I don’t like Russia. Never have. Probably never will.
When Niagara University hosted the World Juniors in
2010-2011 I was mortified by how many Americans were wearing Russian pride and passionately
cheering on the Reds. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Don’t they know our history
with Russia? Don’t they know what Russia still is?”
They seemed to buy into the myth that the Cold War
ended and were oblivious to the fact that Russia was not the kinder, gentler country
portrayed in the press, that it features a murderous KGB agent as its head, a
court system that finds most defendants guilty, a controlled economy that makes
our country’s income gap and crony capitalism look pedestrian, and a network of
spies still working to this day (think back to the 10-person ring busted in the
US in 2010).
Fast forward 3 years. Now it seems fashionable to
hate the Russians again. Their friends -- which are what our elected officials
and press seemed to become over the past 2 presidencies – have turned on them.
As an outcome of the Ukraine shake-up -- more
specifically the Crimeans’ desire to join Russia -- the Obama Administration
has placed sanctions upon Russia, neoconservatives are calling for more
dramatic actions, and the press now paints Russia as deeply evil, just weeks
after opining at length about how the Sochi Olympics had showed a good and just
Russia.
Despite my long-held feelings for Russia, I have to
disagree with the vitriol and diplomacy being thrown their way. Russia should
be left alone. They are on the right side of this issue.
The United States and United Nations constantly
tout the importance of democratic principles when it comes to governance and
they love it when mass numbers of people make their voices heard to bring about
change. Consider the silly fawning over the Arab Spring. That sense of revolt,
the call for self-governance (or at least a new government), and the majority’s
hunger for a new tomorrow really excited the Western world.
It’s obvious that in the Middle East or almost anywhere
else in the world for that matter, the desires of the majority hold special
meaning for Westerners. So, how do we as a society accept the Arab Spring, much
of which was based in violence and death, yet when a peaceful people go to the
ballot boxes and 96% of them choose to be annexed by Moscow, we find that to be
wrong?
It’s likely that Western power brokers would prefer
that the European Union gain as much control as it can. The Crimean dissent was
an affront to that goal.
The Ukraine, with or without Crimea, is entering
into a trade agreement with the EU, which is one of the stepping stones for
ultimate inclusion into the EU.
Pick your poison: Is it better to be with Russia or
the Europeans?
World leaders are enamored with the EU
sociopolitical model, even though it is as broken and liberty-killing as any
Russian federation. The EU is not just some multinational trade pact; it is a
system of government that exerts a uniform rule over all of its participants,
stripping them of their national sovereignty, subjecting them to common
kangaroo courts, and making all engaged nations responsible for the fiscal and
financial foibles of others (such as the bailouts of Greece and Spain). The
world wants to drive more people into that system and others like it, pushing
global uniformity upon everyone, wiping away the competition for people and
prosperity that makes individual nations – and individual people – unique.
When it comes to the Crimean issue, our foreign
policy is hypocritical. And, it’s wrong; just like most all of our
interventionist policies (Iraq and Afghanistan, anyone?).
It’s time we dropped our baseless indignation over
the Crimeans and Russians and took the advice of George Washington:
The great
rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is…to have with them as
little political connection as possible. Europe has a set of primary interests,
which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in
frequent controversies the causes of which are essentially foreign to our
concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by
artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary
combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.
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