End Times

We think not. Yet again, what if…?

Yes, Putin’s actions threaten the future of our planet. His cold calculating mind looks to victory however defined. Hubris eliminates failure as a possibility. Think like this, like him, and wonder what lengths he would employ to ‘save’ himself.

The nuclear option is available. Actually, it is always on the table, isn’t it? We have a tool to use for certain purposes. When do we use it? Is its effect so awful we hope never to use it? Of course, that is our reason of comfort. We have it to ward off the opposing evil. And vice versa. In balance this stance works. It has worked for many decades.

But now?

One has to wonder. What would happen if Russia exploded the nuclear power plants in Ukraine? It would annihilate Ukraine. Forever. The nuclear fallout would embrace much of Europe. Of course, it would blow back on Russian soil, too. We are not talking damage here. We are speaking the unthinkable. Destruction of facilities would be real, but the radiation would kill millions, tens of millions of people.

Putin has already killed children, women, young and old. They were in the way. Remove them he thinks, and his armies do just that. it is a small step to move to another level. Civilian populations are guarded by international agreement. Putin has signed this agreement. That is a mere bauble that means nothing to him as he violates so many peacekeeping and humanitarian policies.

What Putin wants is control of the situation. But Russian citizens are responsible for Putin’s being in office. They either agree with him and his policies, or they remove him. What Putin does is in their name unless they choose to change course. To do so will take enormous courage, commitment and resolve. Will they do this? Not very likely.

Sad but true. The Russian people are not very well informed of what is going on in their own country. They are fed false information continually and for a very long time. They have adopted a perspective of truth that has been slowly built on propaganda and misdirection. This is a normal outcome of state-controlled press and media. Most autocratic nations employ this tactic. It is the core of George Orwell’s thesis included in his best-selling novel “1984.”

Anytime a government requires or demands loyal support of an ideology or creed, the telltale sign of autocracy, or even dictatorship is present. However, refined it is, citizens are caught in a web of delusion. They are powerless to know what is true and what is not. They have no basis to determine fact or fiction. This is the nature of evil.

The core of democracy is freedom to know as much as you wish. This freedom supports discussion, writing, exploration of history, facts and logic. In this complex of free thinking and expression, the public is in control of their government. When government has control, it is caused by citizens not paying attention, not caring, or too lazy to do the hard work.

Tyrants, despots, dictators and such are only a small step from autocrats. Central government control is only possible in a power vacuum where citizen control cedes it, knowingly or not.

End times may be here. It is time for the citizens of the global village to stand and act. If not, the end is more likely. The power struggle between good and evil is not complicated. Getting to that point, is.

Have we reached that point?

March 7, 2022

 

 

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