Wednesday, June 29, 2022

I Fully Agree With Larry Here.

In his latest he notes: 

I believe one of the reasons many Americans carry such negative feelings about the Russians is our collective failure to understand the price Russians paid to defeat Hitler. The sad truth is that most Americans have trouble identifying the warring parties in World War II and generally believe that terrible conflict was settled because of what America did. The American people are good folk at heart. They genuinely want to help the less fortunate or the beleaguered. But, during the last 75 years, American politicians cynically have used this trait to convince the public to back foreign wars that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. All of this bloodshed was done under the banner of promoting freedom and democracy. Yet, if you ask the folks in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Panama, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans, Libya and Syria how they view the U.S. “help”, they have what can charitably be called a “different perspective.”

This is the issue I wanted to discuss. I am categorically against dehumanizing Americans. Of course, American "elites" are degenerate and corrupt to the core, but if we take a look at a broader picture--and I am speaking here from my rich experience--majority of your everyday Americans are decent people. As anywhere it is not black and white, there are many colors and shades of grey. Same could be stated about Russia--as anywhere else there are many good people, but there are some jerks and ass-holes too. There is some corruption. It is never clear cut. It is the tragedy of the American people that they have been bamboozled into believing a lot of crap. But you know what I do for a living--I essentially educate people, not just Americans. I am no peacenik, sometimes wars are inevitable and even needed, but I always was categorically against making sweeping generalizations, especially about people so diverse and complex as Americans. 

IT is a tragedy that people who see no value in many American institutions which even 30 years ago were working, are now in power and drive the country into the ground, especially American institutions which DID constitute a legitimate national political tradition  to be proud of. But it is very easy to trick people, especially so insulated historically from the rest of the world by two oceans. But one of the things which you have to appreciate about Americans it is the fact that (you can easily find the results) overwhelming majority of them, despite incessant 24/7 anti-Russian propaganda in media, didn't buy "Putin" and "Russia" as the main culprits of America's huge economic problems. This cannot be stated with such conviction about Europeans, majority of who are genuine articles in so far as "Russian threat" and "Russia did it" goes. 

Yes, there is, of course, American public' responsibility too for what is going on right now around the world, but so far some core beliefs, be them constitutional or Christian, still survive in the United States and this strata where they survive is very large, capable to correct somewhat the country's course, however narrow the window of opportunities becomes. This is NOT the case in Europe. Larry provides good numerical review of Americans' foolhardy attitude to wars, but also let's recall that these were Americans who overwhelmed their representatives, senators and Obama's White House with phone calls and e-mails when Obama was contemplating a full blown war on Syria. The war was stopped. You know the rest of the story. So, let us all keep things into proper perspectives and keep in mind that, in reality, neocons and Christian Zionists, among other fundamentalist religious and political sects in the US, are not by far representative of the majority of American people. There are many truly decent and honest folks in the country, and the more you move away from Washington D.C. or coastal cities, the more their number grows, almost exponentially. In the end, they voted for Trump because they believed that he really cared and his program was sensible, especially in terms of wars and military alliances. People bought it. He lied, but people believed a good lie, not some aggressive neocon BS. So, let's keep this in mind.  As Larry concludes:    

I believe the American Republic would be well served to take Adam’s words to heart and construct a new foreign policy that is not based on sending our troops abroad to die in meaningless wars. The good heart that powers America still beats. But it is under assault at home. Russia does not threaten our Republic. Our peril is at home.

I agree fully. I also know many Americans understand that. Very many, and while they understand that--there is a hope. Educating people is a slow process, but it is strategic in its objective.  

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