Russia

[noddy]

.

Buying shoes or cloths when not needed just waste, perversion of "market" economy.

haha.

.

haha, right or wrong, noddy ? ?

I have shoes for the next few yrs, same with trousers and shirts and shorts and everything else .. good possible I might die not ever wearing some of them

i seriously doubt you take fashion less seriously than me or spend less on clothes than me, ive made a point of it my entire life and quite enjoy only having the bare minimum clothes possible - right this second i have one all purpose pair of boots, 2 pairs of jeans and a handfull of tshirts.

this however is irrelevant and unrelated to reality so best ignored.

"manufacturing" fake impulse buying things one does not need key of today's marketing

"market" economy" yes, but, manufacturing artificial demand by "manipulating" should be handled same as "manipulating" stock prices or real estate prices etc, outlawed .. there is no rules for marketing.

"Economically healthy" Marketing should look for "NEEDS" and not pushing for unneeded

.

this is a mindboggling thing to say, i dont need to argue with such puritan madness, their are 3 billion women who think new shoes are kinda cool and who require zero 'manipulation' to do so.

[Heracleum Persicum]

.

.. their are 3 billion women who think new shoes are kinda cool and who require zero 'manipulation' to do so.

.

Yes, there are

question is why so ?

Why woman who have many shoes, all colour and shape, still think "new shoes are kinda cool" ? ?

Today's marketing "manufactures" DESIRE and does not address NEEDS .. That is the art of "manipulation" called MARKETING .. how to stimulate "desire" and suppress NEED .. that gives woman satisfaction, buying things not on need base but "satisfaction" (feeling cool) .. This attitude is built up from young age, teenagers of today (getting money from their parents) spend to be (perceived) COOL .. major marketing sector is built on that, in most expensive retail (rental) spaces one sees stores that all the items are less than $ 5 .. teenagers (or young people) buy in these stores on impulse (they can afford $ 5 a pop) without needing that item (or thinking) .. impulse buying "centre piece" of today's marketing.

When woman are bombarded in all kinds of media with a new shoe colour or model, maybe celebrity or this years fashion (in colour or model), woman feel the DESIRE to be that model or that shick by buying one more shoe

Same applies to most consumable of today, apparel, cars, etc.

That means, economy running on "wastefulness" .. governments, economist, know this


.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

Desire makes the world go round. While gluttony is a serious sin, it is awfully hard to proscribe a line that fits for everyone. For any woman in your example, I can introduce you to women with loads of clothing as a love of craft and expressiveness.

I am a bit biased here. I imagine my wardrobe is bigger than the average man's. It consists of a lot of pieces given to me during my days on the very periphery of the fashion worlds and informed by women involved professionally with fashion. And the serious ones, if you take the time to pick their brains, will teach you that the craft of fashion develops conscientiousness, new aesthetic appreciation and awareness, preservation, a balance between individuality and community, communication.

[noddy]

i fail to see whats being wasted.. labour? nope, we have unemployment problems . resources ? nope, we aint short of shiny plastic lavender.

sounds like some oddball feminist rant from angry wimmuns who cant stand the rat race, which is fine, but nothing at all todo with teenage girls competiting with eachother for looks, that goes back in to the deep dark primal pre human times and has NOTHING todo with moderinity, its an absurdity to even say so.

nothing todo with women who want to enjoy aesthetics and the fun of playing with your apperance either.

ive heard more women argue that im an eyesore who doesnt make an effort to make the world a nicer to look at place than i can care to remember

i think this is looking for conspiracy in all the wrong places.

[noddy]

I am a bit biased here. I imagine my wardrobe is bigger than the average man's. It consists of a lot of pieces given to me during my days on the very periphery of the fashion worlds and informed by women involved professionally with fashion. And the serious ones, if you take the time to pick their brains, will teach you that the craft of fashion develops conscientiousness, new aesthetic appreciation and awareness, preservation, a balance between individuality and community, communication.

my missus is into such things and has a mindboggling amount of resources on these topics.

i smile and nod.

[Heracleum Persicum]

.


noddy, NapLajoieonSteroids .. this subject "heart of the matter" in this age .. has profound economic, political, social, direction culture of a nation is taking, civilization, values, moral, humanitarian effect, result and implication .. could be a destiny making for a nation .. hence, should not be taken lightly

Just random thoughts in this subject :

As business looks for maximizing profit, business will move towards items with highest "margin" .. low cost, highest price .. produce an item costing peanut, spend lots of money building image and desire, sell highest price

A good sample for this is "Perfume" .. manufacturing the most expensive Perfume cost less than $ 1 per ml .. but they sold for $ 200 ml .. $ 1 cost of production + $ 49 marketing + $ 150 profit = $ 200 selling price

That is why all guys with a "name recognition", celebrities, running towards coming up with their own Perfume name.

Perfume factories in Grass (France), would make any Pefume you like and chose the bottle etc etc, costing you probably dollar or two the bottle .. the rest is marketing.

Same thing applies in shoes and apparel and all other things

If you buy all those famous woman magazines, like Vogue, you will see that 95% of the pages are advertisements for high price Perfume or Shoe or apparel, otherwise ZERO inelegant content (Playboy has more intelligent content than VOGUE )

All this "feel good", feel Cool, just "skin deep" .. there is no dept in it .. culture becoming "lady GaGa" for the "new generation", values become superficial, misunderstanding "modernity"

Modernity should have been to "extend" Immanuel Kant and "Albert Camus", to explore the next page, WHAT NEXT in human development and not one more shoe which Madonna wearing.


.

[Endovelico]

Russian retail sales and wages plummet

Russian consumers drastically cut spending last month as real wages plummeted, suggesting that hopes of a looming turnround in the economy might be premature.
Retail sales dropped by 9.8 per cent in April compared with the same month in 2014, worse than the 6.7 drop recorded in the first quarter, the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) said on Friday.

Real incomes were down by 4 per cent year on year, while real wages fell by a whopping 13.2 per cent — the biggest decline since August 1999.

You wish...

But that's not as the IMF sees it:

IMF Sees Better Russian Economic Outlook
By Dow Jones Business News, May 21, 2015, 10:58:00 AM EDT
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/imf-sees- ... 0521-00806

MOSCOW-The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it expects the Russian economy to stage a mild recovery next year, but remain vulnerable to geo-political and oil price shifts.

The IMF now sees gross domestic product shrinking 3.4% this year and growing 0.2% in 2016. In April, the IMF had forecast the economy to contract by 3.8% in 2015 and 1.1% in 2016.

"The authorities' anti-crisis package has helped to stabilize the situation in Russia," said Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, head of the IMF mission, which spent two weeks in consultation with local officials.

The Washington-based lender said though the contraction is less than feared, Russia remains vulnerable to significant risks related to global oil prices and geopolitics.

The IMF said Russia should carry out prudent macroeconomic policy, re-invigorate structural reforms and avoid "de- integration from the world economy" to prop up its potential economic growth.

The IMF also called for the "normalization" of the central bank's policy, a reference that it should continue cutting rates after an emergency increase in December that took the key rate to 17%.

Annual inflation in Russia is now seen slowing to 12.5% by the end of the year from levels of more than 16% currently. In April the IMF saw Russia's inflation averaging 17.9%.

The economy has slid into recession under pressure from Western sanctions and a rapid drop in the prices for oil, the country's key export.

In contrast with the gloomy forecasts of other global financial institutions, such as the World Bank, which sees the economy shrinking by 4.5% this year, the IMF forecast is now more in line with the views of Russian officials.

The Economy Ministry expects Russia to return to growth next year and outpace global growth in the next few years. Earlier Thursday, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said he sees gross domestic product falling this year by 2.5%.

The IMF also said it agrees with the central bank's forecast that net capital outflow will fall to around $110 billion this year from nearly $152 billion seen last year.

But it would be so much nicer if Russia's economy was really sinking...

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

I am a bit biased here. I imagine my wardrobe is bigger than the average man's. It consists of a lot of pieces given to me during my days on the very periphery of the fashion worlds and informed by women involved professionally with fashion. And the serious ones, if you take the time to pick their brains, will teach you that the craft of fashion develops conscientiousness, new aesthetic appreciation and awareness, preservation, a balance between individuality and community, communication.

my missus is into such things and has a mindboggling amount of resources on these topics.

i smile and nod.

yeah, which is both the good and expedient response.

I used to date this girl who would refuse to be seen with me in public for any fashion faux pas I made. It took her a lot of patience and converting things into "man speak" before I got the rudimentary bits down and once I did I felt like I acquired a secret survival skill to vanquish and crush my enemies like any good barbarian.

OBGOQ7SsJrw

[Typhoon]

Russian retail sales and wages plummet

Russian consumers drastically cut spending last month as real wages plummeted, suggesting that hopes of a looming turnround in the economy might be premature.
Retail sales dropped by 9.8 per cent in April compared with the same month in 2014, worse than the 6.7 drop recorded in the first quarter, the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) said on Friday.

Real incomes were down by 4 per cent year on year, while real wages fell by a whopping 13.2 per cent — the biggest decline since August 1999.

You wish...

But that's not as the IMF sees it:

IMF Sees Better Russian Economic Outlook
By Dow Jones Business News, May 21, 2015, 10:58:00 AM EDT
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/imf-sees- ... 0521-00806

MOSCOW-The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it expects the Russian economy to stage a mild recovery next year, but remain vulnerable to geo-political and oil price shifts.

The IMF now sees gross domestic product shrinking 3.4% this year and growing 0.2% in 2016. In April, the IMF had forecast the economy to contract by 3.8% in 2015 and 1.1% in 2016.

"The authorities' anti-crisis package has helped to stabilize the situation in Russia," said Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, head of the IMF mission, which spent two weeks in consultation with local officials.

The Washington-based lender said though the contraction is less than feared, Russia remains vulnerable to significant risks related to global oil prices and geopolitics.

The IMF said Russia should carry out prudent macroeconomic policy, re-invigorate structural reforms and avoid "de- integration from the world economy" to prop up its potential economic growth.

The IMF also called for the "normalization" of the central bank's policy, a reference that it should continue cutting rates after an emergency increase in December that took the key rate to 17%.

Annual inflation in Russia is now seen slowing to 12.5% by the end of the year from levels of more than 16% currently. In April the IMF saw Russia's inflation averaging 17.9%.

The economy has slid into recession under pressure from Western sanctions and a rapid drop in the prices for oil, the country's key export.

In contrast with the gloomy forecasts of other global financial institutions, such as the World Bank, which sees the economy shrinking by 4.5% this year, the IMF forecast is now more in line with the views of Russian officials.

The Economy Ministry expects Russia to return to growth next year and outpace global growth in the next few years. Earlier Thursday, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said he sees gross domestic product falling this year by 2.5%.

The IMF also said it agrees with the central bank's forecast that net capital outflow will fall to around $110 billion this year from nearly $152 billion seen last year.

But it would be so much nicer if Russia's economy was really sinking...

There is IMF expectation and then there is reality.

[Typhoon]

Guardian | Moscow’s account of Nato expansion is a case of false memory syndrome

Russia’s grievances today rest on a narrative of past betrayals, slights and humiliations. It’s time for a reality check

Et tu, Grauniad?

[noddy]

.


noddy, NapLajoieonSteroids .. this subject "heart of the matter" in this age .. has profound economic, political, social, direction culture of a nation is taking, civilization, values, moral, humanitarian effect, result and implication .. could be a destiny making for a nation .. hence, should not be taken lightly

Just random thoughts in this subject :

As business looks for maximizing profit, business will move towards items with highest "margin" .. low cost, highest price .. produce an item costing peanut, spend lots of money building image and desire, sell highest price

A good sample for this is "Perfume" .. manufacturing the most expensive Perfume cost less than $ 1 per ml .. but they sold for $ 200 ml .. $ 1 cost of production + $ 49 marketing + $ 150 profit = $ 200 selling price

That is why all guys with a "name recognition", celebrities, running towards coming up with their own Perfume name.

Perfume factories in Grass (France), would make any Pefume you like and chose the bottle etc etc, costing you probably dollar or two the bottle .. the rest is marketing.

Same thing applies in shoes and apparel and all other things

If you buy all those famous woman magazines, like Vogue, you will see that 95% of the pages are advertisements for high price Perfume or Shoe or apparel, otherwise ZERO inelegant content (Playboy has more intelligent content than VOGUE )

All this "feel good", feel Cool, just "skin deep" .. there is no dept in it .. culture becoming "lady GaGa" for the "new generation", values become superficial, misunderstanding "modernity"

Modernity should have been to "extend" Immanuel Kant and "Albert Camus", to explore the next page, WHAT NEXT in human development and not one more shoe which Madonna wearing.


.

this reads like some noam chomsky thing - wrong assumptions with wrong analysis leads to wrong conclusions , im sorry about that, it is what it is.

you look at the veneer of fashion and pop culture and ignore the rest, its a certain percentage of teenagers and some types of shallow suburbanite who take that nonsense seriously, its certainly is not a magority, it certainly does not have any effect on my life or any of the people i live with.

that segment of society has been shallow and superficial forever - they used to copy the ladies of the court, now they copy pop tarts, nothing modern about any of it, its as old as humanity.

the west is lots of things, i can find whatever i want to find in it - if you only notice shallow pop culture id say you are looking in the wrong places.

[noddy]

to be seen with me in public for any fashion faux pas I made. It took her a lot of patience and converting things into "man speak" before I got the rudimentary bits down and once I did I felt like I acquired a secret survival skill to vanquish and crush my enemies like any good barbarian.

i tried, i just struggled to maintain a carefactor long enough to sustain anything in that regard. - my noddy persona leaks across into my flesher avatar, i seem to have a very low tolerance for some forms of pretense and a very high tolerance for others.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

.


noddy, NapLajoieonSteroids .. this subject "heart of the matter" in this age .. has profound economic, political, social, direction culture of a nation is taking, civilization, values, moral, humanitarian effect, result and implication .. could be a destiny making for a nation .. hence, should not be taken lightly

The destiny of a nation is in the hands of God. Which is why decadence and gluttony are tolerated within very broad limits. Sins against God will be dealt with by God; otherwise, to be a free people is to be permitted to disappoint.

Just random thoughts in this subject :

As business looks for maximizing profit, business will move towards items with highest "margin" .. low cost, highest price .. produce an item costing peanut, spend lots of money building image and desire, sell highest price

A good sample for this is "Perfume" .. manufacturing the most expensive Perfume cost less than $ 1 per ml .. but they sold for $ 200 ml .. $ 1 cost of production + $ 49 marketing + $ 150 profit = $ 200 selling price

That is why all guys with a "name recognition", celebrities, running towards coming up with their own Perfume name.

Perfume factories in Grass (France), would make any Pefume you like and chose the bottle etc etc, costing you probably dollar or two the bottle .. the rest is marketing.

Same thing applies in shoes and apparel and all other things

These markets are very cutthroat and crowded. Anything to stand out is beneficial. Both the person making the item and the one branding the item have a lot at stake with a tenuous chance of success. If the scent sucks, that hurts the celebrity brand more so than whoever actually sat in a lab sniffing gases. If their brand is hurt, their golden ticket in life can blow away real quick. Those marketing people have a very stressful time making sure people know about the product and are actually curious about it. The wall of indifference is an awfully high one to hurdle- even for ultra famous people. If it is well received, it is not a life changer for the brand name, but it can often be for the person who actually made the scent. These people work in an industry like cooking. Almost everyone can do it, a lot of people can do it with some skill (pleasing to certain people) but very few people ever reach that place where they can wow anyone with their dishes. When they reach that point, why are you against them capitalizing on it as best as they can?

If you buy all those famous woman magazines, like Vogue, you will see that 95% of the pages are advertisements for high price Perfume or Shoe or apparel, otherwise ZERO inelegant content (Playboy has more intelligent content than VOGUE )

No, you see so many advertisements in Vogue as opposed to Playboy because Vogue customers usually control the purse strings of a household and the magazine doesn't have the stench of pornography which drives away advertisers. Playboy, which uses its brand on the cheapest merchandise possible to make up for it's poor revenue stream would love to have Vogue's demographics and be able to sell Joe a shirt and pair of pumps. Joe doesn't buy Playboy for the stuff. He buys it for the interviews!

Otherwise, Vogue content is not much different from Playboy which isn't far off from the Economist. The medium is the message is a thing for a reason. Which one you use is just as much part of branding as attempting to reject brands- "No brand" movements became en vogue branding itself.

All this "feel good", feel Cool, just "skin deep" .. there is no dept in it .. culture becoming "lady GaGa" for the "new generation", values become superficial, misunderstanding "modernity"

Modernity should have been to "extend" Immanuel Kant and "Albert Camus", to explore the next page, WHAT NEXT in human development and not one more shoe which Madonna wearing.


.

The Modern Ages ended a while time ago.

What you are talking about is commercial advertisement going from the informative to the aspirational. It embraces narcissism, and it by doing so encourages it. The problem is a feedback loop of sorts. But the way out isn't to punish the ad guy/gal like they invented it. Advertisers give people exactly what they want and they adapt to whoever they are looking at. So the "culture" as you put it, was giving out the signals long before they started putting Joe Namath on the side of a Wheaties box.

[Endovelico]

Guardian | Moscow’s account of Nato expansion is a case of false memory syndrome

Russia’s grievances today rest on a narrative of past betrayals, slights and humiliations. It’s time for a reality check

Et tu, Grauniad?

I find it totally unbelievable that the matter of NATO's eventual enlargement would not have been discussed between the USSR and the US even if it did not find its way into the treaty. If the US gave Gorbachev a guarantee that such enlargement would not take place - and I would expect the US to do it to ensure an agreement with the USSR - then it was as binding as if it was written down. Presuming people are honourable, which may not have been the case here...

[noddy]

What you are talking about is commercial advertisement going from the informative to the aspirational. It embraces narcissism, and it by doing so encourages it. The problem is a feedback loop of sorts. But the way out isn't to punish the ad guy/gal like they invented it. Advertisers give people exactly what they want and they adapt to whoever they are looking at. So the "culture" as you put it, was giving out the signals long before they started putting Joe Namath on the side of a Wheaties box.

i see it all through western history, i see it china or india , i cant really see the modern west as being any different.

small villages can do a cunning facsimile of what azari seems to be looking for but thats peer pressure as much a personal strength - cities and the bourgeois have been happy homes for shallow superficialism for aslong as we have had cities and bourgeois.

[Typhoon]

. . .
These markets are very cutthroat and crowded. Anything to stand out is beneficial. Both the person making the item and the one branding the item have a lot at stake with a tenuous chance of success. If the scent sucks, that hurts the celebrity brand more so than whoever actually sat in a lab sniffing gases. If their brand is hurt, their golden ticket in life can blow away real quick. Those marketing people have a very stressful time making sure people know about the product and are actually curious about it. The wall of indifference is an awfully high one to hurdle- even for ultra famous people. If it is well received, it is not a life changer for the brand name, but it can often be for the person who actually made the scent. These people work in an industry like cooking. Almost everyone can do it, a lot of people can do it with some skill (pleasing to certain people) but very few people ever reach that place where they can wow anyone with their dishes. When they reach that point, why are you against them capitalizing on it as best as they can?

No, you see so many advertisements in Vogue as opposed to Playboy because Vogue customers usually control the purse strings of a household and the magazine doesn't have the stench of pornography which drives away advertisers. Playboy, which uses its brand on the cheapest merchandise possible to make up for it's poor revenue stream would love to have Vogue's demographics and be able to sell Joe a shirt and pair of pumps. Joe doesn't buy Playboy for the stuff. He buys it for the interviews!
. . .

Quite.

Walk into any department store of note. What's on the entrance floor, the prime retail space?

Women's perfume and beauty creams. These days especially lots of "Oils of Delay". Also designer purses/handbags. Jewelry.

Hard to imagine more competitive and cutthroat industries.

For examples, the "Oils of Delay" have similar formulations, little effect, if any, yet are a massive industry.

Convincing clients to buy one over another is all marketing and branding.

[Typhoon]

One benefits of the Soviet system for the West and the propaganda war was the opportunity for humour.

5CaMUfxVJVQ

One could even argue that it was a lack of women's consumer goods that helped contribute to the downfall of communism.

[Simple Minded]

i think this is looking for conspiracy in all the wrong places.

noddy,

I hate to point this out, but you're wrong and HP is right. I think this is the marketing that has his old tattered knickers in a twist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zey8567bcg

[Simple Minded]

I used to date this girl who would refuse to be seen with me in public for any fashion faux pas I made. It took her a lot of patience and converting things into "man speak" before I got the rudimentary bits down and once I did I felt like I acquired a secret survival skill to vanquish and crush my enemies like any good barbarian.

Nap,

I feel your pain. Back when I was dating my sister, she treated me the same way..... even when I wore the same outfit she did the day before, it was endless criticism. It got to be such a buzz kill, I had to dump her. Luckily, we're still friends.

Fun is fun, but self-respect and self-esteem are also important.

In my experience, first cousins are a lot more tolerant.

[YMix]

I find it totally unbelievable that the matter of NATO's eventual enlargement would not have been discussed between the USSR and the US even if it did not find its way into the treaty. If the US gave Gorbachev a guarantee that such enlargement would not take place - and I would expect the US to do it to ensure an agreement with the USSR - then it was as binding as if it was written down. Presuming people are honourable, which may not have been the case here...

As hard to believe as it seems...

The interviewer asked why Gorbachev did not “insist that the promises made to you [Gorbachev]—particularly U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s promise that NATO would not expand into the East—be legally encoded?” Gorbachev replied: “The topic of ‘NATO expansion’ was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. … Another issue we brought up was discussed: making sure that NATO’s military structures would not advance and that additional armed forces would not be deployed on the territory of the then-GDR after German reunification. Baker’s statement was made in that context… Everything that could have been and needed to be done to solidify that political obligation was done. And fulfilled.”

Gorbachev continued that “The agreement on a final settlement with Germany said that no new military structures would be created in the eastern part of the country; no additional troops would be deployed; no weapons of mass destruction would be placed there. It has been obeyed all these years.” To be sure, the former Soviet president criticized NATO enlargement and called it a violation of the spirit of the assurances given Moscow in 1990, but he made clear there was no promise regarding broader enlargement.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

I used to date this girl who would refuse to be seen with me in public for any fashion faux pas I made. It took her a lot of patience and converting things into "man speak" before I got the rudimentary bits down and once I did I felt like I acquired a secret survival skill to vanquish and crush my enemies like any good barbarian.

Nap,

I feel your pain. Back when I was dating my sister, she treated me the same way..... even when I wore the same outfit she did the day before, it was endless criticism. It got to be such a buzz kill, I had to dump her. Luckily, we're still friends.

Fun is fun, but self-respect and self-esteem are also important.

In my experience, first cousins are a lot more tolerant.

Nah, wasn't nagging. She isn't the nagging type. And besides, she was right- we actually figured out that there is a very narrow range of dark blues that I have some trouble distinguishing.

As for cousin and sister relations- good luck with that.

[noddy]

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

heh. yeah, that was the first miscommunication hurdle to clear.

[Simple Minded]

Nah, wasn't nagging. She isn't the nagging type. And besides, she was right- we actually figured out that there is a very narrow range of dark blues that I have some trouble distinguishing.

Nap,

Of course she was right. Women are always right in matters of fashion. You have to be a masochist to argue fashion with a woman.

I solved that problem a long time ago by only buying socks that are either gray or dark blue, and primary color shirts.

It gets easier after you're married. Rather than ask "Does this look OK?" you say "Let's not play that game. Just tell me what you want me to wear."

My revenge is every time she refers to the stainless steel shelves I say "We don't own any stainless steel shelves. Those are chrome plated shelves!"

Revenge is a dish best served often!!!

[Simple Minded]

True enough. I recall a cartoon where the wife tells the husband "Remember we are painting the bedroom cinnamon sand latte cream." The husband goes down to the paint store and says to the salesperson "Gimme some light brown paint."