Hacker News Reader

Comment by ceejayoz | Hacker News Reader

The rational calculus here is "Russia will keep doing this as long as we let them".

The time to start getting off Russian gas was 2014. The EU, and Germany in particular, let a gun be pointed at their head for far too long.

View on HN

yes, like US and China, we can't stop them and it doesn't help to kill our economy for a strictly symbolic action

Russia is failing, with its military reputation, one of its few assets, in tatters.

its weird how people who have nothing always have to take care of the bill

The answer to that moral issue is not to do the immoral thing in the linked scenario. The answer to that is to do the moral thing in both aspects.

The EU should provide payment assistance to low-income folks for their energy bills, or directly subsidize it.

Those goalposts are moving quickly. "It's impossible" -> "It's too costly" -> "The wrong people are supposedly footing the cost (without considering the gigantic externalities)" -> "I just want Russia to win"

I never said it is impossible, it's 1. immoral (sanctions are only against civilians) 2. idiotic (destroy your economy for a symbolic gesture) 3. paid by the poorest

It is possible to dislike all empires you know.

> sanctions are only against civilians

This is a very silly assertion.

Yeah, so you build nuclear reactors and raise the standard of living in that case, which would be the exact opposite of what EU is doing (recommendations to reduce energy density and carrying capacity, ie. you own nothing and will be happy).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com