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What is happening on the ground in Ukraine? Can Ukraine hold off Russian forces? Is it only a matter of time before Russia is victorious?
How effective are sanctions? Are the intensive sanctions against Russia going to result in competion to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), alternative bank transaction systems? Does "soft power" really work to shape the world, or does "hard power" always win the day?
Can I trust a press that sounds more like cheerleaders than reporters? Why is it that when it comes to supporting war, like against Iraq or Syria, both Republicans and Democrats in the USA line up to support the military-industrial complex?
Does the West really support freedom of the press? I ask this not only in relation to the conflict in Ukraine, but in relation to medical information. Alternate voices are silenced via an alliance between the government and big tech. Does this concern anyone, or enough people? Or are we only supposed to hear "the party line"?
Putin's attack on Ukraine is causing a massive wave of refugees. Are they being treated well?
How are my fellow Knights of Columbus faring in Ukraine? Are they safe? Are they part of the combat? My fellow Knights tend to be older. Are they among the refugees?
Is NATO really a defensive alliance? Wasn't it NATO that attacked Libya in 2011, that didn't threaten NATO countries in any way? How did that turn out? Were any NATO countries cut off from the international banking system for the attacks on Syria?
What would the world look like if the West didn't countrol the international banking system, and if the dollar was not the world's reserve currency? What if a crypto-currency, like BitCoin, was used, or maybe a more private coin?
Is the United States really a force for peace? Did the war on Iraq, and the massive deathtoll from the resulting civil war, make the world more peaceful? How about the destabilization of Syria? The collapse of Libya into a failed state, which it still hasn't recovered from?
Would a more even balance of power of the world diminish these conflicts, or make them worse? We have gone from an British domination of the world to a bipolar world, to an American dominated one.
Are there *any* good-guys in the current conflict? I don't blame Ukraine, which has a right to defend itself, and its citizens. But I feel that Ukraine has become a chess piece between Russia and the West. If Ukraine was not going to become a member of NATO to start with, why not just state that to avoid the loss of life and suffering? Or were the human lives involved not considered important enough?
Does Russia have legitimate security concerns regarding the expansion of NATO to its doorstep? As asked above, is NATO *really* a defensive alliance? Would it not be wise to take the security considerations of Russia into account, considering the number of nuclear weapons it has available? Can a just world really be forged when, instead of objectively explaining the different concerns of countries to the population, the Western media puts forth propaganda that says Russia is just interested in re-establishing the Soviet Union? Or does the West consider keeping people ignorant to be a better strategy for maintaining peace? Is the West really interested in peace?
These are questions that I have asked myself. My position - I don't believe war should be "an extension of politics". I am by nature a pacifist, and I hate the Russian attack on Ukraine. But for decades I have also hated the USA's attacks on other countries, that do not threaten the States in any way. And I will not just accept western media, which in all these conflicts seems to just repeat what the government wants it to.
I had a political professor once that said that "the powers that be" (PTB) will let us argue about things they don't really care about - abortion, gun control, etc. The PTB *want* us to concentrate on these things, so that we feel our "voices are being heard".
(Note: For the record, I *very much* care about social and moral issues, which I think are *more* important, especially for our salvation, but that doesn't conflict with questioning things when all politicians and media put out propaganda).
But that when it comes to things they care about, politicians get in line and vote in sync. He used the Iraq War of 1991, and the then-pending passage of NAFTA, as examples (I know I am dating myself by using those examples). I didn't agree with him on everything, but I did take away from that class to "question the official narratives" and "not let the media think for you". To never let the media, or political personalities, be "the source of truth" for you.
"Question everything. Never get excited."
I pray that the conflict ends soon, with minimal loss of life. I feel that this conflict in Ukraine could have been avoided, if the different sides really cared about Ukrainian lives and didn't use them at chess pieces in a great power struggle.
Email: leetaur [at] librem [dot] one