SILENCE

  For a very long time we have been warned, over and over again that all it takes for evil to succeed is for the 'good' to remain silent. Silence is an acquiescence to evil, empowering it, enabling it to gain momentum far more than it would have otherwise. Excuses for it and its errors further blind the already non - seeing and harden the hearing of others. So why do we insist on keeping to the policy of silence? Why do we not seem to understand that by that silence, by that wishy-washy behavior we are giving aid and succor to the enemy, directly opposing what is right, even though it be dangerous to do so. It seems we have yet to learn the lessons of the past - appeasement is useless, a deferment of decisions that should have been made long ago, and a useless supposed impediment to the success of the evildoer. It simply does not work. Never will, as it simply highlights the weakness of those who are supposed to stand for right, for justice, for fair play, for freedom rather than oppression and murder.

Perhaps I am naive, though I do not think so. It does not take a genius to understand the world situation, the muck in which we are mired without a simple branch to cling to - not unless we 'man' up and do the right thing. Not unless we understand and internalize the debt we owe to present and future populations. Not unless we understand that by postponing decisions, taking decisive, clear actions, on this horrific state of affairs, we are dangerously delaying attention and repair to other existential concerns, in particular, the environment. Even as the environment turns on us, giving us 100 - and 500 - year events at the drop of a hat. Even though more of the world is turning uninhabitable, much of it due to our foolish, unthinking behavior. Even now, we are watching the destruction of the 'breadbasket ' of Europe, looking at hunger, starvation, on a scale beond any we have seen before, not one country, but many, many, more than thought feasible before. WE are introducing serious, perhaps unrepairable snags in the chain of exchanges necessary if the agricultural and food supplies of the world are to be sufficient. Not at the present rate. Just ask Brazil as it tries to manage its agricultural import and export needs. We simply forget to see the bigger picture, the one that grows alarmingly, in the wrong direction, all because we refuse to see what must be done and NOW. 

Yes, it is a most dangerous step to involve ourselves in this war. After all, some say, it is in Europe, in Eastern Europe, simply a continuation of their eternal conflicts in search of land and power. But it is not so. There are no barriers now to global involvement. There are no natural barriers which would inhibit its spread. None. The world is so tied together that the power of the butterfly and its wings are magnified, multiplied almost to infinity, or should I say, extinction? Whether we 'interfere' or not in this ghastly, evil invasion of Ukraine by a brutal and barbarous Russian force, I sincerely believe the outcome will be the same. Unless we stand up to this man, this international bully, call his bluff, and be prepared lest he never come to his senses. There is nothing in his twisted mind, soul, and background that would stop him.

Silence to the murder of civilians. Silence to the brutal 'rubberlizing' of an entire country. Silence to the ever nearing in your face approach of Russian bombing, including the one yesterday at the very hub of cooperation between Ukraine and 'allies'.. Thumbing a nose because Putin knows he has them cowed, deluded in their thinking that silence is the best way. It is not. 

Less than a century ago the world stood silent as it allowed the Nazi armies to flow into Sudetenland. It allowed further absorption of other pieces of land. Finally, Poland was invaded under a pretext that Putin was set to imitate. He already has followed the plot as he, too, annexed land, piece after piece, imposed Russian control over the puppets in government. Now the Ukraine and after? A plethora of riches for Putin - Finland and Sweden are not in NATO. Neither is Moldova, right on the border with Ukraine. The other two countries offer riches, thriving economies and much land. And then what? Back to the three Baltic Republics? Where does it end? Or is it nonsense to think that it ever does.

The world continued to be silent, a thunderous silence, allowing for the brutalization of enemy populations, and the scientifically planned, obsessive, insane, yet almost successful to completion, of the annihilation of the entire Jewish nation off the face of this earth. Silence does not help anyone. It never has. Silence in the face of a bully is asking for defeat. Are we willing to accept that defeat again? Are we to remain in silence as we tsk tsk at the horrific scenes of brutal murder and mayhem? When Israel in its defense, after exorbitant efforts to warn people of imminent shelling of military targets, to get out, but a civilian remains, the world shrieks, throw ashes on their heads and dons sackcloth. Where are those ashes now? Where is the public dismay and concern? Nowhere officially nor in reality. The continued silence will not work if the plan is to stop that man in his tracks. Not when the bully of Chechnya threatens to aid the Russians with his even more barbaric and brutal soldiers. 

So where are the allies of Ukraine? Standing behind fake, made-up lines on a map, on signatures on a piece of paper? That paper, those lines are ignored, despised by Putin and he will roll right over them. Indeed, he has already done so.

In yesterday's video an elderly couple chased out  armed soldiers of the Russian force who had broken open the gate to their home. They stood up to them, these two tiny people, armed with nothing but a determination to protect home and hearth and if it meant taking to task these soldiers, actually pushing them out, then so be it.Why can we not emulate these brave souls? Why are we silent in the face of invaders of our home and hearth. Do not remain blind and deaf to reality. Ukraine is indeed part of our home and hearth. There is no avoiding it. Not in today's interconnected reality. Wake up, world. Silence is the tool of the enemy, of the worst among us. Silence is to aid them. Silence never turns out right. Never. I truly wish we had learned that already, taken it to heart. I indeed despair at our willful stupidity and denial of reality and its truth.