During Putin’s rule, Russia has offered nothing to European countries to make NATO membership unattractive for them.

Definitely don't need the "during Putin" qualifier here. One stat that should be more widely known is that during the years of the Marshall Plan, the US poured about the same amount of money into its allies as the USSR took from its own allies. While the US was busy financing factories in the Rhineland, Stalin had his people literally dismantling and transporting industrial infrastructure back to Mother Russia. Both strategies were ultimately defensive, but fuckin hell if you wouldn't rather be on the side of the government who thinks that building shit to prevent another apocalyptic war is better than breaking shit to prevent another apocalyptic war.

I recently read Journey into the Land of the Zeks, and oh boy if you want a depressing read that really, really countermands this essayist's interpretation of WWII as Russia "literally saving the world", then I highly recommend it. I do not recommend it if you want something to lift your spirits. I'm no fan of Reagan, but Evil Empire was and remains as apt a description of the USSR (and it's current iteration) as there ever was.

I gave some money to Ukraine via the link that necroptosis provided. And I've made it clear to my friend in Congress that I won't give her a red cent this year if she votes in any way to curb support to Ukraine. But beyond those immeasurably small contributions, I'm not sure what the fuck else to do. I feel like we've done some decent things as a country, but have been really lacking elsewhere (e.g. 100,000 refugees? we can do better). I know we're all afraid of Russian nukes, but aren't they afraid of ours? Dollars-to-donuts that despite the nominal weapon counts, the US has vast nuclear superiority to Russia, and I'm certain Vlad is aware of that fact.