Can humans even have a real communist society? I suspect it would take a species without any individual self-preservation instinct, or individual greed, so that each member can fully serve the collective.

Well, at least we got something.

Under the veneer of fantasy parody, Pratchett was able to sneak in surprisingly strong ethics and morality lessons in a very likeable manner. It’s one of many reasons I love the Discworld books - they make me want to be better.

I suspect that the characters Esmerelda Weatherwax and Sam Vimes were in fact Pratchett’s vehicles to convey his own moral values.

“There’s no greys, only white that’s got grubby. I’m surprised you don’t know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.’

‘It’s a lot more complicated than that -’

‘No. It ain’t. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they’re getting worried that they won’t like the truth. People as things, that’s where it starts.”

― Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum

(https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1494234-carpe-jugulum)

That was over two years ago. Surely even a mediocre tactician would anticipate something like this happening eventually.

My guess is that Russia simply does not have the means to effectively defend all of its border anymore, and they’ve been praying that the Ukraine’s western benefactors will keep them “on the leash” for as long as possible.

Yep, that’s a more accurate way of putting it. @Pronell@lemmy.world’s phrasing made it sound like some well-organized kanban thing. 🤣