10/10/2022: Should We Worry About the Nuclear War?
Yes, we should be super worried but not from the investment perspective
Ukraine is winning the war on the ground but Russia could potentially go nuclear. People are really worried that the Ukrainian war would escalate to a point that Putin actually presses the nuclear button as Russian forces retreat on the battlefield. This is a really sticky situation. The whole world is basically held hostage by Putin. No one except Putin wants the war. Russian people don’t support it. Ukrainian people suffer greatly from it. The rest of the world hates it. It brought an energy crisis, food shortage and now the nuclear threat!! Nobody wants Putin to press that button but he is losing the (supposed 3-day) war. Now he wants to win by posing a nuclear threat. If the world yields to Putin, this could become a slippery slope and nuclear armed strong men leaders could play the same card over and over again. If the world ignores him, the outcome could be disastrous. As a citizen with little political power, I hope there’s a resolution that brings peace.
An investor asked me if I would pull out of the market if the nuclear war becomes a reality. No, I wouldn’t. I don’t quite remember the exact quote but I believe Warren Buffett said:
I would never make bets on a nuclear armageddon happening. If it doesn’t happen, the bet will be wrong but if it does happen, all of us are going to die. Whatever investments people made won’t matter if all of us die.
Nuclear war is a huge threat to mankind. I truly hope these weapons never get used again and we all can live in peace.