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founding

Well done for trying to explain what's really going on. Just one suggestion. If you talk about 'the West' as if this was the same as the US government, you will add to the confusion out there. The US government is not 'the West', it's not even the US people (many of whom do not support its war-making). Putin's government is in a turf-war against Biden's government. Ordinary people are just pawns, forced to pay for the wars or die in them.

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Thanks for the episode! I enjoyed listening to it despite some of the disagreement. The speech is calm, reserved.

I live in the UK, and I would be much more happy if I can truly understand the position of the West and what "needs to be protected" from Russia/East. But I struggle to find how it is fair...

You outline 2 potential definitions of fairness

- according to headcount (vote per person)

- according to the impact

And I'm absolutely not advocating that wealth and power to be distributed according to number of people. Moreover, if we take Europe in isolation as an example, I think it is good representation of fairness. E.g. Germany is more productive than Italy -> Germany is wealthier and economically more successful than Italy (regardless the number of people). I have no problem with that

That not what happens globally though. US outright sets it's own economic rules and abuses power through the reserve status of the USD. Any previous attempt by countries to trade in their own currency almost immediately leads to the invasion. So in my view, in practice, it roots not just from the desire for "liberal world", but led by greed and need for control

do you think that current mechanisms are fair and need to be protected?

- everyone should trade in USD

- selected countries can be sanctioned for misaligned views

- or can be invaded

I think it all roots from the first bullet point. I don't see how it is beneficial for countries around the globe to rely on single reserve currency. And if they reject it, US economy would immediately collapse due to deficits and debt. That is what US is actively trying to protect with it's allies.

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