Ukraine

Let’s start with one part of the reason that rent prices have soared in major cities across the United States and luxury condos have become seemingly the only housing being built: real estate is a great way to launder money and/or to hide pay offs.

Casinos also work well in this regard.

Why else should we care so much about Putin’s Russia?

To start with, because Putin is a key player in building a support network of authoritarian states worldwide. If you are against oligarchy and gangster capitalism, then you should be against any expansion of Putin’s power.

The United States is effectively already at war with Putin, although the combat has primarily taken place on an informational battlefield and through attacks on computer networks and systems.

I won’t claim that the United States is perfect… it’s not for nothing that Putin used the threat of Ukraine becoming a nuclear power to justify invading, an invocation of the Bush doctrine.

Many have pointed out that the day before Russia was bombing Ukraine, the United States was bombing Somalia. I don’t know enough about Somalia to comment on what’s happening there (and probably that’s systemic racism at work… the fact that I know more about Ukraine than Somalia).

My heart stands with those that are suffering authoritarian repression or the violence that results from it (including those in the multitude of countries that are currently occupied to a greater or lesser degree by the US military).