Abramson's right about one thing for sure: we *are* already at war with Putin. Armaments shipments and economic sanctions may not feel like the real deal yet, but they're not just diplomatic maneuvers. We're at war with Putin. All of NATO and more besides. Some of the Russian people are also at war with him, which complicates things even…
Abramson's right about one thing for sure: we *are* already at war with Putin. Armaments shipments and economic sanctions may not feel like the real deal yet, but they're not just diplomatic maneuvers. We're at war with Putin. All of NATO and more besides. Some of the Russian people are also at war with him, which complicates things even further.
I'm a bit of a historical Marxist at heart and always disliked the Great Man Theory of history, so I'm annoyed to admit that I was blindsided by how impactful singular personalities can be in shaping grand events over the past few years. Putin is one. Trump is another. These are creatures that somehow command vast swathes of people to go temporarily insane. I really struggle with this.
There have been numerous studies over the last few decades that a certain portion of people are prone to (regardless of country, political climate, etc) feel safer in authoritarian settings by both personality and just plain hard wiring.
Then when you add in instability it increases. Add in information overload significant enough that one doesn't know what is true anymore and it increases again. Again, the primary need of safety is erroneously satiated by strongmen with very clear cut good vs bad boundaries.
If I remember correctly, the first hard wired group starts at about 20% then increases to around 40% by the 3rd condition.
We are simple beings at the end of the day, and many seek safety over honor as a default coping mechanism. It is simpler than navigating nuances in a complex world.
I love the debate and definitely agree with some of what you are saying, BUT Putin is not safe. Nor is trump, Kim jong Un, Hitler, or any of the fascist leaning leaders. They are NOT safe. Period.
I agree. It's a mystery to me , and I wish there were some genetic study of this, why 100,000's of people will follow one bad guy over a cliff. How any Americans look at Trump and love him more than their country, their religion and their family. He is a stupid, selfish and egotistical grifter and his followers bend their knee to him. Same with Putin, He is a former loyal Communist, KGB agent, known killer, extortionist, and thief who for his own ego starts an unnecessary war and his people glumly follow along.
Then there is everyone else who clearly sees that the emperor has no clothes. Not only are we not believed we're attacked for showing them evidence of it.
I am neither a Hegelian (which is what Marx was, when you get down to it) nor a subscriber to the Great Man school.
History is just stuff happening. It happens for a number of (very) complex reasons that are contingent on both personalities and context. The Great Men are just the people who happen to be there and who are highly visible. There is a LOT of stuff going on under the hood, where it cannot be readily seen. A lot of that stuff is, for lack of a better term, random.
After (or even while) it is happening, we create a narrative (story) to explain it--THAT becomes History-and that changes depending upon who is telling the story and when it is being told.
Abramson's right about one thing for sure: we *are* already at war with Putin. Armaments shipments and economic sanctions may not feel like the real deal yet, but they're not just diplomatic maneuvers. We're at war with Putin. All of NATO and more besides. Some of the Russian people are also at war with him, which complicates things even further.
I'm a bit of a historical Marxist at heart and always disliked the Great Man Theory of history, so I'm annoyed to admit that I was blindsided by how impactful singular personalities can be in shaping grand events over the past few years. Putin is one. Trump is another. These are creatures that somehow command vast swathes of people to go temporarily insane. I really struggle with this.
There have been numerous studies over the last few decades that a certain portion of people are prone to (regardless of country, political climate, etc) feel safer in authoritarian settings by both personality and just plain hard wiring.
Then when you add in instability it increases. Add in information overload significant enough that one doesn't know what is true anymore and it increases again. Again, the primary need of safety is erroneously satiated by strongmen with very clear cut good vs bad boundaries.
If I remember correctly, the first hard wired group starts at about 20% then increases to around 40% by the 3rd condition.
We are simple beings at the end of the day, and many seek safety over honor as a default coping mechanism. It is simpler than navigating nuances in a complex world.
I love the debate and definitely agree with some of what you are saying, BUT Putin is not safe. Nor is trump, Kim jong Un, Hitler, or any of the fascist leaning leaders. They are NOT safe. Period.
I agree. It's a mystery to me , and I wish there were some genetic study of this, why 100,000's of people will follow one bad guy over a cliff. How any Americans look at Trump and love him more than their country, their religion and their family. He is a stupid, selfish and egotistical grifter and his followers bend their knee to him. Same with Putin, He is a former loyal Communist, KGB agent, known killer, extortionist, and thief who for his own ego starts an unnecessary war and his people glumly follow along.
Then there is everyone else who clearly sees that the emperor has no clothes. Not only are we not believed we're attacked for showing them evidence of it.
I am neither a Hegelian (which is what Marx was, when you get down to it) nor a subscriber to the Great Man school.
History is just stuff happening. It happens for a number of (very) complex reasons that are contingent on both personalities and context. The Great Men are just the people who happen to be there and who are highly visible. There is a LOT of stuff going on under the hood, where it cannot be readily seen. A lot of that stuff is, for lack of a better term, random.
After (or even while) it is happening, we create a narrative (story) to explain it--THAT becomes History-and that changes depending upon who is telling the story and when it is being told.
Great thoughts. Why do we let a few sociopaths destroy the earth and a significant amount of lives.