Somehow (amazing, that), the leaked evil preliminary decision of the nine black-robed Nazgul (the Supreme Court of the US) to jettison that crown jewel of liberty has virtually driven the war in Ukraine off the hourly news, the websites, the talking heads, and more! At least here in the Fifty States.

BUT… the Russo-Ukrainian War rages on. And its impacts on the Fifty States are continuing. AND growing.

I know that the overwhelmingly dominant opinion here in the States is this:

• Ukraine is a blameless victim
• Russia is an evil aggressor
• Russia’s behavior is totally unjustified by anything any other nation (including Ukraine and NATO members) has done
• Russia is so desperate about their future that they are planning to recreate the Soviet empire and nuke the planet
• The Federal government and the rest of NATO must oppose Russia and bring it to its knees, not just in support of the Ukraine but in every possible way.

But in doing that, we must also consider these very important facts that the public and the politicians want us to ignore:

• Russia is suffering a major demographic crisis and except with its nuclear-tipped missiles and denial of raw materials really has no way to threaten the West – the rest of the world. But it sees it must take risks and act if it is to survive. By doing things like:
  • Neutralizing or making an ally of its immediate large neighbors like Ukraine, Belarus, and even the Baltic states and Finland
  • Protecting ethnic Russians, especially in neighboring nations
  • Reestablishing national pride and controlling (not ending) corruption and many other social ills
• Russia fears the FedGov (US) and NATO, and much of the fear is fully justified:
  • NATO and DC made solemn promises when the Soviet Union dissolved and have basically broken every one of them
  • NATO members are immediate neighbors of Russia and armed to the teeth
  • NATO appears to be accepting both Finland and Sweden as members, further threatening Russia
  • NATO – and DC in particular – seem dedicated to reducing Russia to the real status of a colony
• While recognizing their own society’s corruption, Russia sees the West as even MORE corrupt and decadent: not in the Marxist-Leninist sense, but in the moral and economic realms
• Russia fears the power of Islamism (radical Islam) in both the former Soviet republics, Turkey, and elsewhere – and thus seek de facto alliances with some to balance others
• Russia fears China – and again seeks alliance both against the West and on the principle of “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”
• Russia has always tried (if not succeeded) to stand up for its people and their relatives: Russian-speakers and Slavs, and tried to oppose those who threaten them
• The Russian Federation is not a monolith, but the enmity of the world helps unify them
• Russia is important to the world economy

At the same time, the mainstream media and western political and economic elites are also ignoring these facts about Ukraine:

• Ukraine is a dysfunctional society, culture, and government, in a world of growing dysfunctionality
• Ukraine today is as much an artificial creation (courtesy of the Soviets and NATO) as any of the post-colonial “nations” of Africa. (See the map above)
• Ukraine is the original heartland of Russia (since the days of the Kieven Rus starting about AD900) and was part of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union from 1791 to 1991: two hundred years.
• Ukraine’s government is weak, corrupt, at heart as authoritarian/totalitarian as any nation, and unstable
• Ukraine’s economy is feeble, corrupt, and constantly being looted
• The Russian minorities (and others) in Ukraine have been abused for decades
• Ukraine is viewed by DC and NATO as little more than a tool and excuse for damaging Russia
• Ukraine has a strong streak of national socialism – ultra-nationalism and paranoia – beginning in WW1, aggravated by WW2 and the German invasion, and nurtured by the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, then the machinations of the western powers.

Put together, all these facts must remind us that the present worldwide crisis centered on the Russo-Ukrainian War is largely the fault of the western powers: DC, UK, France and Germany. And that the instability created by WW2 and its aftermath is still present and as with the results of WW1 still threaten to engulf the world.

It also must remind us that societies and people cannot be changed for the better by top-down dictates and aggression. Liberty does not thrive, does not grow, in conditions like this. It requires teaching people one by one to love liberty, to desire and seek it. Not just for themselves, but for others.

The good thing about the current situation in Ukraine and Russia is that more and more people in those regions see how important personal liberty is, and how critical freedom from the evils of government is.

Most maps courtesy Peter Zeihan