Disconnected Empire

I've been thinking about the subject of today's blog and honestly - it is difficult to offer a subject which is not related to the Russian invasion on Ukraine. Everything else seems distant and less important. Thousands of people are being killed. Sources say Russia has lost 11 thousand soldiers in the first week. To put that number in perspective: their losses in Afghanistan over 10 years were 15 thousand. This is hard to comprehend...

It is still surprising how many people (high profile people) do not get it. Mariana Mazzucato joins Jeffrey Sachs proposing to sacrifice Ukraine to make everybody happy. Look: this is not about any NATO ambitions. This is about ending the insane Russian imperialism and about the freedom of the independent country of Ukraine.

The World has just changed and will never be the same. In the suicide move Putin has pushed himself into a corner, isolating the entire country. Nobody wants to deal with him. Everything Russia has gained over the last 40 years has been wiped out. The stock exchange is shut. The banks are shut and credit cards disabled. All aircraft have been grounded. Foreign investments withdrawn. Ruble, the Russian currency is in a tailspin and hyperinflation is rolling. There does not seem to be a way out other than a revolution. And the sooner it erupts the better, as Ukraine must manage to stand.

Globalization and interconnectivity is probably what was most miscalculated by Putin. Today everything is connected and stops functioning when the connection is cut. As an example: when an aircraft engine is not serviced regularly, at some point it will refuse to start. John Deere does that for tractors, so GE and Rolls Royce definitely do the same for aircraft engines (especially as they sell at a loss and make up the profits on maintenance revenue). Tesla - if forced by the government - can bring all cars to a stop. The same applies to phones, credit cards, everything that has any electronic ties with the outside world. Then there is trade and financial transactions which can be instantly cut. And it all hurts more, the more beneficial the country had been from such connections in the past. We need to jointly cut all ties with Russia, with no exceptions nor excuses. We need decisions like the Haas F1 team to cut ties with their title sponsor, despite the FIA allowing Russian drivers to compete. We cannot all take rifles and go to that war. But we can act together to cut all oxygen supporting the beast. Everybody should participate, as every action - even small - matters. You can simply turn down you thermostat to help the government decide on cutting the imports of Russian fossil fuels or stop buying the Russian gas on Shell stations.

I strongly believe "something" will give up in Russia, as the victory through overthrowing their leader is mostly in the hands of Russian citizens. In the meantime my prayers are with Ukraine. Stand strong!

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