Post by Wayne Hall on Feb 17, 2023 4:03:12 GMT -5
Geopolitics: a discussion between two Australians
The U.S. Constitution was supposed to secure the right balance between the one, the few and the many.
What has remained today is "the many" (hoi polloi). The one and the few have been suborned and co-opted and so cannot and do not protect hoi polloi.
It would not be good for what is beginning to happen at the level of the states in the U.S. (disintegration) to be followed in Australia. Federation in Australia is the counterpart of the War of Independence in the U.S. Canberra's historic role seems to be a matter for the future, not the past, as is arguably the case for Washington D.C.
The following discussion, focused on Ukraine, is conducted between two Australians, female and male, friends and antagonists all our lives since our early twenties.
W.: What if Russia wins this war with NATO? And what if it doesn't?
J.: Putin won't win and needs to stay in his box. Expansionism is not viable in this day and we can only hope physical illness catches up with his mental illness, much as one shouldn’t think that way however gross the person might be. He doesn’t look well. Other than that, his circle of wealthy acolytes need to turn on him - another revolution maybe. So far everyone who’s tried that is dead of course. Rather like Hitler. Nobody could pull it off despite the desire.
W.: I think you are wrong about this. I think he is going to win. I am not sure, of course, and I can be philosophical because like you I am close to the end of my life, though perhaps not very close. But I wonder what it is about the prospect of Russia being defeated and broken up that you find encouraging. This will mean that the World Economic Forum's and Klaus Schwab's "Great Reset" is not the provocation that I judge it to be and is seriously intended as a future for the world. I judge that the logic that underlies it is like the logic that underlay Capodistrias' method for getting Greeks to eat potatoes. They were not willing to do something so unfamiliar unless they thought the authorities didn't want them to. So a potato plantation was started here in Aegina (just a stone's throw from our house) and put in an enclosure and guarded by armed sentries threatening anyone who came close. So of course the Greeks started stealing them and they became a staple in Greek diet, as they had been elsewhere and became almost everywhere, or at least everywhere European.
But in any case apart from thinking you are wrong I also hope you are wrong and wonder how much you have thought about the implications of being right. There is an Australian called Robert Burrowes who has been working with us (the World Freedom Alliance Activist Group) though he recently left. He clearly does not think we accord him enough respect. He has an analysis which depicts the consequences of your being right and he retains a following in the World Freedom Alliance, which is split. The WFA Activist Group are those he regards as unhelpful and to me this view is a symptom of his having a salesman's mentality rather than an activist's. He has his product (We are Human, We are Free) and the desideratum is that it be sold. He is not alone in this, of course. Nearly all activists are vulnerable to the fate of degenerating into salesmen (metaphorically speaking). I might point out that Robert's family history is the exact opposite of mine. All of my relatives avoided involvement in the British and American Empire's wars, for various reasons, whereas most of Robert's forebears were killed in the First and Second World Wars. Like me he evaded Vietnam and he has been an activist since then, but he has avoided politics, not tried to find a way to involve himself in it as I have.
But Robert is right about "The Great Reset" being a horrifying prospect. It is not a world I want my son Jimmy to have to prepare my grandson Stavros for. Last night we had some friends to dinner and after the dinner the conversation drifted on to a number of subjects, including Australia. I found myself motivated to sing "Land of Hope and Glory", an indication of the kinds of content of our primary school education in the fifties in Australia. I had to translate the words for some in the group but they were all interested. One of the women said that all empires have been activated by the same violence as the British Empire. Including the Athenian and Macedonian Empires. Aegina was an early victim of Athenian imperialism and sided with the Spartans (and so with the Persians) for that reason. I judge that "The Great Reset" is a provocation and that what is going to happen, along with a Russian victory in the confrontation with NATO, is strengthening of the Anglo-American hegemony, but now with Russia allied with the US, on something like its own terms, and Europe on the other side. The central Asian geopolitical alternative will be hegemonic. Canada may become a republic, obliging the US, in order to preserve solidarity with Canada, to join the Commonwealth as the republic that it already is, becoming like other Commonwealth republics such as India and South Africa. Greece could come into the Commonwealth to join Cyprus, and possibly in this way achieve the Enosis so much desired by Greeks in the past. A united Ireland could also come into the Commonwealth as a republic. Australia will not become a republic: the Windsors will remain head of state in Australia as insurance against China. A second more democratic pole will be generated in the European Union, focused on Romania.
So here is a certain alternative scenario. Will one of us or both of us live long enough to see which of us is right?
J.: Why you want Russia to expand again like past imperial empires I can’t imagine. And how redefining borders again and again, with cold or hot wars, can possibly be a step forward in geopolitics, defies logic on your part! You are thinking in polarities which is what is wrong with everything at the moment. I’m not encouraged by the idea of Putin (Russia) being ‘defeated' because that’s not the point. It’s Russia that is trying to expand, not hold itself together. An old colonial ploy! Russia is Russia is Russia. The USSR was an expansion that thankfully has ended. Putin is trying to reinstate Russia's borders back to the ‘glory’ days of the USSR. So this is not about Putin being ‘defeated” - it’s about keeping him from expanding, keeping him in his box. The Ukraine, and all the other countries that were for decades under Russia’s sway, now have their sovereignty back and that’s as it should be.
You rail against the expansionism of the USA and the old British Empire etc etc. Why support expansionism of Russia and perhaps China in the future - they are pushing their boundaries as you know? It's nonsensical.
Land of Hope and Glory! Why would you be motivated to sing and interpret an old British Empire trojan horse anthem like that. For Gods sake! It has nothing to do with the Australian psyche and I certainly hope you don't suggest to your Greek friends that it does!
W.: If Russia is expanding it is through influence with Christians. More and more people are voluntarily coming to subtitle Russian videos with a Christian religious message. The second coming of Christ! As you know, I participate at the equinoxes and solstices in ceremonies in honour of the gods of Olympus. I am a pluralist! And I judge, as a hypothesis, that "Putin winning" will mean a new lease of life not for a post-Soviet sphere but for the Anglosphere, with the U.S. and the U.K. more as equals but also with an upgraded role for former dominions such as Australia. Federation was Australia's counterpart to the American War of Independence, and Canberra's historic role is something for the future, not the past, as Washington D.C. is: the past. Coudenhove-Kalergi wanted English as the language of the European Union, but also he didn't want the UK to be a member (nor the U.S. or, of course. Russia, for that matter). A bit like Greece's relationship with the Western Roman Empire. We take your language but not your population. He also saw the British dominions as an impediment to European integration and, like Hitler, he wanted to co-opt them. And he was one of the architects (pretty much forgotten) of today's European Union.
Your idea that Russia is trying to expand, not hold itself together is just a regurgitation of mainstream ideas for people stupider than you. Putin regrets the passing of Communism, but he regrets with his heart, not his mind. He makes that distinction clear, always, if you follow what he says to people who are sympathetic to him, and not just listen to mendacious enemies.
J.: How Russia colonising the Ukraine gives a new lease of life to the Anglosphere is beyond my ken. And Putin doesn’t have a heart does he? I think this is all in your imagination. Would you put your life in Putin's hands?
W.: My life is (our lives are) already in Putin's hands if there is a nuclear war. But when the Soviet Union disintegrated I did everything I could publicly to advocate unilateral Soviet nuclear disarmament. What did you do at that time to ensure that "our lives are not in Putin's hands"? Of course Putin was not on the international public scene in 1991 but the relevant parameters of the present situation were all there, particularly in relation to nuclear weapons.
This is what I wrote then: 1. againstthecurrent.org/wayne-hall/
And this is what I wrote a little later: 2. www.globalresearch.ca/nuclear-weapons-and-representative-democracy/1806
So do you know what you are talking about?
Are you familiar with the Khazaria factor? www.haaretz.com/jewish/2014-03-19/ty-article/.premium/when-ukraine-was-jewish/0000017f-ea19-d4a6-af7f-fedf24430000
J.:That has to do with the Russian invasion precisely what?
W.: A motivating factor. Zelensky doesn't hide it, any more than Klaus Schwab hides The Great Reset.
J.: A motivation for Putin to invade??
W.: A motivation to try to prevent Russians from becoming the new Palestinians. For years after the 2014 coup in Ukraine Putin evidently acted on the basis of a hope that Zionists could be contented with a role for Jews in Ukraine comparable to what the role of Jews in the United States is supposed to be constitutionally. After all, Zelensky was elected as the peace candidate. But this Russian policy was unsuccessful. And the latest biblical disaster in a place called Palestine in the U.S. will encourage the notions of "conspiracy theorists". Isn't that natural? Is there something intentional behind all this? After all, you have heard the saying: "Just because you are paranoid that doesn't mean they are not all against you."
J.: None of this makes any sense to me. Russia becoming the new Palestine?? Since when has the Ukraine threatened to take over any part of Russia. And Jewish or not, the Ukraine was never part of Russia, just the USSR wasn’t it?
W.:Yes. The USSR was called "The Soviet Empire" by its detractors and there was a logic to that name. There was a logic to the name "The British Empire" also, and it is now called simply "The Commonwealth". The way that Ukrainian nationalism survived the downfall of Bandera and his Nazis is tracked in this article: www.fullrio.com/news-28796 Don't be put off by the Cyrillic script at the beginning. The article is in English. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Bandera
The Russian state was founded in Kiev. Russians have a sentimental attachment to Ukraine for the same reasons that many Greeks are sentimental about Istanbul/Constantinople.
Terrorist attacks by Ukraine have already started inside Russia. They often go without retaliation because of the Russian government's fear of unleashing/reluctance to unleash.... all-out war with NATO
We are Human, We are Free We are Human, We are Free
The U.S. Constitution was supposed to secure the right balance between the one, the few and the many.
What has remained today is "the many" (hoi polloi). The one and the few have been suborned and co-opted and so cannot and do not protect hoi polloi.
It would not be good for what is beginning to happen at the level of the states in the U.S. (disintegration) to be followed in Australia. Federation in Australia is the counterpart of the War of Independence in the U.S. Canberra's historic role seems to be a matter for the future, not the past, as is arguably the case for Washington D.C.
The following discussion, focused on Ukraine, is conducted between two Australians, female and male, friends and antagonists all our lives since our early twenties.
W.: What if Russia wins this war with NATO? And what if it doesn't?
J.: Putin won't win and needs to stay in his box. Expansionism is not viable in this day and we can only hope physical illness catches up with his mental illness, much as one shouldn’t think that way however gross the person might be. He doesn’t look well. Other than that, his circle of wealthy acolytes need to turn on him - another revolution maybe. So far everyone who’s tried that is dead of course. Rather like Hitler. Nobody could pull it off despite the desire.
W.: I think you are wrong about this. I think he is going to win. I am not sure, of course, and I can be philosophical because like you I am close to the end of my life, though perhaps not very close. But I wonder what it is about the prospect of Russia being defeated and broken up that you find encouraging. This will mean that the World Economic Forum's and Klaus Schwab's "Great Reset" is not the provocation that I judge it to be and is seriously intended as a future for the world. I judge that the logic that underlies it is like the logic that underlay Capodistrias' method for getting Greeks to eat potatoes. They were not willing to do something so unfamiliar unless they thought the authorities didn't want them to. So a potato plantation was started here in Aegina (just a stone's throw from our house) and put in an enclosure and guarded by armed sentries threatening anyone who came close. So of course the Greeks started stealing them and they became a staple in Greek diet, as they had been elsewhere and became almost everywhere, or at least everywhere European.
But in any case apart from thinking you are wrong I also hope you are wrong and wonder how much you have thought about the implications of being right. There is an Australian called Robert Burrowes who has been working with us (the World Freedom Alliance Activist Group) though he recently left. He clearly does not think we accord him enough respect. He has an analysis which depicts the consequences of your being right and he retains a following in the World Freedom Alliance, which is split. The WFA Activist Group are those he regards as unhelpful and to me this view is a symptom of his having a salesman's mentality rather than an activist's. He has his product (We are Human, We are Free) and the desideratum is that it be sold. He is not alone in this, of course. Nearly all activists are vulnerable to the fate of degenerating into salesmen (metaphorically speaking). I might point out that Robert's family history is the exact opposite of mine. All of my relatives avoided involvement in the British and American Empire's wars, for various reasons, whereas most of Robert's forebears were killed in the First and Second World Wars. Like me he evaded Vietnam and he has been an activist since then, but he has avoided politics, not tried to find a way to involve himself in it as I have.
But Robert is right about "The Great Reset" being a horrifying prospect. It is not a world I want my son Jimmy to have to prepare my grandson Stavros for. Last night we had some friends to dinner and after the dinner the conversation drifted on to a number of subjects, including Australia. I found myself motivated to sing "Land of Hope and Glory", an indication of the kinds of content of our primary school education in the fifties in Australia. I had to translate the words for some in the group but they were all interested. One of the women said that all empires have been activated by the same violence as the British Empire. Including the Athenian and Macedonian Empires. Aegina was an early victim of Athenian imperialism and sided with the Spartans (and so with the Persians) for that reason. I judge that "The Great Reset" is a provocation and that what is going to happen, along with a Russian victory in the confrontation with NATO, is strengthening of the Anglo-American hegemony, but now with Russia allied with the US, on something like its own terms, and Europe on the other side. The central Asian geopolitical alternative will be hegemonic. Canada may become a republic, obliging the US, in order to preserve solidarity with Canada, to join the Commonwealth as the republic that it already is, becoming like other Commonwealth republics such as India and South Africa. Greece could come into the Commonwealth to join Cyprus, and possibly in this way achieve the Enosis so much desired by Greeks in the past. A united Ireland could also come into the Commonwealth as a republic. Australia will not become a republic: the Windsors will remain head of state in Australia as insurance against China. A second more democratic pole will be generated in the European Union, focused on Romania.
So here is a certain alternative scenario. Will one of us or both of us live long enough to see which of us is right?
J.: Why you want Russia to expand again like past imperial empires I can’t imagine. And how redefining borders again and again, with cold or hot wars, can possibly be a step forward in geopolitics, defies logic on your part! You are thinking in polarities which is what is wrong with everything at the moment. I’m not encouraged by the idea of Putin (Russia) being ‘defeated' because that’s not the point. It’s Russia that is trying to expand, not hold itself together. An old colonial ploy! Russia is Russia is Russia. The USSR was an expansion that thankfully has ended. Putin is trying to reinstate Russia's borders back to the ‘glory’ days of the USSR. So this is not about Putin being ‘defeated” - it’s about keeping him from expanding, keeping him in his box. The Ukraine, and all the other countries that were for decades under Russia’s sway, now have their sovereignty back and that’s as it should be.
You rail against the expansionism of the USA and the old British Empire etc etc. Why support expansionism of Russia and perhaps China in the future - they are pushing their boundaries as you know? It's nonsensical.
Land of Hope and Glory! Why would you be motivated to sing and interpret an old British Empire trojan horse anthem like that. For Gods sake! It has nothing to do with the Australian psyche and I certainly hope you don't suggest to your Greek friends that it does!
W.: If Russia is expanding it is through influence with Christians. More and more people are voluntarily coming to subtitle Russian videos with a Christian religious message. The second coming of Christ! As you know, I participate at the equinoxes and solstices in ceremonies in honour of the gods of Olympus. I am a pluralist! And I judge, as a hypothesis, that "Putin winning" will mean a new lease of life not for a post-Soviet sphere but for the Anglosphere, with the U.S. and the U.K. more as equals but also with an upgraded role for former dominions such as Australia. Federation was Australia's counterpart to the American War of Independence, and Canberra's historic role is something for the future, not the past, as Washington D.C. is: the past. Coudenhove-Kalergi wanted English as the language of the European Union, but also he didn't want the UK to be a member (nor the U.S. or, of course. Russia, for that matter). A bit like Greece's relationship with the Western Roman Empire. We take your language but not your population. He also saw the British dominions as an impediment to European integration and, like Hitler, he wanted to co-opt them. And he was one of the architects (pretty much forgotten) of today's European Union.
Your idea that Russia is trying to expand, not hold itself together is just a regurgitation of mainstream ideas for people stupider than you. Putin regrets the passing of Communism, but he regrets with his heart, not his mind. He makes that distinction clear, always, if you follow what he says to people who are sympathetic to him, and not just listen to mendacious enemies.
J.: How Russia colonising the Ukraine gives a new lease of life to the Anglosphere is beyond my ken. And Putin doesn’t have a heart does he? I think this is all in your imagination. Would you put your life in Putin's hands?
W.: My life is (our lives are) already in Putin's hands if there is a nuclear war. But when the Soviet Union disintegrated I did everything I could publicly to advocate unilateral Soviet nuclear disarmament. What did you do at that time to ensure that "our lives are not in Putin's hands"? Of course Putin was not on the international public scene in 1991 but the relevant parameters of the present situation were all there, particularly in relation to nuclear weapons.
This is what I wrote then: 1. againstthecurrent.org/wayne-hall/
And this is what I wrote a little later: 2. www.globalresearch.ca/nuclear-weapons-and-representative-democracy/1806
So do you know what you are talking about?
Are you familiar with the Khazaria factor? www.haaretz.com/jewish/2014-03-19/ty-article/.premium/when-ukraine-was-jewish/0000017f-ea19-d4a6-af7f-fedf24430000
J.:That has to do with the Russian invasion precisely what?
W.: A motivating factor. Zelensky doesn't hide it, any more than Klaus Schwab hides The Great Reset.
J.: A motivation for Putin to invade??
W.: A motivation to try to prevent Russians from becoming the new Palestinians. For years after the 2014 coup in Ukraine Putin evidently acted on the basis of a hope that Zionists could be contented with a role for Jews in Ukraine comparable to what the role of Jews in the United States is supposed to be constitutionally. After all, Zelensky was elected as the peace candidate. But this Russian policy was unsuccessful. And the latest biblical disaster in a place called Palestine in the U.S. will encourage the notions of "conspiracy theorists". Isn't that natural? Is there something intentional behind all this? After all, you have heard the saying: "Just because you are paranoid that doesn't mean they are not all against you."
J.: None of this makes any sense to me. Russia becoming the new Palestine?? Since when has the Ukraine threatened to take over any part of Russia. And Jewish or not, the Ukraine was never part of Russia, just the USSR wasn’t it?
W.:Yes. The USSR was called "The Soviet Empire" by its detractors and there was a logic to that name. There was a logic to the name "The British Empire" also, and it is now called simply "The Commonwealth". The way that Ukrainian nationalism survived the downfall of Bandera and his Nazis is tracked in this article: www.fullrio.com/news-28796 Don't be put off by the Cyrillic script at the beginning. The article is in English. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Bandera
The Russian state was founded in Kiev. Russians have a sentimental attachment to Ukraine for the same reasons that many Greeks are sentimental about Istanbul/Constantinople.
Terrorist attacks by Ukraine have already started inside Russia. They often go without retaliation because of the Russian government's fear of unleashing/reluctance to unleash.... all-out war with NATO
We are Human, We are Free We are Human, We are Free