It’s fascinating, and concerning, the degree to which we base our interpretation of events on preconceived beliefs.

Within a couple of hours, I’ve seen posts about the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting that range from scorn for how Zelenskyy spoke during the discussion, to abhorrence of how Trump treated the man sitting across from him.

These responses often start from the assumptions of “this guy is a scammer” or “that guy a monster” and I’m just processing how deeply engrained some of our (allegedly) free opinions and beliefs are, when they’re ultimately built on a body of information consumed from partisan sources that we trust, often in spite of the fact that nearly every source of news is biased. It’s only human. But it’s also scary.

I think the best we can do is trust our intuition - does it feel right? It’s also helpful to listen to our emotions, but especially important question those, and their origins, because emotion can mislead.

Personally, I was sickened by the lack of empathy and compassion shown by our country’s leaders. I recognize the Ukraine war issue is extremely fraught, and with the amount of disinformation and propaganda out there, it’s hard to know exactly what’s right. But the fact is, when someone’s country is being systematically demolished, my heart goes out to them. Maybe that’s weak, or naive.

(It’s not).

It was a hard video to watch, especially after spending so much time on Nostr (and none on Twitter), because I have become a bit accustomed to all the good vibes.

I do believe Trump actually wants to end the war. He may be able to get there, and even if the cost to Ukraine is high, the cost of continued warfare is almost certainly higher (although this is highly contingent on what Putin turns his gaze to next).

Trump was clearly triggered enough to revert to “verbally-abusive-parent” mode. I’m not a shrink, but it’s not hard to see. Zelenskyy’s posture was that of man who has watched an ally turn into an abuser. We’ve already extracted enough minerals from the developing world, so now we’ll do it to Ukraine, so long as they agree to let Russia off the hook for the war?

That shit feels wrong, man.

Fuck war 💔