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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/25/this-is-how-we-defeat-putin-and-other-petrostate-autocrats>
"The pictures this morning of Russian tanks rolling across the Ukrainian
countryside seemed both surreal – a flashback to a Europe that we’ve seen only
in newsreels – and inevitable. It’s been clear for years that Vladimir Putin
was both evil and driven and that eventually we might come to a moment like
this.
One of the worst parts of facing today’s reality is our impotence in its face.
Yes, America is imposing sanctions, and yes, that may eventually hamper Putin.
But the Russian leader made his move knowing we could not actually fight him in
Ukraine – and indeed knowing that his hinted willingness to use nuclear weapons
will make it hard to fight him
anywhere, though one supposes we will have no
choice if he attacks a Nato member.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to dramatically reduce Putin’s power.
One way, in particular: to get off oil and gas.
This is not a “war
for oil and gas” in the sense that too many of America’s
Middle East misadventures might plausibly be described. But it is a war
underwritten by oil and gas, a war whose most crucial weapon may be oil and
gas, a war we can’t fully engage because we remain dependent on oil and gas. If
you want to stand with the brave people of Ukraine, you need to find a way to
stand against oil and gas."
Via Christoph S, who wrote "We should have done this before to reduce
dependency on Russian gas and oil"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
