Who should you bet on, if you put aside sympathies? 🤔
Right now, three major centres of power clearly stand out in the world – the United States 🇺🇸, Europe 🇪🇺, and China 🇨🇳. India 🇮🇳 still looks more like future potential than a fully formed pole. Russia appears to be out of this race. Brazil 🇧🇷 remains “forever promising”. Africa 🌍 is too heterogeneous and too fragmented to act as a unified centre of power any time soon – or even as several comparable ones.
The Americans are still firmly holding their ground 💪. They have the strongest economy, the most powerful military, and enormous influence over technology, finance, universities, culture, and global politics. It is a system that knows how to renew itself, attract the best minds from around the world, and at the same time maintain a deep reserve of internal resilience. Even when America makes mistakes, gets noisy, argues with itself, or goes through another political circus 🎭, it still remains a machine of immense power. That is its key advantage – not perfection, but durability.
However, the United States also has a weak point ⚠️: too much depends on the quality of its internal governance. When an incompetent, erratic, or simply destructive leader comes to power, they can cause serious damage to the system. Not destroy it, but shake it, weaken institutions, deepen divisions, and undermine trust both domestically and internationally. There are also visible social problems – drugs 💊, homelessness 🏚️, the decline of parts of cities, overheated cultural conflicts 🔥. These are not minor issues, but real symptoms of internal fatigue. And yet, no other power currently combines resources, flexibility, and global reach on the same level.
China is the second obvious contender 🐉. It has discipline, a long planning horizon, a vast industrial base, population, infrastructure, state concentration of resources, and the ability to implement decisions quickly from the top down. It knows how to build, copy, scale, and endure strategically. China looks extremely serious as a civilisational project – not just for the next decade, but for the long term ⏳.
But the main question about China is not its strength, but the limits of that strength ❓. How stable is a model built on party hierarchy, control, and managed consensus? How sustainable is a system that excels at organisation but is less proven in areas that require breakthrough ideas, cultural freedom, intellectual risk, and independent elites? China may become extraordinarily powerful, but it is still unclear whether it can become a global leader that others follow not out of fear or necessity, but out of conviction. There is also the question of internal fragility within what appears to be a monolithic structure. Highly centralised systems sometimes look rock-solid right up until they face a prolonged, serious crisis ⚡. And then there is Taiwan 🇹🇼 – could it become the dragon’s Achilles’ heel?
Europe represents a different kind of power 🏛️. Its strength lies not in force, but in the quality of its system: rule of law, institutions, predictability, a high standard of living, a culture of compromise, and historical maturity. Europe knows how to build a comfortable, humane, rational environment. It is strong in stability, balance, and civic resilience. In many ways, it is the most liveable and civilised pole 🌿.
But this is also where its weakness lies ⚖️. Europe is often too slow, too bureaucratic, too cautious. It struggles to act decisively, to think in hard strategic terms, and to operate as a unified geopolitical will. It lacks some key strategic resources, full military agency, and, perhaps most importantly, ambition. Internally, it also faces its own blockers – political divisions, figures who slow integration, structural disagreements. Europe excels at living well, but is less effective at fighting for its place in the global order. It is strong as a space, but weaker as a predator 🐾.
So if we answer directly, without sympathies, the bet today is still on the United States 🎯. China is the main challenger, Europe is the highest-quality but least decisive pole. America remains first not because it has no problems, but because its problems do not yet outweigh its power. China may become number one in scale, but has not yet proven it can be number one in universality. Europe may be the best place to live, but it does not yet look like the force that will define the 21st century.
The conclusion is simple 🧩: the United States is still the king 👑, China is the main contender 🐉, and Europe (tha queen😄) is the best example of how to live – but not how to win in a grand historical race.
Who should you bet on, if you put aside sympathies? 🤔
Right now, three major centres of power clearly stand out in the world – the United States 🇺🇸, Europe 🇪🇺, and China 🇨🇳. India 🇮🇳 still looks more like future potential than a fully formed pole. Russia appears to be out of this race. Brazil 🇧🇷 remains “forever promising”. Africa 🌍 is too heterogeneous and too fragmented to act as a unified centre of power any time soon – or even as several comparable ones.
The Americans are still firmly holding their ground 💪. They have the strongest economy, the most powerful military, and enormous influence over technology, finance, universities, culture, and global politics. It is a system that knows how to renew itself, attract the best minds from around the world, and at the same time maintain a deep reserve of internal resilience. Even when America makes mistakes, gets noisy, argues with itself, or goes through another political circus 🎭, it still remains a machine of immense power. That is its key advantage – not perfection, but durability.
However, the United States also has a weak point ⚠️: too much depends on the quality of its internal governance. When an incompetent, erratic, or simply destructive leader comes to power, they can cause serious damage to the system. Not destroy it, but shake it, weaken institutions, deepen divisions, and undermine trust both domestically and internationally. There are also visible social problems – drugs 💊, homelessness 🏚️, the decline of parts of cities, overheated cultural conflicts 🔥. These are not minor issues, but real symptoms of internal fatigue. And yet, no other power currently combines resources, flexibility, and global reach on the same level.
China is the second obvious contender 🐉. It has discipline, a long planning horizon, a vast industrial base, population, infrastructure, state concentration of resources, and the ability to implement decisions quickly from the top down. It knows how to build, copy, scale, and endure strategically. China looks extremely serious as a civilisational project – not just for the next decade, but for the long term ⏳.
But the main question about China is not its strength, but the limits of that strength ❓. How stable is a model built on party hierarchy, control, and managed consensus? How sustainable is a system that excels at organisation but is less proven in areas that require breakthrough ideas, cultural freedom, intellectual risk, and independent elites? China may become extraordinarily powerful, but it is still unclear whether it can become a global leader that others follow not out of fear or necessity, but out of conviction. There is also the question of internal fragility within what appears to be a monolithic structure. Highly centralised systems sometimes look rock-solid right up until they face a prolonged, serious crisis ⚡. And then there is Taiwan 🇹🇼 – could it become the dragon’s Achilles’ heel?
Europe represents a different kind of power 🏛️. Its strength lies not in force, but in the quality of its system: rule of law, institutions, predictability, a high standard of living, a culture of compromise, and historical maturity. Europe knows how to build a comfortable, humane, rational environment. It is strong in stability, balance, and civic resilience. In many ways, it is the most liveable and civilised pole 🌿.
But this is also where its weakness lies ⚖️. Europe is often too slow, too bureaucratic, too cautious. It struggles to act decisively, to think in hard strategic terms, and to operate as a unified geopolitical will. It lacks some key strategic resources, full military agency, and, perhaps most importantly, ambition. Internally, it also faces its own blockers – political divisions, figures who slow integration, structural disagreements. Europe excels at living well, but is less effective at fighting for its place in the global order. It is strong as a space, but weaker as a predator 🐾.
So if we answer directly, without sympathies, the bet today is still on the United States 🎯. China is the main challenger, Europe is the highest-quality but least decisive pole. America remains first not because it has no problems, but because its problems do not yet outweigh its power. China may become number one in scale, but has not yet proven it can be number one in universality. Europe may be the best place to live, but it does not yet look like the force that will define the 21st century.
The conclusion is simple 🧩: the United States is still the king 👑, China is the main contender 🐉, and Europe (tha queen😄) is the best example of how to live – but not how to win in a grand historical race.
But as a hobbit, I will remain loyal to my “Shire”
But as a hobbit, I will remain loyal to my “Shire”
How much does it cost to publish a book? 📚 More precisely – a book in 3 languages (UA, RU, EN) and in 2 formats (PDF + ePub)?
Recently I decided to calculate all of this and write it down here… and honestly, I was shocked, very shocked 😅 As they say – if I had known, I probably wouldn’t have done it.
01). Writing ✍️ Either you write 300–400 pages yourself or you pay. Average market: 150–400 UAH per page. Total: ≈ 60,000–160,000 UAH (≈ $1,500–4,000, in your country it will likely be 1.5–5× more expensive). Let’s assume everything is fine.
02). Editing and proofreading 🧐 Let’s assume “editing is not needed”. In reality, the text still needs at least 1–2 proofreading passes. Cost: ≈ 20,000–60,000 UAH (≈ $500–1,500, I’m taking low numbers, but in your country it will be higher). This is standard – you cannot publish without it.
03). Translations 🌍 RU version – at minimum a translator + 1 proofreading, but that’s only if you pay a higher price. Better – 2–3 people, and even that is not a guarantee. There will still be mistakes. ≈ 60,000 – 120,000 UAH (≈ $1,500 – 2,500). EN version – you can run it through A.I., but then a deep professional edit by a native speaker is mandatory. Cost: ≈ $2,000–4,000 (cheaper is possible, but quality becomes a lottery – and you usually lose 🎰). Inflation – prices change quickly, and even if you avoid using a translation agency, you can easily end up spending around $5,000 here.
04). Layout and file preparation 📐 We already have 3 languages × 2 formats = 6 files. Layout: ≈ 10,000 – 20,000 UAH per book × 3 languages. Plus – conversion to ePub (better to do one language with one specialist, since PDF can be converted to ePub faster instead of rebuilding everything from scratch), checking all 6 versions, fixing line breaks, issues and bugs. Total: ≈ $1,500.
05). ISBN / codes 📦 Each version needs its own code (6 formats = 6 codes). ≈ $150. If you’re not a publisher, you can buy them. Otherwise, you can get them almost for free.
06). Fonts 🔤 If buying – regular, bold, italic. ≈ $300–500 (you can save and use free ones).
07). Cover and illustrations 🎨 Huge range: $75–1,000. Realistically: ≈ $150–300.
08). Marketing 📢 Without it, no one will see the book. Minimum for this scale: ≈ 1,000 $ (for example 2–3 mid-size bloggers). Overall, it’s better to plan the budget at 10%
09). Project management 🧠 6–12 months of life – control, revisions, communication. If you do everything yourself – “free” 😅 But in reality it costs a lot of time, energy and nerves. The first time it’s interesting, after that it’s just work...
10). Fees 💳 Platforms + banks: ≈ 10% => multiply everything by 1.1.
11). Unexpected expenses ⚠️ Minimum: 5%. Realistic: 10–15%. Why? Simple statistics – 1/3 of contractors are good (still needs checking 👍), 1/3 are “okay but needs fixing” 😐, 1/3 you will not be satisfied with 😬. 11.2). Small expenses 🧩 Always appear – revisions, additional services, “we forgot something”. It’s impossible to predict everything.
12). Platform 🏪 If you go through platforms: ≈ 35–50% of revenue. Your own site – also an option, but expensive to start, complex (sometimes very complex), slower launch, can drag on for years with constant problems.
13). Taxes 🧾 Let it be – 5%. So, you pay 5% tax on the first book sold. + You pay 1.2 thousand UAH per month. For now, that’s how it works here.
14). About the office – I’ll stay silent 😅. The office and home – they will become one.
TOTAL 💸 Very rough budget for a book in 3 languages × 2 formats: ≈ $30,000 just to break even (if using platforms). Of course, you can seriously cut costs in some places, but saving rarely leads to good results. I would rather work with agencies or creative companies – managing and creating are two different things and [very] hard to combine.
Conclusion 😄 Not really a stable business – more like an "adventure" 🎲 If you release 10 books – 5–7 will go into minus 📉, 2–4 these books will break even.⚖️, 1 might “carry” everything 🚀🤔
Overall – like the film industry 🎬… The share of books is gradually declining – they are being read less and less often..
How much does it cost to publish a book? 📚 More precisely – a book in 3 languages (UA, RU, EN) and in 2 formats (PDF + ePub)?
Recently I decided to calculate all of this and write it down here… and honestly, I was shocked, very shocked 😅 As they say – if I had known, I probably wouldn’t have done it.
01). Writing ✍️ Either you write 300–400 pages yourself or you pay. Average market: 150–400 UAH per page. Total: ≈ 60,000–160,000 UAH (≈ $1,500–4,000, in your country it will likely be 1.5–5× more expensive). Let’s assume everything is fine.
02). Editing and proofreading 🧐 Let’s assume “editing is not needed”. In reality, the text still needs at least 1–2 proofreading passes. Cost: ≈ 20,000–60,000 UAH (≈ $500–1,500, I’m taking low numbers, but in your country it will be higher). This is standard – you cannot publish without it.
03). Translations 🌍 RU version – at minimum a translator + 1 proofreading, but that’s only if you pay a higher price. Better – 2–3 people, and even that is not a guarantee. There will still be mistakes. ≈ 60,000 – 120,000 UAH (≈ $1,500 – 2,500). EN version – you can run it through A.I., but then a deep professional edit by a native speaker is mandatory. Cost: ≈ $2,000–4,000 (cheaper is possible, but quality becomes a lottery – and you usually lose 🎰). Inflation – prices change quickly, and even if you avoid using a translation agency, you can easily end up spending around $5,000 here.
04). Layout and file preparation 📐 We already have 3 languages × 2 formats = 6 files. Layout: ≈ 10,000 – 20,000 UAH per book × 3 languages. Plus – conversion to ePub (better to do one language with one specialist, since PDF can be converted to ePub faster instead of rebuilding everything from scratch), checking all 6 versions, fixing line breaks, issues and bugs. Total: ≈ $1,500.
05). ISBN / codes 📦 Each version needs its own code (6 formats = 6 codes). ≈ $150. If you’re not a publisher, you can buy them. Otherwise, you can get them almost for free.
06). Fonts 🔤 If buying – regular, bold, italic. ≈ $300–500 (you can save and use free ones).
07). Cover and illustrations 🎨 Huge range: $75–1,000. Realistically: ≈ $150–300.
08). Marketing 📢 Without it, no one will see the book. Minimum for this scale: ≈ 1,000 $ (for example 2–3 mid-size bloggers). Overall, it’s better to plan the budget at 10%
09). Project management 🧠 6–12 months of life – control, revisions, communication. If you do everything yourself – “free” 😅 But in reality it costs a lot of time, energy and nerves. The first time it’s interesting, after that it’s just work...
10). Fees 💳 Platforms + banks: ≈ 10% => multiply everything by 1.1.
11). Unexpected expenses ⚠️ Minimum: 5%. Realistic: 10–15%. Why? Simple statistics – 1/3 of contractors are good (still needs checking 👍), 1/3 are “okay but needs fixing” 😐, 1/3 you will not be satisfied with 😬. 11.2). Small expenses 🧩 Always appear – revisions, additional services, “we forgot something”. It’s impossible to predict everything.
12). Platform 🏪 If you go through platforms: ≈ 35–50% of revenue. Your own site – also an option, but expensive to start, complex (sometimes very complex), slower launch, can drag on for years with constant problems.
13). Taxes 🧾 Let it be – 5%. So, you pay 5% tax on the first book sold. + You pay 1.2 thousand UAH per month. For now, that’s how it works here.
14). About the office – I’ll stay silent 😅. The office and home – they will become one.
TOTAL 💸 Very rough budget for a book in 3 languages × 2 formats: ≈ $30,000 just to break even (if using platforms). Of course, you can seriously cut costs in some places, but saving rarely leads to good results. I would rather work with agencies or creative companies – managing and creating are two different things and [very] hard to combine.
Conclusion 😄 Not really a stable business – more like an "adventure" 🎲 If you release 10 books – 5–7 will go into minus 📉, 2–4 these books will break even.⚖️, 1 might “carry” everything 🚀🤔
Overall – like the film industry 🎬… The share of books is gradually declining – they are being read less and less often..
I wanted to show that publishing a book – especially a multilingual edition – requires not only a keyboard and imagination, but also substantial financial investment. Of course, it is possible to publish a book on a budget of just a crate of beer and a crate of beer and at least a couple of long evenings...
I wanted to show that publishing a book – especially a multilingual edition – requires not only a keyboard and imagination, but also substantial financial investment. Of course, it is possible to publish a book on a budget of just a crate of beer and a crate of beer and at least a couple of long evenings...
Maybe someone might find this interesting: we’ve just started working on a literary project, also connected with history. Not a word more.
I’m planning to finish it by 2026. If by 2027 the profit doesn’t exceed $20,000, then the point of doing something like this drops to nearly zero. Except perhaps to realise my own ideas and projects – purely if there’s inspiration and a desire to create something. But that would be once every couple of years at best…
Maybe someone might find this interesting: we’ve just started working on a literary project, also connected with history. Not a word more.
I’m planning to finish it by 2026. If by 2027 the profit doesn’t exceed $20,000, then the point of doing something like this drops to nearly zero. Except perhaps to realise my own ideas and projects – purely if there’s inspiration and a desire to create something. But that would be once every couple of years at best…
Ah, I already forgot to include in this list:
15. Consultation with an expert or editing/proofreading of the book.
16. Work on the second layer of the book (let’s call them book inserts). The same whole circus: development, refinement, checks, translations.
I’m not sure how much all of this might cost, so let’s add $500–1,000 on top for everything. P.S. $500 might be enough if you’re doing most of the work yourself
Ah, I already forgot to include in this list:
15. Consultation with an expert or editing/proofreading of the book.
16. Work on the second layer of the book (let’s call them book inserts). The same whole circus: development, refinement, checks, translations.
I’m not sure how much all of this might cost, so let’s add $500–1,000 on top for everything. P.S. $500 might be enough if you’re doing most of the work yourself
17. Ah, right – I forgot about the money. If this is a business, you first need to find initial capital somewhere. For example, 6 months at 20% or a year at 10% (roughly in that range) – the total amount ends up being almost the same. We take it from the overall budget, assuming we don’t borrow everything at once but rather in parts. In the end, you can add about another $2,000 on top. This is an optimistic scenario where the books start selling well immediately after release. ( If we take my real situation into account, you can safely multiply that amount by 2 😕.)
Overall, if you add everything up, it comes to about $35,000 – and that’s without including studios and agencies, where more creativity and responsibility are required.
17. Ah, right – I forgot about the money. If this is a business, you first need to find initial capital somewhere. For example, 6 months at 20% or a year at 10% (roughly in that range) – the total amount ends up being almost the same. We take it from the overall budget, assuming we don’t borrow everything at once but rather in parts. In the end, you can add about another $2,000 on top. This is an optimistic scenario where the books start selling well immediately after release. ( If we take my real situation into account, you can safely multiply that amount by 2 😕.)
Overall, if you add everything up, it comes to about $35,000 – and that’s without including studios and agencies, where more creativity and responsibility are required.
Three observations that came to mind while I was doing monotonous tasks this morning 😄
Love and Sex Through the Ages
Behaviour of some girls towards guys 👩🦰👨🦱
There’s general human psychology, and there are specific patterns that repeat quite often. One of them looks like this: if a rough, pressuring, confident man appears, some girls agree to relationships faster.
But with a soft, overly polite, excessively accommodating guy a different pattern can kick in for some – keeping him at a distance, sending mixed signals, and testing how much he’s willing to invest in her in terms of time, emotions, and money…
Men are still more often the ones who pursue and knock on closed doors, while some girls get used to this role and begin to see it as a permanent norm. By around 30, this dynamic tends to shift, but not everyone realises what’s happening…
Cheating 💔
Cheating hurts not because “someone did something wrong”, but because in one moment you’re pushed out of a place you thought was yours. It’s the feeling that your trust, your closeness, your sense of being special suddenly weren’t that valuable after all. (I thought about adding an analogy with addiction and cocaine/heroin, but decided against it...)
What’s especially nasty about cheating is the moment of replacement – when the person who was supposed to be with you lets someone else into the most intimate layer of their life. That’s why, for many, it’s experienced as a blow to self-respect, to the nerves, to the sense of one’s own worth. It’s a direct breakdown in the trust system, after which anger, resentment, and a strong feeling of humiliation remain inside. (Not everyone experiences it this way, this is just one version.)
But still! It’s one of those things in life that should be treated like turning a page in a book and moving on. Either make it a tragedy or accept that “things happen” 🤷♂️ – and keep going 🚶♂️
Age, sexual tendencies, and the pull towards more intense sensations 🔥
With age, for some people sexuality shifts away from simple arousal towards more complex forms. In youth, a lot runs on pure biology – hormones, novelty, the mere fact of desire. Later, the nervous system gets used to standard stimuli, the psyche accumulates tension, stress, internal cracks, and some people start seeking stronger and more contrasting sensations.
This is where, for some, interest may grow in things like dominance, submission, pain, taboo, or scenarios that once held no appeal. Sometimes it’s about “switching on” the nerves more strongly, sometimes about releasing negativity, sometimes about trying to feel something more vivid than usual. But the key point here is context – trust, safety, consent. Without these, no “intensity” becomes pleasure – it turns into stress, damage, or violence. So it’s more accurate not to say that “everyone ends up there”, but that for some people, with age, there is a growing pull towards more intense and psychologically charged forms of sexual experience.
Conclusion 🎯? Let everyone draw their own
Three observations that came to mind while I was doing monotonous tasks this morning 😄
Love and Sex Through the Ages
Behaviour of some girls towards guys 👩🦰👨🦱
There’s general human psychology, and there are specific patterns that repeat quite often. One of them looks like this: if a rough, pressuring, confident man appears, some girls agree to relationships faster.
But with a soft, overly polite, excessively accommodating guy a different pattern can kick in for some – keeping him at a distance, sending mixed signals, and testing how much he’s willing to invest in her in terms of time, emotions, and money…
Men are still more often the ones who pursue and knock on closed doors, while some girls get used to this role and begin to see it as a permanent norm. By around 30, this dynamic tends to shift, but not everyone realises what’s happening…
Cheating 💔
Cheating hurts not because “someone did something wrong”, but because in one moment you’re pushed out of a place you thought was yours. It’s the feeling that your trust, your closeness, your sense of being special suddenly weren’t that valuable after all. (I thought about adding an analogy with addiction and cocaine/heroin, but decided against it...)
What’s especially nasty about cheating is the moment of replacement – when the person who was supposed to be with you lets someone else into the most intimate layer of their life. That’s why, for many, it’s experienced as a blow to self-respect, to the nerves, to the sense of one’s own worth. It’s a direct breakdown in the trust system, after which anger, resentment, and a strong feeling of humiliation remain inside. (Not everyone experiences it this way, this is just one version.)
But still! It’s one of those things in life that should be treated like turning a page in a book and moving on. Either make it a tragedy or accept that “things happen” 🤷♂️ – and keep going 🚶♂️
Age, sexual tendencies, and the pull towards more intense sensations 🔥
With age, for some people sexuality shifts away from simple arousal towards more complex forms. In youth, a lot runs on pure biology – hormones, novelty, the mere fact of desire. Later, the nervous system gets used to standard stimuli, the psyche accumulates tension, stress, internal cracks, and some people start seeking stronger and more contrasting sensations.
This is where, for some, interest may grow in things like dominance, submission, pain, taboo, or scenarios that once held no appeal. Sometimes it’s about “switching on” the nerves more strongly, sometimes about releasing negativity, sometimes about trying to feel something more vivid than usual. But the key point here is context – trust, safety, consent. Without these, no “intensity” becomes pleasure – it turns into stress, damage, or violence. So it’s more accurate not to say that “everyone ends up there”, but that for some people, with age, there is a growing pull towards more intense and psychologically charged forms of sexual experience.
Conclusion 🎯? Let everyone draw their own
Variety is the instinct and main driving force of a man, while a woman is about maintaining and caring in order to preserve. If a man is satisfied with the current state of things, he will not look for something else. If a woman is satisfied, she will not cheat on her husband. That’s the whole story – for half a lifetime, or even a whole life.
Variety is the instinct and main driving force of a man, while a woman is about maintaining and caring in order to preserve. If a man is satisfied with the current state of things, he will not look for something else. If a woman is satisfied, she will not cheat on her husband. That’s the whole story – for half a lifetime, or even a whole life.