Easiest way to beat Putin and Trump is to play the long game. Putin is turning 70 years old later this year. By 2050s, Putin will be reaching 100. By the 2070s, Putin would be in his 120s. Sooner or later, the man will be gone. Entropy never fails. The same applies to Trump, who is older and seemingly less healthy than Putin. They will be cosmic dust soon enough.
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There is no reason to get desperate trying to defeat Putin. After Putin, another crazy dictator will pop up somewhere in the world. Russia could fall under an even worst dictator. Who knows, even the United States may fall under a dictatorship in the future. Don't worry; prepare. Do your best enjoying the present while constantly improving yourself for whatever the future may bring. Soon enough, you will be cosmic dust too.
No one knows what the future will bring because we have not created the future yet. There are too many players and too many variables to compute. However, we can always predict the future in probability ranges based on what we have seen so far in history.
Dictators don't retire.
If dictators are not retired by force, they die in power. You would do the same thing if you were a dictator. Trump will do the same thing if he manages to end American democracy with his MAGA circus. Putin is supported by oligarchs and masses that want to enjoy life while making Russia great again. Putin invaded Ukraine, and his supporters seem to be enjoying it. Russia is already the largest country in the world by land mass. Putin wants to make it even larger.
Putin will not stop taking until he is forced to stop. The best approach for the free world is to have fun fighting Putin day in and day out. You only continue doing for a long time the things that you find fun. If the world wants to defeat Putin, the West has to commit to the long game. If the world does not fight Putin, he will fight the world. We just need to accept that reality and deal with it.
The world is at war against a 69 year old, nuclear armed, dictator. The world has two options for dealing with Putin: (a) surrendering; or (b) fighting. The exact same options apply to Trump in the United States. There are two options for dealing with Trump: surrendering to the MAGA king; or fighting him.
Surrendering vs Fighting
When faced with a problem, some people prefer surrendering to it while others prefer fighting it. Ignoring or denying a problem is equivalent to surrendering to it. Both surrendering to problems and fighting options are inconvenient. Neither option is perfect. Nothing having to do with humans is free of problems. Human life is a problem-solving game.
The problem for the West is that Putin is not giving up. Putin will continue the war in Ukraine until the overall cost of the war exceeds the overall reward. The problem for the United States and the West is that Trump is not giving up either. Trump will continue the war against American democracy until he is defeated again and again.
Both Putin and Trump are losing money and making money by waging their respective wars. How can someone make money and lose money at the same time you may be wondering. Well, money is not exactly what you think it is.
The true nature of money
We have all learned to see money as a store of value and a payment technology. That is, money allows for a the quantification of economic value (valuation), and allows for the satisfaction of debts (payment).
Money facilitates economic trade. Without money, people would have a hard time agreeing on the relative economic value of goods (e.g. one cow equals 50 chickens), and would have an even harder time trading because bartering requires a coincidence of needs. For example, you must have the cow that I want and I must have the 50 chickens that you want. Otherwise, we cannot trade.
The traditional concept of money as a store of value and payment technology relates to its function as a token or currency. The currency concept only tells part of the story of money. There is a more fundamental way of conceptualizing the true essence of money.
If you think about it, money operates as a permit or authorization. Money is what authorizes the beholder to possess or enjoy goods in the economy. This perspective about money allows us to understand the world a little better.
Money is a derivative of power
With the war in Ukraine, Putin is losing some powers while gaining others. Putin is losing economic power in the West and under Western standards. Russian oligarchs became the new blacks in the sense of not being able to hold economic privileges in the West. Putin's team, however, is gaining domestic power in Russia and international power with all other autocratic nations and anti-democratic movements around the world.
Even in the United States. Putin has his followers and supporters. Putin is losing "money" in the democratic world, but is making tons of money in the autocratic world by promising two things: to make Russia great again and to end liberal democracy in the world. To some extent, the same applies to Trump. He is losing value in the minds of many Americans who see him as a deplorable human being. However, some of his followers see him as a king. They are willing to fund his ventures and support his brand.
Putin and Trump are trying to rewrite the rules of the game to create a new world order. If Putin and the autocratic movements win, their "money" (i.e. power) will trump Western money as we know it. We will all see more clearly that money is a derivative of power. Those in power grant the authorizations to hold and make money. That is, the authorization to hold and enjoy goods (products and services).
Power addicts
Putin and Trump are power addicts. Of course, they are not the only ones. There are many others around and many others will pop up once entropy eliminates these two old white men from the face of the planet. The struggle for power and money will continue unchanged once Putin and Trump are dead. It is fun to defeat them, but the game will not end with their defeat. The game will always continue. You better get used to it and enjoy playing it. Otherwise, you will be suffering in political and economic agony until the day entropy wipes you out.
Putin will not stop trying to increase his power. Trump will not stop either. These two men are the same. Power is the most addictive feeling ever known to humanity. Putin and Trump will do whatever they can to get high on power.
Putin and Trump are waging a war against democracy because democracy stands in the way of dictators. Putin's invasion of Ukraine and Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol are just samples of what these two men can do for power. You can surrender to these two men, or you can join the democratic fight against them. It's your choice. If you choose fighting, make it fun because enjoying what we do is the best way to ensure consistency and long term success.
Food though. What do you think?
--Alex Slap for TakeSlap.com
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