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 ā€œthis guy is a scammerā€ or ā€œthat guy a monsterā€ 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 ā€œverbally-abusive-parentā€ 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 šŸ’”

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That in The Oval Office today was an embarrassment for all involved and completely unnecessary. Diplomacy should be conducted behind closed doors. That was just a dick measuring contest. Fuck War IndeedšŸ™šŸ».

šŸŽÆ

Did you watch the whole meeting? Or just the last ten minutes?

Because the whole meeting was quite respectful, and Zelenskyy was the one playing the game of media leveraging. There was quite a bit of empathy shown by Trump during the meeting…

Glad you asked. I watched a 2-3 min clip that circulated on Nostr this morning. I will watch the full meeting šŸ¤

The short clip is literally just the end of the meeting totally out of context. Typical internet short attention span hysteria mongering.

The whole meeting itself should also be taken into contextual consideration as it was scheduled AFTER an entire deal framework was already totally hammered out. Then during the scheduled media time, Zelenskyy starts back peddling from the agreed deal and asking for more and more concessions and commitments.

Like a child asking for ice cream in front of all their friends when you already told them no in private before thinking that the pressure of the publicity will yield a different response from the parent.

I appreciate the additional context. A part of me feels I should have ā€œknown betterā€ with regard to the sensational nature of the clip. Thanks for your reply; I will watch the whole thing when I’m not so tired 🫔

Thanks for this note mate.

I agree šŸ’Æ with you.

This was a fucking shit show.

And I am actually very worried. By what I saw. By what I read since the meeting. By what may happen next.

I don't give a lot of importance to anything that happens usually and tend to live my life as far away from it all as possible. But this is different. It was wrong. And it won't end well I fear.

Fuck wars.

Fuck bullies and their agendas.

Fuck black or white opinions with no real, personal thoughts.

Fuck it, I'm sickened by all of this.

šŸ«‚šŸ«‚šŸ«‚ I feel you so much, buddy. Bitcoin has brought optimism into a great many areas that seemed pretty hopeless before, and I do think it will help reduce war by constraining spending and eliminating ā€œlootingā€ rewards. But I’m not sure how much it can temper ego-driven, power-hungry individuals. I guess it’s up to the rest of us to keep them in check. Maybe when more of the world is on a secure monetary standard, we’ll have more backbone and better incentives and a previously satisfied ā€œlower hierarchy of needsā€ and thus be empowered to make the world better. And maybe this is pure idealistic utopian optimism . Or maybe both.

In the meantime… šŸ«‚šŸ«‚šŸ«‚

would your opinion be different if x% of the funds sent were for money laundering?

at what x% corruption does the empathy change?

not trying to play gotcha, ugly situation all around, I just think boiling it down to empathy for a country attacked by a bad country doesn't do it justice

You bring up a good example of why the situation is so complex/fraught/hard to untangle. To answer your question honestly, it would entirely depend on who launders it.

Of course, if the leader of a country in crisis is stealing foreign aid for themselves (see numerous examples referenced in nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu's Hidden Repression), I would have a lot less sympathy for that leader (but no less for the country’s citizens).

I haven’t seen anything that’s convinced me this is what’s happening here; doesn’t mean it’s not, but it doesn’t seem that way. Money going missing can disappear at any number of steps along the way, and when full-scale military operations are involved, it’s much more likely that the pockets being lines belong to those close to the bullet printer. Maybe that’s the US/international military industrial complex. Maybe it’s corrupt American politicians with corrupt Ukrainian counterparts.

If there is some good investigative journalism that has followed those missing funds, I’m always willing to be wrong. (Note I only said ā€œI haven’t seenā€). But in absence of that, listening to the little inner voice that feels what’s right (with pretty good accuracy if my mind can become quiet enough), it doesn’t feel like a black and white ā€œwar for the sake of money launderingā€ situation. Too many people are dying for that, and while you’re right that it’s a complex situation, it’s still a fact that one guy decided to blow up the other guy’s city. There has been conflict - territorial, cultural, etc. - for a long time, but Zelenskyy didn’t one day decide to send tanks and troops to kill a bunch of Russian civilians. On some level, when it comes to judging these kinds of things, it can sometimes help to limit contextual considerations (because it’s always used for propaganda on both sides) and just ask what happened.

Appreciate you asking harder questions šŸ«‚

Yah, I think we're going to disagree and that's ok.

I don't see the origin of the war or the $$ trail in the same way but appreciate you stepping back and taking the thought exercise. Also acknowledge I don't have perfect information.

Cheers šŸ«‚

It sure is šŸ¤ I’ll be honest, I don’t know what to believe re: missing funds. I have certainly gained an appreciation of the historical context with regard to territory, but I’m also painfully aware that Russia/KGB are the most adept propaganda/disinformation/psy-op masters, and they’ve been working on us for decades. It’s hard to know what to believe when it comes to the nuance, so I kind of feel like I’m reduced to basing it off ā€œwho is killing whom?ā€

What makes a great software developer or analyst is the ability to be conscious of these base assumptions and inspect them carefully.

Pattern recognition is also a key attribute.

Now regarding the current situation and pattern recognition, I recognize a pattern match with audience participation theatre.

The more I pull on that thread, the more the whole thing makes sense.

Curious to hear your takeaway, ā€œthe threadā€, from this approach

I was thinking reality TV where a lot of it is scripted. But things have switched up.

That exchange at the white house... It was like those WWF dramas they used to have back in the late 1980's. You know, Vince McMahon and all the antics that went on outside the ring but still center stage?

The difference here is that back in the WWF, everyone knew it was fake and didn't care. This current situation is clearly fake because the acting is so bad, and yet a whole lot of people think it's real.

Have you ever been to a theatre to watch a movie and there are folks in the crowd who appear to think it's real? Caught up in the moment?

I feel like I'm sitting in a theatre trying to enjoy the show, and the boomers in front of me are losing their shit at the baddie for doing the baddie things, and cheering on the goodie for no particular reason except that the emotive musical score is prompting them to do so.

I’m gonna be chewing on these thoughts for a bit, that’s certain 🫔