This Is What Humans Do

Taking a step back from the hysteria about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I was reminded of another couple of invasions – ours, of Afghanistan and Iraq. They were in short succession, one in 2001 and the other in 2003. The rationale given for both was that these countries were to blame for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Neither country was involved in the attacks, but the Taliban "government" of Afghanistan had provided safe haven for the plotters of the attacks. In both cases the countries were seen as easy targets, and it was assumed that we would be in and out quickly.

It of course was all a lie. The real reason for the invasions was that the U.S. president at the time, George W. Bush, had been warned emphatically that the attacks were immanent, and ignored the warnings. His passivity had the effect of an open invitation to terrorism. After the surprising success of the attacks Bush and his cronies had to change the subject from their own culpability to blaming someone else. It wouldn’t be enough to blame some criminals. Since the attacks were perceived as violent aggression on the entire nation, there had to be another entire nation or nations to attack as revenge.

The quick and easy retribution for the "911" attacks both turned out to be not-so-quick and easy. We only recently abandoned our occupation of Afghanistan, and are still involved in Iraq, mostly trying to root out and destroy "ISIS," the terrorist group that wouldn’t exist had we not invaded Iraq in the first place. The Taliban wouldn't exist either, had we not organized them as the "Mujahedeen" in the 1980s as an insurgency against the Soviet invaders. 

Now we have the Russia of Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine, formerly subsumed under the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Ukraine became independent, and the Russian power elite has wanted it back ever since. Especially Vladimir Putin. He was a dedicated communist in the Soviet era, and was a career secret policeman for the notorious KGB for decades. He has successfully killed and imprisoned his political opponents, and has brutally suppressed dissent and attempts at independence in its former "satellite" countries. Yet they continue to oppose him.

Different circumstances, but the same malevolence. This is what humans do. Bullying and murder. When countries do it we call it war. When you have a large and powerful country to play with you can bully and murder on a mass scale, and employ the most advanced technology known in human history. In 1945, the year I was born, we used the brand-new technology of nuclear weapons to bring Japan to its knees. Twice. Our nuclear technology is now far-advanced from what it was in 1945, and the only reason we haven't used it again is that too many other countries also have it. Once the bombing starts it would be hard to stop, and the entire planet would be destroyed.

So here we are, the country still under the self-delusion of being the moral authority on the planet facing our chosen adversary in a stalemate of sorts, knowing that if we use our ultimate weapon they will use the same ultimate weapon on us. Any military confrontation could result in a clash of ultimate weapons, so we are left with proxy warfare. Sanctions. Isolation. Economic warfare. Diplomatic jousting. Insults, both personal and collective. Not much more.

This is what humans do. It doesn’t matter which country. Because of World War II the top dogs have been the U.S. and Russia for my entire life. Someone had to be the top dogs, so we two are it. For now. This showdown has been pending for almost 77 years. Every person on the planet is hostage to how it turns out.

I can predict, with some confidence, how it will turn out. Sanctions will be put in place, gas prices will go up, the huge and highly complex matrix of worldwide economic components will be disrupted and thrown awry, and the planetary industrial economy will likely go into recession and maybe depression. This would happen anyway, because our profligacy on the planet has made the economic order unsustainable. We are destroying the planet’s ecosystem with our callous demolition of our resource base. The weather disruptions, forest fires, floods, blizzards, avalanches, droughts, desertifications, hurricanes, tornadoes, polar ice cap melting and sea level rises will only increase.

Vladimir Putin can have his invasion. He won’t enjoy it for long. Though Russia is not a "Western" country, he and his cohorts suffer from the same malady as his counterparts in the official "West." Reductionism. Separating the part from the whole and thinking that if you change the part the whole will change according to your isolated view. Economists call it ceteris paribus, holding all other things constant or equal while you change the part. Invade Ukraine and you control a wider region, all while holding the rest of the planet at bay.

Such hubris. It should be familiar. Invade Afghanistan and Iraq and the rest of the planet is held at bay. Heh. We couldn’t even hold Afghanistan and Iraq at bay. Millions of lives were destroyed and continue to be destroyed, all for the power, greed and play needs of usurpers. This is what humans do. It won’t last. We will be lucky if any of us last.
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Here's a song. Peter Tosh. Bob Marley. Bob Dylan. Dylan again. And again. Arcade Fire and David Byrne, March 21, 2022. Neil Young. John Lennon. This theme song for Donald Trump also applies to Vladimir Putin. Here's a song for the U.S. and Russia.

Is nuclear war likely? Maybe. Here's a song from Randy Newman.

For a creepy experience, click here. This is the best-known version. Fats must be rolling over in his grave. 

One of the spoils of gratuitous war is that your daughter gets to host the Today Show. Dave Garroway must be rolling over in his grave. Another spoil of gratuitous war is that you co-conspirator and planner gets a faculty appointment to one of the nation's premier universities. 

The words of Ralph Waldo Emerson on nature. Here's another example of how humans, doing what humans do, are wrecking the planet.

Here's a list of Putin's crimes. Here's a list of Trump's crimes. Here's a list of the crimes of George W. Bush. His father, George H.W. Bush, was no better, a long-life political criminal. And, in true "bipartisan" fashion, let's not forget Barack Obama. Here's more on his not-so-great legacy. The jury is still out, so to speak, on Joe Biden. Among his gifts to Planet Earth is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

It is a bit more complicated than Vladimir Putin, bad guy, versus the rest of the reputedly civilized world. There is some history that led up to this madness. We do not have clean hands in this debacle, as can be seen in this analysis.

There are indeed neo-Nazis in Ukraine, but it is much more complicated than that. They exist in many countries, including Russia and the U.S.

Here's something interesting.

Here's a little something I wrote about Wisconsin's "senior" U.S. Senator.