So practically massive destruction of the biosphere so people can sit there smug on there computers in the air-con.

Anyway you reinforced my point. Progress is a good idea, I'm not sure we all have the same ideas about what good progress looks like. Lifting the rest of the developing world by selling them arms and fossil fuels so I can sit on my computer in my room reading smug comments is probably not good progress.

I still think China will have a much larger army and navy than Japan. They have 10x the population and probably a similar decline in their populating expected.

Visit Japan now and there are more and more Americans, Australian, Indian and Chinese working, buying property and setting up businesses there.

I'm not really celebrating any of this, I just don't see how an old and tired population can continue to put so much energy into xenophobia when literally one of the only things between them and China are the US military having a base on Okinawa.

More climate change, war, microplastics in our body and now extreme joblessness ?

If I woke up and I saw a headline that said OpenAI has developed and AI which told us how to sequester huge amounts of cO2 then I’d be excited and agree.

I been wearing their plastic fleeces for years, I guess I’m fucked.

1. A regime change would not be existential for Russia, it would be existential for Putin. Maybe that's why he panicked or something, but if one man has the power to take a country on an idiotic war like that, then maybe a regime change is a good idea.

2. You’re not really presenting a lot of evidence there was a by real risk of this actually happening?

3. How does anything you’ve said justify invading Ukraine?

Regardless it’s all failing spectacularly if the goal was to create distance between Russia and NATO. Finland is now in NATO and is on the border.

What was existential for Russia? If they had of just remained peaceful and sold resources to the rest of the world, nothing would've happened to them, there was nothing existential about it.

Maybe Putin is a paranoid lunatic and thinks people were out to get him, but there is no way there was some secret western plot to invade Russia or anything like this? In fact, Europe and the rest of the world was trading with them just fine. All we hear about on here was how Germany is completely dependent on Russia.

The truth is, countries side with NATO for a reason, because they have something to offer. If Russia had something better to offer, was trustworthy and Putin supported democracy, maybe less countries would be interested in partnering with the west and happy to form stronger ties with the autocracy. It doesn't mean anyone was about to invade Russia though.

Edit: Down voters, let's hear your counter.

I love coding personally, but I like being outdoors or in my workshop better.

What would be step one?