I get it, I understand the complicated background and how the US and NATO to a large extent backed Putin into a corner and perhaps even forced his hand to invade Ukraine. But I also admire the courage and leadership shown by Zelenskyy. Who knows what the guy is really like, but who could have blamed him for fleeing at the outset of a war where his country was so clearly outmatched? He stayed, he inspired his fellow citizens, and he earned a lot of well deserved goodwill. One can only hope he doesn’t now squander it.
I mean, since the initial invasion, the only thought I give to it is news headlines that hit my inbox. I follow F1, and I chuckled when Haas immediately cut ties with its Russian oligarch backer…because it was a great excuse to get rid of his son, who was a sucky driver but who had bought his place on the struggling team. I noticed in the US Open tennis tournament that the Russian players simply didn’t have their national origin listed. Whatever. Medvedev is still one of my favorites.
There’s certainly a certain subset of politically engaged (or obsessed) people using it as a proxy and purity test, but in my everyday life it’s just not a thing the way the Gulf War or the “War on Terror” were.
I agree the ghosts of Vietnam and Afghanistan have a large role to play with this, but I certainly don't think that's the only thing at work here. The entrenched military industrial complex, perceived Western (American) hegemony, favorable trade deals, even religion plays a part.
We used to be able to rely on our superior standard of living and unstained liberty as a shining beacon to the world, but those have both taken drastic hits in the last few decades. The way America is currently built and managed, it kinda needs to go warring every now and then in order to retain that 'alpha-male' status around the globe.
I think it's pretty clear that a) Ukraine is lying and that b) it's completely understandable that they would lie. Of course they would exaggerate the enemy's losses while downplaying their own.
The real question is why the mainstream media in the United States would close ranks around a narrative that uncritically parrots Ukrainian propaganda. Does that really serve the US public in terms of setting the stage for partition, which almost everyone understands is the only realistic course to a ceasefire?
America is a hegemonic power dedicated to war as an industry. Americans are the most heavily propagandized people imaginable (North Korea?). You are a menace, your story is a fraud and you perpetrate great evil in the name of good. Woke ideology is a carbuncle backed up by political coercion and military might. America is now a reign of terror and the American people are fully culpable.
Gotta say I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't see a pro-ukraine consensus. I see lots of folks on both left and right taking Putin's side for all sorts of reasons, with a bewildered middle going "obviously there's a good side and a bad side here, right?
I gotta call a spade a spade here though and say this is actually a war of Goodies vs Baddies. Yes obviously that's reductive. But it's a war of a country aspiring to enter the ranks of prosperous, liberal democracies, that has spent the last several centuries being oppressed and literally starved, fighting for survival against a vastly mightier imperial power. It would be challenging to come up with a less morally complicated war if I tried to.
What I see is cope on the other side - "oh, it's really about NATO expansion" or "ah actually the US are the imperialists" or "this one random militia group is really racist actually." No, it's not about those things. Or, those things are secondary to the raw attempt by Russia to establish dominion over a fiercely independent neighbor.
I guess to you this comment will feel like part of the cathedral or whatever coming to make sure the pro-ukraine consensus is enforced in all spaces. I don't really have a counter to that other than I'm just a guy who feels strongly about it and is subscribed to your blog. I promise I'm not here to thought-crime you or whatever. I just wanted to come here and make the basic, obvious case as I see it. Sometimes everyone agrees on something because it happens to be right.
"what role does Ukraine play in your life?"
None whatsoever.
I would say every war is its own thing and may or may not have anything to do with one’s pet issues.
One example might be that the epic failure that was Russia’s attempted invasion of Ukraine has throughly chastened the Chinese re: Taiwan.
I get it, I understand the complicated background and how the US and NATO to a large extent backed Putin into a corner and perhaps even forced his hand to invade Ukraine. But I also admire the courage and leadership shown by Zelenskyy. Who knows what the guy is really like, but who could have blamed him for fleeing at the outset of a war where his country was so clearly outmatched? He stayed, he inspired his fellow citizens, and he earned a lot of well deserved goodwill. One can only hope he doesn’t now squander it.
Freddie, you put down in words what was on my mind. Spot on.
I mean, since the initial invasion, the only thought I give to it is news headlines that hit my inbox. I follow F1, and I chuckled when Haas immediately cut ties with its Russian oligarch backer…because it was a great excuse to get rid of his son, who was a sucky driver but who had bought his place on the struggling team. I noticed in the US Open tennis tournament that the Russian players simply didn’t have their national origin listed. Whatever. Medvedev is still one of my favorites.
There’s certainly a certain subset of politically engaged (or obsessed) people using it as a proxy and purity test, but in my everyday life it’s just not a thing the way the Gulf War or the “War on Terror” were.
I agree the ghosts of Vietnam and Afghanistan have a large role to play with this, but I certainly don't think that's the only thing at work here. The entrenched military industrial complex, perceived Western (American) hegemony, favorable trade deals, even religion plays a part.
We used to be able to rely on our superior standard of living and unstained liberty as a shining beacon to the world, but those have both taken drastic hits in the last few decades. The way America is currently built and managed, it kinda needs to go warring every now and then in order to retain that 'alpha-male' status around the globe.
Ukraine is of no interest or use to the United States except as a threat to Russia.
Take away Russia, and Ukraine would be a pariah state.
I think it's pretty clear that a) Ukraine is lying and that b) it's completely understandable that they would lie. Of course they would exaggerate the enemy's losses while downplaying their own.
The real question is why the mainstream media in the United States would close ranks around a narrative that uncritically parrots Ukrainian propaganda. Does that really serve the US public in terms of setting the stage for partition, which almost everyone understands is the only realistic course to a ceasefire?
America is a hegemonic power dedicated to war as an industry. Americans are the most heavily propagandized people imaginable (North Korea?). You are a menace, your story is a fraud and you perpetrate great evil in the name of good. Woke ideology is a carbuncle backed up by political coercion and military might. America is now a reign of terror and the American people are fully culpable.
Gotta say I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't see a pro-ukraine consensus. I see lots of folks on both left and right taking Putin's side for all sorts of reasons, with a bewildered middle going "obviously there's a good side and a bad side here, right?
I gotta call a spade a spade here though and say this is actually a war of Goodies vs Baddies. Yes obviously that's reductive. But it's a war of a country aspiring to enter the ranks of prosperous, liberal democracies, that has spent the last several centuries being oppressed and literally starved, fighting for survival against a vastly mightier imperial power. It would be challenging to come up with a less morally complicated war if I tried to.
What I see is cope on the other side - "oh, it's really about NATO expansion" or "ah actually the US are the imperialists" or "this one random militia group is really racist actually." No, it's not about those things. Or, those things are secondary to the raw attempt by Russia to establish dominion over a fiercely independent neighbor.
I guess to you this comment will feel like part of the cathedral or whatever coming to make sure the pro-ukraine consensus is enforced in all spaces. I don't really have a counter to that other than I'm just a guy who feels strongly about it and is subscribed to your blog. I promise I'm not here to thought-crime you or whatever. I just wanted to come here and make the basic, obvious case as I see it. Sometimes everyone agrees on something because it happens to be right.
Putin is a stand-in for Trump. The Afghanistan withdraw was an unmitigated disaster.
And the first explains the left hand while the second explains the right hand.