Facing The Ugly Truth

We have been in the midst of a struggle against COVID- a world-wide pandemic that attacked us all. Of course it hit hardest where people were not aware of what was going on. And then it became politicized, when some people thought they could exploit the issue for narrow political ends. More people died than had to. More people died than should have. Many millions would not have, if we had gotten it right.

On top of all the normal challenges in life, we’ve got this turmoil. How do we fight it? How do we protect ourselves? We know the pandemic destroyed the livelihoods of billions, and we are threatened with a recession.? We are still worrying whether our vaccines are dangerous while working on new multi-strain boosters. And what about global warming, and those hurricanes?

We know that across the street and just over the horizon there are all those people who are having it much tougher than we have it, putting bread on the table, taking care of their kids, even struggling to stay alive. We’re not thinking too much about it most of the time because, let’s face it, we have our own row to hoe. We are more than fully occupied.

Now we have this Ukrainian thing to aggravate matters. Putin becomes the villain we always thought he was with those tricky-Dickie mannerisms and sly smiles, riding a horse bare-chested. Only now he’s riding a tank and throwing bombs and missiles at helpless civilians because he wants his neighbor’s mineral wealth to steal and exploit the way he has done in Russia. And he’s working on kidnapping kids and populations because he’s concerned about Russia’s aging dynamic.

Claiming he’s in danger from the big bad Americans, (who have proved to the world that they are wimps,) he wants to make sure he has a bigger land barrier between Russia and its neighbors. Those are the countries that used to be Russia’s vassals and are shivering with fright behind a thin line of U.S. soldiers.

But now this is on our televisions screens every night. There’s no way we can escape it, this moment they say is threatening our way of life everywhere. Shall we join a demonstration, volunteer, send a check? The apartment that has just been blasted with a missile in some Ukrainian town could be yours tomorrow, they say. Those kids lying dead on the street could be yours or your grandkids. Do we really believe that?

Hold the phone! We know Putin is nasty. We know what nasty is, having had a taste of Trump. IF we really don’t like what he is doing, how come we don’t organize a U.N peace-keeping force like we’ve done on other occasions? We have UN troops on the Lebanese border with Israel. How come that is not happening like it did when Saddam Hussain invaded Kuwait? Nobody has said a word about that? It doesn’t have to be NATO! How come this has not happened already? We can avoid the Security Council and make it happen in the General Assembly or by an agreement among the willing. And all this because Russia, a country with an economy the size of Spain’s, complains they are feeling claustrophobic!?

The big problem is that America, the one we rely on to lead us in doing the right thing, has wimped out in a way we would never have believed possible. America is in crisis at this moment about who they are. America is supposed to be paralyzed over fear that Russia would actually use nuclear arms. But the problem is deeper than that because it is hard to believe that the powers that be actually believe that. Surely we know that that would spell the end for Putin and he wouldn’t commit suicide.

We have supplied the Ukrainians with better arms. They are proving to be valiant defenders of their liberty. The Russians appear to be only good at destroying things from a distance and kidnapping populations. Meanwhile America is moving o-so-slowly to clean up its mess, and only if the Democrats stay in power.

So, back to the perplexing present. We are on our way to proving that Trump is the criminal we always thought he was. It’s an agonizingly slow process because America is exposing its ugly underbelly of fascist tendencies and millions ready to turn the county into a dictatorship. How vulnerable are democracies to anti-democratic forces willing to discard it rather than surrender power to the popular will! The very bad news is we have some of that in Canada too.

Have we been moved to take some definitive action about what is swirling about our heads, or are we just trying to shut it all off as a distraction from the stuff we’re determined to get done, come what may? Why do I feel so guilty about wanting to shut all that off like a bad program on TV?

We still have to thread our way through our daily grind, preparing food for our crowd, showing up on the job, meeting our crew for walks, exercising, and/or a schmooze. Still wearing a mask just in case, phoning the kids, asking who died, who is sick, who is coming to visit, and where we are going this weekend. We need to stock up on groceries because prices have risen and are rising further.

Maybe I’ll send a note to my MP about what I think somebody else should do! Then we can go down to the pub or Starbucks and complain about things together! And I used to think of myself as a hero!