Who are they, I always ask myself… Who are they, really?
I visit Europe’s cultural centers at least twice a year; be it France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, England or Germany, I like to travel the Western European nations, in both winter and summer.
But, as I see them in the gorgeous surroundings of their pristine Alps and green pastures, sipping wine or beer with their cheese and cured meat boards, soaking in that perfect Alpine sun, I can’t help but wonder how the grandfathers and grandmothers of the people serving me my coffee and blueberry pie, participated in the most atrocious and barbaric wars the modern world has ever seen.
How can these cultural centers, dressed in the finest garments to watch operas and symphonies, in love with nature and the quiet life, bomb each other without mercy between 1914 and 1918, and then take further vengeance against each other between 1939 and 1945, resulting in the death of more than 100 million human beings on the battlefields and culminating in the decision to drop two nuclear bombs on civilians in August 1945?
Who are they, the Europeans, who drove some of the people to the brink of such desperation that many went in search of the new world in the United States of America, willing to risk everything in the dangerous voyages of the Atlantic, just to escape monarchial rule?
I sat in the Swiss Alps just one week ago, looking at the dramatic Matterhorn and thought to myself, how can these peaceful hikers and skiers, who say hello to you when you pass them by, eating their sandwiches and never willing to give up their 2 PM siestas, be able to use torches and burn each other like in WW1 or be able to fight each other to the death like in WW2? I am humbled by the sheer awe I have for the collective madness of crowds.
If a group of people are sufficiently afraid of a foreigner, they’ll do anything.
In Russia, a land that is characterized by massive plains, easily conquered and advanced upon, the people know how vulnerable their geography is. Invaded multiple times during the past 1,000 years, the doctrine is always the same – expand the security zones into the mountains that are currently controlled by the sovereigns who used to be a part the USSR, and avoid the threats of NATO.
In Poland, they also know the score – they remember full well how Germany and the USSR carved out their lands and took them over.
France remembers surrendering to the Germans and the British reciting Churchill’s incredible words:
“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!”
Is Vladimir Putin evil?
He is no more evil or mad than any of the Russian leaders that came before him and we should not judge him on such simple terms. Instead, if the West wishes to find a different path than the one that leads to big war, they must understand Russia and, in turn, the axis of China, Iran and Russia must understand the fears of NATO and the so-called enlightened world.
If we don’t stop projecting our own values and interpretation of the other side, assuming we know better than the other side what is good for them (the Obama culture, now known as leftist-woke), then we are in danger, just like with every extreme religion (which the woke certainly practice) of inviting the most inhumane behavior in 100 years, and the 87% of Russians who voted for Putin (rigged or not) give him the tailwind to pursue his ambitious goals…
Will the United States act smart or condescendingly? Are we on a collision course with big war or will the human race learn from past mistakes and find a compromise? The verdict is still out and the responsibility is ON US ALL.
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