A good interview with Charles Kenny
Bold in below quotes is the question carried over from the link. My only edit to a quote below was to elide portions.
In a case like climate change, we see sort of a fascinating “stuff” and “nonstuff” problem, where we need to do the engineering and we need to get people to enable the conditions for that engineering work to happen fast enough and then put it in place. Pandemics are another case like that.
So take pandemics. You can see the last three years in sort of two different ways. One is of immense human progress, driven by human cooperation. So when I got my first Pfizer shot, we were talking about a vaccine that was developed more rapidly than any vaccine in history. It was developed in an effort that involved the world. So you had the Hungarian scientists working in the United States who did some of the underlying research. And in Emma Rene, you had the children of Turkish refugees in Germany who actually developed the vaccine. You had the Greek [immigrant] who moved to America and ran the company that produced it. In my case, you had the Vietnamese woman who actually stuck the injection into my arm, now living in the United States: global cooperation at its best. It was a sign of what we can accomplish.
[...]
When you look at the state of the progress movement today or the state of the fight against climate change or the state of the fight against pandemics, where do you see us falling, on that narrow line between too much doom and too much satisfaction?
With climate, I feel that the doom has won out. You mentioned a while ago that you were looking for a book for your child on climate change that wasn’t all doom and you couldn’t find one. And I think that does reflect sort of the general discourse on climate in a really disappointing way.
[...]
What would you say to skepticism of progress that’s coming from people feeling like promises were made about the future that the future didn’t live up to, that progress hasn’t delivered on its promises?
[...]
I’m a bit of a skeptic about happiness literature. I don’t think that we ought to be maximizing subjective well-being on a scale of 1 to 10 as a sole public policy aim. But I do think the subjective well-being literature points you in a bit of a direction. [Subjective well-being] has been flatlining in many countries around the world, many rich countries around the world, over the last 10, in some cases, 20, 30, 40 years — it depends what question you ask, but there’s good reasons to think we’re not seeing a massive increase in happiness.
And so, you know, if people thought that what material progress was going to deliver was sort of human perfection, they’re right to be disappointed, I guess I would say. I think they were naive to expect that to begin with, but that’s easy to say after the fact.
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"What's happening in Sri Lanka and what comes next"
Sri Lanka's president, who had announced he would resign Wednesday, has fled the country after months of turmoil culminated in protesters converging on the presidential palace. Here's what's happening in Sri Lanka:
- The country is hurtling toward bankruptcy
- Daily essentials including food and medicine are scarce
- Political corruption has deepened mistrust in the government
- The double whammy of government and economic instability is further complicating recovery
Sri Lanka's prime minister, who said he'll step down after a new government is installed, says the island nation's debt-laden economy has "collapsed" as it runs out of money to pay for food, fuel and medicine. It's been relying on help from neighboring India, China and from the International Monetary Fund.
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Türkiye & the Republic of Türkiye
The ISO (an international body which tries to set standards which everyone agrees with online) is recognizing a formal name change from Turkey to Türkiye.
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A good overview of Shinzo Abe's political career and impact
I knew him, but only from headlines. This was good background and history on his history.
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Inflation, Scarcity and the Road to Survival
Originally brought to my attention via this blog post, this article raises some good points which I had - admittedly - taken for granted or overlooked altogether.
We are now trapped in what I have called “the poverty of two narratives” that pits the business-as-usual crowd against the green transitionists. This supposed debate avoids unpleasant realities such as rising global consumption and growing rates of energy use in a finite world. Moreover, both groups believe unlimited economic growth is the only answer to our multiplying emergencies.
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Everywhere basic income has been tried, in one map: Kenya; Iran; Alaska; Stockton, California; and more
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How Soccer Succumbed to the Global Elite
Deep down, there’s something about sport that reveals people’s natural conservatism. The experience of living through the decline of great players and great teams brings an acute sense of the passing of time and of loss—something you don’t get so obviously with states or empires, which take longer to fall. This is why documentaries about Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls continue to be watched by millions, and why TikTok seems to constantly offer me clips of old English Premier League players reminiscing about the good old days. These are all reminders of a more innocent age in one’s own life.
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Notes on Ukraine
Some interesting insights from someone who went to Ukraine and visited it while this conflict is going on.
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Putin Insights from Fiona Hill
Fiona Hill was a name I recognized though I couldn't pick her out of a line up or tell you why her name sounded familiar. The answer is she has worked for the government for multiple Presidents with a focus on Russia. This Politico interview was excellent at gaining her insight onto what is going on in Ukraine and what Putin's thinking is.
A few excerpts:
I think there's been a logical, methodical plan that goes back a very long way, at least to 2007 when he put the world, and certainly Europe, on notice that Moscow would not accept the further expansion of NATO. And then within a year in 2008 NATO gave an open door to Georgia and Ukraine. It absolutely goes back to that juncture.
So what Putin wants isn't necessarily to occupy the whole country, but really to divide it up. He's looked at Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and other places where there's a division of the country between the officially sanctioned forces on the one hand, and the rebel forces on the other. That's something that Putin could definitely live with — a fractured, shattered Ukraine with different bits being in different statuses.
The only other person who has been Russian leader in modern times longer than Putin is Stalin, and Stalin died in office.
[P]eople are saying Ukraine is the largest military operation in Europe since World War II. The first largest military action in Europe since World War II was actually in Chechnya, because Chechnya is part of Russia. This was a devastating conflict that dragged on for years, with two rounds of war after a brief truce, and tens of thousands of military and civilian casualties. The regional capital of Grozny was leveled. The casualties were predominantly ethnic Russians and Russian speakers. The Chechens fought back, and this became a military debacle on Russia's own soil. Analysts called it "the nadir of the Russian army." After NATO's intervention in the Balkan wars in the same timeframe in the 1990s, Moscow even worried that NATO might intervene.
Putin tried to warn Trump about this, but I don't think Trump figured out what he was saying. In one of the last meetings between Putin and Trump when I was there, Putin was making the point that: "Well you know, Donald, we have these hypersonic missiles." And Trump was saying, "Well, we will get them too." Putin was saying, "Well, yes, you will get them eventually, but we've got them first." There was a menace in this exchange. Putin was putting us on notice that if push came to shove in some confrontational environment that the nuclear option would be on the table.
If people look back to the history of World War II, there were an awful lot of people around Europe who became Nazi German sympathizers before the invasion of Poland. In the United Kingdom, there was a whole host of British politicians who admired Hitler's strength and his power, for doing what Great Powers do, before the horrors of the Blitz and the Holocaust finally penetrated.
What stops a lot of people from pulling out of Russia even temporarily is, they will say, "Well, the Chinese will just step in." This is what every investor always tells me. "If I get out, someone else will move in." I'm not sure that Russian businesspeople want to wake up one morning and find out the only investors in the Russian economy are Chinese, because then Russia becomes the periphery of China, the Chinese hinterlands, and not another great power that's operating in tandem with China.
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Moldova fears Russian invasion after the war in Ukraine
I can only imagine what these people are thinking. It's like watching a 2 week long gun fight at your next door neighbor's house and hoping they don't come over to your house, while the neighbor's already got a cousin staying with you.
The article makes mention of 'Transnistria.' Up until a few months ago, I'd never heard of the place. The only reason that changed was because of this YouTube video with some folks decided to go check it out:
[{embed}]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXzhcfYlKFQ\[{/embed}]
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THE UNIPOLAR MOMENT (1990)
The below article discussing if America is to blame for Russia's invasion of Ukraine referred to 'the uniporal moment' - something I don't recall ever hearing before. So I went looking for a resource on it and this article from 1990 seems to be it.
In short, it refers to the moment that the USSR conceded West Germany and ended the Cold War.
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Is America to Blame for Russia's War in Ukraine?
Nations do not have unified, objective interests. The foreign policies that would best serve American power are not necessarily those that would best serve the Pentagon bureaucracy, which are not necessarily those that would best serve an incumbent president's reelection odds, which are not necessarily those that would best flatter the ideological convictions of his National Security Council, which are not necessarily those that would best please his party's top donors. Similarly, the policies that would maximize Russia's national security are not necessarily the same as those that would maximize the Putin regime's political stability. And in any case, the Russian president is not necessarily capable of accurately identifying either. It is bizarre to suggest that Russia's actions in Ukraine were dictated by its objective security interests when, by virtually any measure, Putin's invasion has already undermined those interests.
This last paragraph was what I came to the article due, but the lead up and context was very worthwhile:
Putin's invasion of Ukraine was a free choice. And whatever role U.S. policy played in determining Putin's decision, it did not force his hand. Critics of NATO expansion would be wise to stipulate this point, since doing otherwise only renders their causal analysis easier to stigmatize.
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A fascinating video diving into the Ukrainian history from the Jewish perspective (recorded as a direct response to Putin's twisted narrative he gave supporting his invasion.)
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A byproduct of me watching the news around the Ukraine invasion, I found myself wondering about who handles the IT needs of the highest level of world politics. Like, who handles coordinating and managing the video calls for the G7 conference? How do they handle the tech needs at the UN?
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Transcript of Ukraine's President Appeal to Russia
Today, I initiated a call with the president of the Russian Federation. The result? Silence. Although the silence should be in Donbas. That is why I come today with an appeal to all citizens of Russia. Not as President. I am appealing to the people of Russia as a citizen of Ukraine.
We share more than 2000km of border. Around it, today, is your army: almost 200,000 soldiers; thousands of military units. Your leadership has approved their movement towards us. Towards the territory of another country. This step can become the start of a huge war on the European continent. The whole world is talking about what can happen any day now. A reason can appear at any moment. Any provocation. Any spark. A spark that has the potential of burning everything down.
You are told that this flame will bring freedom to the people of Ukraine. But the people of Ukraine are already free. They remember their past, and are building their own future. They are building it, not destroying it, as you are told every day on TV. Ukraine in your news and Ukraine in reality are two completely different countries. The most important difference is that ours is real.
You are being told that we are Nazis. But how can a nation be called Nazist after sacrificing more than 8 million lives to eradicate Nazism? How can I be a Nazi, when my grandfather survived the whole war as part of the Soviet infantry, and died a colonel in an independent Ukraine? You are told that we hate Russian culture. But how can a culture be hated? Any culture? Neighbours are always enriching each other culturally. Yet, that does not make them one entity, and does not separate people into "us" and "them". We are different, but that is not a reason to be enemies. We want to build our own history. Peacefully, calmly, and truthfully.
You are told that I am ordering to attack Donbas. To shoot. To bomb without question. Although there are questions: To shoot who? To bomb what?
Donetsk? Where I have been dozens of times? I have seen their faces and eyes.
Artema? Where I've walked with friends before?
Donbass Arena? Where I have rooted with the locals for our boys during the Euros?
Shcherbakova Park? Where we drank together after our team lost?
Lugansk? The home of my best friend's mom? The place where his father is buried?
Note that I am now speaking in Russian, yet no one in Russia understands what these names, streets, and events mean. This is all foreign to you. Unknown. This is our land. This is our history. What are you going to fight for? And against whom?
Many of you have visited Ukraine before. Many of you have relatives in Ukraine. Some of you studied in our universities. Befriended Ukrainians. You know our character, you know our people, you know our principles. You know what we cherish the most. Look inside you, listen to the voice of reason, of common sense. Hear our voices. The people of Ukraine want peace. Ukrainian authorities want peace. We want it, and we make it. We do everything in our power.
We are not alone. It's true, Ukraine is supported by many countries. Why? Because we are not talking about "peace at any cost." We are talking about peace, and about principles, justice. About everyone's right to define their own future, of safety, and everyone's right to live without threat. All of this is important to us. All of this is important for peace. I know this is also important for you. We know for sure that we don't want war. Not cold, not hot, not hybrid.
But, if we are threatened, if someone is trying to take away our country, our freedom, our lives. The lives of our children. We are going to defend ourselves. Not attack -- defend. By attacking us, you are going to see our faces. Not backs -- our faces.
War is a big distress, and it has a big price, in all meanings of this word. People lose their money, reputation, quality of life, freedom, and most important, people lose their loved ones. Lose themselves. A lot of things are always lacking in war. But what is in abundance is pain, dirt, blood, and death. Thousands, tens of thousands of deaths.
You are told that Ukraine is a threat to Russia. This was not true before, not now, and won't be in the future. You want security guarantees from NATO. We also want guarantees of our security. The security of Ukraine - from you. From Russia, and from other guarantors of the Budapest memorandum. Today, we are not part of random security alliances. The security of Ukraine is tied to the security of our neighbours. That is why we are now talking about the security of all Europe. But our main goal is peace in Ukraine, and the safety of our citizens. Of Ukrainians. We are determined to let everyone know about this, including you. War is going to deprive everyone of guarantees. No one will have guarantees of security.
Who is going to suffer from this most? The people.
Who doesn't want this more than anyone? The people.
Who can prevent all this from happening? The people.
If these people are among you -- I am sure they are. Public figures, journalists, musicians, actors, athletes, scientists, doctors, bloggers, stand-ups. Tiktokers, and more. Ordinary people. Ordinary, simple people. Men, women, old, young, fathers, and most importantly -- mothers. Just as much as the people in Ukraine, no matter how much they try to convince you of the opposite.
I know that my announcement will not be aired on Russian television. But the citizens of Russia have to see it. They need to know the truth. And the truth is, that this needs to stop, before it's too late. And if the authorities of Russia don't want to talk to us, for the sake of peace, maybe they will talk to you.
Do the people of Russia want war? I would like to be able to answer this, but the answer depends only on you: the citizens of the Russian Federation. Thank you.
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