God no. I can’t imagine a more horrific punishment than to be childless.

I wish we had more than the two we have, but my wife and I started late. My daughter (12) sometimes asks how many children she could realistically have… a good sign that she hasn’t been tainted by whatever mental illness it is that the “childfree” people have.

Reuters has this nasty-assed paywall I only noticed just the other day. Not sure if it’s new or if I just somehow managed to miss it.

They could’ve just sat there and waited for more regions to separate.

Perhaps Putin knows something the rest of us don’t.

Like, I dunno… that more regions didn’t want to separate, and any pretense to the contrary was purely through his own meddling?

Not all nationalisms are equal. Russia’s nationalism has invaded 0 countries,

Sakartvelo?

Every night, Russian soldiers move the border markers a few meters south, and people living close to it always wonder if they will wake up having become Russian residents while they slept.

I have no idea what “greatest” means. It’s a superlative word, but implies no meaningful measurement that can be tested and verified.

Also the word “believe” is problematic. “think” might be better. Or “hold the opinion”.

Both of these points support the idea that you’re asking about an emotional state, rather than a intellectual position. Basically you’re asking “why do people like the place that they live and mindlessly cheer for it when sociologically appropriate moments for such displays become available”. That’s a question that answers itself, is it not?