Coming Insurgencies in Germany, China, Russia

In Germany, no one is sure how buildings will be heated this winter. The German Greens have gone all-in for unreliable intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar. That is the quickest way to destroy Germany’s industrial economic foundations. As the German people slowly wake out of their Green-drugged torpor and begin to understand what their politicians have done to their future, there will be hell to pay.

In China, the banks are tumbling. The great Chinese real estate scheme is crashing down, and that was the only place where ordinary Chinese people felt safe about investing their money. That delusion was one of the few things separating the CCP from the wrath of the Chinese people — something that has toppled countless previous Chinese governments.

In Russia: An Old Man’s War, As Putin Moves to Draft 50 and 60 Year Olds

Russia has begun a “volunteer mobilization,” where every region must generate at least one volunteer battalion.[1] The term “volunteer mobilization” likely implies that the Kremlin ordered the 85 “federal subjects” (regions, including occupied Sevastopol and Crimea) to recruit and financially incentivize volunteers to form new battalions, rather than referring to literal mobilization relying on conscription or the compulsory activation of all reservists in Russia. Russian outlets reported that regional officials recruit men up to 50 years old (or 60 for separate military specialties) for six-month contracts…

Russian Men Increasingly Scarce

In Putin’s Russia, 50 and 60 year old men have always been scarce — particularly healthy 50 and 60 year old men. But now even young Russian men are growing scarce, and it is becoming necessary for Putin to dip into older age groups for his cannon fodder in Ukraine. Putin never expected his little “rape expedition” into Ukraine to last this long, nor to cost so many Russian lives.

Sending Russian men to Ukraine for 6 months should be just about long enough to get them killed. It was already true that there were few good Russian men for purposes of marriage and child-raising. Increasingly, Russian women will find the quest for marriage and family to be hopeless. And the tears of Russian mothers, wives, and daughters will flow northward to freeze in the Arctic.

Hopelessness alone is not enough to trigger a Russian insurgency. But combined with a number of other crucial factors, it can start the avalanche down the mountainside.

Putin has just admitted that his Ukraine war is not about NATO. And a good thing for Putin, too, since a NATO headquarters has been moved up to Poland, and Sweden and Finland are making hard-headed plans for resisting Putin’s “Peter the Great” expansionism.

Russian casualties in Ukraine

Russian Losses from HIMARS

Ukrainian troops knocked out 14 ammunition dumps in June, according to a tally by the BBC’s Russian service, many of them behind Russian lines in the Donbas, using the new weapons and another four tank-mounted rocket launchers from Britain. (More are on the way from Germany and Norway too.) The explosions have spawned a cottage industry of pro-Ukrainian memes featuring Japanese Shiba dogs in military fatigues watching the blasts, and the Ukrainian military believes that at least one Russian general has been killed in the blasts.

A Little Tweak on the Landscape

“Over the last 5-6 days, more than 10 large dumps for artillery and other ammunition, several oil depots, about 10 command centers and about the same number of troop gathering points were hit,” ex-rebel commander Girkin said. 

The Moscow Times

Newer weapons systems are slowly trickling into Ukraine for use against the unprovoked Russian invasion. These are not enough to counter Russia’s huge firepower advantage in artillery, but the precision of the new weapons will force the Russians to take greater care with their logistical planning. This will likely have multiple impacts on the landscape of the war.

“Sloppy” is the best description of Russia’s actions so far. Sloppy and mindlessly brutal.

Putin wanted to add 45 million former Ukrainians to the Russian population. Instead he forced 10 million Ukrainians into refugee havens in Poland and other European countries. He brought NATO trainers and weapons to Poland and the Baltics by the thousands. He recruited Finland and Sweden into NATO with his “Peter the Great” antics and bravado. He made enemies for Russia around the world. He made sure that Ukrainians will never have another brotherly feeling toward Russia.

When Russia is forced to accept a new leader — after Putin is inevitably shuffled off the scene — the people will be in a state of maximum uncertainty and instability. Multiple crises will be sweeping over them simultaneously. The systemic weakness of the Russian state is being laid bare by Putin’s madness in Ukraine. His legacy for Russia will be collapse. That collapse will spread to Russian allies and Russian “partners” around the world.

Peter Zeihan talks a lot about the coming demographic collapse of Europe, East Asia, Russia, and much of the Americas. The collapse of global supply chains is another wall that is falling down.

But in my opinion, it is the century-long loss of population quality that predicts very hard times ahead. Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

It is interesting watching Sam Harris’ head spin over these foundational problems which he has apparently never considered before. Just like most of today’s intellectuals. Completely clueless.

More: Why electric vehicles cannot replace ICE vehicles anytime soon

A car means freedom—being able to travel from coast to coast on a whim—and stopping to charge every 150–250 miles becomes an impediment to that freedom. And the fact remains that in 2022, if you want to travel far enough that you need to plug in during your trip, you’re in for a headache.

The Nightmare of an EV Journey