Far-Right Hijinks, Here and “Over There”

There remain many uncomfortable truths folks are passing on acknowledging or even admitting exist. People not taking responsibility for the state of the world is why the planet is where it is right now and things won’t get better until we do, collectively and decisively.

There are so many areas of people activity where this is true, ignoring the uncomfortable complexity of the current Ukrainian-Russian conflict is only one of many. For us here in America, it is convenient to forget — to gloss over and to literally hide — the past beneath a veneer of nationalistic fervor but guess what, the ills and misdeeds of history don’t go away. They fester and turn into boils, then pop and spread noxious emanations. This is true in the former Soviet Union just as it is in the United States of America.

Certain ideologies don’t just go away. They evolve and shift with the times to find new, younger audiences who take them up like flags, wielded as pikes in the battle of ideals and acceptable social mores. Sympathy for the devil you know — as friends (of friends) or family — is a human trait, one that keeps us repeating the past like a broken record.

As the fog of war descends, the dogs of war, led by the media, will give us a non-stop flow of images and propaganda that will attempt to guide our collective interpretation of events. May the innocents find succor and safety during this difficult time as another mass sacrifice of human life threatens to keep the world mired in scarcity mindsets, beset by violence and fear.