If you’re “crossposting,” you should at least copy and paste the intro section, to give people something to look at other than the title:
It would be bad if your city burned down. This is a reasonable fear to have. What to do, then, if your neighbor’s house is on fire? Surely not blame the fire department for the fire and organize a protest in front of the station to trap the firetrucks inside. That’s no longer fear, but self-destructive panic. Hysteria makes the city burn down.
It would be bad if there were a third world war. That is a reasonable fear to have. By resisting Russia, Ukrainians are making every scenario for such a catastrophe less likely. On the scale of our world, the Ukrainians are the firemen. They are keeping the rest of us safe. It makes no sense to blame them for Russia’s invasion, nor to hinder them from doing their job. That’s no longer fear, but self-destructive panic. Hysteria makes the third world war more likely.
Let’s consider, soberly, three familiar scenarios for a third world war: (1) escalation from a conventional war in Europe; (2) escalation from a conventional war in the Pacific; and (3) the spread of nuclear weapons. In all three cases, Ukrainian resistance makes the rest of us safer. The Ukrainians are containing the ongoing war in Europe to their own country; they are deterring the war in the Pacific; and they are preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. These scenarios for a third world war have not played out because Ukrainians take risks.
If you’re “crossposting,” you should at least copy and paste the intro section, to give people something to look at other than the title: