To think we’re in the foothills of World War 3?

[Letthecarhuntbegin]

The West is upping the ante supporting the Ukraine, but I can’t imagine Russia backing down. Surely this will just keep escalating over the coming months and years. The beginning of World War 3?

WW3 started a while back - I wouldn’t worry too much

I think there are familiar rumblings that could lead that way. I do think warfare will look very different in the modern era though. I don't worry about it but I don't think it's impossible.

What would it look like? It doesn't look that different in Ukraine

Nah. Russia is no match for NATO, and they know it.

It will be the combination of climate change and overpopulation that causes the real problems. In 1900, there were a billion humans on Earth. By 1960 that had trebled to three billion. It’s now eight billion. Yes, birth rates are slowing, but only in certain places. In Africa, for example, the birth rate is booming. African women still have an average of five kids, and Africa’s population is going to double by 2050. When climate change gets worse, these huge (and often very poor) young populations will move, en mass, causing chaos.

Russia is a hellish place. Putin is ex KGB, the manipulation and techniques he uses are from Communism, ordinary Russians are trapped, those who object are brutalized or fall out of windows. That is after a good period of psychological warfare where the secret police break into your home and move all your property around to mess with your head.

They never got over the brutality of the Soviet Union and it's written into their way of life.

Ukraine is full of green gold. They are buying their freedom from Russia, from us, on loan. They have little choice. They will be brutalized like opposing Syrians were. It is no choice at all.

I think we need to shut these Russian bots down it's 2 a day now 🙄

In a major war I think there will be much more emphasis on cyber based warfare.

This

One of the reasons it's not going so well for Russia is that it's own infrastructure is corrupt. So it's armies, arms, weapons, supplies, all have people creaming off money, claiming it's up to the right standard.

But equipment never turns up, or there's half of it, or it's stolen and sold. So it's very likely that idea that Russia can really fight like a superpower is a myth. The resources it actually has are more limited.

I don't think it's WW3. Its a localised war about resources.

This planet has finite resources. Unless we're willing to accept much less comfortable and way shorter lives, I believe humanity is doomed. Then maybe the planet and what life is left can recover without humans.

Agreed. Enough of this BS propaganda.

Even if we are, there’s nothing I can do about so I’ll get on with life and enjoy my family.

You can read history books and they condense years into a page.
eg the build ups to WW1 and WW2
eg the Little Age Ice (cute name!) that caused a lot of people to die over generations

Obviously, I don't know what will or won't happen, but the history books don't really talk about the build up to war in the 30s. They focus on the action. It is easy to think that nothing bad will happen, or that it will happen so fast that there is nothing you can do.

Or maybe there is a window during which you can foresee a risk of war, and you can make some preparations for it? Like buying in useful stuff - that will dry up in any war, especially as we have very little UK manufacturing these days.

Just a thought. You do you etc.

Who do you think is the bot?
I can’t see anybody pro-Russian propaganda on this thread?

I was agreeing with the general sentiment expressed by another poster. There has been a glut of these sorts of posts recently, some of which have the sole purpose of spreading panic.

I worry about it too, op.

What do you think we should do then?

You can't stop governments doing what they will do, but you can build resilience in your own life. eg have useful stuff and skills, grow food etc etc

Oh I don't know. Should we all store beans under the bed, train our menfolk to use bayonets and call the authorities on shifty looking neighbours? It's almost as fun as lockdown.

War is geopolitical- Britain is better off in building some international relationships, supply chains, food strategy, and long term defence planning.

I’m not really sure how that answers the tank question?

At some point it's inevitable it what humans do unfortunately. There's nothing we can do about and it's not as if we get a vote. But with the two biggest countries in the world in size (Russia and China) as our potential enemies both with nuclear weapons and the ability to wreck our infrastructure such as satellites or internet cables and the like it's not looking good in the medium term. If Putin goes what can come after is worse - war lords with nuclear weapons and a criminal appetite for brutality and seemingly with a people who support them.

We are at the stage now of rearmament probably 1938 as it were which will divert huge resources from the welfare state into weaponry and when you combine that with the tipping point of climate change being reached it's not exactly heartening. Indeed the symbolic Doomsday Clock has moved closer than ever to midnight, declaring humanity perilously close to catastrophe.

www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64390663

There's nothing more dangerous than when a narcissist/psychopath loses their power. Given that Putin is almost definitely seriously ill, possibly end of life, yes it is a very dangerous time I don't think he'd care at all if he took Russia with him along with the rest of the planet. We just have to hope he dies soon.
That being said I'm early fifties and when I was at School we were on the brink of world war, although we didn't know quite how close at the time and long before me the 50's came close as well and we're still here.
I now have a Sting song stuck in my head.

Putin does have children who I'm sure he cares about. Presumably he wants to leave a good place for them.

Just because there’s a nasty war happening in Europe doesn’t mean anything about a world war. There’s a whole wide world beyond Europe you know.

The panic mongering combined with such a reductive view of the world is so irritating.

I agree that these fearmongering threads just play onto Russia‘s hands.

I also think it’s important to remember that though there are similarities between the build up to WW1/2 and now there are also significant differences. The existence of NATO and article 5 being one and MAD being the other.