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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Any history book would tell you as much. Russians historically comprised close to 80% of the population. Other minorities were non-European and on par with their non-European counterparts in mentality, religion and culture. I don’t think that the OP is interested in Chechens, Tatars, Bashkirs, Yakuts, Buryats, and other [b]forty[/b] or so ethnic minorities. Some of these minorities also participated in the wider Russian culture and politics. The Jewish minorities actively contributed to Russian culture and science, for instance, and many were persecuted and discriminated against, which made them change their names and hide their identity.[/quote]

Forty?  Dagestan ALONE has over eighty ethnicities, you dolt!

[quote=Anonymous]
Europe was more prosperous and educated than Russia. And the countries that were colonized by Europeans had roads, hospitals, schools and now enjoy a richer life and better opportunities than the equivalent never colonized countries. Look up the statistics, and former colonies would have much better living standards. [/quote]

Oooh that's right, white people left them much better off, what are they complaining about!  Hey, if I leave your daughter better off than her neighbor, may I colonize her for a few years?
[/quote]

I’m not an expert on ethnic minorities. Do any of these minorities, whatever their number, have at least one scientist, world known novelist, composer, architect, philosopher, Nobel prize winner, inventor - at least one per each minority?

The daughter is not an equivalent comparison. The fact is former colonies are now better off than the never colonized countries. I will leave out your racie-related remarks. You can look at some native human sacrifice rituals and cannibalism that were no longer in place after colonization. You intellectually can’t understand apples to apples comparison.[/quote]

You aren't?  What else aren't you an expert on and yet have confidently opined on?  You're saying an ethnic group has to produce a Nobel prize winner to be counted as human in your book?

Perhaps the daughter remark was too subtle for you, so here's the blunt version: roads, hospitals and schools aren't a good price for getting colonized.  And since you're getting all "intellectual", let's not forget a basic truth that colonizers weren't in the colonies to build roads, schools or hospitals, they were there to get stuff. To extract resources they didn't own. To steal, pillage and plunder, by force if necessary. Schools and hospitals (and prisons and amputated thumbs) were just a side effect. [/quote]
I never claimed I know all of the ethniciminorities of Russia and their exact numbers. OP can let us know if that is what he or she meant by understanding Russians. And I never said they were not humans, they are not relevant to this discussion, as colonization is not relevant. Colonization had a civilizing effect, although this is not even the point of this discussion. This is about how the state treats its own people. Russia has treated its own people horribly, often worse than other people. And Europeans treated its own people comparatively way better. Colonization was abandoned because it was a net loss, not a net gain for Europe. If Europe never had colonies, Europeans would not have lost anything. Colonization enriched some people, not Europe as a whole. Do some research. The argument that Europe is richer because of colonization is not true. Europe is and was richer because it was a freer and more open society, had trade, had to constantly evolve and survive. Only one city Florence, which had 60,000 people in the 15-16 century produced an incredible number of artists, inventors, scholars, philosophers whose works are studied today. That means they were doing something to make it happen. Russia produced a lot less artists, scientists, philosophers, etc. in comparison to its population, but at least it did give something the world admires and respects it for. Everyone is human, just not everyone contributes to the world. [/quote]

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