As I think I have already mentioned in an earlier post the last five years have offered more suspense than the seventy years before that. What with Trump, Brexit turbulence, the pandemic, climate change, N. Korean rocket man, the invasion of Ukraine, all bundled up to coincide with my otherwise quite satisfactory life as a pensioner,
Most of this has left me pretty much unscathed with the exception of Covid and the two years of coffin dodging making its mark on my daily priorities.
Although a glance in the rear mirror of time also reveals a rather stubborn resistance to a world gone mad, resulting in no side effects other than me having aged mentally, slightly faster than usual. In a young person this might be considered as a pro, though at my age I have a sneaky feeling it is much more of a con.
Whatever, things haven` t let up as this month of October bears witness to. None of the above have been sorted and in fact another horror show added in the form of the not so holy, holy men in Iran. Women being beaten and tortured by the henchmen of the priesthood for wanting to be able to choose what they wear, fits in with the spirit of things.
In Ukraine of course Russian army violence makes no gender distinction, except when it comes to raping that is. From being seen as the 2nd best army in the world to beyond a doubt proving itself to being the 2nd best army in Ukraine, unless you count killing unarmed civilians that is.
Listening to Putin and his side show of diplomat cum spokesman clowns, Lavrov and Peskov, knowingly debasing themselves in the eyes of the world with logic matching Orwell` s wildest imagination. All to appease the home front in an attempt to persuade the population to sacrifice their menfolk for the sake of an imperialist` s wet dream.
The list is long and the logic at times comical enough to neutralize the meaning of the word parody.
This is the tip of the iceberg. Hidden below the surface is a country in an emotional state more suited to the first half of the last century. Like an armed gangster demanding respect where respect has not been earned nor quite rightly given. A country seeking to justify the violation of any treaty or agreement blocking the path of its intentions. A country seeking to justify its use of force and the murder and destruction of anyone or anything that gets in its way. Although nationalism is a not uncommon global disease, when combined with the above we know how it ends.
”We need to negotiate a peace,” someone said.
It beggars belief that there are still people who believe negotiations resulting in treaties are a panacea for peace. If they were, we wouldn´ t be where we are today.
Sanna Marin, the Prime Minister of Finland was asked, ”…The way out of the conflict?”
Without hesitation she replied, ”The way out of the conflict is for Russia to leave Ukraine, that is the way out of the conflict.”
