Vancouver bars boycott Russian vodka after anti-gay law passed

[dead0man]

link

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This is good.  I wish all good people would boycott all products that come from sh**tty governments.  The consumer should hold more power, and in this day of information, we may finally be able to do just that.  We probably won't, but we should.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Freedom City.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I'm not sure this is such a good idea. Leaving aside the question of whether a vodka company 'standing strong and proud' with the LGBT community is as heartening and reassuring to the latter as the former presumably hopes it is, I don't see how this is helpful.

[Hifly]

Because Russian vodka firms are instrumental in passing anti-gay laws.
The idiocy of some people never fails to amaze me.

[dead0man]

I'm not sure this is such a good idea. Leaving aside the question of whether a vodka company 'standing strong and proud' with the LGBT community is as heartening and reassuring to the latter as the former presumably hopes it is, I don't see how this is helpful.

Better than nothing I suppose.  (I had to google to figure out what you were talking about)  Queer Nation has a response

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Because Russian vodka firms are instrumental in passing anti-gay laws.
The idiocy of some people never fails to amaze me.

What do you suppose homosexuals and their supporters do to let Russia know this sh**t aint Kosher? 

(and thanks for the needless insult, we need more of that on the internet!)

[Hifly]

What do you suppose homosexuals and their supporters do to let Russia know this sh**t aint Kosher? 

They should recognise who their real enemy is. It certainly isn't the vodka firms.

[dead0man]

The enemy is recognized, it's so obvious I don't even need to....ahem....state it.  Now, what do you suppose we do to them?  We aren't going to start WWIII over it, that would be silly.  How about we hurt them financially...k...well, the only way to do that that is legal would be to buy less of their stuff.  I'm going to assume about the only thing Americans/Canadians regularly buy that is Russian is vodka....but you think that's idiotic....err, you think the people that think that's the best way are idiots.  Well, genius, what do you think would work best....a nasty worded letter?

[opebo]

I'm not sure this is such a good idea. Leaving aside the question of whether a vodka company 'standing strong and proud' with the LGBT community is as heartening and reassuring to the latter as the former presumably hopes it is, I don't see how this is helpful.

They should recognise who their real enemy is. It certainly isn't the vodka firms.

What the heck is wrong with you guys? Who cares if the 'firm' isn't directly to blame.  The point is to damage the Russian economy, or at least send the message that we would like to damage the Russian economy. 

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I'm not sure this is such a good idea. Leaving aside the question of whether a vodka company 'standing strong and proud' with the LGBT community is as heartening and reassuring to the latter as the former presumably hopes it is, I don't see how this is helpful.

Better than nothing I suppose.  (I had to google to figure out what you were talking about)  Queer Nation has a response

Well, I mean obviously this sort of thing from companies like Stolichnaya is next to useless, but it's not worse than useless. Even so I'm not particularly inclined to feel sorry for them.

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The boycott isn't ill-conceived and I don't think it's an actively bad idea; I just think it's unlikely to do very much and in the case of Stolichnaya a little odd in import. I'm not sure what else I would recommend, sadly.

[Hifly]

What the heck is wrong with you guys? Who cares if the 'firm' isn't directly to blame.  The point is to damage the Russian economy, or at least send the message that we would like to damage the Russian economy.  

You want to threaten the economic stability and livelihoods of Russian people to satisfy your hatred for a piece of Putin's legislation?
What about gay people who work in the Vodka industry, or in any other aspect of Russia's economy for that matter?
This is insane.

[dead0man]

I agree with you Nathan, it is unlikely to do very much, but it might make the people doing the boycott feel a bit better...and there is always the long shot of it actually helping.

You want to threaten the economic stability and livelihoods of Russian people to satisfy your hatred for a piece of Putin's legislation?

Yes.  And you clearly have no ideas as to what would work better, thanks for playing.

[opebo]

What the heck is wrong with you guys? Who cares if the 'firm' isn't directly to blame.  The point is to damage the Russian economy, or at least send the message that we would like to damage the Russian economy.  

You want to threaten the economic stability and livelihoods of Russian people to satisfy your hatred for a piece of Putin's legislation?

Absolutely.   This is what sanctions are all about - try to whip the bastards into submission by making them suffer.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Russia is essentialy what America would look like if the GOP got about 20 straight years of full power at the federal level.

[Hifly]

I agree with you Nathan, it is unlikely to do very much, but it might make the people doing the boycott feel a bit better.

So you've just acknowledged that this move is completely pathetic, and that it is purely emotionally based, rather than having any intellectual craft behind it.

whip the bastards into submission by making them suffer.

You call yourself a Democrat? You're just as scummy as the worst that the Republicans have to offer.
You're lucky that you live in the USA, the world's most powerful nation. Maybe take a moment to realise how civilians not quite as lucky as you in poorer parts of the world can suffer through economic downfall.

[dead0man]

Are you normally this bitter and combative?  Wait, you're not my ex-wife are you?

[Hifly]

Bitter and Combative? You're the guys who are throwing a massive tantrum by supporting compromising the economic stability of Russian people and wanting to make them "suffer" simply because you oppose this one bill.

[LastVoter]

Russia is essentialy what America would look like if the GOP got about 20 straight years of full power at the federal level.

lol

[MaxQue]

I don't see why you bother with hifly.

His biggest dream is than this Russian law is applied wideworld. So, sure, he will condemn this boycott.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

That may be so, but this is really just the usual feelgood nonsense (like most boycotts). The plight of Russian gays will not be alleviated by a boycott of expensive imported Russian alcohol in a city in Canada.

[dead0man]

I don't see why you bother with hifly.

His biggest dream is than this Russian law is applied wideworld. So, sure, he will condemn this boycott.

No worries, I won't make that mistake again.  He's made the list.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

That may be so, but this is really just the usual feelgood nonsense (like most boycotts). The plight of Russian gays will not be alleviated by a boycott of expensive imported Russian alcohol in a city in Canada.

Just to be clear, did you also oppose the boycott of South Africa during apartheid as feelgood nonsense that would not alleviate the plight of South African blacks?

Altho I will agree that a boycott would need to be wider to be effective, but somehow I can't see Western Europe boycotting Russian oil and gas.

[TDAS04]

A similar thing was done with Jamaican rum a few years ago in San Francisco.

There are several countries that need to improve on gay rights, and it might be impractical to boycott them all.  I do support boycotting the worst offenders, such as Iran and Uganda, but I don't know if Russia falls into that category yet.  However, Russia does appear to be regressing quite quickly.