Things are pretty heavy at the moment. Chaos and confusion are on the rise and everyone and their mother is attempting to pinpoint the actions that led to the outcome of Russia invading Ukraine. At the end of the day, this dissection of the past is nothing more than a retrospective that can't change the reality of the moment or what led us here.

The best we can do is try to move forward with the reality of the moment in mind and actively trying to avoid repeating it at all costs. To your Uncle Marty, the most basic thing that can be done to avoid this shitshow moving forward is for countries in the west to develop the political will to become energy independent.

Energy is the base layer of society and when energy production becomes as centralized as it has with Russia producing a lion's share of the natural gas that is used to power Europe and many other countries across the world, situations like the one we are experiencing at the moment become more likely. The distribution of the production of the base layer of society needs to expand dramatically to change the geopolitical game theory.

European countries need to stop LARPing about the environment and begin taking their destinies into their own hands by tapping into the natural resources that they sit on to become energy dependent. The same thing applies to the US, which has recently shut down pipelines, banned new mineral leases on federal land, and joined Europe in the push for a "decarbonization" of the economy. These actions have only and will continue to lead us all to peril. It's time to level the playing field on the global stage by getting serious about energy security.

Final thought...

Runny noses are weak.