From Ukraine last year, to Nagorno-Karabakh last month and now Israel, it really does feel like there's a trend of people becoming more comfortable with using large-scale unilateral violence to solve problems. That trend itself greatly worries me; each instance normalizes and legitimizes the next.

I’m not trying to sound inflammatory, but I don’t think this is a recent trend. It’s been going on throughout all recorded history. I think every modern country was formed via “large-scale unilateral violence” in some capacity. It’s not something I want to see more of in the world, just an observation.

Working to make payments fast, cheap and private 

All casts are my own.

Oh I agree, it's a reversion to the mean. But still I feel like 1991-2019 was a better period in this regard and the world slipping out of that is going to be bad for a lot of people.

I haven’t looked at numbers, but I think 1991-2019 was actually pretty gnarly depending on where in the world you were located. Violence may seem more prevalent now (esp to the west) but I think it’s a function of the proliferation of smartphones/cameras/ internet/social media etc. This is just an assumption.