I and others share your frustration with the apparently willful blindness by Americans, including plenty within academe, about the origins of the war in Ukraine, both distal and proximal. And though even a rudimentary knowledge of U.S. foreign policy history from even just the post WWII era to today would make clear that most war across the globe has resulted from the impulses and reactions related to imperial / hegemonic drives, and that there is a readily discernible pattern that therefore links such things as the 1953 American-triggered coup in Iran, the bombing of Yugoslavia, the 20-some-years long occupation in Afghanistan, falsely-premised invasion of Iraq and other Mid East wars, the 2014 Kiev coup which destabilized Ukraine and which with many other intentional provocations triggered Russia's defensive military action in 2022, and of course, even the Gaza genocide.
Given that it was mostly America's liberals who protested, resisted and helped end the war in Viet Nam, it is worthy of special note to me now that most of those liberals have just become partisan stooges who will implicitly if not explicitly support the wars today that are just parts of the pattern and the broader imperialism that liberals once seemed to recognize.
Well said by you as well. And yes, the blindness and hubris of modern Democrats simply astonishes me. But the people who most disappoint me are the academics. Especially those in fields unrelated to the social sciences.
I can understand the indoctrination of those with graduate degrees in history, economics, sociology, etc. Those academics won't acknowledge the existence of references that contradict their accepted narrative. Unless, that is, they're scorning or mocking them, disparaging their character, devaluing their work, and worse.
Those who bother me most are people with advanced degrees in physics or math or biology or psychology or French or any field that doesn't directly involve knowledge of world events. These are people who were taught how to evaluate sources ON THEIR OWN. They were not taught to ask Snopes, "what is true?" They were not taught to go to Fact Check City to learn about the world- they were taught to look it up themselves! Consult primary references! And for God's sake, LISTEN to the other side.
These supposedly brilliant minds are cheering actual Nazis right now while they call those of us who oppose the Nazis, "Nazis".
I don't think I want to offer an answer to your last q. I never in my wildest dreams thought we'd be where we are today... and don't want to contemplate a further ride along this trend-line.
Dear Rachel,
Please, if you possibly can, give us more of your awesome, no-holds-barred, wonderfully honest op-eds!!!!
Warm wishes,
Doug
Aww thanks Doug! Will do!
Well and correctly stated, Rachel.
I and others share your frustration with the apparently willful blindness by Americans, including plenty within academe, about the origins of the war in Ukraine, both distal and proximal. And though even a rudimentary knowledge of U.S. foreign policy history from even just the post WWII era to today would make clear that most war across the globe has resulted from the impulses and reactions related to imperial / hegemonic drives, and that there is a readily discernible pattern that therefore links such things as the 1953 American-triggered coup in Iran, the bombing of Yugoslavia, the 20-some-years long occupation in Afghanistan, falsely-premised invasion of Iraq and other Mid East wars, the 2014 Kiev coup which destabilized Ukraine and which with many other intentional provocations triggered Russia's defensive military action in 2022, and of course, even the Gaza genocide.
Given that it was mostly America's liberals who protested, resisted and helped end the war in Viet Nam, it is worthy of special note to me now that most of those liberals have just become partisan stooges who will implicitly if not explicitly support the wars today that are just parts of the pattern and the broader imperialism that liberals once seemed to recognize.
Well said by you as well. And yes, the blindness and hubris of modern Democrats simply astonishes me. But the people who most disappoint me are the academics. Especially those in fields unrelated to the social sciences.
I can understand the indoctrination of those with graduate degrees in history, economics, sociology, etc. Those academics won't acknowledge the existence of references that contradict their accepted narrative. Unless, that is, they're scorning or mocking them, disparaging their character, devaluing their work, and worse.
Those who bother me most are people with advanced degrees in physics or math or biology or psychology or French or any field that doesn't directly involve knowledge of world events. These are people who were taught how to evaluate sources ON THEIR OWN. They were not taught to ask Snopes, "what is true?" They were not taught to go to Fact Check City to learn about the world- they were taught to look it up themselves! Consult primary references! And for God's sake, LISTEN to the other side.
These supposedly brilliant minds are cheering actual Nazis right now while they call those of us who oppose the Nazis, "Nazis".
How crazy is this gonna get?!
I don't think I want to offer an answer to your last q. I never in my wildest dreams thought we'd be where we are today... and don't want to contemplate a further ride along this trend-line.