2546. Details behind the war in Ukraine and the responsibility of competition for tech that has driven all wars.

Highly recommend the history of the Ukraine, Gates of Europe, by Pokikhy.. The audible. version is terrific. Two key points

1. The complexity as over the centuries Ukraine has been dominated by greeks, mongols, vikings, fins,  germans and russians. The fighting feels much like today: armies drawn sup against each other and raining destruction from the air and shooting everyone on the ground,. The German/ Russian phase is also in the context ideological conflict, catholic, eastern and Russian orthodox,  and modern.

2. The conflict is over power and the drive to modernize in competition best understood by Rene Girard, with imitative competition for  electrification, industrialization and hierarchy. Those who like modernizations and tech progress in our own societies, western, fail to take responsibility for the murderous competition that is drawn by tech at the top and consumerism in the rest of society. The rush by Hitler and Stalin to industrialize first, the drama of the local political parties, and the amount of death in the process needs to be understood.

   This book is a great survey that also helps understand the current conflicts.