I once assumed that small incremental environmentally conscious steps in how people lived, worked, and played were inevitable. I'm talking smaller, more energy efficient, and safer vehicles, vegetable protein substitutes in place of industrialized meat products becoming generally accepted and even the norm, and I even had naive presumptions about some imminent expansion of mass transportation because it simply made more economic sense.
But that was all before I learned the power of 
I mean, the reasoning for why it wouldn't happen, because it would be a stupid war that would ultimately undermine the Russian state domestically and globally, was solid. Turns out Putin is just another world leader.