YouTuber Vaush Receives Backlash For Saying The U.S. Needs To 'Starve Out' Russia In Regards To The Ukrainian Conflict
While streaming on Twitch this week, notable political YouTuber Vaush was relaying thoughts he held in regards to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict that some online found offensive. In a clip that circulated Twitter yesterday, Vaush stated, "I feel like the only thing [the U.S.] can do at this point is starve Russia out."
To aid his point, Vaush included that the U.S. is wealthier than Russia "in metrics" and that they should "sanction their leaders, cripple their economy and wait for them to bleed out." But his co-host immediately questioned him, saying that a lot of Russian civilians would get hurt in the imagined geopolitical mix-up. Others agreed with this counter-argument, with many on Twitter referring to Vaush's mindset as sociopathic or childish.
As the clip reached more users, it accumulated more outrage, leading to multiple humorous tweets and memes. Most users who were inspired enough to publicly react did so with criticism. Many labeled Vaush as an entitled American while others gave more well-rounded strategies in regards to Russia, insisting that food sanctions simply wouldn't work.
Of course, there were others online who took Vaush's side, defending him against those aiming for cancelation. Some cited a moment that happened later in the stream, where Vaush reiterated that he didn't believe in sanctions levied against civilians but rather exclusively towards Russian oligarchs. Using this as evidence of Vaush's good character, users agreed that his previous remarks were light-hearted, intended as a joke or to be taken with a grain of salt.
The chatter became so loud that Vaush addressed the controversy yesterday, posting multiple tweets and quote tweets defending his statements. However, all of them had an un-serious hint to them, using memes and pop culture references to dunk on the people attacking him.
This isn't the first time Vaush has received backlash for his statements. In 2020, he was accused of sexual harassment because of comments he made in a Discord server. He was also screenshotted talking about lowering the age of consent in 2021, as well as being accused of being a pedophile on Twitter for comments he made about lolis. However, known for his hyperbolic statements and loyal fanbase, Vaush's online presence seems stable in the meantime.
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Görktürks are furries
you know, I ought to kick myself for saying this, but I kinda agree with Vaush here, economic sanctions really are the best way to get Russia to back down, and I honestly don't understand why that statement was so controversial (aside from the implications of an actual famine, which is probably taking his words a bit more literally than intended). Seriously, it's not like they can last long economically speaking, and they would have to be beyond retarded to still try to invade Ukraine if they're put into place. it's genuinely bizarre to me that the quote caused the backlash that it did.
SSmotzer
On one hand we have potentially hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians getting bombed by Russia, while on the other hand you have thousands of Russians going hungry, but the sanctions could accelerate Russia's readiness to invade, but Russia could take the lack of sanctions as weakness on part of the U.S. and believing we wouldn't stop them from invading…
….Hmmm, maybe starving out Russia is the better option.
Ozzzim
People seems to have forgotten that during the beginning of Donieck occupation West did heavily sanction Russia, causing deescalation of the conflict. Kremlin was wise enough to notice that they were about to undergo an economic crisis and did in fact calm down and no starving took place.
mandrac
Imagine being the first economical and military power in the world and being scared by a country with a smaller gdp than italy….
A Concerned Rifleman
Yea, when has an economically insignificant nation ever driven off an incredibly wealthy war machine before?
KoimanZX
Russia has lots of nuclear weapons, is one of the biggest suppliers of fossil fuels to Europe, and can weaponize the loads of ethnic Russians in former Soviet countries like the Baltic States (along with the Kaliningrad enclave.) Russia has tons of leverage despite having a small economy.
Patriotic Autocannon
Just like Cuba lmao.
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MCC1701
I'll admit I know very little about the guy, but I've heard he's arrogant with bad takes.
"it's tough, being objectively correct all the time"
Yea…
kraas
both he and Xanderhal go in for "ridiculous self-confidence", as a deliberate counterpoint to the self-deprecation used by a number of lefty video essayists, for the bulk of their humor. it doesnt land for me every time.
SSmotzer
Yeah, but he also doesn't believe that anything in reality can be objective, so you know…
A Concerned Rifleman
I don't get it, that's exactly what the US did last time. Russia is remarkably easy to blockade, despite its coastline, and after a few months of sanctions the Russians caved.
Russia has always been in a precarious position, sitting on tons of natural resources but never in a position to exploit them to the fullest. While their own highly aggressive politics are largely to blame, it also tends to be an issue with geography. Why do you think they threw everything behind Port Arthur?
This is almost a reverse situation to the Japanese, where they declared war to get the resources for them to exploit, the Russians are willing to go to arms to be in a position to gain access to the sea for them to export their resources. Sure, Crimea is still enclaved behind the Bosporus, Gibraltar and the Suez but it's better than nothing, and in their eyes is the last piece to taking full economic control of their economy. And of course, with the leadership of the West being at some of its weakest since the late 1930's, conditions couldn't be more ideal, or at least as ideal as they can realistically get.
KoimanZX
They also have the Dardanelles strait to deal with. Russia has also been feuding with Japan over the Kuril/Chishima Islands in order to secure full control over the Sea of Okhotsk (people often overlook Russia's impact on Japanese history, with the fact that the USSR violated their neutrality pact with Imperial Japan and invaded at the same time the US bombed Japan being the main reason Japan surrendered.)
Of course, invading territories is great at distracting the people from economic trouble. While there is disagreement about the effectiveness of the sanctions on Russia, it worth noting that the value of the Ruble has tanked in recent years and there is some internal conflict within Russia (take the source with a grain of salt, given that it's from NATO.)
In short, Russia is complicated.