In the movie Demolition Man, Wesley Snipes is a cryogenically frozen prisoner who wakes up in a utopian future and is able to run amok because everyone has become so wimpy.

Like it or not, I think this is relevant here, when we see people making a petition or I literally saw a post on LinkedIn from the UN urging Russia to stop. I don't know much about the situation overall, but applying a peacetime "we signed a petition" lens to it just seems silly. If western nations want to get serious about it (and like I say, I don't understand the conflict enough to have a strong opinion but would default to staying out of it), there are ways, but silly gestures like this are like the unarmed police in demolition man telling Wesley Snipes to stop and then being flummoxed when he ignores them and goes on a crime spree

People are so powerless and they don't like the feeling of it, so they will do whatever makes them feel a little less so.

>they will do whatever makes them feel a little less so.

Wrong, they will do the minimum necessary to put their mind at ease.

If you want to actually make a difference, there a 1000 ways to do it. Unfortunately, they take more effort and risk than clicking a button from your computer.

Average folks are powerless. The problem is that those who have enough power to make an impact still act like they are powerless.

Well, this is an embarrassment, conceptually. Though I admit I can’t read the text and am taking no time to translate, I surmise from the structure that it’s a bunch of wherefores resulting in a plea to stop, with an errant assumption that the decision makers would be swayed by such a thing, particularly now that the ball is rolling.

The window scene comes to mind, though not exactly a good analogy, there’s a similar naïveté and presumptive air I find cringeworthy, and destined to be doused with the cold water of reality. https://youtu.be/4S7QARslq74

Appease the greedy Russian government? I don't think so!