When looking at costs, one should keep a reference point in mind. For example, the ESA's total budget is ~7.7 billion euros, which is taxpayer money. However, the US alone spent about 1 billion dollars bombing the Houthis in three months (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-ope...), and the direct military costs in Gaza alone are over 22 billion dollars (https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhartung/2024/10/15/the-h...). The total cost of reconstruction is estimated to be over 100 billion. The direct costs of the EU's sanctions on Russia alone cost taxpayers more than 200 billion, but these are poor estimates. We could continue in this way and examine Africa, Asia, and other regions to gain perspective.
However, it would be improper to claim that the ESA's budget for this project is a matter of diverting taxpayers' money to something negative.
2nd law only states a direction, however, does not determine the rate of change of things. It is also related to the spontaneity of reactions. What is the role of activation energy (or other weak/strong nuclear force potential barriers due to state).
What prevents everything happening all at once (just by obeying 2nd law is there a reason?). And if there is, is there a consistent formulation of 2nd law + other law that get this problem, at least macroscopically correct?
... makes one wonder whether they also check how often the GenAI mimics the western media disinformation on entire plethora of topics (including now well busted narratives from Israel, UK, to UAE based professional "PR" firms (*double-speak)). Is it also possible that all news are these days just disinformation? Statistical data on the military and security budgets permanently growing every year into their media presence/narrative controls, as well as abysmal public perception o US 35% news trust-worthiness should not be ignored in such analysis.
The principal point being, one cannot correct just one side of the distribution, it creates bias (just think of the Google AI diffusion model disaster). So many fundamental questions are presented by these articles, which are utterly left alone, ignored or assumed into our own biases as given truths. I posit that this approach will not makes us any good in the long run, and will come to bite us in the fragile areas (looking at you Germany & France in the most recent elections).
Why do people still believe the Russia narrative? I mean, virtually every single major Russian narrative of influence over US or EU politics, media sphere, or whatever is proven by western investigative journalist wrong (of cause with convenient delay). Eg, the Biden laptop, the hacking of nuclear facilities, and list goes on and on.
We like to over-estimate the capability of Rus in this sphere. After all, the unparalleled, fine-tuned and omni present propaganda machine is in the US, self-declared, psy-ops through gaming industry, music, and movies, etc.
In summary, are there state actors influencing each other's population: Yes. Does Russia somehow hold the super-powers in this domain: No, not by any stretch of imagination. Do they spent more money on foreign interference than US +EU, not by orders of magnitude.
But the function of a boogeyman is just as important, if not more, than an accurate model of the world (I concur).
People will omit applying any amount of critical thinking if they agree with the basic premise/contents of something they read.
That's how we have Schrödinger's Russia, one that keeps fumbling every day and loses 1000+ soldiers a day, whose soldiers have run out of basic equipment and are fighting with shovels (no, I'm not joking https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64855760), all the while being absolutely crippled by sanctions. Truly a laughing stock, right?
Yet they are also somehow about to launch a full-scale invasion of entire Europe, while currently _undermining democracy_ (my favorite phrase) in the entire Western sphere.
There is simply no logical, moral, ethical or philosophical argument under which population should not revolt and destroy the evil of elites who demand this (as Ayn Rand explains):
Of all the statist violations of individual rights in a mixed economy, the military draft is the worst. It is an abrogation of rights. It negates man’s fundamental right—the right to life—and establishes the fundamental principle of statism: that a man’s life belongs to the state, and the state may claim it by compelling him to sacrifice it in battle. Once that principle is accepted, the rest is only a matter of time.
One of the notions used by all sides to justify the draft, is that “rights impose obligations.” Obligations, to whom?—and imposed, by whom? Ideologically, that notion is worse than the evil it attempts to justify: it implies that rights are a gift from the state, and that a man has to buy them by offering something (his life) in return. Logically, that notion is a contradiction: since the only proper function of a government is to protect man’s rights, it cannot claim title to his life in exchange for that protection.
A volunteer army is the only proper, moral—and practical—way to defend a free country.
And the greater shame, the value of the lives who do so volunteer to the fickle mob interests of which states are compromised.
I would support the right to deny voting rights or civil posts, and other civic benefits to "draft dodgers", for those truly do belong to the body of state. Incarceration or other forms of coerced bondage does contradict the imperative of a free society.
Ukraine suspended consular services for draft-age men living abroad last month, and that seemed fair to me. It's reasonable that someone might not care enough about the state to fight in its defense, but it's equally reasonable that the state might then decline to provide its services.
Neither of these two opinions stem from a consistent set of moral principles of freedom, which Im sure both would claim to defend. It is a logical inconsistency to be pro-freedom and yet to hold such arguments of draft as valid. The conclusion is obvious
I would like to hear under which moral and philosophical framework of freedom these opinions of state-based-slavery stand?
The right of a state to barter access to services or rights beyond the fundamental right to be LEFT ALONE is not as you say.
I agree that the state may not coerce. The right to vote, or take office, become employed as a civil role, or even receive welfare or basic income type services are all rights of the state. State has rights too. I don't think Ayn would disagree.
I have merely suggested the state could conceivably bargain for things beyond the basic human rights TO BE LEFT ALONE.
That is the basis of moral principles, by default everyone has the right not to be interfered with, everything else may be bargained for by free will (uncoherced determination of willful resolve.)
Other than a "righteous rule of law" (lawful domain) the state doesn't owe you anything.
It is always nice to have measurements; the CO, CO2 volatiles are expected and predicted by models at these distances (for somewhat large enough bodies so that molecules do not simply fly away into space after sublimation). By the way, the sublimation temperature of CO ice is 25 K!
This has been stated many times and forms a unified strategic concept. So far, Russia has not done that, despite foreign weapons used in deep strikes.
This is precisely the same concept that Israel uses to strike four other sovereign countries (in addition targeting diplomatic and civilian structures) without declaring war, albeit, nobody is really striking Israel the way that UK/US is planning for Russia. Israel's military doctrine in that case is total all out nuclear war (check it).
US has been fighting proxy wars just as much if not more as the other guy. They bombed countries for less than someone striking their territory. Even destroyed several countries which had nothing to do with it.
So, what I do want to know, how is this solving anything, and who is there to benefit from this strategy (of total escalation)?
This was a good read, albeit pretty long. The major and final point, which certainly does not follow from the premises cited in this piece and which feels like a rush conclusion, is this:
"""
It’s time we began conceptualizing, and perhaps prototyping, computation and information in a workers’ world. It’s time to start conceiving of a new left-wing science.
"""
In other words, sadly, so many valid points along the way gets us only to a restatement of the "class-struggle". The current technocratic (intellectual elites) are bad, but if we replace them with "working-class" elites (in whatever new (uni)form they will be dressed in) the world will be a paradise.
I must reject the conclusion in the strongest terms while giving 100% truth to the statements for the core issues highlighted in this piece.
However, it would be improper to claim that the ESA's budget for this project is a matter of diverting taxpayers' money to something negative.