Stephen Roney's Blog, page 115

Ukraine Endgame

 

Elon Musk has publicly proposed a peace plan for Ukraine that would give Russia all that it currently demands. The annexation of Crimea formally recognized; Ukraine guarantees it will not join NATO; referenda are held, presumably under international supervision, in the Donbas, and Russia withdraws if they lose the vote, annexes if they win.

The argument given for this pro-Russian settlement, even while Ukraine is winning in the field, is that, realistically Ukraine is not in the end going to defeat a country three times its size.

I disagree. 

That sounds right if this is a war between Russia and Ukraine--although Afghanistan managed to fight the Russians off, didn’t they? But what if it is a war between Ukraine and Putin? What if the Russian people or even the Russian oligarchy are not solidly behind this war? Couldn’t Russian popular opinion force an end to the war?

It is absurd to ask Ukraine never to join NATO. The very fact that Russia has invaded, for a second time in a few years, proves they need a security guarantee. NATO is the only option.

Referenda in the disputed territories is a good solution—but under international mandate, after a Russian withdrawal. If before, it is likely the Russians will simply refuse to withdraw if they lose.

There is much talk of Russia deploying tactical nuclear weapons. And, if they do, how could the West respond?

I think General Petraeus has the right idea: NATO sends in the bombers and, using conventional munitions, bombs every Russian troop concentration in Ukraine, every supply depot, and every Russian warship on the Black Sea. They maintain air superiority and bomb whatever moves.

Some insist Petraeus cannot be serious. This, after all, would be direct war between Russia and NATO. This would be World War Three.

Yet why are we afraid of direct war between Russia and NATO? Russia cannot handle Ukraine acting alone. The quickest way to end this war would be to send in NATO to make the defeat quick and decisive. Many lives might be saved. NATO would establish itself as a vital guarantor of international security. The world would be a much safer place.

The only argument against is that direct conflict between nuclear powers might lead to nuclear war.

But if Putin uses nuclear weapons, that argument is gone. We are already in nuclear war. A swift and overwhelming response is the only way, then, to prevent more nuclear wars in the future. Nations must not discover they can go nuclear without repercussions.

'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade.

True (deau) Confessions

 

Viva Frei ponders whether, in this clip, Justin Trudeau is either gaslighting or confessing through projection.

Neither. If you watch and listen carefully, it is confession, straight up.

Trudeau says he was saying “it” as far back as 2015. Saying what? Not that dirty politics is a bad idea, or morally wrong. Parse his sentence. He was saying “dirty politics work. They work to get you elected.”

Who was elected back in 2015?

He is not brave enough to say it more clearly, but he is admitting to using dirty politics to get elected. 

The problem, he goes on to say, is that once you resort to divisive politics, it becomes incredibly hard to govern. You can no longer unify the people.

Who might have discovered this? Who has been governing since 2015? Him. This is what he has learned.

Frei thinks Trudeau is dumping it on someone else when he concludes “That’s what you’re seeing in Canada. A certain number of people who stirred up that.” That is vague, not an honourable confession, but there is no reason to assume that “certain number of people” does not include Trudeau himself. It might mean him and his liberal advisors. 

As he says this, he looks down. He cannot look in the interviewer’s face, or at the camera. This is an admission that he is one of those people.

Frei asks “What’s up with the vocal fry?” That’s his throat thickening. As it does when you are close to tears.

Throughout, Trudeau’s eyes look troubled, like a dog expecting to be hit with a rolled-up newspaper.

Frei imagines some sinister controlling intelligence. What we really see is a frightened child.

Trudeau knows he is trapped, and is looking for sympathy or help.

It helps to have some experience with narcissists. People oddly imagine they are strong personalities. 

They are always frightened children.

'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade.

I Wonder Why?

 

I think I know why....

'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade.

Who Am I?

 

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The government shutdown in Canada has forced me to homeschool my kids by distance, as they are trapped in the Philippines by the dysfunction for three years of the citizenship and passport office. At the same time, I am coaching other kids after hours who are attending Canadian high schools and American universities as international students.

Interesting that they apparently had no such troubles getting their student visas. One wonders.

When I see what is on my students’ curricula, however, I begin to think it is just as well my kids are not attending. Maybe I can give them a real education instead.

Even when I went through the Ontario schools, back in the 1960s, I thought it scandalous how they wasted our time on subjects most of us would have no use for in later life—algebra, trigonometry, the sciences—while not teaching us essential skills like logic, parliamentary procedure, bookkeeping, and rhetoric.

Yes, I am saying that teaching STEM in high school is a dumb idea. It is. College is the time for such specialization.

But it has gotten worse since I went through. In literature courses, my students study no literature as such. Instead, they get excerpts, second-rate movies and recent popular novels. Rather than read them and consider them as they stand, the students are directed to issues they supposedly illustrate.

From a parent:

“They finished the discussion ‘What is identity? How is it formed?’ ‘Philosophy: What is your true identity (Perceived by self VS perceived by others)’ ‘Identity beyond one's self. What else has an identity?’ ‘Identity and location - can a city have an identity?."

The text is, literally, just a pretext.

And the discussion seems guided in a particular direction. The students are being told what to think.

For example, only two possibilities are given: either your identity is as perceived by self, or as perceived by others. Either assumes there is no external reality. Either assumes our identity is a construct. None of the world’s great philosophical systems would assert such a thing. This is postmodernism. Instead of being taught the established wisdom of our culture, of all cultures, students are being carefully led away from it. This is an anti-education.

Perhaps more sinister is the next line of questioning. What else has an identity? Can a city have an identity?

One suspects the required answer is yes; and this is the gateway into identity politics, collectivism. Blackness is an identity; indigenousness is an identity; transgenderism is an identity. 

And this is the gateway, in turn, into fascist thought. The individual no longer exists except as part of the collective.

'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade.

Update on the Charter Challenge

 

'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade.

True and False Faith

 

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."

The Lord replied,

"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,

you would say to this mulberry tree,

'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

"Who among you would say to your servant

who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,

'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?

Would he not rather say to him,

'Prepare something for me to eat.

Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.

You may eat and drink when I am finished'?

Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?

So should it be with you.

When you have done all you have been commanded,

say, 'We are unprofitable servants;

we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

Can you see how the first and second half of this Sunday’s gospel reading are connected? 

If you read only the first paragraph, you might think Jesus was endorsing the common postmodern or prosperity gospel belief that there is no objective reality, and we are free to make up whatever we want to believe. We can command the world! Faith can move mountains!

But then why does he immediately talk about service?

Because faith is not an assertion of the will. It is not choosing to believe this or that. Faith is faithfulness, fidelity, trust. If we had a trust in God the size of a mustard seed, we could command the mulberry tree to jump into the sea. Because God can do this. But necessarily, we then would not command but follow the command of God. We do what we are commanded. That is the true and deepest faith.

'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade.

The Dinosaur Effect

 

The experts contemplate signs appearing in the sky

Putin’s formal annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts looks like an example of what Marshall McLuhan called the “dinosaur effect.” It also perhaps gives insight into what is going on in the wider world right now.

According to McLuhan, things commonly reach their greatest extent, indeed, suddenly balloon, just before they become extinct. This is not quite an accurate description of the dinosaurs, as it turns out, but it looks superficially plausible in some other cases. Consider the British Empire. It reached its greatest extent after the First World War. On paper, on the map, it was magnificent. It had just won the war to end all wars against its great rival. 

Yet, thanks largely to debts incurred in the war, it was already financially unsupportable. Within twenty five more years, it was being rapidly dismantled.

It is just when they realize they are losing their grip—as Putin is now—that the powerful will lunge for grandeur. The instinct is to grab the last few glorious moments of power before it is gone forever, and exercise that power fully. That is what Putin is doing, annexing provinces he does not even now fully control, the day before his forces are surrounded in Lyman. He is living his preferred fantasy while he can; because he knows the reality is slipping away.

And this is just, I submit, what the clerical elites are doing now all around the world, in countries as widely spread as Canada, New Zealand, China, the Netherlands, the USA. They have grown abruptly more dictatorial, because the underlying news is bad for them. They have become suddenly more censorious, because their instinct is to suppress the news and pretend. For now, men can decide to be women, there is no right and wrong, and the narrative is whatever you want the narrative to be.

As in the case of Putin’s Russia, this cannot last much longer. Communications technology is making the established elites redundant to the rest of society. We are witnessing the mad thrashings of a dying beast.

'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade.

Trudeau Shuns Meloni?

 

Trudeau reviewing a Cuban honour guard.

Rebel News claims Justin Trudeau has not yet called Giorgia Meloni to congratulate her on winning the recent Italian election. 

As readers of this blog will know, I have my doubts about Giorgia Meloni.

Nevertheless, Trudeau here is being irresponsible and arrogant; the word “childish” comes to mind. He has no problem, after all, being chummy with China or Cuba.

Italy is an important NATO ally. Meloni has been chosen by the people of Italy. Having not taken office, she has done nothing to which Trudeau could legitimately object. It is simply proper diplomatic procedure to give her a call and publicly congratulate her. Not to do so is sacrificing Canada’s national interests, and NATO’s, at a rather critical geopolitical moment, to Trudeau’s personal whims and pet peeves.

Trudeau in his tenure has managed to pick pointless fights with India, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the USA. Not to mention Canadian truckers and Canadian farmers. He runs Canada’s government as though it is his to play with, to express himself through at the level of whims. He has gone through Canada’s international reputation like a wrecking ball. 

It is not enough to get him out of office. The next government will have to apologize for him, and it will take years, if even possible, to restore Canada’s standing as a serious and judicious international player.

'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade.

The Real Problem of Poverty

 

Pius XII in the sedia gestatoria

Just attended a poetry reading on the theme of poverty. Unfortunately, after a dozen poets had read their poems, the meeting devolved into a political meeting, with the hosts insisting that the problem was systemic, that it was about intersectionality and some having special privilege, and—revealing quote—“the real problem is not poverty, but abundance.”

It is not that the left wants to help the poor; it envies the rich.

Perhaps a dozen poets read. Only four were “white.” Only two spoke of personal experiences of poverty. Both were white. 

Despite this, as if deaf, the hosts asserted afterwards in their political speech that poverty exists because white people, along with straights, and men, have a systemic advantage.

In fact, the Canadian immigration system favours the wealthy and well-educated among immigrant groups. We are importing the upper classes. And being rich in a poor country means far more privilege than being rich in Canada. Once they arrive, these non-white immigrants are systematically given privileges over those, primarily “white” who have been here for generations; in the name of “affirmative action” and “equity,” they are systematically favoured in hiring and promotion.

I once challenged a Pakistani immigrant of my acquaintance, a grad student at U of T. 

“Why do you say you are discriminated against?”

“Because I’m not yet a member of the Granite Club.”

Another claimed oppression becuase he was not yet a full partner at his accounting firm.

So it is no surprise that it is the “whites” in any random group of Canadians who have known poverty. The usual claims we hear about “intersectionality” are the opposite of the truth. 

In the same way, gays are privileged over “straights,” not just now, but throughout our history. A gay man has no wife and kids to support. A gay couple generates double incomes with no children. In the traditional sex-segregated workplace of days gone by, a gay man or woman could trade sexual favours for advancement.

Women are traditionally privileged over men, and always were. In a conventional family, they got to spend 80% of the family’s shared wealth. They had a legal right to support if they chose not to work. They had more free time--demonstrated by their much higher purchase of magazines and books, and that the vast majority of TV programming was aimed at them. Men have always been the working class; and expendable in war or in dangerous jobs.

In other words, the modern social hierarchy called “intersectionality” systematically asserts the opposite of the  truth.

One of the participants at the poetry reading, citing the recent royal funeral, went on about how wrong it was for the British royal family to possess so much wealth. Why couldn’t it be distributed to the poor?

But distributing it to the poor is not the point. Were it distributed to the poor, it would help a bit perhaps, a few pounds more for a month or a year, and then be gone forever. It would be very little per capita. On the other hand, the crown jewels, for example, are not of any great personal benefit to the Queen. She gets to wear them once, at her coronation, and then they are stored behind glass at the Tower of London for tourists to look at.

The pomp of a royal funeral, or the crown jewels, are major tourist attractions. They generate wealth. Including more wealth for the poor than a one-time distribution of state wealth would.

So the problem is not that some people are poor. The problem is that the royals are rich. The problem is envy. The relatively rich always envy the richer. The poor have no such ambitions. They only want enough. The poor delight in the chance for a celebration now and then, to pull them out of their sordid daily lives; just as it is the poor who will invest in a lottery. To them, it is worth the penny for the fantasy.

One participant in the political discussion was similarly shocked by a scene she said she saw in the Vatican. Women were tearing off their jewellery and throwing it at the pope in his chair.

I have some doubts she actually saw this. The pope has not promenaded in a chair since John XXIII. But if she did see it, what was she seeing? Not the accumulation of wealth, but relatively wealthy people—wealthy enough to own valuable jewellery—surrendering their wealth. The pope was not going to wear that jewellery, was he? The pope does not get to live a particularly luxurious life. The jewellery, if it was collected, was more likely to go to the poor, through Catholic charities. And if not to the poor, to the church rather to any individual. To churches, open for anyone to enjoy.

People who are up to no good will always assert the opposite of the truth. And, if anyone corrects them, will set up an ungodly howl.

Accordingly, I bit my tongue. Such is the price of life in society. The most I dared do was post in the comments section "the real underlying problem is poverty of meaning."

Instead, I go home and post on my blog.

'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade.

Who Is Giorgia Meloni?

 

I normally do not comment on world events unless I feel I have something unique to say. And I have no special insights regarding Giorgia Meloni. Like the rest of the extra-Italian world, I am trying to make head or tail of her. Is she a fascist? Is she a conservative? 

The one thing she is evidently not is a liberal, like myself. In North America, liberals like Milton Friedman have been, absurdly, classified as “extreme right wing.” But Europe is a different matter. 

Meloni is strong on family and on nationality. Family is better than state, and nationality is better than tribe, but either can also be a dangerous idolatry. Liberals stress the individual. Conservatives and fascists both stress the collective, family and nationality; as does the modern, socialist “left.”

 Meloni stresses that we are all unique in our “genetic coding.” 

That sounds fascist rather than conservative.

I am not my genetic coding; for I am not an animal. I am unique because I am an independent consciousness, an independent free will, an independent soul. All souls are equal in the eyes of God, and we should not be defined by our genetic coding, or our nationality, or our family.

Meloni seems especially opposed to “renting wombs.” As a liberal, I do not see the problem. This is a voluntary transaction; nobody is exploited. A child gets to live. As each human life is infinitely valuable, why would one be opposed? It seems only a way to attack homosexuals. It puts family as an ideal above the individual. This seems sinister.

Nice meloni!

Meloni paints “financial speculators” trying to turn us all into “consumers” as the villains of society. This is where fascism is Marxist; she agrees here with the modern left, not with liberalism. This is class conflict. Most often, the “financial speculators” are really just ordinary people trying to build their pension income. For a liberal, the villain is the bureaucracy, which wants power, not money. In a free market, consumption itself is a purely voluntary activity in which no one is exploited, and everyone gets more or less what they want.

Just paint the “financial speculators” as Jewish, and there you go—Nazism.

Her emphasis on ethnicity might seem a good idea in Italy, for the sake of social unity; but it is a very bad idea if transposed to Canada or the USA, which are not ethnic states. It is, in two words, “identity politics.” It leads, in an ethnically diverse state like the US or Canada, to multiculturalism and tribalism. Even in Italy—despite denials, ultimately, sinister implications for ethnic minorities like the Jews.

The problem is that Meloni is also saying many things that are common sense, and have been suppressed in public discourse. Even I, if I were in Italy, would be strongly tempted to vote for her just to force an end to the censorship and allow open discussion.

By silencing all opposing thoughts, the lunatic left who have been in power have paved the primrose way for an eloquent fascist. Exactly as they did in the Weimar Republic.

'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade.