Goodbye COVID, hello Russia. We sure hop from one crisis to the next in a Fourth Turning.
That’s by design. There is little chance they’d get to do (i.e., control) all the things they want to do without a giant Boogieman (thank you, Vladimir Putin).
The Prospect of Global Nuclear War
I hope you are prepared to live in a constant state of fear, that is, until disillusionment sets in. For many of us, that’s already happened. You have three options:- Become an emotional puppet, your anxiety ratcheted up, down, then channeled into hatred of the scapegoat du jour. How much easier it is to blame innocent Russians, even here in America, now that we’ve had practice on neighbors, friends and family that opted out of mRNA?
- Withdraw from the narrative, immersing yourself in distractions of the:
- Mindful variety (children, work, academics, sports, spirituality, creativity, hobbies)
- Mindlessness (reality TV, the metaverse, video games, drugs, alcohol, and porn…)
- Respond with purpose: Unpacking the narrative, building, and preparing for what lies ahead!
Meanwhile, we have no garden. No food grows from the work of our hands on this three-acre property, despite nagging anxiety, and much in the way of other preparations.
The time commitment, quality hours spent with the kids outside, and cost involved would likely match that of a productive garden. The long-term benefit, resilience, food security, the skill-building and know-how of a garden would smash the treehouse to smithereens, no contest.
As I heard myself say it aloud, the illogic was suddenly stark. Then it hit me: I needed the distraction, to spend time truly “carefree”, unplugged from the madness, turning the clock back to a simpler time.
The shifting narrative
About three weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine (publication on January 29th), we postulated that the biggest lesson taught to world leaders by the 20th century on the continents of Europe and Asia was to avoid World War III. Plotting sociopaths do not aspire to world peace, but-“They do understand (a) the uncertainty of outcome (i.e., should there be a conflict, can they maintain power throughout?) and (b) regardless of who wins, wars that need roman numerals have an uncanny ability to destroy capital. What good, to dominate scorched earth through nuclear winter?”
A recent simulation of nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia by Princeton University shows 90M deaths in just the first few hours:
That says nothing of involvement by (nuclear armed) China, France, the UK, Pakistan, India, Israel, or North Korea. The map in the video looks more like annihilation of the Northern Hemisphere.
That’s a lot of capital destroyed, and an indiscriminate loss of population – including elites, God forbid – among the very powers leaning into the engagement. Who benefits from that?
The deterrent that’s worked so far is “mutually assured destruction”.
But in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Wests’ response – crippling economic sanctions – the world now finds itself in a precarious position: Defcon 2. So, was our summation amiss?
Perhaps.
The events of the last two months (even going back nearly 10 years when the USA staged a coup of Russian-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych) seem engineered by rabid dogs drooling over the possibility of war with Russia, nuclear holocaust and strategic alliances be damned.
How can we explain it? Two possibilities come to mind.
Explanation #1
The Deep State – including the center of mass for both political parties, the Military Industrial Complex, all the TLAs and NGOs, the captured Neocons and their puppets in Europe – are so full of hubris that they believe world wars only happen on other continents. Certainly, that was true before. America (USA! USA!!) can win another decisive victory akin to World War II, right?That says they know only the playbook of the last ~75 years, a combination of clandestine operations, sport wars, regime changes, the arming of local resistance, and sending taxpayer money through the pockets of lobbyists and into defense contractors that stuff congressional brokerage accounts.
Certainly, this possibility can’t be ruled out.
While Hillary Clinton, perfect spokesmodel, describes the invasion as “totally unprovoked”, the push for Ukraine to join NATO – led by the West – reached a fevered pitch leading up to it.
February 14, 2022 - Deutsche Welle (10 days before invasion)
Ukraine reaffirms desire to join NATO after envoy comments “NATO membership remains an absolute priority for Ukraine, a spokesman for Volodymyr Zelenskyy said as Ukraine's UK ambassador backtracked on comments that Kyiv was "flexible" on the issue. Ukraine's pro-NATO course is a key issue for Moscow. Ukraine's aspirations to join NATO and the European Union remain an absolute priority, a spokesman for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday. The country's Foreign Ministry took it a step further, saying its security would be guaranteed by Ukraine's immediate admission to the US-dominated alliance.”February 20, 2022 - CNN Newsroom (four days before invasion)
VP Kamala Harris endorses this view: QUESTION: Madam Vice President, a question about something else that President Zelensky said yesterday relating to NATO: he seemed to question the sincerity of allies, including the U.S., in terms of desire to admit Ukraine to NATO. Is there any reaction to those pretty pointed comments from the President? And was that something discussed with Chancellor Scholz and other leaders? …. Was it surprising to you, though, that he planted that flag so firmly on that issue -- given that that's obviously Putin's main demand, is that he gets some sort of guarantee, swearing that Ukraine won't be admitted -- that Zelensky wants to make it clear that they do want to enter the organization?HARRIS: Let me start by saying I appreciate and admire President Zelensky’s desire to join NATO. And one of, again, the founding principles of NATO is that each country must have the ability – unimpaired, unimpeded – to determine their own future, both in terms of their form of government and, in this case, whether they desire to be a member of NATO. And I’ll put that in context, because the obvious is also the point; which is that and therefore no other country can tell anyone whether they should or should not join NATO. That should be their independent choice. That is the point of sovereignty. So, I respect President Zelensky’s desire to be a member of NATO. NATO is a membership. It is about nations coming together as a group, making decisions collectively around, again, principles and what will be, then, the conditions and the standards of membership. And so that is the process. It doesn’t happen overnight. No one country can say, “I want to be and therefore I will be.” And no one country can say, “You can’t be.” And isn’t that at the heart of the very issue we’re presented with in terms of Russia’s aggression or stated aggression, toward Ukraine? …I’m not going to second guess President Zelensky’s desires for his own country. But I will say this, let us recognize the position he is in right now. His country is virtually surrounded by Russian troops. I believe he came here – this is my belief, based on just my own assessment and speculation – he came here to make a very clear point that he does not stand alone. In fact, I told him in our meeting, “The United States stands with you,” because we do, as do this community of allies and partners.
Unprovoked, Hillary, is a bit of a stretch. Look at your own campaign defeat, which you blamed on Russian tampering. Meanwhile, the West has been provoking Russa for decades with the expansion of NATO, despite promises by Secretary of State James Baker’ in 1990 “not one inch Eastward”
Clinton, not missing an opportunity gorge on sociopathic hubris, likened this opportunity to the Soviet’s 1980 invasion of Afghanistan. By funneling arms, training, and funds to local freedom fighters, we can bleed them out slowly, weakening their military and economy with a lengthy, losing campaign.
Despite cackling her way through a reference to “unintended consequences”, the Deep State (as represented by Hillary) seems to be advocating a repeat of the strategy that ultimately gave us Al Qaeda, 9/11, and the War on Terror. Ah, the once-noble Osama Bin Laden.
It’s as if they cannot see past their own egos.
The U.S. Government no longer tries to learn from either our own experience, or that of others, repeating the Soviet experience in Afghanistan 20 years later with a 2001 invasion that lasted twice as long at about 17 times the cost (approximately US $115 billion versus $2 trillion in 2019 dollars).
Now they’re ready to wind it up all over again.
If we can avoid nuclear holocaust, does that mean the Azov Battalion may someday fly planes into buildings, and then we’ll send the children of today to invade, occupy, and nation-build in Ukraine until we bail in a hurry after bleeding out $52 trillion in treasure ($2T, 40 years later, at 8.5% inflation)?
Whether it’s war they want, Biden seems to think so.
He’s the most rabid of dogs, senile and drooling, calling Putin a “war criminal”, demanding he be removed from power (as if the Russian power vacuum would quickly be filled by Mr. Rogers…), telling US soldiers they will soon be in Ukraine facing down tanks with Ukrainian housewives.
March 25, 2022 - New York Post
Biden Says U.S. Troops will be in Ukraine in Apparent Gaffe President Biden told US troops in Poland that they will witness the bravery of Ukrainians fighting off Russia’s invasion “when you’re there” — making a significant gaffe after he previously said the US must stay out of the European conflict to avoid triggering “WWIII.” Biden made the remark while addressing members of the Army’s 82nd Airborne after lunching on pizza and posing for selfies with dozens of paratroopers at a mess hall in Rzeszow, Poland. “You’re going to see when you’re there, and some of you have been there, you’re gonna see — you’re gonna see women, young people standing in the middle in front of a damned tank just saying, ‘I’m not leaving, I’m holding my ground,’” Biden said.These are the statements of a man – senile or not – who expects to lead America into war with Russia.
In summary, the first possibility is that the powers-that-be are using the Ukrainian invasion to try to bleed Russia dry and advocate regime change to remove Putin, the risks of nuclear annihilation be damned. They see this is as a realistic goal which has benefits outweighing the costs.
That’s the story as recently as last Monday from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken after their recent visit to Kyiv.
[caption id=“attachment_514013” align=“aligncenter” width=“977”]
Photo source: Time[/caption]
April 25th, 2022 - Time
Blinken Austin Visit KyivAmerican Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday after a secrecy-shrouded visit to Kyiv that Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy is committed to winning his country’s fight against Russia and that the United States will help him achieve that goal. “He has the mindset that they want to win, and we have the mindset that we want to help them win,” Austin told reporters in Poland, the day after the three-hour face-to-face meeting with Zelenskyy in Ukraine… “The first step in winning is believing that you can win,” Austin said. “We believe that they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support, and we’re going to do everything we can … to ensure that gets to them.” The trip by Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was the highest-level American visit to the capital since Russia invaded in late February. They told Zelenskyy and his advisers that the U.S. would provide more than $300 million in foreign military financing and had approved a $165 million sale of ammunition. “We had an opportunity to demonstrate directly our strong ongoing support for the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people,” Blinken said. “This was, in our judgment, an important moment to be there, to have face-to-face conversations in detail.” Blinken said their meeting with the Ukrainians lasted for three hours for wide ranging talks, including what help the country needs in the weeks ahead. “The strategy that we’ve put in place, massive support for Ukraine, massive pressure against Russia, solidarity with more than 30 countries engaged in these efforts is having real results,” Blinken said. “When it comes to Russia’s war aims, Russia is failing. Ukraine is succeeding. Russia has sought as its principal aim to totally subjugate Ukraine, to take away its sovereignty, to take away its independence. That has failed.” Asked about what the U.S. sees as success, Austin said that “we want to see Ukraine remain a sovereign country, a democratic country able to protect its sovereign territory, we want to see Russia weakened to the point where it can’t do things like invade Ukraine.”
Coming from these two, and echoing the Hillary Clinton narrative, perhaps I shouldn’t look for an alternative explanation. But is there another possibility? Join us for Explanation #2, also known as Part II…
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://peakprosperity.com/unpacking-the-wests-role-and-response-to-the-russian-invasion/