Short news highlights:
- Popular governor of Lugansk, Valerii Bolotov, shot by sniper, lost lots of blood but is in no danger.
- 7 Ukie soldiers killed by the resistance, one APC destroyed
- Lugansk and Donetsk are negotiating a unification
- The Donetsk Republic is creating its own military
- EU gives 1 billion to Banderastan
- Hungarians want a Hungarian autonomous region in southwestern Ukraine
- Gazprom switches to pre-payment
- Ukies refuse to pay to Russia and demand old prices
- OSCE says that EU/US/RU/UK all agree to the roadmap
- Turchinov says that the “anti-terrorist” operation in the East will continue
- Turchinov wants to ban both Communist and possibly Regions parties for being “terrorists” and “separatist”
- The BBC is hallucinating: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27392074
- Amnesty International Propaganda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcGa4W-bYxI
- Most Germans support Putin: http://www.sott.net/article/279079-German-media-censors-poll-result-showing-89-of-Germans-support-Russian-leaders-stance-regarding-Ukraine
- Desperate ukies use UN painted helicopters: http://zaslon-shield.blogspot.fr/2014/05/kievs-peacekeeping-choppers-over.html
This last news item made me smile because of something the Banderastan’s junta probably did not realize: there is a sweet irony in the fact that helicopters allocated to missions in Africa are now operating in Banderastan.
[note on terminology: I call “the Ukraine” the state which existed for 22 years; I call “Banderastan” the ugly little neo-Nazi statelet which the junta is trying to built on the rump-Ukraine].
The latest “sort of development” is that the OSCE’s roadmap has been accepted by all parties, at least according to the OSCE. “Iats” clearly feels otherwise. The plan is pretty minimalistic and obvious: it calls on all sides to refrain from violence, urges disarmament of illegal armed groups, amnesty and national dialogue on decentralization and elections. There are, of course, two major problems with that:
1) The junta does not want to talk to the Donbass resistance at all, while the latter does not want to talk to the junta as long as the junta does not withdraw all of its repression forces from the Donbass.
2) All the junta needs to do to bypass its obligations under the OSCE roadmap is to declare any paramilitary death-squad as legal as it has already done with the so-called “National guard” or the “Dniper special battalion”. And since the junta has appointed various oligarchs as “governors” all these oligarchs have to do to legalize their own, personal, death-squads is to also declare them legal like, for instance, the “Donbass Volunteer Battalion” of Kolomoiski.
So while this OSCE initiative is reasonable, the US-backed junta still seems to be in a state of deep denial about the severity of the crisis it is facing. As for the US, suffice to say that the Vice-President is more interested in putting his offspring in control of Banderastani’s gas than to deal with the mess the Obama administration has created.
Frankly, the Ukrainian tragedy is now turning into a farce.
Take for example the upcoming Presidential elections: they are going to be held in a country plunged into a Somalia-like chaos, they will be managed by neo-Nazis and they will either nominally include the participation of two parties about to be banned (Communists and Party of Regions) or, even worse, they will be held after the ban of these parties. And since Crimea and the Donbass will not vote at all, the outcome obvious: the “victory” of an oligarch backed by neo-Nazis and Mafia clans internally, and by the USA and its propaganda machine (a la Amnesty International) externally. Last, but not least, the Ukrainians will be voting for a President whose actual powers have yet to be defined by a Constitution which will be adopted only after the Presidential elections.
Even in Africa they would be embarrassed by such a brazen parody of an election, but apparently not in Washington, DC.
The Saker
Gas shutoff equals twilight time for the freaks. June 2nd is it?
ran-style sanctions against Russia could damage US
Lavrov said that unilateral Western sanctions, if Washington and its allies chose to act against Russia the way they did with Iran, would hurt the Russian economy to a degree, but it would also hurt the West as well. And not only Europe, which has strong trade ties with Russia, but possibly the US as well.
“If the West for the sake of revenge is ready to sacrifice its reputation as a reliable partner for the entire world economy and for the entire world financial system, if the United States is prepared to sacrifice its reputation as the holder of the key reserve currency, then it’s up to them to decide,” he said.
This path would lead to other nations seeking ways to limit America’s leverage on them, Lavrov believes.
“If the next morning somebody in Washington woke up in a bad mood and decided to start a coup elsewhere – not in Ukraine, but in Latin America, in their own backyard as they perceive it – those people must be prepared for this situation,” he said.
The lack of statement from Putin regards results of referendum of the 11th? We find the silence dis-quieting. Although he did say he needs time to prepare one – but it is more than 48hrs now. People are thinking betrayal.
#1: The “leaders” of the break away regions need to refrain from escalatory rhetoric and actions against Ukrainian armed forces. They need to be slowly eased out, much like they were in Crimea. The sad reality is that while diplomatically, Russia cannot directly administer these lands, that would actually be the best for all involved.
#2 What is the feeling on the ground in rump-Ukraine amongst the average person on the street? It is baffling that we cannot get any real information out of rump-Ukraine in this age of ubiquitous internet. That place is locked down tighter than Stasi East Germany.
From a neutral point of view (I am an Indian)- Any talks that don’t include representatives from Dontesk/Lushansk is a complete waste of time. EU/NATO can certainly use these talks to show how they are willing to negotiate but negotiate with who??
Killing of 7 Ukrainian troopers, on other hand, just gives another excuse to junta for unleashing their forces (if they are not doing it already).
Finally I am waiting for the day (if it comes) when Gazprom actually turns their tap off. It would be interesting to see reaction from EU more than Ukraine itself.
Staker, finger on the pulse as per usual. Thanks and I hooe you are getting better from your stomach woes.
Everyone remember, this is aboutt geo politics, power and powers demising tool known as debt based money. The usurers are at the end of their ponzi scheme and seeking a way to hold on and deflect blame. We must hold them to account and reasses what money is and means and how to utilize it for the betterment of the planet.
This theme has been reccurent throughout history and we need to deal with this issue once and for alll before we wipe ourselves out as a species on this rock, along with many other innocent soecies.
Regarding that ‘hallucination by the BBC” – what I found amazing is that the Ukrainian speakers bewail the fact that they now can’t speak their language – something they wanted to forbid their Russian compatriots to do.
But the best is the girl who thinsk she’s gotta leave because all her Ukrainian ‘activist friends’ had already left.
I should think so too – what were they being ‘active’ for? The Right Sektor?
The BBc never asks …
I’m glad you’re back, Saker, and hopefully feeling a bit better!
@ phillip traut:
You wrote:
“The lack of statement from Putin regards results of referendum of the 11th? We find the silence dis-quieting. Although he did say he needs time to prepare one – but it is more than 48hrs now. People are thinking betrayal.”
I see this as a breathing space given by Putin so that the people in these two regions can work out a viable state or entity, which then can do as the Crimea did. Don’t forget that the Crimea was already an autonomous Republic.
For Putin to march in right now means that the West and the Kiev regime – who are hoping Putin steps into their trap! – would use this as justification to use all military force against the people and Putin.
Your region would become a battlefield. That has to be avoided at all cost, for the sake of all innocents.
Patience, dear friend, and work together to establish a republic!
@phillip traut said:The lack of statement from Putin regards results of referendum of the 11th? We find the silence dis-quieting. Although he did say he needs time to prepare one – but it is more than 48hrs now. People are thinking betrayal
No worries here. First, Russia did make a deliberately vague comment: “we respect the expression of will of the people”. It is deliberately vague so as to maximize the bargaining position of the folks in Donetsk and Lugansk and, of course, Russia.
As for not making a statement, this is typical Putin. He is aware of an old Russian saying especially favored by folks in uniform: “do not threaten, do not promise – just act”.
Remember the long silence of Putin after the Federal Assembly gave him the mandate to use military force if needed?
I know that by western standards this is very bizarre. Western politicians are always extremely fast to make a statement, backed by an official communique, and then a press conference and a briefing. To paraphrase a very bad movie, “this is Russia!” :-) And in Russia, big statements are very much frowned upon, especially by, as I said, uniformed people like the military or, like Putin, the intelligence services. In fact, it is a Russian beliefs that when negotiating with a potential enemy you should say as little as possible and let the unspoken factors speak for themselves.
Bottom line: I can promise you that this has nothing to do with any betrayal.
I am acutely aware of all the theories about Russia betraying X, Y or Z or about Putin being in cahoots with Obama. This is nonsense. But what is true is that Putin and his “Eurasian Sovereignists” are in for the long run. Their endgoal is not this or that “solution” for the Ukraine but the wholesale dismantling of the AngloZionist empire, including its military and financial might.
That does not mean that the Ukrainian situation is not very important for them – it is – but just as a chess player always has the endgame in mind when playing the middle-game, so does the Kremlin always keep in mind the endgame of this planetary struggle. I am quite sure that this is also true for China which is even typically even MORE silent then the Kremlin but which also works day in and day out towards the same goal.
Cheers,
The Saker
From the standpoint of the EU/US/NATO and Russia it may be about geopolitics but for the people of eastern and southern Ukraine it is most certainly not a geopolitical question. Geopolitical considerations often blinds observers to the simple human dimension. The people of the eastern and southern Ukraine want to live in peace, and enjoy their families without being molested by neo-Nazi’s bent on making them second class citizens in the country of their birth. Free to speak their language and enjoy their culture; free to makes of their lives, what they will. By seeing this as a purely geopolitical matter we push their simple, but powerful, motivations away from the central place it should occupy. That is the mistake that the EU/NATO/US makes and we should be loathe to repeat it.
I find the lack of bluster and lies from Putin a refreshing contrast to the US’s style.
phillip traut said…
“The lack of statement from Putin regards results of referendum of the 11th? We find the silence dis-quieting. Although he did say he needs time to prepare one – but it is more than 48hrs now. People are thinking betrayal.”
I can not decide whether your statement was “deliberate trolling” or a “genuine concern?” However i will suggest “http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-13/russia-holds-de-dollarization-meeting-china-iran-willing-drop-usd-bilateral-trade”.
Your response to this will be an Indication, although I am leaning towards the former than the latter.
An Indian Admirer “Biswajit”
My view on Russia’s end-game in Ukraine.
An annexation of all Ukraine was never reasonable nor desirable. It largely stands as a separate nation, and the nationalism of the west Ukraine, and the West itself, would never take that road. It could only be done with a Czech-like 1968 invasion; Russia not interested in this pathway; it would make it look like a reincarnation of the USSR.
An annexation of south and east Ukraine would leave behind a west Ukraine that is poverty-ridden, debter-state, wholly the puppet/client state of the West, for which Russia would be able to exercise no influence–including stopping NATO expansion.
A creation of an independent Novorossiya, consisting of South East Ukraine avoids some of the Soviet hegemony charges above that otherwise would be put to Russia, but ultimately this creates the same political situation as annexation.
What Russia would want is a federated Ukraine with substantial governance powers having devolved to the oblasts/regions. Even more of a confederacy than a federation. Such a federation/confederacy would be sufficient to keep the EU and NATO in check, and maintain political-economic ties of Ukraine with Russia and the Eurasian Union. West Ukraine would never to concede to such a federation/confederacy given the current state of affairs.
If Russia can support either an interim East Ukraine (including the southern oblasts) or the prospectus of a Novorossiya (which would be an economic catastrophe for West Ukraine), (either of them a kind of “locum tenens” State, if you will) then, and only then, would West Ukraine find itself positioned that it would have to negotiate with East Ukraine in “unification talks”, where the prospect of a federation/ confederation would now look like a very good deal.
@ Afterthought
Regarding point #1, it’s important to remember that the pro-autonomy forces are in a battle for survival against psychopaths. There will be no quarter given here so it makes very little sense for the pro-autonomy forces to be the only side making concessions.
Blogger phillip traut said…
“The lack of statement from Putin regards results of referendum of the 11th? We find the silence dis-quieting. Although he did say he needs time to prepare one – but it is more than 48hrs now. People are thinking betrayal.”
You have to wait till JUNE 3at least. Btw, your name does not suggest you are Russian. “Even Power Brokers in US and US Govt. is waiting for “Russian Federation” to intervene.”
Biswajit
The rank and file soldier is not a psychopath. Don’t confuse the coup government in Kiev with the people of Ukraine which are en toto its victims. “No quarter given” has not been the nature of this conflict, except out of the mouth of the coup President and others. Why would you want to adopt their rhetoric of failure?
When killing can be avoided, it should. And in the case of the redeployment of soldiers, it certainly can be accomplished without killing.
But what would I know about conducting a war ;)
I can imagine that the neocon psychos are very uncomfortable with Putin’s trademark silences.
These exceptionalists are so used to gauging how far they can push by monitoring the protest feedback.
When an opponent doesn’t oblige with protests but acts instead, the psychos lose their ‘free move’ and are left with considerable self doubt as to what next to do safely (which is very nice for a change)
I agree with the Saker, no doubt Putin absolutely knows what he’s doing here. He let’s the circumstances on the ground speak for themselves & then act’s upon them using the facts as the way forward. It is impossible to ignore those facts — no matter what the ziofascist West thinks or does — because they fly in their very faces.
The only complaint I have is that Russia should have invested in creating favorable circumstances in the first place; the outcome would be cheeper. But, I might be asking for too much? Who knows!
Having said that, Russia must not, & I can’t emphasize it enough, must not stop now on this road of recovering its interests on the post-USSR space, it must keep going on! No agreements with the so-called West; ignore them if any are signed for PR purposes; use the momentum to crash the enemy; pay no attention to short-time consequences; go to the end, to total victory!
And as a final note, I also agree that this goes far beyond the borders of the Ukraine; this is a civilizational fight for survival.
Sounds like you are feeling better, thanks for the report, Saker.
Frankly, the lack of Russian posturing, bullying and racing to the get in front of the cameras to blather and pontificate is refreshing and encouraging. Russians are adults. They are serious diplomats. They don’t need to stand in front of the cameras every day to state their position. They are already on record. Watch what they DO — not what they SAY.
There’s an old (American) axiom that “…the doers don’t talk and the talkers don’t do…”. Putin isn’t talking.
Mark my words. Putin is playing to a MUCH larger audience than the people in Ukraine or Russia or even to the EU. He’s capturing the attention and respect of Americans who are waking-up to TRUTH. Decent, honorable and hardworking Americans who see their country and its leadership as deceitful, mendacious, greedy and evil. As the American middle class continues to disintegrate — many will begin to look elsewhere to rebuild. The pioneer spirit is part of Americas DNA. And while American Oligarchs grow richer and more powerful and give amnesty to 3-rd world low-wage workers — the children of American Main Street ingenuity will look elsewhere. Russia may begin to attract an educated and increasingly dissolutioned American middle class. This is NOT as crazy as it sounds. Americans with ancestors who carved this country from wilderness are not fearful of hard work. They are tired of the spiritual, moral and cultural wasteland perpetrated by Hollywood, Wall Street and Washington DC. The Bolsheviks are all on this side of the Atlantic. The long-game is the one to watch…
AGS
Putin is playing this for a bigger and long-term audience. And we are watching him with REAL interest. AGS
Saker,
I want to add something to your perspectives as to the ‘end game’ in your comment @15:35.
Right now the US foreign policy apparatus is like someone with a fractured psyche, like a creature with ‘multiple personality disorder’. On any given day one doesn’t know which ‘identity’ one is going to hear from as far as public statements,policy announcements, etc. Is it the Neocon/CIA/NATO/NED/Freedom House identity? The officially-in-charge, [clueless[ State Department identity comprised of Kerry, Rice, Power and a few executive branch know-nothing blowhards like Biden? Is it the big money boys in defense contracting, trade and energy? Or is it the president himself who,lost in his own pivot maze in pursuit of his only real imperative, (namely to establish a ‘legacy of greatness’ for himself), nevertheless thinks, (like the feckless State Department fools), that he is in control of the foreign policy show?
Hence the farcical appearance of it all. Yet, as farcical, and ultimately self-destructive as this dissonant insanity is, as as well as Mr. Putin is playing his side of things, the incohrence from the US side will not last for long, and Mr. Putin, in my view, has perhaps until the Spring of 2016 to more firmly establish a new alignment of influential and powerful nations with enough clout to effectively challenge neutralize the highly destructive and very dangerous monopolar ambition of the US once and for all.
2016 is when predential elections take place in the US and there is not a scintilla of doubt in my mind that the Neoconservative forces will be ushered into power with full official control of the US State Department and Defense as well under a Republican president, (or if H. Clinton is stupid enough to run and wins by accident),or under a fully weaponized Democratic President Clinton.
o_polites,
That’s really long-term thinking, and makes perfect sense. Ergo, close to incomprehensible for Americans who, maybe, can plan for the next quarter (or four, if it’s a budget that’s really got to be adhered to). Let’s look at this coldly: how long do you think it would really take, not for rump-Ukraine to become “just” cold, hungry and even more violent, but go through enough “leaders” to get to a point where they could agree on basically begging for unification? Right now, I’d say five years minimum, and probably a lot longer than that. The angry ones among them have a long way to go before their rage subsides, and that place is likely to get very, very ugly. Despite what I still believe is the inherent decency of most of the people over there, we’ve stirred a hornet’s nest and we’d have to stop stirring first, instead of just whacking it harder. And there’s approximately zero hope for that happening anytime soon: what would it take, I wonder, to get us to Just. Plain. Leave. Ukraine. Alone.?
james and Sokenekos,
YES.
AGS,
I hope you’re right but you’ve got a much higher opinion of our fellow-citizens than I do. Our Left and our Right both live quite comfortably in their team-sponsored echo-chambers, and their leaders in both cases are — wait for it — oligarchs quite content to keep us fighting each other while they divvy up the spoils.
@Nora: how long do you think it would really take, not for rump-Ukraine to become “just” cold, hungry and even more violent, but go through enough “leaders” to get to a point where they could agree on basically begging for unification? Right now, I’d say five years minimum, and probably a lot longer than that.
I am no Nostradamus but I have heard Russian experts saying that no matter who gets “sort of elected” in May will be ousted before the end of the year. Also, I honestly don’t think that the EU or Russia have the luxury to have this situation continue for 5 years. So my gut feeling is that this will have to be settled before the end of the year, next Spring at the very latest (by then the winter with its consequences will literally “cool down” a lot of exalted Euro-maidanists!). The momentum right now is just too strong to be stopped, I think. But then, I have been wrong about the Ukraine so often ;-)
Kind regards and hugs,
The Saker
BBC is the public propaganda arm of M I6.
http://www.activistpost.com/2013/02/us-state-department-funded-bbc-world.html
7 months before iraq war the BBc was already in the know of war plan by war criminal tony blair and bbc reprot smugly said in the augus-septmebr 2002 report that blair and bush just have to invent and make a case for war against iraq because thoe two had already decided in july 2002 about going for war against weakened iraq.
bbc propaganda was being readied for justification of the same war.
The CIA and mossad and MI5 MI6 etc are only tax dollar funded terrorist groups paid for with the taxes just like terrorist liar BBC.
Frederick Ogilvie, who succeeded the BBC’s founder, Lord Reith, as director general, wrote that his goal was to turn the BBC into a “fully effective instrument of war”. Ogilvie would have been delighted with his 21st-century managers. In the run-up to the Iraq invasion, the BBC’s coverage overwhelmingly echoed the government’s mendacious position, as studies by the University of Wales and Media Tenor show.
========================================================================
al-Qaeda – essentially the Arabic denomination for a CIA database of US-Pakistani-Saudi trained mujahideen during the 1980s: the oh so convenient transnational bogeyman that ”legitimized” the Global War On Terror (GWOT)
now, no middle men; the CIA and the Obama administration fighting side-by-side with al-Qaeda in Syria. No wonder the denomination ”al-CIAeda” has gone viral.
What isn’t funny is that it is the truth that Al Qaeda is actually the CIA!
Anonymous said…
“An Indian Admirer “Biswajit”
Sorry to disappoint you but I am not a troll. I am a South African married to a Russian living in Sevastopol. Although I feel I “know” both sides strategem I have to often convey this to my wife to calm her emotionally “down” after she reads western media reports. With my above blog I was conveying my wifes’ and locals thoughts.Also battles aren’t only fought in Ukraine proper but also here in my household.
My step-daughter is born Ukrainian.And patriotic like her mother. I often have to use my mediation skills (honed in South Africa :)) to pacify the two loves of my life.
Saker,
For once I’m going to really disagree with you! It *should* — for the sake of the people who live there — be settled within a year, but we’re really looking right now at a failed state, plus NATO, Poland/Brzezinski, and a whole chunk of whoever’s running things here *want* more violence and disruption to draw Russia in, and a bunch of not-very-bright Ukrainian oligarchs and a couple crazy ones too, all want that spot at the top and everything else they can grab and none of the above have any problem fomenting violence. Those are all factors that won’t be turned off just because people are suffering — they’re *causing* the suffering and couldn’t care less. Meanwhile, the EU dithers just like the Dems here… I think you’re overestimating the capacity of many of these players not just for compassion, but for shame. (How DO you stop an oligarch if you can’t arrest him?) (Oh God, I think I just answered that, but even assassinations take time.) I’m really thinking the profit motive of the BIG US banking, agriculture and oil corporations would be the only thing that could bring this to a reasonable, and timely, conclusion. Putin will win, eventually, but I still think if TPTB on our side don’t see a confederation as being in their best interest, it will get a whole lot worse for a whole lot longer before anything good comes of it.
I wonder if there’s anyone at all in our government or quasi-government who’s yet given a thought to what Ukrainians are already going through because of us.
@phillip traut: Sorry to disappoint you but I am not a troll.
Sorry about “An Indian Admirer “Biswajit” calling you a troll. I probably should not have let pass. For whatever it’s worth, I certainly did not see any signs of you being a troll.
@An Indian Admirer “Biswajit: please do not call other posters trolls unless there is some pretty strong evidence to that effect. People can have genuine concerns about Russia’s true intentions without being trolls. Just remember what Russia was like under Eltsin and even Medvedev when both Iran and Libya were back-stabbed at the UN by Russia.
You can disagree without name-calling, ok?
Thanks a lot and kind regards to both,
The Saker
@Nora,
You may be right. Hope not. Most Americans, even the ones with good intensions, are either not paying attention or continue to accept the left-right meme developed by Anglo-Zionists worldwide. Same folks who watch “Game of Thrones” and don’t see the real one playing out in the streets of Odessa or Kiev or Washington DC. These are folks who can’t see patterns — or connect the dots. If I were Putin — these would not be my intended audience.
I do sense a change in atmosphere. Two years ago I was listening to Hannity (okay — that was REALLY hard to admit) and almost voted for Romney (again, really shameful, I know…). If I can wake-up — anyone can.
Americans may have been fed a bunch of crap over the years — particularly in terms of “American Exceptionalism”. We were indeed blessed with Founders that possessed rare gifts of intellect, integrity and humanity. Those who came to America early-on survived enormous challenges and experienced many sacrifices in building this country. Most Americans today don’t come from that stock. And its harder and harder to recognize our forefathers in todays citizens. But away from the madding-crowds and Kardashian media — in small towns across the country — one still sees glimpses of goodness. The small, reflex, everyday offerings of kindness and humanity which was a hallmark of this country. This isn’t an “American” quality per se. But its the quality which gave America its greatness — and it is what we are losing. There are those who will seek “goodness” elsewhere. Forming new communities and relationships with like-minded people. Seeking opportunities to build something worthy of ones time and efforts. It’s not based on “ethnic-purity” or “tribal-ness”. It’s based on goodness, honesty and self-reliant trustworthiness. Those qualities are not defined or limited by geography. People with such qualities are valuable citizens to EVERY and ANY country fortunate enough to have them within their borders.
Regards,
AGS
As for the question of rebuilding Ukraine, it has the opportunity to become the first of many nations adopting the resiliency tactic of “sustainable growth” that relies 100% on its own resource base plus energies supplied by Earth and Sun; for eventually, Russia’s hydrocarbon resources will deplete and its exports will cease. Putin’s aware of that reality, which is why he desires the Eurasian trade-zone construct and China’s Silk Road conceptions. Yes, it is a very very long game.
AGS,
Welcome aboard! Getting to where you are now from Hannity and Romney is quite a distance — how’d it happen? Being part Native American, I take a somewhat dimmer view than you of our Founding Fathers’ integrity, humanity or kindness, nor do I believe that this country anywhere, at any time, was exceptional in that regard. We live in rural/small-town America and love it but also know its flaws up close and personal. And I am hard-pressed to see anything other than empty claims of self-reliance attached invariably to requests and expectations for hand-outs. I will give you this though: folks out here *will* work hard and give generously to help others, as long as they know them personally. Otherwise, not so much. But every other week there’s some kind of effort to help one family or another overwhelmed by their medical bills. Which sounds wonderful, and would be if said efforts ever raised more than 1/10 of what was owed — and/or if the people working so hard to raise that money weren’t unalterably opposed to any form of government-sponsored or assisted healthcare, despite some of the most vocal opponents themselves receiving both Social Security and Medicare! I absolutely agree with you about goodness and honesty being a base for community-building, but not about self-reliant trustworthiness: to me a sense of collectivism, the importance of the community as a whole rather than prizing mere individualism, is the only way we can go forward. A healthy community, in my mind, has people who, sure, do their own thinking but structure and live their lives with a concern for the welfare of their entire community, not just themselves.
The Chaos American empire have no qualms in a ruined Ukraine and civil war. The refugees will be EU’s problem