Silicon Bites #58 - General Valerii Zaluzhnyi Warns of the Risks of Western Weakness Towards Russia.

Edition No58 | 19-10-2024 - Zelensky has a plan for victory, but the reception of it has been lukewarm to put it mildly. Unimaginative, scathing and myopic is how I would characterise some of the reactions. ~~~~~ SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's frontline towns. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ~~~~~ It’s as if our democratically elected official and institutions do not have the will or capacity to deal with hard, complex and slow problems. Problems that require imaginative leadership, commitment and risk are shunned, in favour of quick fixes, sound bites and pretence. Politics is a kind of puppet show, when politicians pretend to be solving problems, and we pretend that the problems are solved, or else were not so important after all. It’s a sort of self-gaslighting mechanism where trust in politics and an individual’s sense of agency progressively erodes with each electoral cycle. This is fine until real, intractable and existential problems arise, and concrete solutions are required. We are at such an inflection point and are collectively failing to recognise that. Zelensky’s peace plan is a challenge to us, to snap out of our catatonic societal stupor, and recognise that real problems are existential for Ukraine’s survival, and ultimately for ours too. His challenge is to make us realise that there are no easy choices left. Ukraine survives or it does not. Both scenarios have far-reaching implications and foist responsibilities on the West. Ukraine’s survival requires a clear victory, followed by two options. NATO membership immediately, or adoption of nuclear weapons. It’s clear, stark and imminent. There is no third option. He does not want to make us uncomfortable but wants to make us think and act. It’s not working though, judging by the reaction to his victory and security proposals. Our democratic institutions are weak and capacity to solve hard problems that require leadership responses (rather than managerially weighted ones) is much reduced compared to the 1940s. ~~~~~ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ~~~~~ NEWS SOURCES: https://www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/special-event/conversation-valerii-zaluzhnyi-ukrainian-ambassador-uk https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/10/16/zelenskyy-unveils-5-point-victory-plan-to-ukrainian-parliament/ https://www.politico.eu/article/volodymyr-zelenskyy-presents-his-victory-plan-to-ukraine-parliament-war-vladimir-putin/ https://www.politico.eu/article/nato-nukes-volodymyr-zelenskyy-war-ukraine-aid-russia/ ~~~~~ USEFUL LINKS: Vatnik Soup https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi http://www.medbat.org.ua/en/ Real World News https://kyivindependent.com/ https://www.kyivpost.com/ https://english.nv.ua/ https://www.themoscowtimes.com/ https://meduza.io/en https://meduza.io/ https://novayagazeta.eu/ https://www.newsweek.com/topic/russia... ~~~~~ TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemysl https://kharpp.com/ Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine Ukrainian Freedom News https://www.ukrainianfreedomnews.com/donation/ UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ ~~~~~