No, I’m not trying to defend Putin. He is what he is: a KGB thug. I don’t dispute that in the slightest. I certainly don’t dispute Russia’s horrible abortion record. What I am saying, however, is that I don’t think the answer to our problems lies with those who advocate “the third way”. There is no third way anymore. The Founding Fathers had a choice to make: monarchy or direct democracy. These chose the middle path; a republic (the third way).
When a society becomes contemptuous of fundamental moral values it becomes a society that cannot endure through the use of such philosophical/political science nuance. I live in California, I ain’t appealing to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The time is here for a street fight.
Rightly or wrongly, people see in Putin a champion for their ideals. Sure he’s a Russian nationalist, a wannabe Czar, a thug and a bully. He might not even believe what he says about the homosexual movement and the anecdotal evidence of his affinity for the Russian Orthodox Church. But so what?
Who else is telling the EU and the Obama administration with their assortment of evil policies to go to hell? We can’t even elect a representative who can represent our values without walking on eggshells around “those issues” for fear of being tarred and feathered in the MSM. We are already living in a tyranny of our own creation.
Rightly or wrongly Putin views the encroachment of the EU/NATO as a threat to Russian hegemony. I can understand that. I wouldn’t want those people in my backyard either.
The question that should be asked is why are people turning to a Russian strongman? What else can people put their faith in (I mean this in the secular sense; so don’t tell me Jesus, for He’s not pleased I’m sure)? A GOP that has abandoned them in an effort to play catch up with the Democrats for who can be the most socially liberal and accepted by the hipsters so they can avoid being on the, “wrong side of history?”
I think we should resign ourselves to the fact that the Constitution is not going to save us. It’s meaningless at this point. No election is going to save us. I think we should prepare for a wholly new form of government in the near future. And unless we want Mad Max/Thunder Dome (”Who runs bartertown?”)We had better get our orders in early. So we have choices to make:
1.) US/EU global socialism?
2.) Judeo-Christian strongman?
Like I said, I don’t believe there is a third way. Actually, maybe there is: burn it all to the ground and start over.
1.) US/EU global socialism?
2.) Judeo-Christian strongman?
Like I said, I don’t believe there is a third way. Actually, maybe there is: burn it all to the ground and start over
Neither of those two models are any better than what we have, in fact both are worse. Russians turn to a strongman because, first and foremost, it is all they've really ever known. Putin has wasted Russian resources, reduced individual freedom and otherwise done the Russian people no favors. He is no savior. He is playing with a weak hand, his adversaries at the moment (namely Obama) just happen to be buffoons. Putin wasn't even that popular and was dealing with internal dissent in what is a corrupt, decaying society. Putin is getting a bump in support the same way other shaky regimes do, but drumming up a conflict and stoking nationalist sentiment. No different than what the Argentine military tried, unsuccessfully over time, by invading the Falklands. The list is endless of corrupt dictatorships that have tried this.
There is a lot good about our constitution and system of governance, but what we have is still imperfect. I think you live and learn. You look at what worked, and when the time comes to create a new system you build on what was successful with the US constitution and make changes to avoid the pitfalls that showed themselves. As I pointed out, one of the first things I would do is specifically write out any role for the federal government in building a social welfare state. The flexibility would still be there for states to build safety nets and whatnot, but they'd have to do it on their own and remain competitive with the other states - this would make it much more difficult for us to arrive at the point we have. The idea that we have to choose between socialism and a Judeo-Christian strongman is way off base.
I am not optimistic in the short run, but nor I am ready to throw in the towel on the democratic republic concept. We may implode and have to start again, but the best idea is to learn from what went wrong and design a constitution that tries to prevent those things from happening again. And even at that, it may only be successful in delaying rot and decay for an additional 50 years or so. Instead of making it 250 years, perhaps next time we will make it 300. Nothing lasts forever, mankind is not perfectible (as so many socialists believe), and while our system has major flaws it still delivered great things to this country for a very long time. We'll just have to keep building on what works and curtailing those things that cause us problems.