If you are not ready to use a nuke ever, it stops being a deterrent. Game theory.

But this situation is not the kind where a nuke is used as a deterrent. If Israel was saying they’re sorry and asking for ceasefire, while Iranians would be absolutely destroying what remains of it and not listening, then yes.

Or, if Iran had a nuke and Israelis were succeeding in destroying Iran.

But neither are true.

I have an answer different from the others.

US economy depends on the US intellectual property system, a few US monopolist companies and the US dollar, and the financial system.

Especially the intellectual property system. However different laws can be in various countries, in fact everybody tries to follow US law.

It means that a lot of things produces elsewhere mean royalties to US companies, and a lot of things can’t be produced without permission, control of markets, planned development of microelectronics and tech in particular, yadda-yadda.

So - if, in some hypothetical situation, that IP system is undone, with some countries having similar laws, some more like USSR’s “public domain by default with some fixed payment to patent holders”, and all the intermediate variants, then you’ll just have a second depression. Because a huge part of the economy will shrink.

US foreign debt is a meme subject, but honestly, if USD stops being the world’s most reliable currency, you’ll also probably have a default.

US actual industrial production (what doesn’t shrink as easily) is not so impressive when looking at its size. A lot about US level of life doesn’t really match the efficiency of the economy. Say, if you look at Germany, life there is very different. In some ways better, maybe, but many things normal in the US are not achievable there.

My point is - the American IP laws were spread around by pressure. Not just that, but sometimes the monopoly roles of American companies. Part of that pressure is the military guarantor role.

If that stops being relevant, a lot of things which were a given for your economy for many years will stop existing. And for a few other economies too. It might not look as bad as the USSR’s collapse, but it will probably look as ruined and unpredictable as the 1960s world.

I’m sorry, this seems to imply the US doesn’t “feast on the smaller sharks”. It went as far as threatening Japan with sanctions because they were considering “digital sovereignty” with TRON OS as opposed to Windows at some point. Japan is almost a non-optional ally.

And also one good solution of preventing someone from doing that is arming the smaller sharks. Yet USA seems even more against more equal spread of technologies and weapons than the “next two sharks”.

Air defense, missile defense

I even know of one possible entrance, but the building above it I hate with passion, I’d need a flamethrower.

“Stable” doesn’t mean “good”.

I live in Russia, in Moscow, in a kinda golden (in Stalin’s time) place, so the shelter is right under me, its ventilation shaft exit is near the playground.

The problem is - nobody knows how the hell do you get in.

I do like canned food. I even had a small stockpile in 2022 when I thought things had gotten real and it’s time to prepare. Have eaten through it.

If it becomes a free for all, though, hiding from the physical effects will be easier than hiding from the social ones.

It would mean profit, but it would also mean Putin scared for his life trying to find alternative solutions. Since I’m in Russia, I don’t like the idea. Those solutions would probably mean even more total lockdown of everything.

I’ve recently seen a pic with election results in Germany, and it’s spectacular - one block leading in former FRG, another block leading in former GDR (AfD), and it’s very clean.

If you think about it, “Europe” has lots of political stability. No democratic uncertainty whatsoever. AfD pretends to be that, but really after that map I can’t think so.

And the elites are fine with the way US is choosing. They’ll just be the next on it, tinker a bit with the new stuff for their own convenience, soften some sharp bits.

It’s rather that the rest of the world should unite against the west until it’s too late. Pakistan and DPRK should share their nuclear toys so that everyone had a nuke.

The coalition of anti-western states, mostly totalitarian and not very nice, would in some bits work like Curtis Yarvin’s (I know it’s mostly wrong people dreaming of it) idea of paradise - the right of exit (changing a country among them) would de-facto exist, and every such state having nuclear deterrence would mean that those more attractive for immigrants won’t be pressured to stop, which will mean slow evolutionary change for more liberty.

I personally think that (at some point) open immigration is what made the USA more democratic (except racism). Getting more and more different people of non-elite background willing to build a new life is a powerful source of constant hardly predictable change.

It’s sad that I can’t explain these ideas to people closest to me in their worldview, they are just a bit too conserved in their understanding, and for them I’m picking cannibals over “imperfect civilization” for some abstract benefit. But how is that different from “white man’s burden”, I’m not sure, except “white man’s burden” implied some responsibility for what you’re doing, and Kipling was kinda sad the British empire didn’t find that responsibility in itself. I think it’s the same or worse and the more cynical people understood this earlier.

Nothing like nuking a part of the world you don’t know shit about. They probably think it’s a piece of desert with Disney characters (mostly centered around the capital of Agrabah and capable of hiding) and evil terrorists hurting our good Israel.

US reportedly also forgets the arithmetic of AD and MD efficiency, and the fact that there are countries capable of nuking it in response, and in case it uses a nuke against Iran those will multiply like mushrooms after a rain.

Equating Israel to USA in its right to exist is not swallowing its cock.

They are right. Except one problem still can be solved, the other not so much. Maybe a few centuries after now somebody will think of something. Slow demographic changes and more modern weapons, that stuff.

But that is their dream for the future. Purely automatically managing the populace as some sort of a farm.

It’s an arms race. Like at any other point in history. Between those who think personal dignity and freedom and equality are a mistake of history or a device to keep the herd patient, and that they deserve to rule, and those who don’t.

The good part is that this has already been tried. A fast system with deadlocks is not that different from a slow system with deadlocks. And a big redundant system deterministically degrading in itself is not that different from a smaller less redundant system deterministically degrading in itself. No USSR and no Nazi Germany anymore on the map.

The parts about lying and false pretense of law and democracy are new, but not too much - rulers of Frederic the Great’s time had false pretenses of knightly behavior and following imperial mechanisms. One can even compare 30 years war to our two world wars in the sense of creating a new world order, which was considered impossible to change due to endless horrors following that, but eventually become a farce.

I suppose they shut down mobile internet. That doesn’t make news because wire is normal here.

Also there seem to be tests of DPI and filtering systems now by many ISPs in many places, because apparently Russia is going GFW.

That is apparently going to have competition soon.

But … yeah. Operating via satellites is profitable for sparsely populated areas, operating via wire - for densely populated ones. In addition to that Earth’s orbit is not under anyone’s sovereignty.

Both have their uses, but, I think, in locations in a developed country with old infrastructure because it’s not profitable, - this means there won’t be any.

The sad part is that if, say, I want to have unabused Internet connectivity from Russia, a Starlink terminal is not my solution, cause Elon still wants to be friends with those obnoxious people. And also if it were a solution, a terminal could be triangulated and my ass would meet a soldering iron. Maybe not, but some fines.

Well, the majority hates autists more than narcissists and will probably approach that task first, so that people like me wouldn’t exist. And it still hasn’t. So this is a very remote possibility.

Narcissism (NPL) is inherited and it’s not learned. It’s a DSM condition.

If you mean just being a jerk, then that doesn’t look like this. That looks like Eichmann.

Must be something with psychopaths, for all I know about it was very important to have many children.

Stronger primal instincts maybe, and not augmented by responsibility or fear or love.

In appearances he seems to be real. Culturally quite typical for those jerks who are Russia’s elite now, except their older generation holding power kinda hides that.

Durov is the intermediate generation, gross, but trying to pretend. I don’t know if he was born to such a family (KGB/FSB/nomenclature relatives, getting a good education as a mathematician would check out then) or accepted into their, eh, society seems too strong a word.

It’s like a network of thieves recognizing each other by their particular kind of behavior. There’s too many of them to firmly know they are talking to one of their own, so that behavior and approach to life is all it takes to be perceived as one of them.

(I know you won’t believe me, but they think that signature behavior is aristocratic or whatever, talking in Esopean language, dropping hints, not looking you in the eyes, cold faces, being silent and not talking a lot, fish eyes ; there are people with actual noble ancestry in Russia, they do have sort of a common approach to right behavior, and that’s basically the opposite of this - talking to the other person directly, if making hints, then making it obvious that it’s a metaphor, not trying to show contempt or threat in their face, being clear and honest, at least in appearances.)

Their part of my generation is just shit from the ass. Cunning and more evil, but no class or wisdom at all. I mean, there’s a saying “order beats class”, but they can have order only in ideal conditions too. Using bigger expense to imitate an achievement by smaller expense, which wouldn’t be a compliment to their abilities even if it were real. What’s worst is they don’t even understand it.

Though this is where I must share one thing I’ve learned from them - you can imitate a level much higher than yours. You may have no taste, but read and imitate the taste of people who you want to deceive, and succeed. You may not know some domain area, but deceive those who do. Not have deeper understanding of some important mechanism, but imitate a person who does to those who do.

A thought similar to LLM bots in some sense. So - they are dangerous.

It’s not free, but it’s the good part nonetheless - nuclear energy and thus increase in people trained to operate and build nuclear reactors.

Nuclear energy is, planning-wise, very high quality, you have a lot of control in scaling the output.

That allows, together with lots of accumulators of various kinds (pumping water up and such), to actually make renewables with uncontrollable output useful.

Making the average cost of energy better than just that of nuclear.

So, when Microsoft dies, those reactors and people will be of value.