President Joe Biden called it what could be the biggest invasion since World War II.
The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister is on his way to Ukraine to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky due to Russia being thought to be plotting an attack on Ukraine soil. With 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian-Russian border, chaos is not far out of the realm of possibilities. This very tedious situation could go one of many ways, including a possible world conflict killing millions and destroying billions of dollars worth of property. In short: we could be on the brink of a third world war
We as a country (or our government rather) are extremely powerful. Whether it be looked at from an influential, economic or militant viewpoint, the US leaves no doubt that we are a world powerhouse. This is for better or worse, as when a conflict 6000 overseas miles away occurs, oftentimes it is our military who is looked upon to “make peace.” Although there has always been someone that enjoys the spoils of war, the overarching idea prevails: war is bad.
But why should you care? Really, why should you care about this conflict that is 6000 miles away, that most likely does not have a direct impact on your life. Well, the answer is relatively simple when you think about who actually pays for all of this war stuff.
You.
It is you (or your parents if you are a minor/do not pay taxes) who will feel the burden of an inclusion in this conflict between nations on the other side of the world. War truly has no victors.
Given all of this information, what should a world superpower such as the United States do?
Stay the hell out of it.
Obviously, context is needed for this very meticulous situation. First of all, why is there even any conflict between two supposedly sovereign nations who border one another and have for decades? Well, as most things do between “Democratic” and “socialist” states, it all traces back to times of the Soviet Union and their takeover of formerly Czar-controlled Russia.
Essentially, when the USSR collapsed in 1991 Ukraine declared themselves a free nation from Russia and therefore the sovereign nation felt it was free to lay claim to whatever territories it felt it owned. Unfortunately for Russia, that meant that it lost a hefty amount of land to essentially its younger brother, who had forever been a part of its territory, even pre-USSR. Because of this, there was already brewing tension when infamous Russian President Vladimir Putin (who is very much on the hunt for these old Russian territories back) was elected in 1999.
So, now it is understood why there is tension, but surely it has been resolved after over 20 years of there being a problem, right?
Wrong.
But why is it in the news now? Well, it makes the news every few years, most recently in 2014 when controversial borderline Russia supporter Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from office for the second time in half a decade. This was as a result of massive protests in which he rejected an agreement with the European Union (EU) and chose to be closer with Moscow and Russia as a whole. After their boy was basically kicked out of office by his constituents, Russia would seize the Crimean Peninsula in Southern Ukraine. Consequently, Russia threw support behind an extremist insurgency that broke out in the Eastern region of Ukraine. The “Donbas,” where the fighting occurred, saw over 14,000 deaths and saw a peace agreement brokered by France in 2015 to end these mass-casualty fights. No political settlement was reached however, and as a result seven years later we now have more unrest at these European countries’ borders.
Now, with over 100,000 troops on the border, Russia is highly likely to do the previously unthinkable: a full scale ground invasion that could spark a third world war.
So, now it is clear why war is bad in general, it is clear why the thought of war between Russia and Ukraine is revived, but it is not so clear why the US specifically should not interfere beyond war being expensive and in general just bad for everybody.
Basically, the US is not the good guy most of the time.
The military of our country has regularly overthrown democratically elected leaders in Southern America, throwing support behind right-wing tyrants, and in general just has a poor track record when the military or Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) interferes with other countries business and/or elections. Remember Ronald Reagan and the contra issue? Remember when the CIA executed a coup in Guatemala removing socialist President Jacobo Armenz and proceeded to install right-wing dictator Carlos Armas into power (he proceeded to drive the country into poverty and then blamed “socialism”)? Remember the entire Vietnam war? Do you remember Cuba and everything the US has done to prevent any left-wing or working class power from having a consistent uproot? Really, since World War II and fighting Nazis, when has the United States been the good guy in not only multi-country world conflict, but any conflict? We recently pulled out of Iraq in an attempt to end a 20+ year long “War on Terror” that was funded by oil companies in the US for us to gain access to the Middle East’s vast amount of natural resources. So, seriously, why do we even trust our own military to go into Ukraine or Russia and not mess things up?
But when it does happen (it certainly will if Russia invades Ukraine) and the United States sends bodies to Northern Europe, it is a guarantee that they will say they are “protecting democracy”. They always do. This is bigger than NATO; this is bigger than Russia Vs. Ukraine; this is bigger than the United States Vs. The World.
This is a matter of life and death, and when you do not need to send Americans to war, you do not send them. The US does not have a dog in this fight, and they should not purchase one.
Our hospitals are rampant with Covid-19, our schools are underdeveloped and generally welfare in the country could be much better. That is, if our government stopped being warhawks and focused on its common citizens on its own soil, not its big corporations which have a stranglehold on legislatures.
This is a challenge to the people who run our country: you do not even have to worry about messing this up.
Simply do not act.
