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Discussion #27A - Conflict in Ukraine

The reason why the world currently has no tolerance or stomach for this war in Ukraine, is because the vast majority of human beings on this Earth have evolved past this form of primitive, aggressive, barbaric, horrific, selfish, tribal, animalistic, & murderous behaviour. To be fair, the US & allies did also kill 363,000 innocent civilians to avenge the deaths of approx. 3,000 innocent lives lost on 9/11.

Over 1 million civilians were lost in this quest to rid the world of terrorism, when you factor in the effects from the destruction of infrastructure, hospitals, residential buildings, etc. And they never did find those infamous "weapons of mass destruction" they were so convinced they'd find, even after a 20-year war and occupation in Afghanistan.

However, two wrongs do not equal a right. If we're going to avoid WW3, and the self-extinction of our species, then we need to be brutally accurate and honest with this issue, despite the obvious unflattery. Even if Putin were to successfully take over and occupy Ukraine, very few in that country will ever forgive him and his cronies for what they're now doing. Not to mention, virtually everyone else in the world is now viewing them as cold, murderous monsters as well.

Democracy may be a relatively new political system (basically only existing large-scale since WW1), but it is the system that people desperately want. Especially once we've experienced it to any serious degree. In Ukraine, it's pretty obvious based on the ferocity of their resistance to Putin's autocratic ways, that freedom and democracy are definitely the political system they prefer.

In a democratic country, there will always be internal conflict of opinions, and no shortage of healthy and vigorous debate between the various political & ideological tribes. But once a society has experienced it in all of it's messy and ferocious glory, there is no desire to go back to the world's historically autocratic ways.

Most of the humans living on Earth today have only known free & democratic living, but prior to a few hundred years ago, the vast majority (almost all) on this planet were living in autocratic countries. A few centuries may seem like a long time to us, but in the bigger picture, it's obviously not much time at all.

Adolf Hitler was democratically elected in the beginning, and then turned vicious dictator later on. Trump was elected democratically, and then came dangerously close to overturning democracy in the US. There is always the risk of this, or even civil war breaking out in a democratic country when there is extreme polarization or division. This is why countries like the US need to be very careful, but when there is NOT severe division in a country or society, democratic living is the closest thing to paradise on this Earth.

This is why the citizens of Ukraine are willing to fight back so ferociously to maintain it. That, and the fact that they have experienced both autocracy AND democracy IN THEIR LIFETIME! There are very few people in this world who have experienced this. They know the difference, and it's pretty obvious which one they prefer.

China & Russia, two very large countries that both seem determined to remain autocratic (with a thin veneer of democracy), will obviously be motivated to stick together. But human beings who have lived in a truly free and democratic country for any serious length of time, do NOT want to lose these basic human rights. To live free is the way we were designed. This is why it's not a big mystery why there are very few people in this world (if any), who would be happy about losing it once they've had it.

This is why these two countries are going to such great lengths to censor and control their media outlets, their main narratives, and online access to outside information. They know that most citizens within their countries will ingest these narratives and believe them, because that is what is, and has been pumped into them day and night for decades now. Many in the world now easily recognize this when they see it, because to some degree we have all experienced it for a couple of years with this pandemic. One-sided, heavily biased, propaganda-style mainstream media is indeed an extremely powerful force in any country.

For those in the world who may be wondering if they are missing some massive piece to this puzzle of why the conflict in Ukraine, there indeed is one. The name of this gigantic puzzle piece is the Warsaw Pact. Think of it as being the Soviet Union's version of NATO. This military alliance no longer exists, and yet NATO continues to expand, provoke, and increasingly terrify Moscow more with each passing day. The unity and strength that NATO and the EU provide many of the democratic countries of our world is geat, but so is the provocation and insecurity that it provides for countries such as Russia and China.

We must see both sides of the motive behind this conflict, not just how it looks to us, or WW3 will likely be the result. Demonizing will only make things much worse. Military and political alliances may seem like a really good idea, but in reality are simply another way of adding more tribes to the pile. Our human species is just one of many on Earth, and yet we seem determined to continue this incredibly unintelligent trend of chopping ourselves up into as many tribes (political, ethnic, cultural & ideological) as possible, and then doing battle with the opposing tribes.

When you step back and look at the big picture, it's incredibly stupid behaviour. Which does in fact, thanks to our lovely nuclear weapons, create a very high possibility of getting us ALL killed. If some countries want to be autocratic, and others democratic, then so be it. But to create WW3 over this, which will likely destroy us all, is beyond unintelligent.

What our human tribal nature really does, is cause us to demonize and diminish the significance of each other. These monstrous military alliances create two MORE mega-tribes, the democratic, vs the autocratic. They create unity within themselves, but demonize each other. This war in Ukraine is creating the most dangerous global nuclear risk since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

The only way that our species will ever have lasting peace, and NOT extinct itself with nuclear weapons, is for us to tone down the viciousness of our tribal behaviour. We all know it'll never disappear completely, it's too big a part of our animalistic human makeup. But if we can at least acknowledge the fact that we are this way, then we have at least a chance of continued survival on this or any other planet. Escaping to a far-off distant galaxy, or even a planet nearby, will not save us. Because we'd just be taking our nukes and warring ways with us.

This aggressive attack on Ukraine is extremely disturbing on so many levels, but there are ALWAYS two sides to every story. We MUST get to the bottom of, and fully understand & appreciate BOTH sides, or the chances of bringing this conflict to a peaceful end will be extremely remote. The citizens and leaders of the autocratic nations of our world are looking at this conflict through very different coloured lenses than we are. The leaders of this world need to see through both. The survival of literally everyone may be in jeopardy if they refuse to do this. (At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the significance of this obviously cannot be overstated!).

Discussion #27B - Potential Conflict with North Korea

When Trump and Kim were going at each other recently, there was a point where it was definitely starting to spiral out of control. It likely wouldn't have been just a nuclear pissing contest at the expense of tens of thousands of innocent lives, it would have, again, likely been the start of WW3. China agrees with North Korea's view of being a victim of American aggression. If the US does anything to majorly alienate China, then we have ourselves a serious problem. The Korean war is still fresh in the minds of many North (& South) Koreans, and American forces did 88% of the fighting (mainly massive bombing), with a huge number of casualties. The UN was in charge, and came to the aid of South Korea when the North invaded. China came to the aid of North Korea later on in the war. This conflict started in 1950, and finished in 1953. To this day, no peace treaty was ever signed, which means that North & South Korea are still technically at war.

North Korea does not have a lot of allies, but China & Russia are indeed two of them (partly because they share some land border). However, even North Korea's allies are virtually all starting to use sanctions to try and curb Kim's nuclear aspirations. China has long been an ally, but does not think much of Kim as a leader, likely viewing him as far too unstable to trust with a vast nuclear arsenal. Many around the world are well aware of Kim's history of executing any North Korean's who stand in his way, or misplease him in any fashion. He recently had his own uncle, along with his top 5 aids, executed by hungry dog. He and 300 others watched as 120 starving dogs ate them alive until nothing was left.

China could put a ton of pressure on NK using sanctions, since much of North Korea's food and supplies come from China, but are relunctant to, since they fear it will completely unravel NK, & cause massive numbers of refugees to pour into China. Most would choose China over attempting to cross into South Korea due to landmines, etc. at the two Korea's border, not to mention the incredible hatred that North Koreans have for SK and the US. China is very smart, they do not want war, and have made it clear they will support whichever country does NOT strike first in a military conflict.

North Korea is an extremely impoverished country, with the exception of Kim & his regime. His net worth is estimated to be around $5 billion, while the average North Korean worker earns .50 to $1 per hour. This ranks NK as one of the world's most currupt countries. Most of the government budget goes towards the military, with virtually nothing going towards social programs or food assistance.

This countries' citizens are on their own, and as a result, one third of NK children have stunted growth from malnutrition, and the infant mortality rate is 33%. Any citizen who tries to leave North Korea for any reason (and is caught) is sent to a prison labor camp, or worse. Kim has been making some pretty serious threats toward the US and South Korea for years now, so it's difficult to know just how serious these threats really are. I personally think it's probably a good idea to let him know exactly how the world will respond, if he were to initiate a conflict with any other country.

Mass killing technology is now to the point where unity beween countries, ethnic groups, religions, etc. MUST grow, or WW3 will cause our species' extinction in a very short period of time. Let's not be afraid, hide from, or ignore this fact, let's do something about it.

Discussion #27C - Conflict in Syria & Iraq

The entire world is pretty much in agreement on what needs to happen in Syria and Iraq. The direction the world is quickly evolving towards is peace, justice and stability. Man and woman-kind has evolved past the point of toleration for what has been going on recently in these areas. There is currently no country on Earth that is being run in a perfect fashion, they all have their problems, but this is just too much for most people to stomach.

How the vast majority of people on Earth are choosing to live (of all faiths and ethnicity) is in peace, love, freedom, harmony, happiness and joy, and this is where the world is going. It's an awesome steaming locomotive that can't be stopped. Those who are not on board with this had better get out of the way. Most of us have different opinions on what happens to us in the afterlife, but are choosing to respect these differences, and are allowing our fellow human beings to live in peace. To live any other way is completely egomaniacal and evil. Yes, Capitalistic greed is also equally evil, but two wrongs do not make a right.

Religious tolerance is not just the nice thing to do, or the right thing to do, it is absolutely necessary for our species to survive on this planet much longer. Without it, things could spiral out of control very quickly. Extremism is a deadly problem shared by all religious groups on our planet. Their ideology ALWAYS represents a tiny fraction in numbers compared to the main body of believers. NO large religion on Earth is immune or innocent in this department. As human beings, we are all completely unique, with a little thing called "will power", and some will always be far more aggressive than others in their religious and political ideologies. We (in all of our brilliance), have engineered some pretty incredible weapons of mass destruction (The H-bomb is approx. 500 times more powerful than the standard atomic used on Hiroshima, for example). Humanity must keep stability in the world, or face almost certain extinction.

Occasionally, even someone with a good career, or possibly even wealth may have an insatiable appetite for an extreme sense of personal significance, and of course there are both positive and negative ways to accomplish this. Every human personality on Earth is incredibly complex and unique, which does present some pretty serious security challenges.

While greedy corporations and dictators are sucking the healthy lifespans of 80% of us up with a straw for peanuts, the terrorists are stealing what's left of the peace-of-mind from many in the world. The world is not going to tolerate either one for very much longer. We (the masses) have two very major things going for us: 1. An intellect which is (in many cases) equal to or greater than the elite few who seem to be running the show, and 2. Sheer numbers. Economically, much of the distribution of power that we are currently experiencing was established many years ago, long before our generations came on the scene. There is only so much of this nonsense that the world will tolerate and then we (the vast majority) are going to reach the limit (and that time is coming soon). We all need to grow up, get over ourselves, and start respecting each other as equals, as excessive ego is the very nature of man.

We are living in a much more enlightened age now, and when enough citizens are informed & feel sufficiently "ripped off", then revolt begins. In Syria, this began in 2011. The main reason for these revolts is almost always economic inequality. For some reason, authoritarian regimes are never very interested in sharing the wealth either. Bashar Al-Assad, a Western-trained doctor, is now worth well over $1.5 billion. Under his rule, the gap between the rich elite, & the poor majority in Syria has grown much wider. This has left the door wide open for extremist groups like ISIS to spread quickly.

The main reason why Jihadists are able to recruit young people from the West, is that these youth are looking for a sense of purpose in life. This is also the same reason why it's critical for young people to find rewarding careers. If they cannot, many will undoubtedly turn to crime and/or terrorism. Many people have a deep-rooted desire to have a significant life (now more than ever). If they cannot accomplish this in a positive and constructive way, the chances of them looking elsewhere go up dramatically. The sad reality is that the root cause of this problem (high unemployment rates) is simply not their fault. Many countries are just now starting to realize this, and are starting to fight terrorism with youth counselling and job search assistance. In other words, the polarizing labor market in The West is dramatically contributing to terrorism and crime overall.

There is a disturbing trend of companies (and governments) expecting young people to work for free after graduating from university or college, to gain work experience. In my opinion, unpaid internships are a disgrace and bordering on criminal. We have labor laws to prevent this sort of thing from happening, and now it's being encouraged. These kids have huge student loans to pay off. Educational institutions are making huge profits from these students, as they are businesses like any other. They've already worked extremely hard to become educated and they deserve to be paid once they start working. Even if internships paid a lower wage, it would make a lot more sense than what is going on now.

Much of the conflict we are seeing in recent years, months, and days, is basically coming from people with a strong thirst for a grander sense of purpose in life. Some are just not happy with a more humdrum & normal life. This is where it gets a little tricky, as this same sense of grand purpose can cause some to achieve amazing and constructive things. Others choose the paths of least resistance and produce tragic & destructive results. In both cases, it's being fueled (deep down in the mind) by the same thing; the human ego. By far the most powerful human force in the world.

It requires vastly more talent, skill, intelligence and knowledge to achieve constructive than it does destructive. It's much easier to run around and blow things up than it is to say, find the cure for cancer. Extreme ideologies of any nature tend to breed the more destructive behavior, and in part, it's simply a vent for aggression and frustration. Countries like Syria & Iraq offer very little hope for a positive & constructive sense of purpose in life for many of their citizens. This leaves the door wide open for the opposite.

Discussion #27D - Conflict in Afghanistan

Women's rights are going to be the biggest casualty now in this country, with the recent US/NATO pullout. Both Biden and Trump seem to be on the same page with this issue, along with most American citizens. I'm pretty sure that most people everywhere feel that 20 years fighting an un-winnable war is plenty.

What I find most ironic, and tragic about this situation however, next to the many casualties of this war, is that all citizens of Earth are basically going through a very similar fate. With governments and big business attempting to take away many of our rights and freedoms as well. I've always been very pro-government, but this I find particularly revolting. It seems that it's not just the Afghan women who are being sent back to the dark ages, but our entire species.

Rescuing the interpreters, all those who helped the NATO allies and partners over the 20 year span, and their families, should definitely be a massive priority for all countries involved.

This war, which started in 2001, is the longest running in US history. The American military machine must have it's quota of conflict, or this humongous US industry will not be sustainable, or have enough reason to produce lots of war toys, drones, ships, planes, guns, tanks, bombs, etc. All these years of fighting, killing, & dying in this country, and as usual, the world may not be further ahead in any way, except for profit to this industry.

In fact, if we were able to calculate the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that this war created and released into our atmosphere over the past 20 years, it would be utterly shocking. This is of course on top of the over 3,500 coalition deaths since the invasion in 2001. And the more than 64,000 casualties of Afghan military and police.

The United States needs more jobs and business activity just like every other country, but there are much better and more humane ways of accomplishing this. This would also be the main reason why Trump was also toying with the idea of getting involved militarily with the internal Venezuelan conflict, even though it had virtually nothing to do with them.

Discussion #27E - The Military

Keep in mind that America's biggest industry is the military. 39% of the world budget of $2.03 trillion per year is the U.S. alone. As the world globalizes, some countries are starting to specialize in certain areas. China is manufacturing, the U.S. is military. Over 3 million full-time people are currently employed, directly or indirectly. It is basically the biggest jobs creation program in the world. The unemployment rate (in the U.S.) would rise from 9.5% to over 11.5% without it. Without a conflict, most will be sitting behind a desk. There are two very major factors that also play a role in most modern military conflicts. The first is that the entire Western world is completely addicted to oil, and the second is the sheer size of this industry.

Where the money is coming from to feed this industry is of course tax dollars, much of which is being tacked onto the growing government debt. This debt is then passed on to future generations. These children, grandchildren, etc. will be forced to pay the growing interest bill required to service these debts. China, on the other hand, is on the receiving end of much of this interest. They are playing a completely different game. As the Chinese government is extremely rich with virtually no real debt issues, they are simply allowing the (Chinese) citizens which they feel are more significant to become extremely wealthy. Their citizens which they feel are vastly less significant (the majority) are treated more as money-making machines for their elite classes.

This is the main reason why mainland China (excluding Hong Kong) does not allow it's citizens to have access to Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more than 2,700 other popular websites. They instead have their own censored versions. If all of this sounds a bit controlling, elitist, greedy & evil, it's because it is. The world is quickly evolving in a positive direction, but we have a long way to go. America and China are not evil countries, they are amazing countries with incredible history and culture, with a lot of room for improvement. Every country has a lot of room for improvement.

This also would largely explain why there is so much tension in Hong Kong recently. HK was under British rule for 156 years, until 1997, when it was officially handed back over to China. This government pledged to keep (for 50 years after '97), the basic autonomy, quality of life, rights & freedoms that they enjoyed for 156 years. Obviously, this is not how it's currently playing out.

Discussion #27F - Conclusion

A big part of the reason why certain countries function very differently than others, is actually the average personality of their citizens. This is obviously just one of many factors, but it's a big one. Some citizens are far more compliant, and are basically ok with (possibly) the far more controlling nature of their government. Others are not nearly as compliant. Often there is a lot of fear involved, which keeps many from standing up for themselves. There are other big differences in average personality as well, such as the intro/extroverted nature of a countries' citizens.

Brazil for example, is known for being extremely extroverted in nature, while Britian far more introverted. The average American more brash, in China far more industrious, and in Canada, kind of "nice". Even though globally we are all equals, there are obvious differences in the average personality of people in different cultures around the world. Different, yet completely equal in significance as human beings, similar to the differences between men and women.

This seems to be the toughest truth for many to really get a grip on. If we as a species could truly get this reality through our thick heads, this would likely be the end of all major conflicts on Earth. As an added bonus, it would also eliminate all forms of racism as well. Respect is what most of us are really looking for in life, and world leaders are no different.

In fact, this is exactly what was recently fueling the nuclear tensions between Kim & Trump, (along with the desire for even more global attention). This explains all the ridiculous rhetoric, and why they sounded like kindergarten children arguing in the schoolyard. Kids will do pretty much anything for attention too. A big part of the motive for the conflict in Ukraine is also to gain global respect and attention. It's extremely disturbing that conflicts use the deaths of other human beings for this purpose. What about respect for them? If we the human race were not so compartmentalized and tribal, there would be no need or motive for war. It would disgust every one of us, and there simply would be no war.

For those stragglers out there, who are still romanticizing war, knock it off! There is nothing romantic about being blown to pieces by a bomb, or seeing women and children suffering like they are right now in Ukraine. While it's true that over 4.5 million women and children have left Ukraine, there are still TENS of millions who have NOT, and will likely remain for the duration of this conflict and beyond!

It's incredibly shocking how many in the world still romanticize and glamorize war. They think there is something charming and courageous about young men trotting off to the battlefield to be slaughtered. Anyone who still thinks this way, would change their mind pretty quick if it was them, or one of THEIR family members or friends being shot or blown to pieces. And judging by the way the war in Ukraine is unfolding, NOBODY is safe in a conflict like this, since they are literally TARGETING civilians in their homes.

The battlefield is not a field out in the middle of nowhere, it's in people's living room, kitchen, bedroom, hospital room, theatre, bread line, wherever it creates the most terror for people. That is literally the military strategy for this war. Anyone who thinks there is something romantic about this, or an entire city being instantly vaporized by a nuclear blast, needs to have their head checked.

The courage and valor demonstrated by those in military service is extremely admirable, especially when on peacekeeping missions. But war itself is a disgusting display of humans behaving like demonic animals. War is simply people killing each other for sport, in the name of tribalism. Basically it's no different than going on a hunting trip to kill random human beings, (as long as they're in the opposing tribe).

At the end of the human slaughter, a few people sit down in a room and verbally work out a solution to the conflict. Why not just skip the slaughter altogether, and go straight to the verbal solution? If we humans were far less vicious and tribal, then this is exactly what would be happening.

We the human species must dramatically improve our behaviour on this planet, or thanks to weapons of mass destruction and climate change, we're ALL gonna be gone in a few short years. This is NOT an exaggeration, but a hard fact that we all (or the vast majority of us) know is true. A conflict like the one in Ukraine, similar to the one that happened recently with the war on terrorism, produces a TON of greenhouse gases, especially if prolonged. The reconstruction that will take place after the fact will produce tons more.

Very few of us want to live in an autocratic world, so we can't just lay down and allow this to happen. But for the sake of everyone on Earth, and especially the children, we have to be more intelligent than this. We all know that courage is sexy, but violent death is not. Unfortunately in the case of war, you simply cannot have one without the other. There are much better ways of showing courage than to run around killing each other.

Without a respect for and belief in basic human equality, we humans are nothing more than "apex predators". Those individuals who believe they are vastly more significant in comparison to others in our world or society, and often feel there is no real issue with destroying the lives of those they deem as of lesser significance. Especially if they're standing in the way of them getting what they want.

This is the nature of most wars and conflicts in this world. The only problem with this "big-shot/little-shot" way of thinking, is that we're all only here in this mortal form for a very short time. Once that time is up, those who believe in this ideology may just be in for a big surprise. They may in fact discover that what they thought made them a big deal on Earth, is not such a big deal on the other side.

Approx. 160 million beautiful and healthy human beings have been killed in wars, just in the 20th century alone, and almost half were innocent civilians. This does NOT include the millions upon millions who were permanently crippled, injured, or lost limbs and various other body parts. This ALSO does not include the pain and suffering this has caused hundreds of millions of surviving family members and friends.

What people are missing the most in the bigger picture of life, is that the planet we live on, and/or any other planets we could ever flee or migrate to, are not the problem. The problem is us, human beings, with our overly competitive, and overly aggressive tribal and warring personalities. THIS is what needs to be fixed, more than anything else in this world. And don't kid yourself, we in the democratic countries also struggle with this in a major way.

The two biggest threats to humanity, which are climate change and worldwide nuclear war, are both caused by us. We need to fix us, or we're all literally doomed. We may think that a luxury bunker will save us, from a bad hurricane, tornado, or nuclear war, but trust me when I say this; If we choose to exterminate ourselves, especially from a world war, anyone who is lucky enough to survive will most definitely wish they hadn't.

The solution to this problem is NOT military might. Many major countries on Earth have more than enough nuclear weaponry to destroy all of us many times over. The solution, is psychology. We may not realize it, but virtually EVERYONE is at least a little fucked up when it comes to dealing with others. We ALL have a pretty healthy ego these days, and this ego is constantly trying to tell us that the world revolves around us.

In the entire universe (of which there may even be many), the ONLY 5-star luxury bunker that is worth ANYTHING to ANYONE, is planet Earth. This magnificent ball of molten/hard rock, fertile soil, fresh/ocean water, sunlight, and glorious fresh air, is the only mortal bunker that matters. And if we choose to destroy it (or more accurately our ability to live on it), then God help us all.

In Ukraine, what is so unbelievable about this conflict, is that the citizens of this country are ethnically so very similar, even in their language, to the citizens of Russia. If you go back far enough in history, Kyiv used to actually be the capital of the Russian State (known then as Kiev Russ). Because of this fact, the main source of friction in this conflict has much more to do with their desire for freedom and democracy than it does major ethnic differences.

We humans love to make things seem much more complicated than they really are. The simple fact is that in reality, war is nothing more than our human species organizing ourselves into groups, and then doing battle with other groups. It sounds overly simplistic, but this is all that is really happening. Our egos keep telling us that it's all some big strategic plan, but it's simply not. War is basic, animalistic, demonic, primitive, aggressive, and destructive human behaviour, and that's it. There is nothing more grand or significant than this going on here.

It makes no difference how much our species glamourizes it, and how much global attention or "legacy building" political leaders get from it, because in reality it's simply human beings killing and crippling other human beings. Some may think that it's getting them somewhere, but all it's really doing aside from destroying people's lives, is speeding up the climate crisis. Which is already adversely affecting most human beings on Earth in a very dramatic way, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Whether a conflict is considered to be a genocide or not, is almost irrelevant, because war in it's entirety is nothing more than vicious, murderous, tribal bullshit. Especially when it's mainly innocent civilians who are being targeted and destroyed, along with their homes.

Honestly, considering the nuclear technology we've had basically since 1945, and the aggressive warring personality of our species, it's actually an absolute miracle that ANY of us have survived this long. Especially when you consider what almost happened in 1962. And unless we smarten up pretty damn quick, it won't be for much longer.

Think Bigger Picture on Conflict | The Bigger Picture