Morning Comrades.
The events that are taking place in Ukraine are obviously going to be a topic here today and I shared a few off the cuff thoughts on IG out of habit on Tuesday but let’s dig into this a little more.
If you are looking for hot shots etc I’ll be sharing some in our telegram group once this email is in your inbox but as promised, a few words about what it is and what can be done.
The onslaught of opinions about what is transpiring is intense, truthfully overwhelming and I don’t really want to add to them all. Rather than wanting to argue for/against sides here I wanted to take some time and make sense of what is what and then go through some ideas / thoughts for us on what to make of it all. I have no agenda here other than trying to make sense of it all for this community, but more about that later.
I find it wildly fascinating and concerning that we are all individually triggered to force a response to these events, and this goes for all the opinion pundits out there too. The events that are unfolding are managed and have been managed over decades by a small group of extremely powerful people with agendas that none of us really know. We can guess but truth in these situations is volatile at best. At this point it feels like we are being played like puppets on strings in a play in which none of us have a say, not in the slightest. The arguments in all media between people, based on half truths, lack of truths, stemming from constructs of beliefs based on hollowed out ego’s that we all suffer from due to the alienation caused by capitalism will have zero impact on what happens going forward.
They certainly had no impact on anything that led to this to current situation. Make no mistake, this isn’t nihilism talking, far from it, but I just want to be clear: whatever opinion you feel to know, conscious or subconsciously derived at, about all this, has no impact on what will happen. The cards were dealt a long time ago and as with all wars over the last 100 years, you, I and every poor sod involved, be it as a civilian or soldier, is an expendable asset to those in power. If anything, let that be your opinion and yes, that is my agenda, or reason for writing this.
For anyone that wants to try and understand what is going on, a few words. If this is not of interest to you, totally cool, I get that and you skip the next few paragraphs to the part where I will share a few “And Now What” ideas.
We can talk histories all day long, at this point I seriously doubt that besides aiding in understanding more about the larger historical context of this current conflict it won’t help much more than that. I have already written about the eastward expansion of NATO post 1989 and what followed so let’s briefly start with the Maidan Revolution in Ukraine, 2014 - as that is important. Nearly a decade on, the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, as it’s known in Ukraine, remains one of the more widely misunderstood episodes of recent history. Yet understanding it is critical to understanding the ongoing standoff over Ukraine, which can largely be traced back to this polarizing event — depending on who you ask, an inspiring liberal revolution or a far-right coup d’état.
Long story short, the Ukraine got caught between NATO/the EU and Russia in a geopolitical game of power and money. Keep that in mind, war & politics as we witness it, is almost always exclusively about power and money, not for all of us, no, for those in charge. The level of global meddling that took place in the Ukraine, especially by the US but also the EU and subsequently, once able to do so thanks to the creation of Gazprom, Russia - is beyond our wildest imagination. Truly. At this point I regard every piece of information coming out of the country since the turn of the millennium as part of a larger information war game. If you think the post-truth world started with Trump, it did not, the US media just didn’t know where Ukraine was on a map. Important to point out, that all this meddling, actually, let’s call it what it is: a select group of capitalists- yes that obviously includes Putin and his cronies, from the West - looking at John McCain here specifically - saw in Ukraine what Hitler saw: Resources. Space. Money. Lebensraum as the Germans so disgustingly called it back in the 1930s.
All this talk about sovereignty, self-determination, “democracy” is wasted on the realties that the entire fucking country, like so many others beforehand, fell victim to the greed of a small group of bastards selling concepts of freedom to a population who really haven’t been able to enjoy much for the last 100 years, again - history. Back to the Maiden Revolution though. Like today’s Russia-NATO tensions more broadly, at the heart of the Maidan protests was the push by some Western governments, especially the United States, to isolate Russia by supporting the integration of peripheral parts of the former Soviet Union into European and Atlantic institutions — and Moscow’s pushback against what it saw as an encroachment on its sphere of influence - officially, but as said above, it comes down to money, this odd concept of historical importance of certain individuals and more money.
For decades, Washington and allied governments have pursued their strategic and economic interests under the cover of promoting democracy and liberal values abroad. Sometimes that’s meant funneling money to violent reactionaries like the Nicaraguan contras, and sometimes it’s meant supporting benign pro-democracy movements like those in Ukraine. Russia, Putin and Gazprom have done the same. It is what Capitalist do, expand the reigns of exploitation, create new markets, cause crisis to further their control over whatever region they want and repeat.
While it may be a long time before we know its full extent, Washington took an even more direct role once the Maidan Revolution started. Senators John McCain and Chris Murphy met with Svoboda’s fascist leader, standing shoulder to shoulder with him as they announced their support to the protesters, while US assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland handed out sandwiches to them. To understand the provocative nature of such moves, you only need to remember the establishment outrage over the mere idea Moscow had used troll farms to voice support for Black Lives Matter protests. I hope you see where I am going with this. None of this “conflict” has anything to do with “democratic principles” etc. etc. etc. - it’s simply the latest stage in a play with human casualties about money / power.
There are some good articles around that explain, or at least give you a starting point from which, if interested, can help you look into the details around the Maidan Events, as they are important for context. Here is a good starting point.
Now to you and me.
No matter how you or I perceive ourselves to be, what futures we are building and what “camps” - as much as I dislike this tribalization of humanity - we consider ourselves to be a part of, it will not have an impact on these transpiring events. For the sake of your own mental health I would suggest muting the majority of screaming “opinion makers” on all sides as their opinions also will not have any impact. There is no need for you and I to get emotionally and intellectually depleted by engaging in this battle of click baits. That’s my call, superficially at least.
Nonetheless, do give all the care and attention that you can muster to this to learn from. This “conflict” between the capitalist classes in the West and Russia is just another part in the long play of imperialism. This isn’t new and it won’t be the last one. What is new is the level of propaganda being created around this, and there is lessons to be learned here in the ever evolving work towards an anti-imperialist future. Yes, that is part of my vision for the world. Imperialism regardless if you are referring to the historical European version, the post Monroe Doctrine version of the US or Russia’s are at their core rooted in greed, exercised in violence.
That is worthy of note and opposition.
How?
You learn from this, you understand the motivation of your enemy, their tactics and strategies so that you can not only defend yourself from it but build alternative relationships in direct opposition to imperialism. The sheer amount of examples of Western Hypocrisy, no, Capitalist Hypocrisy is endless and I am sure you will see plenty of those floated around social media starting now. Capitalism and Capitalists are regressive, anti-humanists and this is part of their game. Our response is creating spaces -your home, your familiy, your apartment building and so on- based on the principles of mutual aid, coexistence and dialogue centred around conflict resolution without violence. That’s a possible future, one whose principles were laid out well over 150 years ago and still worth fighting for.
War is insane, a total failure of humankind and a tool of conquest / expansion for the capital classes at the expense of our lives and futures. The reality remains that without “us” there simply cannot be a war. Organizing into groups of mutual support in opposition to all wars and the imperialism is the kick off point for dissent against the war machineries of the west. Sounds a little heavy but in reality it isn’t. Realizing who does what for what reason truly helps but without making the logical leap into action all that remains fruitless. Dissent, in all its shapes and forms is caring and revolutionary and that is what needs to be done.
Obviously, this is a developing situation and things yet may change, of course. For the purpose of this community and platform I don’t see myself reacting all that much to whatever will transpire. I much rather hope to have potentially shed some light on what is what and what can be done. I shared this line on Monday and it makes even more sense to me now, for our roles in the struggle to overcome to oppression from capital, to overcome the alienation due to capitalism and to once and for all build a world without need and want for all is exactly that:
The true costs of war is always destruction. Material as well as Metaphysical. It enriches very few and leaves emptiness, lack of vision and hope for generations to come. With a hint of irony I will leave you with a quote from a US President who, I believe without cynicism clearly called out the insanity of war, below. Thanks for tuning in and as always, I remain yours, without compromise,
V.