I generally avoid posting about real world things, it’s depressing enough. Current events though, holy cow. This post will be full of hyperbole and analogies, stretches of reality that are meant to emphasize a point.

Old saying first: It takes years to build trust, and seconds to destroy it.

If I was in an abusive relationship, where my partner of many years decided to start beating me, and then threatening to beat me more, then say ‘don’t worry, we’ll make this work’, and then beat me again, it would be a sane response to GTFO. It would also be a sane response for me to defend myself against future abuse and absolutely not trust the other person.

Let’s say that I am in a small town, and my options to exit said relationship are very small. Even if I do leave, I need to share the house with this person as there’s nowhere else to go! Neighbors want to help, but they are afraid that they will be targeted next (and rightfully so, as they have been threatened as well). What that then means is that I would be meeting these other people in secret, or at least out of my partner’s earshot, to make escape plans. I’d be open about some things, just to avoid suspicion, but there’d be a lot of hush hush talks.

These new and stronger relationships would be subtlety antagonistic towards my partner. No one would want to be singled out for their wild and unpredictable behavior. We’d all actively work to undermine the partner, lull them into a sense of comfort, and they would do all the work to declaw themselves. And when they realize it, they’d complain and blame others for it.

No relationship is without compromise. No relationship can be dictated. They all succeed based on finding a balance between the individual needs and the group needs. When one party decides their needs are more important than another’s, well, the results are destructive. And, truthfully, there are some relationships that simply cannot work, no matter how hard people try.

Unfortunately when nations are in relationships, the ‘cannot work’ part gets super complicated and has very wide ranging and long-term impacts. And now here we are, with the globe seeing a world leader proudly proclaim ownership of the issue. And in the very interesting words of the younger generation, we’re entering FAFO land.