True. But Russia is an outlier, has been since Napoleon was defeated. The US offered the Soviets, and the countries they held, help. Stalin refused, and tried to expand even further - that was the point of the Berlin Blockade and the Iron Curtain. As someone said (again, don't remember where), Russia needs the West even for their oil and…
True. But Russia is an outlier, has been since Napoleon was defeated. The US offered the Soviets, and the countries they held, help. Stalin refused, and tried to expand even further - that was the point of the Berlin Blockade and the Iron Curtain. As someone said (again, don't remember where), Russia needs the West even for their oil and gas extraction. Yet their "leadership" pretends they can do it all - as long as they can conquer western countries that have the expertise they desperately need.
That is all true as well, and we can’t let our hope blind us to reality. …we need some realistic hope now though. The exemplary behavior of Ukraine and some of her western neighbors should set the bar for what we expect of ourselves.
The can-do attitude that sent us to the moon and other great accomplishments of the past century seems have disappeared from large segments of the population. Despite their tough stance and their belligerent talk, many people are wedded to their "me-me-me" attitude. Any sacrifice for the public good is alien to a good number of Americans nowadays..
Too many are still under the delusion that history has ended and we won. So much success born out of WWI and then the cold war that we're trapped looking at our own glorious reflection, unable to see any problem or issue with that.
Too bad some fable or mythological tale didn't warn us about such things.
True. But Russia is an outlier, has been since Napoleon was defeated. The US offered the Soviets, and the countries they held, help. Stalin refused, and tried to expand even further - that was the point of the Berlin Blockade and the Iron Curtain. As someone said (again, don't remember where), Russia needs the West even for their oil and gas extraction. Yet their "leadership" pretends they can do it all - as long as they can conquer western countries that have the expertise they desperately need.
That is all true as well, and we can’t let our hope blind us to reality. …we need some realistic hope now though. The exemplary behavior of Ukraine and some of her western neighbors should set the bar for what we expect of ourselves.
The can-do attitude that sent us to the moon and other great accomplishments of the past century seems have disappeared from large segments of the population. Despite their tough stance and their belligerent talk, many people are wedded to their "me-me-me" attitude. Any sacrifice for the public good is alien to a good number of Americans nowadays..
Too many are still under the delusion that history has ended and we won. So much success born out of WWI and then the cold war that we're trapped looking at our own glorious reflection, unable to see any problem or issue with that.
Too bad some fable or mythological tale didn't warn us about such things.
We must keep finding new ways to reach people, to get them to understand how the outcome in Ukraine will determine so much of our children’s future.