(A note on last week’s column. There were some arrests and guilty pleas resulting from the Mueller investigation, But not enough evidence was found to implicate Russia and Trump in collusion to influence the election)
Back when I lived in Oakland, 1970, Jim Hendrickson moved to San Francisco and got in touch. He lived in a long basement with a bathroom at the end and one ceiling light bulb in the middle.
Those were the days when everyone (this is hyperbole) was looking for some sort of spiritual meaning in life. Jim said he’d found this group who knew “the way.” We went to a meeting and then a trip up north to a vineyard. My hair appeared to be getting in my eyes as I was digging up rocks to make a hole for a grape vine. One of the leaders of the group asked if someone had a knife and he cut my hair. Wow, looking back…
In a meeting inside that night I learned something I never forgot. When we don’t like someone it is because they represent something we don’t like about ourselves.
Along the same lines as sticks and stones, “actions speak louder than words.” What would you think of a home invasion where the criminal told you he loved you while he beat you up and ran off with your life’s savings. I would think the same thing about Randy Feenstra as he claims to act as our employee and sends our money to Ukraine. His actions also show that he hates the Ukrainian people. All that “aid” only prolongs their suffering.
What makes Ukraine more worthy of funds that could be making life good for the people he represents? The opposition party in Ukraine was banned and skeptical journalists silenced. Does that sound like even the warped definition of democracy widely accepted today.
As usual we make war in some far off land and claim it is essential. It is but a two dimensional image to the ones who pay for it. It is real to the widows and orphans who survey the ruins that took years of work and sacrifice to build. They miss their loved ones who got caught in Putin’s diversion from his miserable domestic record.
If you look at Russia’s economy, it is easy to see why Putin needed a war. The sort of event that would get our troops into the insanity would be a sub attack on a U.S. ship. Putin already had that in the constant attacks from the Ukrainian establishment on the Russia aligned Donbas.
But the overall condition of the country is what sealed the deal. Life expectancy at age 15 is lower than Sudan. With the ninth largest population in the world, Russia ranked 26th in 2019 behind Thailand and Turkey in exports of commercial services. Total private wealth in Russia amounted to one ninth of Japan and one sixth of Germany despite the larger population in 2020.
As I learned at the vineyard, we hate Russia because it is so much like we are. Our government is ordering around oil companies and handing out freebies to anyone who whines the loudest. We are the modern day version of the Soviet Union. And the more we see symptoms similar to theirs, the more we try to correct them with solutions that caused the problems in the first place.
The Russia we see today, rich in military hardware and poor in productivity and quality of life, is the U.S.A. of tomorrow unless our representatives can quit hating us.
