Ukraine: I Don't Know Nuffink

Everyone has a lot to say about Ukraine and the Russian invasion. I have to say that I don't believe anything I read and I don't know what's really going on.

I just have questions:

Whatabout Color Revolutions? La Wik calls them innocent risings of the people. But Russia and China call them US-inspired meddling.

Is Ukraine a US puppet? I'd say a big "tell" is how President Biden was boasting back in the day about withholding $1 billion in aid. And how Hunter Biden has been involved in Ukraine energy companies like Burisma. Ukraine would give a dime to Hunter Biden if there weren't some sort of quid-pro-quo involved.

Is Russia winning, is Ukraine resisting? I feel that nothing I read about the war tells me anything. Wake me when it's over.

Whatabout NATO and the EU? Funny, we haven't heard much from NATO. But the EU seems to be getting involved. And the Germans seem to be waking up from a long slumber. And there seems to be popular support for helping Ukraine, in Europe and in North America: what's that all about?

Whatabout energy? I just don't get the disconnect between renewable energy and buying natural gas from Russia.

How powerful is Russia anyway? Here's the GDP table of estimates for 2022.

Country	GDP per capita nominal	GDP per capita PPP
United States	$74,725	$74,725
Germany	$51,860	$56,956
Poland	$19,056	$40,341
Lithuania	$22,412	$41,288
Russia	$11,654	$29,485
Ukraine	$4,958	$15,124

I mean. Russia and Ukraine are not exactly economic powerhouses. Even ex-Soviet satellites Poland and Lithuania are way ahead in the GDP game. So what's that all about?

Then there's China:

Country	GDP per capita nominal	GDP per capita PPP
Taiwan	$32,123	$56,959
China	$12,990	$20,667

Just for comparison. Interesting how Russia and China are both in the same GDP ballpark. And Taiwan is more or less in the Germany ballpark.

So what happens next?

Really, I have no idea, although I do expect our western leaders to exhibit a fair amount of stupidity.

But here's my idea. Suppose that the US backed out of NATO and ended the military occupation of Germany. Don't you think that Germany and Poland could do a pretty good job of keeping Russia at home?

And whatabout Nikole Hannah Jones:

What if I told you Europe is not a continent by defintion, but a geopolitical fiction to separate it from Asia and so the alarm about a European, or civilized, or First World nation being invaded is a dog whistle to tell us we should care because they are like us.

— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) February 27, 2022

You know. I think she has a point. We are outraged at Russia beating up the Ukrainians. But don't care so much when the US Imperial Forces beat up on rag heads and fuzzie-wuzzies.