Staying out of this because I’m tired from being woken up by a toddler trying to carry a cat, but the full incongruity just struck me of calling Tony a patriot when contrasted with Captain America.

And before anyone replies to that to say that Steve turned his back on the flag or whatever, you may be confusing nationalism with patriotism.

Buck was brainwashed. Therefore, in my opinion, his mind cannot hold any responsibility for his actions.

His body killed Tony’s parents, but his mind did not.

Therefore, he is not guilty of this crime.

I also think it was very out of character for Steve not to tell Tony

Its not that out of character. Steve said he never knew for sure. To tell something like that out of speculation would just cause undue hardship.

"Hey i have no actual evidence, but just my thoughts: i think my best friend killed your family"

That is just setting up uneccessary grief.

Ok, ONE reply - it’s very optimistic to say that without the population restored the ecosystem would recover from humanity. Within a handful of generations population levels would be right back where it is now, human behaviour would more than likely go unchanged and we’d be right back where we were.

Sure, but it did clear the stage to make a more sustainable future

Thanos was most definitely in the wrong on that one. He was lucky most species didn't blow themselves up and go extinct.

Not to mention 50 or so years later he'd be right back where he started.

Yes, wasnt the most practical solution, but again, once everyone was gone it was still an opportunity to start a more sustainable future.

The issue would be pushed for by some people, sure.

Unless all people in power/profiting from the current structure were snapped then I highly doubt anything meaningful would change long term.

This is also not accounting for any ecological disasters resulting from that snap (either directly, like species on the brink going extinct, or indirectly like an oil tanker suddenly without a pilot running aground).

True, but your assumption is that "people wouldnt change" is as pessimistic as mine is optamistic.

Realistically, both possibilities are as likely as the other. While you presume people wouldnt change, i believe they would. We could argue about that all day and neither would be right or wrong because both are equally possible.

Either way, the snap cleared out the population, which would provide a stage for effectively changing the malthusian crisis and the climate crisis. It would have been smarter to leave it be and instead build a better future.