krebscycle

The internet and media has been positively saturated with stale lectures about how “decadent” Europe and “effeminate” America, led by our naive and hapless (ahem , “black”) President need to man up and drop our fuzzy butterfly dreams of post-history in the face of Shirtless Putin The Barbarian.  Perhaps our tough guy teachers should wake up and learn something about realism and states before continuing with this line of argument.

First, Western European nations are not now and have not ever been at all interested in the well being and human rights of Ukrainians. If Putin had a credible  offer to guarantee no refugees, cheap wheat and cheap gas, plus more Russian cash flowing into Europe’s sick banks, Europe would shed a few tears and move on. In fact, that is what they are doing now. Western Europe only cares about human rights when it pays. All your pompous crap about “The West” means less than zero. France, Germany, and the UK are not interested in the Romance of Roland, only about the self interest of states.  And you should be grateful, because the people in the way when Western Europe goes on a crusade rarely do well. You dont like that? You are distressed that your Boy Scout Alarm Whistle has not brought anyone to the waving standards of Western Democracy? Well, grow up .

As for us in the USA, the dumb and happy people who elected a person of African descent to lead us despite your revulsion, we have a lot of fish to fry, if you know what that means. We’d rather not provoke a nuclear war with an unstable and increasingly desperate Russian regime. We are trying to prevent China from invading the Pacific. We have a war to wind down in Afghanistan. We have a crisis to manage in Syria – and by the way, just because you don’t give a damn about human  rights in Syria and Congo and Chad and Burma and Libya doesn’t mean we don’t care.  We have also problems at home. So forgive us, but we are the kind of asshole realists who prize our well being over yours. You want to convince us to do more? You could start by explaining why it is in our interest and please, stop explaining that Putin is not a nice guy, as if we are going to faint with shock. That’s just insulting.

Finally, we are not too interested in your theories about how respect for civil rights, gay people, and equal rights for women make us contemptible. The history of Eastern Europe testifies to the poor results obtained by relying on racism, xenophobia, superstition, and grievance. Good luck with it. We’re out.