Don't Stoke War, Help Rebuild America
Russia, via and announcement by Putin over the weekend, will recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Lugentsk regions of Ukraine. Just a few hours ago, it appears that this action may have been followed by sending Russian troops into Easter Ukraine. President Biden, of course, cannot control the actions of foreign countries, and their leaders, but the laser focus on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the rapid escalation of military action hasn’t happened in a vacuum. Historically, as we’ve discussed before, Ukraine, which borders Russia, was supposed to be a buffer country between NATO and Russia, never a part of America’s military alliance. This in no way excuses any violence perpetrated by Russia, but is important context to recognize that both sides of this conflict have acted to escalate tensions and the threat of war. American’s, however, have notoriously short memories, and it’s unclear how much our leaders are even conscious of the longer historical context in which their actions fall. Instead, in might be more useful to examine America’s immediate domestic history prior to this international debacle for their motivations. In the last year we have seen Biden and the Democrats struggle, and ultimately fail to pass any of the major domestic spending bills they had campaigned on. Furthermore, Biden could not even rouse his party to defend the integrity of our elections in the face of hundreds of withering assaults by the Republicans. In fact, the only major pieces of legislation passed have been a corporate handout infrastructure bill, and a nearly $800 billion defense budget. Healthcare, the child tax credit, a higher minimum wage, climate action, voting rights, police reform etc., the list goes on and on with broken promises by the Democratic party. Even more galling, Democratic leadership hardly seems upset with their abysmal performance after being handed both houses of Congress and the Presidency. Couple this with a struggling economy with real wages falling compared to inflation, is it any wonder then that a recent CNN poll finds a staggering number of Americans feel Biden has done “nothing” for them? What has President Biden done for you that you approve of? Nothing – 56% Deeply underwater with the American people, who can see where Biden’s true priorities have been over this past year, and with no hope of reviving his shattered domestic agenda before the midterms, attention has quickly shifted overseas. This is a classic maneuver by American Presidents, since the executive branch can act far more unilaterally in international affairs, and an enemy abroad can historically bring a divided country together. This was a grave miscalculation for several reasons: First, the obvious immorality of risking violent conflict to distract from one’s own failures. Second, as we’ve discussed in past weeks, Americans have no appetite for conflict after decades of pointless war and squandered treasure. Third, Biden has already demonstrated he’s utterly incapable of strong leadership and intelligent negotiations. If he were, some of his wildly popular domestic agenda would have passed. This profound incompetence has surely been noted by foreign leaders of all dispositions towards the USA. It's hard to say exactly what Biden should do at this point with regards to Ukraine and Russia. As awful as the situation appears to be, risking nuclear Armageddon through a direct war cannot be the answer. What is much clearer, however, is that Biden should focus his remaining time on cleaning up his own house, instead of looking abroad to prop up his poll numbers. Biden can still take unilateral action on eliminating student loan debt, and decriminalizing cannabis, which are both extremely popular proposals. These sorts of actions, however, don’t have the same monetary forces backing them as the donors behind the corporate bailout and the military industrial complex. To prevent war and bring the focus of our government back to helping our own people, it will action and organizing not just in electoral and issue politics, but in the economic sphere as well. The donor class only speaks the languages of money and power, and it will take an economic cudgel of commensurate size to stand against their corrupting influence. So, join us each week on Tuesday, as we build a United Protest Movement which can outlast the donor class, bring us back from the brink of war, and reinvigorate our democracy! #DSOT #UPM
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