being generous) hatred of God.
I live in Eupore. Young and old are outraged by massive uncontrolled migration and the associated corruption and crime we are subjected to. Niall is deliberately obtuse on this point. I can't imagine why.
Yes, many others have described how your young voters voted for these parties. Good on you all.
He seems a bit clueless on Russia/ Ukraine as well. The Duran are far better.
Bogus asylum seeking in US is 100 times worse than in Europe.
I can imagine why. He is exactly the type of person who will talk about how great immigration is because he can hire cheap labor to make an extension on his mansion or to clean his London flat. Meanwhile he goes in a weekend trip to rural France and writes a column about how “authentic” it is never realizing that it is just so because it’s distinctly French.
Niall is smart enough to know the real reason behind the massive inmigration in Europe, he is also clever enough to not step on the toes of the people who is behind said inmigration
I don't agree that immigration is the only answer to maintain society...
Case in point, Japan. If you don't prioritise GDP growth over the native population and culture then it's perfectly possible. The problem we have is that the elites in the West have been captured by globalists who care more about getting richer than they care about protecting the unique identities of European populations.
Actually,immigration is destroying society.
same
Everything was booming before the mass immigration.
Nor do I
Niall Ferguson contradicts himself. On the one hand, he worries that the United States's decline began to look like the late Soviet Union. On the other hand, he insists on waging Cold War II to maintain US supremacy, the United States must fight on all fronts with Russia, Iran, and China. Escalate to de-escalate? No appeasement? But how? The US's interventional foreign policies have produced nothing but endless wars and debacle after debacle. The reality is that the US is a dying empire and can't afford to do whatever it wants anymore. With its $34 trillion national debt, if the US doesn't focus on fixing its own problems and improving its own people's lives, the US Empire will implode like the Soviet Union.
Reality does not operate in black and white. Thus, contradictions are not inherent impossibilities and paradoxes are possible.
so you're in a fight and only been hitting your opponent on the shoulders; you decide to escalate and hit him in the face ... surprise (no) surprise - you discover your opponent is well capable of hitting you back in the face 🤔😯 : : I don't trust this advice to escalate !
Is this the same mr ferguson who predicted mad cow disease and all the others? Can anyone advise please
@@galewhite9723 No, different person. You're thinking of Neil Ferguson
Remind me when the late Soviets were the most powerful group the earth has ever seen, was at the forefront of technological progress, and was within 25% of the share of global GDP that the US is?
Britain lost its empire and destroyed its economy fighting both world wars. In 1916 the empire's GDP was greater than that of the US. Was the war worth it? The US played it smart, it waited until Hitler declared war before joining up. Why was Hitler mainly Britain's problem? It had never previously shown any interest in Central European politics. Czechoslovakia consisted of 5 ethnicities that did not get along. The Germans in the Sudetenland were enthusiastic Nazis. The Slovaks fought on the German side in WW2. The Poles and Hungarians also invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939 and claimed territory. Churchill even condemned Polish aggression. A lot of nonsense has been written about appeasement by the British. Speaking as an American, we don't want to end up like the British Empire, broke and exhausted over a dispute we don't understand. I have visited Ukraine. It is not worth the life of a single American soldier, to paraphrase Bismarck.
Excellent comment
I thought it was the bombing of Pearl Harbour that brought the US into WW2
All great points. One could also argue that WWI really began in 1899, when Germany overtook Britain as the world's No. 1 economy. The British elite then became obsessed with weakening and destroying Germany (very similar to today's US-Anglo obsession to weaken and destroy Russia). It took them fifty years, two world wars and 100 million lives to achieve Germany's destruction, but they did it. Unfortunately, Britain depleted itself in the process.
Sadly such views are not acceptable in the US
Reposting deleted comment: All great points. One could also argue that WWI really began in 1899, when Germany overtook Britain as the world's No. 1 economy. The British elite then became obsessed with weakening and destroying Germany (very similar to today's US-Anglo obsession to weaken and destroy Russia). It took them fifty years, two world wars and 100 million lives to achieve Germany's destruction, but they did it. Unfortunately, Britain depleted itself in the process.
Odd. Niall sounds way more 'establishment' than I've ever heard from him before. Is it the knighthood? This is an unpleasant surprise.
Well. He has been or still is a Bilderberger. When you dine in that company you will push certain ideas.
He's always been a neocon. Always
My thoughts too.
@@iankclark a broken clock is right twice a day. The 'establishment' is also right about some things - if you think it's wrong about everything, you're just ideologically possessed. Ferguson is just being balanced and not a polarised extremist.
@@Bailiol exactly I agree with him on somethings e.g. Ukraine but not on others
Following this conversation i had the strong impression that Ferguson is a well spoken person
with the neocon mindset.
"European countries are aging, and so require immigration."
This is where Ferguson shows his colours. He notes that Europe is not having children. Young people are not having families. He describes this as "aging", rather than totalitarian abuse. He says the solution is immigration, rather than reform of the totalitarian abuse of young people.
Young people are being told they will never own a home. They must pay high taxes on low wages. Energy and food bills will keep them in working poverty for their entire lives, and they cannot have a family.
Ferguson calls this "aging", and says the solution is immigration.
Adam Smith never endorsed a system where the totalitarian planning of economies led to the destruction of the family unit, and the end of all personal freedom. He never endorsed usury becoming feudal tyranny. He never said we should sacrifice our children for the shareholders of banks.
Ferguson is living in a dream. He has enough money to sleep easily, and so he sleeps, and dreams of fanciful things.
This is what happens when countries abandon the Christian vision of the family unit being the basis if society. Instead of countries focusing on supporting the family, they focus on maintaining the lifestyles of those who have already accumulated wealth. Instead of providing the means for women to stay home and raise children, women are out building careers and delaying childbearing. Northern Spain now has a fertility rate of around 1. Disastrous.
I tend to quite like the man (took nerve to write his book on the British Empire) but that is lunacy. Mass migration is not the solution - it's the problem IMO - he seems to have a blind spot about it. This is not the 20th century migration.
@tobystewart4403. I switched off and came to the comments a little after his assertion that retired people would have less benefits if immigration was stopped when studies have shown what we all suspected, that most immigrants particularly from the 3rd world take a lot more out than ever put back into the system. I think he is married to the wonderful Ayaan Hirsi Ali so I can't be too mad at him though
The idea that we need immigration "for the economy" is such a laughable lie, as is shown by the way immigration policy is formulated. For example we allow low wage unskilled immigrants to bring dependents who contribute nothing to the economy and actually drain public servants. Similarly the fact that we allow low wage immigrants at all, since anyone who earns below about £40k in the UK is a net drain on the economy and lowers our GDP per capita, making us a poorer country. How is any of that "helping the economy"? In fact it just helps big business by lowering the wages they have to pay, (privatizing the profits) while the public have to pay the taxes to fund the government services that low wage immigrants need to get by. (socializing the costs).
If immigration was actually "for the economy" we would only allow permanent immigrants who would be net contributors to the public finances, we would allow them to bring no dependents, and any low wage immigration would be only via temporary work visas to fill skills shortages, with no access to public services and taxes paid to finance the services they receive purely by virtue of being in the country. The fact that it isn't done that way show that "it's for the economy" is a lie.
Australian governments supposedly do this. Still doesn't help the economy.
Excuse me, anyone making above 30k is a net positive. Where are you based? Market median for highly skilled jobs in some sector is 35k asking for 5y experience. This is especially lower the further up north one goes.
Take marketing sector for example. Totally underpaid sector by companies and agencies only interested in young graduates to pay them minimum possible salary and drain them of the last drop of blood by working them to death. I think business sector as a whole in this country needs to apologise and increase salaries for their employees instead of giving themselves CEO bonuses. That is what’s a negative contributor to the economy although smaller than deliveroo economy but me on 35k doing high skill job can’t afford spending £20 on a subpar burger from deliveroo.
This a whole wider issues than just low skill immigrants
I think healthcare workers and smart overseas students are generally a net positive. But yeah, we've been throwing around dependant visas like confetti, and I can't fathom why. I'm suspicious it's a ploy to drive up rents. Since the Conservative party is largely funded by landlords.
Recently, empirical research was published investigating the effects of population decline on the economy. It found that many of the mainstream economic assumptions around this topic simply were not true. Generally, countries with declining populations did just fine and there were even advantages for large parts of the population.
@r_kai2369
You have to go back. We won’t need or want you.
The problem with Ferguson’s argument is that he is confusing the US military budget with the capacity to build arms. Those two things are miles apart.
Indeed. The Duran are far better They talk about this a lot.
You weren't paying attention to what he said then. He did draw attention to the lack of US industrial capacity to build arms on a massive scale, and compared to China.
He’s not an economist, he is a thinker (propagandist?) writer disguised as historian conflicted with his own cognitive dissonance. That’s why in one sentence he’ll talk about the importance of industrial manufacturing (China-Taiwan) , then a few minutes later he’ll talk about the US’ GDP as an advantage over industrial capabilities + mineral resources availability ( NATO vs Russia) .
@@baltasarnoreno5973
He just obviously doesn’t care about the USA. Spend spend spend. He doesn’t care about Americans and our problems.
@@jillesdjon Perceptive comment. Sir Niall contradicts himself in this talk. He is above all a storyteller, a very good one and always interesting but should carry a health warning. He redeemed himself right at the end by pointing out the enemies of the open societies aren't immortal and face tremendous problems themselves equal to or far greater than North America and Western Europe.
I think the biggest question we can ask is...why is house affordability [house value divided by salary] the biggest it has been since Victorian times? Forget national debt...this is the real experience of people in my generation who can't afford to buy a property let alone afford to raise children.
Indeed. Tucker Carlson covered this topic beautifully during his recent Aussie tour.
Fiat money has a good deal to do with it.
@@rocketpig1914 #wtfhappenedin1971
Niall is losing it. He still thinks he is in a unipolar world, and that the opinion of the population does not matter 😮
What a disappointment NF turned out to be. I devoured his books and TV series, thinking the world of him. He epitomises living in an upper bubble, and radiates pomposity, believing our lives (westerns) are more valuable than others'. This notion is reprehensible. If all who think like him would agree and go and fight. Thank you Unheard for the discussion
@@mariomili5050 He's been in that bubble and vigorously building and repairing that bubble from the get-go. I suppose you had to be an actual leftist to see that. The fruity pomposity of the waf-waf-waf Britishness has also been there from the get-go. What planet have you been living on?
NF was part of the problem - he was responsible for moving a lot of untalented hacks into Professorial positions in Harvard and other Colleges who were advanced solely on the basis of skin colour and lack of gonads. They (not unsurprisingly) did nothing with their careers other than to drag once excellent institutions into gradations of mediocrity. He, and his other cohorts who took the silver have a lot to answer for.
Yes I normally like what he says but this discussion is same old, same old. His wife is ringing alarm bells about the future of Europe unless we get real on mass immigration. Young native Europeans are not having kids any more because of a lack of housing, resources, fears about safety etc. And non-European immigrants are a net _drain_ on national budgets. Anyone suggesting that this vicious cycle needs to be continued isn’t paying proper attention to either numbers or demographics or cultural reality or the will of the people.
If he thinks escalating against Russia is the answer he is insane. The answer was always to keep Ukraine outside of NATO.
@46:00 "it's a bargain...they do the fighting...they do the dying" 💀💀💀
An offensive realist's wet dream
I don't think I could ever say those words out loud without feeling humiliated
It's actually,quite frankly disgusting, he exposes the circles he moves in now.
@@seancarolan2860anyone that dehumanises other humans is difficult to respect imo
Niall, how are tent cities of African men in Paris contributing to the economy? The half of Muslim women in the UK who are unemployed?
We know the migrant demographics that contribute economically and the ones that don't. Stop importing millions of dependents who resent us, it's not hard or complex.
Or the Venezuelans in Chicago and New York.
It's even worse here in Germany. Something like 82% of the migrants they brought in are on the dole, net drains on the economy as the govt essentially deindustrializes the country through crap energy policy and an unwillingness to streamline regulatory agencies that are all but outlawing entrepreneurship. The west has some real soul searching to do right now, or we will simply cease to exist.
Niall is married to former Dutch Liberal member of parlaiment, Ayaan Hirshi Ali (Somalia, Muslima). Maybe that explains his stance.
Stop. Messing. With. Their. Countries.
@Wouter-dj2pm Ayaan is more fierce about keeping Islamism out of the West than anyone not named Douglas Geert. Her older book, Infidel, is one of the best I've ever read. Like many immigrants in the u.s., she does not want our relative paradise transformed into that from which she fled. Not incidentally, she's now a church goer.
Why way Nial talks you would think Washington and NATO have nothing to do with the Ukraine war
He's a neocon so of course he doesn't.
Ffs, stop parroting Russian crap. Nobody provoked Russia.
@@1526andrews I'm I supposed to care about the crude blatherings of an idiots?, it's clear to anyone that was Provocation , nato expansion, hostile government in Ukraine, racist treatment of Russian speakers, Bombing east Ukraine, the question is was it enough to justify invasion
@@1526andrews Russia felt there was provocation, so went to war , we ignored the tensions, and encouraged the war imho , Ukraine has been a war puppet of the USA, one day Ukrainans will figure this out and be furious with America
@@1526andrews Get the facts first. Listen to e.g. Mearsheimer, who's not an ideologist and who couldn't care less about Russia. Switch TV off and start thinking.
Every time I hear Ferguson, he contradicts himself or overlooks things. For example, he said the Tories have been in power 14 years and that Cameron used the referendum as a ploy to please the right. He overlooked the fact that Cameron offered the referendum not expecting to win an overall majority in 2015 and being in coalition again so he could drop his pledge, and that, yes the Tories have been in office since 2014, but that the public were offered a different Tory party under Johnson but it never materialised.
I get the feeling that Niall is walking the line between insight and not being cancelled. It's largely pointless listening to him nowadays.
Seems like he's not even close to the cancellation line with this Ukraine shilling.
Question: why are western countries so reluctant to enact pro-natal policies?
The regime has put all its faith in mass replacement migration.
Total madness.
Its considered far right , they literally call it Eugenics
Because a higher birth rate would undermine their explanation for why mass migration is needed.
Cause they don't work. The only thing that works in an age of contraception and mass education is living space. Houses with Gardens, which goes against everything your average western liberal has been taught. Which is vertical cities, dence urban environments no cars, no commuters, and apartments, apartments, apartments. Which make for great urban environments for young worker drone, but are demographic black holes.
We need less Barcelona, and more Texas.
Partly because don't really know what effective pro-natalist policies _are_ . East Asian countries have been throwing the kitchen sink at trying to up birth rates, and thus far it hasn't worked.
Most pro-natalist policies aim to up birth-rates by decreasing the financial burden of children. The problem is children are so expensive to raise, and any policy needs to be accessible to such a large proportion of the population, that making a dent in _ridiculously_ expensive. And even then not guaranteed to work.
And the socio-cultural reasons behind low-birth rates are even stickier. It's not like governments can wave a major wand and turn everyone Mormon.
Mr. Ferguson swimming in his own shit!!!
You resume my thoughts in a single phrase. Best!
"The war is a bargain" - how terribly cold and disconnected a neocon Niall is!
but it is true
@@effa2985 but it is false. Normalizing war is just cope from the side that has more power to stop it but they won't becase they're unwilling to sacrifice their interests. In this case it's western powers being overextended and Russia reacting. Thinking Russia should break down even further than it did after fall of soviet union (and we heard these sentiments from western politicians) and NATO should encircle fully both Russia and China until they break down, that's such a mindless, dangerous and greedy objective. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you lunch the arsenal of everything you've got if the western objective was about to be fulfilled? If China were to lose Taiwan, Tibet etc. If Russia were to lose Chechnya, Dagestan... Kazahstan and Georgia enter NATO... Such a greedy posture.
Exactly!
He also misses the point of what are we bargaining for
yes it’s a bargain .. for Russia
The situation in most Western countries is so irrationally destructive that the only possible explanation seems to lie in the Greek saying: "the gods first drive mad those they wish to destroy".
An analysis poor in arguments and rich in preconceived ideas
And this is the best that the current liberal order has to offer.
Sorry, but Mr Ferguson did not convince me. There were so many obvious inconsistancies in his argumentation. Freddy did a good job pointing some of them out.
You're omitting the fact that the Chinese are in no hurry over Taiwan. They have no intention of invading.
Don't confuse We the People with the WEF.
We are not perfect, but certainly not _evil._
Considering a country evil is a reflection of it's leaderships foreign and domestic policy.
Has little to do with quality of character it's citizens posses despite their having elected their leaders, because none are elected by all, and you can't tar everyone with the same brush.
Speak for yourself!😅
Google Operation Paperclip and ther Haavara Agreement PLZ
“We”-the people? Who exactly? Hypersensitive left that desires to change our vocabulary because words are offensive? Young socialists who want to take from the rich and give to the poor = give to themselves 😂? Or majority of people who believe the role of the government is the role of the parent? Last time I checked- it’s exactly what Soviet Union was about! I grew up there😉
Nial Ferguson: Hans, are we the baddies?
Yes. Yes we are.
The left-wing loons rioting in Paris after the Le Pen success & global "Palestinian" protesters should really be asking themselves that same question!
If we aren't the baddies why do we have skulls on our caps?
We need cool tattoos and hand signals or something.
You are on the same side as the Bandera Brigade....AGAIN. Well....there is your answer.
When this guy called Mike Pompeo a thinker I knew he was full of shit.
And he says Farage is not a serious person...
Amen. He talk about Trump like he’s a bad person because he uses the type of language that working class men use. Meanwhile Pompeo, who openly implicated himself in a felony - conspiracy to commit murder - by planning to assassinate Assange for revealing the murder of civilians that his CIA was doing in Iraq. This Pompeo is “respectable”, but not Trump. Not Trump because he sometimes swears.
Both of them. Corporatist to the core. Completely untrustworthy.
That was my thought too.
That shocked me so much I hardly knew how to react. I had to go back to replay it in case I might have misunderstood. But no, he actually said it.
I'm speechless.
As an American I take note of how willing Niall Ferguson is to volunteer the US to fight on every front of the new cold war the policies he supports have caused. Also, how willing he is to expend Ukrainian lives while we just ship arms to a war it can’t possibly win.
Yep
You nailed it 100% smh
You seem to forget that it is the Ukrainians who have chosen themselves to fight Russia. As would the Swedes, Finnish, Estonians, Lativians, Lithuanians, Polish and a whole laundry list of Central Asian powers if and when Russia decides it wants to expand it's empire. You have the luxury of living on the other side of the Atlantic and feel safe from an invasion - these people do not and choose with their lives to defend themselves.
The US needs to stop listening to Brits like Ferguson
For what it's worth though, Niall Ferguson is also a US citizen.
Ferguson sounds like a confused emeritus professor chiding Freddie for pointing out his inconsistencies.
Very dissapointed by Ferguson. He used to be better.
No Niall, migration does not save our welfare state. The migrants are a net cost. They take out a lot more than they put in. Even second generation is far below the original population in work participation. Many studies have showed that. They are a drain on our resources and destabilising our societies. We would be better off keeping the border closed.
The West has poured in enormous amount of weapons and aid to Ukraine. We have nothing more to give. And a lot of what they got dissapeared through internal corruption in Ukraine. When Trump is elected he will negotiate a peace deal.
Farage not a serious person??? Give me a break! You completely lost me at that point. It tells med YOU are not serious. Farage is our only hope.
Agreed. He couldn't even say what was wrong with Reform's ideas. Does he really think wind power is better than small nuclear reactors?
He is probably using some stats when the majority of migrants were skilled and from within the EU, managing to bring the overall up.
Yes, it is the third world immigrants that are ruining us.
Skilled and educated european immigrants coming to work is no problem. We love those guys. They benefit our society. Unfortunately we are currently getting way to many of the other kind.
Couldn‘t agree more. Only came to this blog 20 hours late and left a similar comment. His argument is terribly flawed, that the migrants are a wonderful new workforce for the older generation, but in reality they are the reason for housing shortages and the Health Services collapsing in most of Western Europe. In Germany 2/3rds of them are collecting unemployment payments and making the pensioners poorer. Some of the elderly population of them actually are literally thrown out of their housing.
About immigration and sometimes it works - HK received a huge influx of refugees from China during the 1950s and 60s. The newcomers were all Chinese just like those original inhabitants and there was zero welfare. And HK would not have thrived without this influx of manpower. Just some food for thought.
Follow the money he says except when it is the US/UK money
“Life expectancy for Canadians decreased for the third straight year in 2022, and more people died of COVID-19 than in any other year since the pandemic began, according to a report released Monday.” So much for Niall’s statement that the decrease in life expectancy in the US was quite unprecedented among advanced countries. Since he is living in the US now, Niall should pay a little attention to his North American neighbours. The reasons for this are various, but one of them is that unindicted war criminal Joe Biden’s Democratic Party and Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party are joined at the hip and follow the same kind of dysfunctional policies to make their own citizens suffer.
"with covid", not "of covid"
@@softcolly8753perhaps more accurately, "the safe and effective injections"?
@@softcolly8753 Yeah, could be, I was quoting from a news release, and that was their take on it. Team Justin's assisted dying legislation also played a role. The big point though is that Niall is clueless about three straight years of declining life expectancy in an American neighbour that is still (barely) America's biggest trading partner.
Current excess mortality is nearly 20% in Canada, and it's not a cold that's killing people
Good to see Freddy pushback. Ferguson sounded so contradictory. At the end he says, the cost of this war is in Ukrainian lives not our lives. Just imagine that.
Indeed. All through his arguments I couldn't help but think that there was an in retrospect REALLY good deal on the table that was walked away from.
Remember he's a neocon at heart. He was a big Iraq war shill.
Freddie could have pushed back a lot more and disappointing thing is he knows this and didn't.
I think Freddie was scared of him
@@kennit73there is different between being polite and being scared… You can’t have a good dialogue if you are antagonizing your interviewee / It’s not a debate
The guy loves the Cold War 2, it's like a football match to him. He is both a keyboard warrior and an intellectual, a rare combination.
A weird mix of high education, sophistry and heartlessness. This is a good insight into how we are being led, and in the wrong direction.
Despite Freddy’s best and most diplomatic efforts to extract something interesting from Sir Niall, ‘‘twas all in vain. Mindnumbing. A further reminder of why there is no hope to be found within the system as we currently know it.
Because it's become totally corrupt and dysfunctional. And in some parts, actually evil.The Epstien island story case in point.
Yes. And in case the message is unclear, they call us deplorables.
In the USSR everyone had free healthcare and education and very cheap housing for everyone, no homeless like in the USA. No similarities at all.
@@glebperch7585 No so. Everyone in the USSR had to toe a political lie, lived in a country afraid to express their minds, the universities and institutions were ideologically captured. . . that sounds exactly like the USA today.
@@glebperch7585Whole extended families in two room (two rooms not bedrooms) apparments without windows is not my idea of everyone having housing.
@@grannyannie2948 that was in the 1930s and 1920s.
@jimpollard113 I know more than you cause I'm actually from Ukraine and nostalgia for the USSR was massive there before the fascist takeover in 2014
His views on immigration are vastly simplified. People wouldn’t mind the immigration if immigrants were actually working and would pay their fair share of tax. Let’s not even mention the rising crime rates.
Plenty of people would still mind, myself included. It's not just the content of immigration that is the issue but the amount of it. Europeans shouldn't be made into minorities in their homelands by the mass-migration of people who already have homelands of their own, even if those migrants are law-abiding, productive workers.
Immigration means we all become just economic widgets for global corpations to profit from, and our nations are become runways for people to land and take off. Not you will own nothing; you are nothing. Open borders is pure nihilism.
I agree, they sit in the welfare sys others have worked for, often for decades, costing more than they give. Less than 50% are working. That will kill the system
He’s actually not wrong look at China. Their economy is looking increasingly bleak largely bc of their aging population. Yes poor ppl will have a lot more social problems that’s always been true. But they also provide a lot of labor which i guess they hope will offset the economic collapse. China, South Korea, and Japan don’t have immigration and are now having to deal with this I’m different ways. They don’t have large scale illegal immigration to offset so they have to deal with the problem more head on
I basically agree, bit it's the quality of immigration, not so much if they r ppr. The immigration Germany has is deteriorating the problem. The first 3 nationalities of welfare receivers in Vienna r Afghanistan, Syria and somalia. Most of them comecfor welfare and to have children which they raise in their culture, meaning girls getting forcly married very young and having kids again. we might become younger average wise but with less work force Europe will decline. It has already started
I've listened to Ferguson many times and thought he was a great thinker. I don't know what's happened, maybe a knighthood that has gained him access to nice London clubs, but on every point in this interview he has been talking like an establishment shill. He has either bought in or he has been bought. And Freddie has the measure of him.
Agreed. I think it’s self interest. He knows where his bread is buttered. And it also gives him the latitude to make other arguments without being de-platformed.
True ! It’s the same with Peter Zeihan…it’s as if their popularity has put them in a situation where they need to toe the line in order to remain “fréquentable”… That’s French for not being cancelled
Maybe he is just revealing his real nature, what he always was and is.
Niall needs to get this through his head: We don't want a rounding error that allows us the "bargain" of sacrificing all the men in Ukraine. We want a rounding error on behalf of our own border.
Exactly
21:53 “re-elected to the European Commission”
Re-installed you mean.
Didn't you vote? 😂
Escalating to de-escalate only works when you have complete military superiority that is understood by both sides. I challenge warmongers like Ferguson, who claim to be historians, to show at least one example where this approach has worked where both parties don’t accept complete military superiority of the other side. Before the obvious is stated, Israel past glories cannot be considered a success given that they never achieved the peace, and Israel pursuing this policy today has led it to the catastrophic cup de sac it finds itself in today.
Does he work for Black Rock?
One wonders….although he runs his own geopolitical consulting firm (15 to 20 consultants) called Greenmantle, based in London. It would be quite interesting to see their client list.
*Blackrock
Yes
Dont underestimate the people...they are quite willing to pay the price of regaining their sovereignty, their national identity and their families
Niall Ferguson is a WEF young global leader, class of 2005. Why would anyone trust what he says?
I didn’t know it but it makes sense, judging by his views on immigration
Ferguson's receiving the same kind of bile on social media from ubiquitous interwebz non-entities that Jordan Peterson started to receive after he also stuck his head above the parapet using intellect, logic & facts.
QED
Aaaaaah it all makes sense now!
@@dobcsek I think he'd rather the welfare state was drastically reduced than say "throw open the borders". His point is the that there is a contradiction between what boomers profess they want on immigration and the bloated welfare states currently in operation
I didn't know that. That is interesting. To be honest, I was never really fan - as he opposed Brexit and always seemed like a rather fake Tory in his political views.
"Give Ukraine more arms" , "Escalate to De-Escalate" - This man is quite prepared to watch (from a safe distance, no doubt) as hundreds of thousands of people die for nothing. A warmonger. Old men talk whilst young men die. Please organise an interview with someone credible like Professor Mearsheimer or Professor Sachs.
It's seems like a fairly reasonable argument to me: I think he's saying it should be Ukraine's choice whether they want to negotiate, or fight to regain territory. And either way, we should willing to back them up with firepower, albeit perhaps not troops.
@@andybrice2711 Two months into this conflict, Zelensky was willing to sign a deal with Putin. We all know what had happened. Boris Johnson on order from US said NO. So it is not Ukraine who will decide when to negotiate.
@@peterrezac881 Yeah, exactly. I think Niall Ferguson is arguing it _should_ be Ukraine's choice. But we should also back them up with plenty of firepower to give them a stronger negotiating position.
Whereas currently, we're interfering in their negotiations, whilst also not giving them adequate support.
I'm not saying I necessarily agree completely. But it's a cogent argument.
@@andybrice2711For some time it has been clear that Ukraine no longer has the manpower, they've lowered the draft age and grabbing people off the street. More weapons are useless without troops. So escalation means US & European boots on the ground
I doubt intellectuals like him actually realise this stuff is real and not just intellectual talking points. It's people's lives Niall. You go fight for Ukraine if you're so bothered.
Oh dear, I guess I now have to add Niall to the list of formally serious minds that I used to take into consideration, when I would try to formulate my opinion, on the best solutions, to solve complex problems.
The big problem we have in the west is the appalling mediocrity of our leaders
He's been knighted so I'm not taking anything he says in good faith
Exactly, while he may pose as a bit of an iconoclast, he's is very much "one of them"
The answer is, yes. Yes, but its not "we", its the elites.
And with the soviets it wasn't "them" but the nomenklatura
Are you be activly stopped from leaving your country ? , do you get arested for protesting your government ? has your government baned all private media leaving you with state run media , that was the soviet union , nothing (not even close ) like us , our problems arnt the same
And you think Mr. Ferguson is not a elite?
@@stevensmith797 The problems in the West are worse: population replacement is one example.
Ukraine will never freeze. It's not in Russias interest. This guy is an IR amateur.
I guess he is arguing that there is a nearby limit to the human and economic costs Russia will be prepared to suffer. As a _de facto_ one party state, probably this is not the case
Ferguson didn’t mention it but a significant if not the most important factor in people backing Brexit was regaining sovereignty the UK were conned into handing over all those years ago. The mess that has followed wasn’t inevitable but in large part due to the failure of the Tories to grab the opportunity. The collapse in productivity is a European wide phenomenon largely due to similar disastrous policies. As for interest rates, some of us have been pointing out since 2008 that zero to negative rates were disastrous and wouldn’t last for ever. That government chose not to fix at low rates was doubly dumb.
And let's have it right, it WAS a con. Classic bait and switch, from the "Common Market" we voted to enter in 1975, to the ever closer by diktat European Union of 2016 that THE PEOPLE chose to leave. A lot of the blame should lie with John Major, for not pushing back against Maastricht/'92 and especially for not calling a referendum there and then.
I was very much pro Brexit, but it is a disaster to push that kind of change on basically a split decision. An even larger disaster if the elites are against it.
200 billion is a rounding error...right
We should all remember that when they start pushing austerity again
The argument that Russia would go further after Russia's goals were met in Ukraine is obviously wrong. Russia was willing to call it a day just a few months into the conflict. Why do people keep bringing up this ridiculous notion when it is so obviously countered by the facts?
Putin has never ever said anywhere he has any territorial ambitions. He didn't even want any of Ukraine. It took an awful lot of provocation in order to get him to act. Many would say Putin fell into the appeasement trap himself. He tried to appease the West for years and years. But he realised the West wouldn't be happy until Russia itself was broken up. Hans, we are the baddies.
@@kurt4260 Exactly. Putin apparently had great hopes that Russia would be accepted into the 'Common European Home' and even broached Russia joining NATO and the EU. There is no evidence that he sought an expansionist/imperialist Russia. When the Russian-speaking people in the Donbass began to be attacked on a regular basis and their leaders sought for the newly-formed republics to join the Russian Federation Putin said no, that instead he would seek to gain them a high degree of autonomy so that they would remain, secure in this guarantee WITHIN Ukraine.
These neocons and establishment liberals live in a different universe that's entirely a figment of their own imaginations and hubris.
I am somewhat sympathetic to the argument, however Putin usually makes a move, sees what shakes out, then decides his next move. Which maybe a lot more of Ukraine than they normally hold. Still a further attacking NATO states would be unthinkable for Russia, as that truly would be a war without end and ruin Russia for a generation.
While there are many misunderstandings about what Putin wants it is not true that he didn’t want all of Ukraine, as evidenced by the simple fact that the 2022 invasion was intended to control all of Ukraine. The invasion plan and forces speak for themselves.
I've just witnessed Naill demonstrate beyond any doubt that he can only see the future in terms of the past, whereas history is littered with examples of where this fails. Do not respond to the new with the old.
I don‘t understand why you cannot limit immigration and have a strong wealthfare state… I mean speaking for Germany the biggest takers of benefits are immigrants by a massive margin. also, if you allow immigration to stop, yes you will have to survive a couple of decades or so until the boomers have all naturally passed, but then your overall population will be smaller and there will be fewer old people per capita.
Sorry I fundamentally reject the idea that we should choose between mass immigration or abandoning the welfare state…
And even if we need some immigration for healthcare and to care for the very elderly, it is tens of thousands a year, not hundreds of thousands of people. What we don't need is mass migration.
We are in late stage Usury. We have an oligarchy driving the open borders Globalisation project, with a Managerial Class in charge.
There will be no good ending now.
Neo Feudalism
Certainly not with potential leaders like Niall taking money from whoever it is he is taking money from.
Agree
This is the most observant comment I have seen on any TH-cam posting. Follow the money as it is stripped from the world’s populations, lending the people back what was once theirs. The CCP no different from Blackrock or Vanguard.
Neo Feudalism [fk y YT for censoring my comments]
Niall, sadly, has aligned himself wholly with the Victoria Nuland neocon faction.
Exactly what i heard as well.
Absolutely. Dare I say even worse than her (though is that even possible). He talks of nostalgia in despairing terms but isn't that his constant indulgence also, seeking some glorious British empire of utmost power, wielding the sword and making all bow before it? The same metaphor of course serves for the U.S. elites with talk of 'the indispensable nation'. They are all living in the past and seeking to restore that past by sheer military fire power alone. It is all extremely delusional and highly dangerous for all of us.
His nuances seem rather muddled these days. I do still learn something from his work.
I’ve never found him in the slightest interesting or a profound thinker.
I have no idea why he is so popular.
All of his ideas seem like second rate gueses.
Spot on Mark! I'm glad Fredy pushed back on it & it seems Neil is incapable of reconciling his positions. I've found his historical insights invaluable in the past but there appears to be a generational divide whereby those over a certain age are unable to hold a coherent worldview of contemporary issues. He's made a complete fool of himself in this interview.... sad.
"More muscular approach" this guy is a warmonger. That's exact reason west is failing. Insted of adaption and cooperation they choose domination.
With the Russians it is either dominate or be dominated, no middle way.
The West is not failing due to stupid wars. It is failing due to socialism and a hostile immigration policy.
I am Vladimir Putin and I heartily endorse your point of view. Come by in the morning. I want to shake your hand.
Freddie Sayers should be knighted for his patience with this interviewee. What a load of twaddle from Ferguson ! I mean who listens to this guy ?
Lost me at 45:08 on «you have to escalate to deescalate»... War is peace.
It's a perfectly rational paradox, not an Orwellian statement. Surely you've experienced bullies and noticed if you stand up to them they often F-off and if you don't they become emboldened? The logic is straightforward: punish people for doing things you don't like - if someone escalates against you, escalate further to make them see it's against their rational interest to keep escalating. It's called escalation dominance and often works.
@@Bailiol The merits of any approach depend upon the specific circumstances. What is a good approach in one situation can be a bad approach in another.
@@BailiolIn this case USA is the bully, with its little sidekick UK standing behind.
@@jenniferlawrence2701 yes I wouldn't disagree with that. Hence why I used the word "often".
Oh fuck I can’t listen to this bs anymore
agree completely , a total bs
I had a hard time getting through it
@@carrellochka national populists need to look in the mirror and realise they're as ideologically possessed as the extreme left woke idiots, just about different things. They're two polarised extremes. Balance, the truth, and moderation rest messily somewhere in the middle.
It’s such a BS even YT moderators refused to censor the slur in the OP😂
Do you actually ever listen to anything?
Well, well, well. Good talk, but Mr F goes bonkers in his analysis regarding Ukraine, and populist definitions. Hiscstrenght in reasoning is suggesting causality when there's none.
The first half of this interview was illuminating and rational but Ferguson suddenly remembered that
he was straying from his
conservative,right wing trope and made a uturn, contradicting himself in the process. The interviewer did well.
I was confused about the negative comments then I was like - oh yeah I see now. Like he drove off the cliff😂
Hello from the LSA (Late Soviet America). We better pray we aren’t treated as we have treated others.
You better start asking any ex CIA guys how you will be treated.
@@seancarolan2860 It’s 2024 in America and I’m being cautioned against speaking the truth for fear of the CIA. Idk man. This has to be an offshoot timeline due to CERN or something, because you couldn’t possibly make up how backwards this country and the world have become.
It’s more like Current United Soviet Socialist of America ……credit to the Wise, uninformed, American Voters…….😡🥵
America gets what it Voted…😀😆😃😁😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@kaypee4704 let’s hope Trump and co. Actually do something series about the unelected bureaucrats and special interests, tech companies, etc. because if there isn’t meaningful change soon, they’ll be nothing left to save.
I don't buy Niall's assessment of the war in Ukraine.
He is utterly boring. No original ideas. He parrots the same non-solutions as the elite have done since 1960. We don’t want his solutions. How about we have falling living standards instead of mass migration? Migrants won’t change the fact that we don’t have 1.4 B Chinese laborers making cheap goods for everyone anymore anyway. How about we promote people having families early?
Yes, very bad and clueless
I do.
@@elfspicer he just assumes it is a war to be won but what the value of it Ukraine to US is is missing. Especially why Germany prefers a bombed north stream and war to peace and cooperation
Here lies another victim of Ukranian democracy pig story. Democarcy? Really? You know, let's ask victoria newland about that. More llipstick please!
This is shockingly the most concise and insightful discussion on modern America that I have come across. I work for the Air Force and as a knowledge worker we see this unfolding everyday even at our ranks. "Death by despair" and non-merit based advancement is dead on. Thank you...
Niall sounds like a classic government puppet.
His views on Europe are somewhat depressing -indeed defeatist. He's essentially saying there's no point in voting for parties alternative to the current leading ones, because the problems the public want to address are intractable. Maybe he's right, or maybe he's just unimaginative.
@@paulwally9007or he does not want them addressed.
In many areas yes.
Er, the government is the DNC!
he says follow the money on the populists .... how about you Niall
“It’s a bargain to keep Ukraine in this war” and “we need to escalate to de-escalate” tells us all we need to know about this individual. Subhuman and an intellectually bigot.
"An intellectually bigot" - thanks to the esteemed Oxford English professor for his contribution, here.
@@ph8077not bad for an ESL speaker. With a little more experience writing in English, he’ll be a more convincing propagandist😂.
He's 100% correct about Ukraine. Bargain of the century for western countries.
@@budawang77 Why would the West want to destroy Ukraine?
@@budawang77bargain? More like a complete failure from which the west will never fully recover
The negativity towards your guest has restored my faith in humanity
A+ comments section here.
…1…2…Freddy’s coming for you…
44:29 This guy sounds like the guy who would order a filet mignon at dinner but not put anything toward the check, then ask "what's the problem?"
🤣🤣🤣 The best comments so far.
What a sick elite perspective, Niall is pushing.
Why?
@@alanjenkins1508 Ask him.
I must admit, regardless of how brilliant Niall ferguson may be in many respects, that a guy that still live so hopelessly in the past, to call China, Russia and Iran "The axis of Ill Will" loses my attention totally.
Same here. Not to speak of the other neocon neoliberal platitude he says. And of course, the emigrants reality. I’ve lost all respect to Niall. He is another fraud.
He's terribly wrong about the anatomy of the ukrainian war.
Precisely...
he's wrong about a lot of things for me
Some people's popularity baffles me. Ferguson is one of them. I don't see whatever it is other people find impressive about him.
spot on! He follows MSM crap and even not history!
His baritone and carefully crafted accent is a big factor. Global Britain exports these soft power figgers.
For those of you confused by Ferguson - it might be because he doesn't fit neatly into our "polarized" politics. He's critical of both the identitarian (woke) left and the populist right. I love this about him as it demonstrates actual critical faculties and not lazy ideological group-think. He's a clear and nuanced thinker.
You literally just described a Centrist. Not a lot of nuance there, nor much need of critical faculties.
@@tb8865 being a centrist is a good thing. And not all centrists are similar in their outlook. Eg Rory Stewart is a centrist who is uncritical of mass immigration and the threat of Islamism, whilst another centrist can be critical of those things without descending into an extremely ideologically simplified national populism. The virtue of centrism is that it tries to get away from crass ideological tropes, whereas the extremes thrive on them.
Niall Ferguson is an example of how British intelligentsia become utterly ineffective. He reminds me of an Anglican priest, or a Church of Scotland minister, and some Professors I knew in Edinburgh. I hear someone trying to tell as much truth as he can, but within the limitations of not wanting to sound like an extremist to those in power. It ends up incoherent. He says we need Detente. He says we cannot afford war. He knows that we don't have the artillery shells. But STILL, somehow, the answer is to escalate the war in Ukraine; to show Russia that we will not back down. No mate, we will back down, either next year or in 20 years, just like in Iraq, and in Afghanistan, and its pretty clear that Putin has priced that in by now. Only a fool, or an ignoramus which he is not, would actually think that the Russians are going to back down.
Furthermore, I fail to see how this war is any of our business? Ukraine was firmly in the Russian sphere of influence until 2014 but now somehow a decade later it is imperative for Ukraine to be controlled by the west or the game is up? What is he smoking?!
Very good point. He is compromised. He talks about Le Pen's 10 million loan from Putin that was repaid as a major problem. He does not mention the military-industrial complex that spends 400 million on lobbying. He does not mention the US defense guarantee of Europe, worth say 2% of GDP or 200,000 million. Even if Putin has given some underhand cash to Le Pen that we do not know about it is unlikely to be similar
Russia is a second rate power, held at bay for over two years with less than $100 billion/year of military aid. America spends over $900 billion/year on its own military. Then its NATO allies spend another $350 billion. The extra money for Ukraine is minor, well under 10% of total NATO spending, and far less than 1% of the total economy of NATO nations. Financially and industrially NATO can easily outlast the Russians. And as they ramp of production, the casualty ratio will favor Ukraine more and more. The Russian's are a pitifully submissive people, but even they can lose patience with bad leaders over time.
@@kreek22 Are you stupid? Obviously the West can afford the war. The question is Ukrainians dying and possible Russian tactical nuclear weapons. You want a new trench-style war that goes on for a few years. Then it ends and 1 million are dead. Totally meaningless unless you are a US neocon
@@kreek22 Is the same 2nd rate power also aiming at conquering Europe?
Nial speaks in inuendo. Once you get past all the sophisticated language he really doesnt say much. "Farage is not a serious person"
Every time I hear him, he contradicts himself or overlooks things. For example, he said the Tories have been in power 14 years and that Cameron used the referendum as a ploy to please the right. He overlooked the fact that Cameron offered the referendum not expecting to win an overall majority in 2015 and being in coalition again so he could drop his pledge, and that, yes the Tories have been in office since 2014, but that the public were offered a different Tory party under Johnson but it never materialised.
'Farage is not a serious person'. That was one of the most delicious lines I have ever heard in a podcast.
@@baltasarnoreno5973 that's my point. Its just an empty phrase
@@bobcougar77 It is a perfectly accurate description of Forage and his scant talents. Forage shows how little he knows whenever he moves away from his two or three pet subjects of immigration, Brexit and the EU. He has little or nothing useful to say about healthcare, education, foreign policy, pensions, elderly care, housing, regional policy, Northern Ireland, defence, trade with China, the University system etc etc. Unless of course you consider his usual poorly thought-out boorish blustering as an actual policy. We saw that just a few days ago when he rather foolishly strayed off-script and strayed into the minefield of NATO and Ukraine, and promptly made a complete tit of himself.
@@baltasarnoreno5973 so you are on a different team?
I agreed with quite a lot he said on Britain, Western Europe and the US but then he got to the Ukraine and China. It's almost nostalgic to see the long and proud history of British elites having nfi what they are talking about when it comes to Russia and China coutinues to this day. Bravo.
He's one of the most eminent historians on Earth - he has *some* idea what he is talking about, even if you - who are you? - disagree with it.
@@Bailiol I think we've had just about enough of our expertocracy since 2020. They are the last people we should trust.
Freddie should of got the knighthood. Thanks for calling the warmonger out.
Freddie's blind spot is Israel.
Almost breathtakingly sociopathic disregard for the death of hundreds of thousands of young men.
Eloquently Imbacile.
A penny-wise, pound-foolish point of view.
A very neat line in sanctimony to boot.
All right, try this then. Fucking blood - curdlingly warmongering insanity.
Ah, this guy. I read one of his books a long time ago. Still hoovering around the Americans trying to convince them they are Rome. Smoke ass blow.
One can agree with Ferguson or not (and I tend to), but if he doesn't at least make you think, then you're not thinking. Thanks for having him as a guest, UnHerd. 👍
I think Freddie has to platform the regime now and then
Host is good. Continually producing counter arguments without losing his composure
It's impossible to finish watching this show with a condecending Ferguson siding with warmongers such as Pompeo and contradicting himself with a fantasy of American supremacy that is painting itself more and more in a corner. Good interview work by Sayers though!
Agree. I had to give up. It was unbearable twaddle.
Niall: We have to give the Ukraine to escalate to push Russia back.
How would you do that if Russia has a nuclear weapon that it's willing to use and Ukraine doesn't? How would you escalate when the opponent always has the upper hand on the escalation ladder?
I don't think either side wants to use the nukes and that's why they can escalate almost as if they are not there. But I doubt I would have the brass balls to call the Russians' bluff using that insight.
Looks like war has been treating Niall very well, nice threads... I wonder if he can hear the screams of the men that died to pay him for that.
Yes I'm a bit confused with Ferguson's analysis of Ukraine. I think he is underestimating the financial cost to the civilian west in terms of their living conditions today. I'll give him the benefit doubt on the strategic benefit of supporting Ukraine but he does allude to the sovereign debt crisis earlier but skims over it. I think he is severely underestimating this.
Freddie challenges in the right areas though and is a great at asking questions.
Interesting all round though. Thanks gents.
I listened to Niall and thought he was off his rocker. Thank God my faith in humanity was restored after reading the comments. We’re not all crazy as him.
After listening to him for a while. I decided to look at the comments. I came to the same conclusion that you do
Thé facts are, regarding the economic adjustment required to accommodate lower migration, which I agree are not transparently discussed -
1) most of these migrants are not economically net positive
2) it’s an unsustainable response longer term : infinity immigrant
3) indeed the hump would be carried by boomers, boomers who not only have benefited more than any other in history, not only created the conditions for our current predicament but who also cannot expect the rest to suffer the legacy of their continued selfish comfort
4) you’re really not saving the country’s future if in doing so you submit everything that the country is to the demands of the exchequer. We are a home, a community, a culture, a civilisation. Not merely an account statement.
Lastly 5), I think Niall is underestimating the economic hit people are willing to bear in service to conserving that home, community, culture, civilisation….
Exactly. I'm not British but I agree. And even productive migrants grow old and need pensions and nursing homes.
But there are more things at play. For example standard of living, governments don't mind impoverishing us to meet net zero, but not to reduce immigration. And migrant families vote. They will not vote for a lower standard of living, they don't love our countries they are here for living standards. The other interesting thing is the global agreements our countries have signed up for, often both major parties on the peaceful movement of people into our countries. These were signed in the 90s. When did it begin on a large scale?
I'm a late boomer. We got royally screwed. Inflation was twice as high as it is now. Housing prices tripled when we were trying to find a house. They used to always talk about ours being the only generation that would not be richer than out parents, I don't think that turned out, but it depends what you measure. Sexual diseases messed up dating. People today just want to blame others. You yourself say people are willing to take an economic hit. But you sound like you can't even take life as it is today without blaming others. The funny thing about the early boomers is that they were the ones known for making their own candle and flip flops, and living in tree houses. They wore jeans, not fast fashion. But then Bill Gates comes along and skews the numbers.
@@tacticalskiffs8134 I agree.
The only striking moment from this interview was the vision of Niall's Red tie.
Ferguson sitting in that chair like he’s Churchill😂
The nonsense this guy said and says about Ukraine is consistently wrong. Russia is just getting their allies involved in the conflict, the received 5 million artillery shells from North Korea. The entire NATO amount is 0.5 million. He also has no clue about the updated nuclear doctrine of Russia. If you're going to escalate into Russia with the long-range missiles enough, they drop some tactical nukes. This isn't a fist fight or medieval fight. Escalate to de-escalate 🙄 Still has no clue how to secure an occupied territory and the amount of security forces involved.
His theory about escalate to de-escalate has never been tried between 2 nuclear armed countries either. To claim he is a student of history and that we are forgetting its lessons is patently ridiculous - there is no lesson relating to nuclear stand-off aside from the Cuban missile crisis. He should study how this was resolved. We will likely escalate to destruction, what an idiot!
@@geoffyeatman8791 "there is no lesson relating to nuclear stand-off aside from the Cuban missile crisis."
Wrong. Afghanistan in the 80s.
@@kreek22 I stand corrected and while I have no specific recollection of nuclear escalation in that time, there was much public anxiety around the threat of nuclear war and plenty of protests etc which would obviously have been influenced by the Afghanistan war and so on. However my point still stands, even including these examples, nuclear escalation has never reached a zenith and to assume that escalation will always work is just that, an assumption.
He payed no mind to the Minsk accords, or the repeated attempts by Russia to achieve peace through diplomacy ... that speaks volumes about his cultural biases.
I'm not sure it's that obvious who was the guilty of the biggest breaches of the Minsk accords.
@@rocketpig1914
Angula Merkel admitted the Minsk accords was a sham to allow Ukraine to build up an army, remember that came after Russia already had Ukraine on the ropes in the corner.
@@rocketpig1914 research what Angela Merkel admitted.
@@rocketpig1914
... since utube won't let me say it, or you didn't like it.
"Are we the Soviets now?"
What did Soviet people have besides a single party:
Free education (nurseries, kindergartens, schools, vocational schools, colleges, universities) and free extracurricular activities for children where they could develop comprehensively (music, sports, chess; in almost any Soviet city, one could join a club for young inventors, model aviation, railway and water transport, communications, photography, and cinema). The average level of state budget expenditure on education in the USSR was 11.7%, and 2-4% on science.
Free healthcare and disease prevention, which also included sanatorium and spa treatment. In every small populated area, there had to be at least a duty doctor and a midwife. The USSR allocated 7-10% of its GDP to medicine and healthcare.
Genuinely functioning social mobility - regardless of whether their parents were collective farmers or workers, their children had a real opportunity to become scientists, ambassadors, or ministers. There were no social barriers to career advancement.
Free housing. During Brezhnev's time alone, 164 million people received free apartments.
No unemployment.
No homelessness.
Absolute safety (everyone who lived in the Soviet Union in the past and lives in Russia now can confidently assure that it was in the Soviet state that all conditions were created to protect people from various types of crimes; in Russia, they say: with the fall of the "Iron Curtain," people acquired iron doors).
So I can assure you that you are not the Soviets
Was Niall nursing a hangover? Seems far more irritable than his normal suave delivery...
I find Mr Ferguson's conflation of the Western-induced, extreme free market social collapse in Russia of the 1990s with the Union Soviet to be misleading and immoral. The mortality statistics he cites in his article and this interview relate to the period after 1990. Unfortunately, he is an unreliable spokesperson for the US empire, even though he is a superbly engaging communicator. Please challenge him more robustly of you have him back on. It would be good for Unherd to interview Vladislav Zubok (LSE) one time on Soviet collapse and the Cold War. He is much better informed.
Warmonger.
Starts with a valid question, rapidly devolves into “the Americans must fight 3 simultaneous wars in Europe, Middle East, and Asia!” 😅
Pompous doesn’t even come close. Unless you’ve been in a real fight? I’m betting the last fight he had was in infant school