son of witless

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

I loved the picture they used....

It really drove it home...

For contrast I included a picture of the panic buying in the US...

son of witless

Are you suggesting this is not true ? In case you are, I am not always clear as to your intent, here is another source.

https://www.ft.com/content/a0beea33-cbc5-453b-a449-202ba605ee73

Actually that is not opening.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/18/kremlin-warns-against-panic-buying-as-food-prices-rise-fast-a76991

son of witless

Another link.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10618337/Russians-shoppers-scrabble-sugar-Moscow-Western-sanctions-cause-panic-buying.html

" Shoppers are battling in Russian supermarkets as sanctions begin to hit vital supplies triggering a wave of panic-buying.

One sugar rush was seen after a consignment was wheeled into the Perekryostok store in the north of Moscow.

'People are fighting for sugar,' said an onlooker. 'Pensioners are fighting.' "

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

No...I'm suggesting that there is some sensationalizing of the story on the part of Western media...

China's issued warnings like this too... For the most part they're needed...

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

To be expected~~~” The people" rising up (even if they were inclined to do so) won't do anything to deter Putin. The only way he's being forced out of power is if his corrupt generals turn on him.“ Think that’s going to happen?? They’ve been down this path before…

son of witless

Panic buying feeds on itself. In 2020 I remember seeing people wheeling shopping carts full of toilet paper. Soon we had shortages. It was based on nothing. The shortages in Russia are based on something. The Russian currency has lost major value and Western Sanctions are real.

Russia has a history of empty supermarket shelves going back to the Soviet days. The Russian People do not trust their government. Why should they ?

As long as it is only the powerless Russian citizens and pensioners who suffer, nothing will change. If the Police and Russian Security Forces begin to have trouble feeding their families, they might not follow Putin's orders.

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Yes... And we saw some panic buying in China as well... It didn't get out of control...

What makes you think Russia can't feed its people??? It's grows more than enough food...

son of witless

Come on you know it doesn't work that way. Each agricultural and for that matter industrial country runs surpluses in certain items, sells the rest on the world market, and uses that money to buy what it needs and wants from it's trading partners.

I am guessing that much of Russian grain is geared toward to export. Diverting that to domestic markets is not always simple, but okay. Russia is experiencing sugar shortages, even though Russia has invested $ Billions in their inefficient sugar beet industry. Even though overall Russian sugar production and stockpiles should be sufficient to keep supermarket shelves full, the supply chain dislocations caused by Putin's war and Western sanctions, means they aren't full.

Hoarding of what ever food and goods they can get is a logical response from ordinary Russian Citizens, who don't have a lot of options in dealing with their government and it's control over their lives. You may be able to trade sugar and flour later on for other goods you can't get right now, so again hoarding is a good survival strategy for people who don't know when the store shelves will be full again.

Russia may be able to produce bulk wheat and sugar, but it relies on the West for things like Insulin and specialized baby formula for those with health issues. Those shelves are increasingly empty. If a lowly citizen happens upon a lucky supply of some scarce item, he will buy as much as he can even if he has no immediate need for it, which further aggravates the shortages.

Russia is going back to the old Soviet economy. Ordinary Russians will have to relearn how to navigate the market inefficiencies inherent in that reality.

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

It's a good thing China and India can supply everything Russia needs...

And, no, Russia isn't some third world African nation producing market crops for export...

They grow enough to feed their people...

son of witless

So the reports and pictures of Russians finding empty shelves at their stores are just more Western Propaganda like the reports of Russians deliberately killing civilians in Ukraine, and looting because their forces are short on food ?

FallenOak Loc: St George Utah

Alas, your observation sounds like very old news, 158 years old to be exact, Sherman's March to the Sea perhaps?

son of witless

Excellent point. Sherman's March was a deliberate military tactic. He chose to cut himself off from supplies and thus had to live off the land. Putin's soldiers should not be living off the land in the 21st century. Or rather they shouldn't have to.

There is the similarity in destroying the physical ability of a region to support life and thus contribute to your enemy's ability to carry on war against you.

The South never forgave Sherman for that march. They hated him more than they hated Ulysses S. Grant who killed more Southern Soldiers than Sherman.

Arguably is is the same tactic, the US used to get rid of the Plains Indians. The Plains Indians ate Buffalo. So we shot all of the Buffalo. Then we moved in cattle, a few droughts later, and the cattle and cattle men were gone too.

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

An exaggeration...

son of witless

I doubt it. Putin has to terrorize his people to keep them from rioting. His stadium rally was filled with scared government workers. The opposite of Trump rallies.

The Russian People are used to enduring shortages so perhaps Putin keeps his head.