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“Since he invaded Ukraine, Putin has been canceled, and the effect on global politics has been extraordinary. Private companies have proved willing to make decisions that affect their profit margins, and the sanctions against Russia have united Western leaders. By creating a “them,” the past two weeks have strengthened “us.” “

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What choice do these companies really have? They are faced with a bad move and worse move, so they've picked the bad move...

The idea that western companies are pulling out of Russia as a form of virtue signalling is ridiculous. The fact is they are pulling out because they must due to sanctions and Russian counter reactions.

Mcdonalds for example pulled out. Russia has suggested that it may break "trademarks" to continue to operate McDonalds independently and keep (innocent) people employed.

The delusion of many westerners is the idea that Putin is at odds with Russia as a whole and that Putin or Russia can be "canceled."

Russia is not Libya or Iraq. It is practically a third or a quarter of Eurasia with a continent's worth of natural resources.

If Russia wants to practice autarky (economic self-reliance) it can do that far better than most countries on Earth.

Second the idea that "Putin" is at odds with Russia. According to polls Putin has somewhere around 70% approval.

Most of those opposed Putin are even more against western neoliberalism than Putin.

On top of that, the west and the mainstream media are obsessed with finding the next villain of the month to report about (Putin), since the hundreds of millions of readers are now no longer scared of Covid (The previous villain).

So once again fear and outrage sells and generates more clicks to their articles, and the mainstream news media goes ahead and pushes more of its propaganda onto a war that should not have happened in the first place.

Maybe we should expect China to do the same to Taiwan.

Does Putin STILL have 70% approval? If so, I wonder if many Russians are fearful that perhaps the "anonymous" opinion polls aren't really so anonymous.

They are pulling out because Russian economy is going to crash and people will no longer be able to buy the products from these companies anyway. It is just not profitable for them anymore and if you can get some points for showing how socially responsible you are, is just extra.

It seems this is a very American (western?) propaganda driven narrative. I wouldn’t be surprised if these sanctions in the medium term ruin the United States. China is the winner and Russia & India will also benefit. I hope not, but it seems possible.

No, this seems wishful thinking. Russia's GDP is only 4% of EU's GDP. The sanctions will be felt all around the world but not as severely as in Russia.

There are not leaving because the Russian economy is going to be seriously hit. Many of them would still be viable and profitable in a serious economic crisis.

There are leaving because the sanctions make it either impossible or not worthwhile to continue operating, and because they are facing huge pressure at home and are fearing that the cost of being 'cancelled' at home would be worse than the cost of closing shop in Russian.

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