Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Quote of the Day: Is Europe Finished?
Let’s cut through the diplo-speak: If Mr. Biden and the Europeans don’t get Ukraine right, Europe’s future is finished.
Putin is Hitler. He is attempting the extermination of a people and the obliteration of their cities. World War II wasn’t fought in Europe to prevent a future nuclear exchange between Russia and the U.S. It was fought because Europe was experiencing the indiscriminate murder of civilians under Nazi military doctrine, now revived by Mr. Putin and the Russian general staff.— Daniel Henninger
In an ambitious flurry of activity, Europe is speaking out and taking action against Vladimir Putin, canceling some of their commitments to him and stepping in to help Ukraine. Most of the Ukrainian refugees are landing in Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. The EU has established an emergency protection system, offering jobs, shelter, and medical treatment. They have also worked at streamlining their entry procedures. The invasion of Putin has been criticized harshly, and Europe has stepped up.
But how long will they enthusiastically deal with this new reality?
At this writing, 4 million people have fled Ukraine; another 6.5 million people are displaced. It’s impossible to know how long the conflict will drag on, or whether the EU countries will be able to support millions of refugees, or how many of the Ukrainians will stay. Will they be able to find work? Will they be able to adjust if they choose to stay? Will they be welcomed by the various countries?
And will the U.S. make a sincere and reasonable effort to supply arms and compassionate support, and for how long?
And yet . . . and yet . . .
Does Europe really have a choice? Over time will they try to ignore the threats that Putin poses to the European continent?
Will they realize that helping Ukraine and Ukrainians and standing up to Putin could determine the very future of Europe?
Published in Foreign Policy
Right on.
The politicians who take stuff from people and then give it away to other people do so partly to buy votes, but also because their economic advisors from academia tell them that according to their computer simulations, it will result in economic growth.
I would love to ask one of these experts where in their system of differential equations they take the above “Quinn Effect” into account.
These distinctions between murderous thugs may be accurate, but in my book there is not a significant difference worth losing sleep over between Putin and Hitler, Napoleon, Genghis Khan, etc…. Those others were more successful than Putin has been so far, but I would just as soon line any one of them against a wall and shoot them.
Unless @arizonapatriot is on the scene in Ukraine to see things with his own eyes, there is no reason for his opinion, that he allegedly forms based on the facts as he interprets them, to be considered more reputable than other opinions expressed here.
Does this simply mean the lying, cheating, and stealing that’s been the norm in Ukraine now includes killing?
No, it’s really a reference to the Holodomor. To quote from Wikipedia:
But the people who died don’t care about the distinctions.
They figured they needed to bring in mostly young people to replace the children they couldn’t be bothered to have, and to work and pay taxes to support the older Europeans who didn’t have (enough) children. They set up a welfare state that depended on having a continuing production of children to keep things going, and then didn’t have the children required. Instead they started bringing in people who bore little resemblance to themselves or their values, just to balance the financial books. It’s already been biting them in the ass, and worse; and it will continue to do so. Until eventually the immigrants are the ones in charge because the Europeans will have died off.
It’s not finished until it’s finished.
Are you quoting Yogi Bear?
I guess we were talking past each other. My original comment side stepped the OP’s question. I was not answering that directly. So I now see where you were coming from. Yes if Europe continues its immigration policy, it will no longer be Europe. I’ve said that in the past too.
Russia has asked the UN to send in forensic investigators for Bucha. India has asked the same. Britain, who is the current rotating president of the security council, has blocked it. Why?
Nope. Germany turned off all theirs. France has promised to turn off half of theirs (and they are majority nuclear). The two are like the Thelma and Louise of energy security.
They have virtue signaling, which is a form of vanity and not related to self-esteem. The best people in the world are competent, confident, and humble.
Not sure about Germany, but last I heard France is building more new nuclear plants; maybe they’re closing the ones with older technology, while building more-efficient new ones?
I’ve seen several news clips indicating that the United States government has been seeding the media with false information, some of it said to be for influencing Russian action. I already had questions in my mind regarding whether those bodies shown with hands tied could be staged for propaganda purposes. How can any media reporting be trusted?
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/france.aspx#:~:text=France%20derives%20about%2070%25%20of,delayed%20in%202019%20to%202035.
France is building new plants, but also cutting its reliance on nuclear from 70 to 50% of electricity by 2035.
FIFY
This is like leave the doors open, go to bed, turn off the lights and shut your eyes (forever).
Tory War Writer was ridiculed and personally criticized for pointing out things like this. Funny thing is that as far as I was aware he was pretty much right.
I don’t know. 70% of electricity generated by one means seems as though they are too dependent on a single type. All their uranium is imported from Africa and Central Asia, so political risk. And prices fluctuate.
Are the Democrats pushing for us to actively (boots on the ground in Ukraine) enter this war? I’ve seen clips from cable news with commentators suggesting that.
I don’t understand why Ukraine has any credibility. They torture Russian POWs, laugh and brag about it. They execute them. But Russia is committing all the war crimes? The media (NY Post, even) circulates a picture of a woman tortured and murdered with a swastika in the basement of a building after Ukrainians have withdrawn from Mariupol (Patrick Lancaster showed her as they were going through buildings just abandoned by Ukrainians) and it was labeled as Russians doing this in the American press. It’s like all the British propaganda about Germans in World War I.
I don’t think it’s restricted to Democrats. You have Lindsay Graham. And Thom Tillis (pfui. My senator).
If you watch Rich Barris and his polling, Republicans’ generic lead has fallen in the last month and he postulates it as a result of the warmonger Republicans. He’s going to refine questions to find out this month.
Democrats are in power. I agree with your assessment of those Republican Senators.I don’t understand the Fox News people always asking for Graham’s views.
Quit worrying about the death of Europe. Our own country is dying , probably already past the tipping point. If the Democrats don’t oppress you, the cartels will threaten you, or both. They are doxing our National Guard and sending them death threats.it is only a matter of time before local law enforcement gets the same treatment.
If you change the fifth to last word this could apply to the US, too. Perhaps you could change “bringing” to “letting”, but I don’t think that makes any difference. How many millions has Biden brought to the US so far to prop up the oligarchic welfare state of the US?
How does it prop up the oligarchic welfare state, to bring in more “takers” of welfare, food stamps, free school lunches, free healthcare, etc etc etc?
Well, yes, in the long run, everything dies. I see your point. I was thinking more short-term, i.e., is Europe, in 2022, finished? No. I have the hope that comes from being . . . well, a western chauvinist.
The Romans might find many things recognizable in the modern world. They would recognize architectural paradigms, government systems, societal stratifications, etc. Give a reanimated Caesar a week to get his bearings and he’d be thinking of ways to make these ships-that-fly wipe out pesky Gauls.
It is possible to see it as fragile and have confidence, partly because the alternative is despair and retreat in search of a disassociated personal peace, and partly because it’s always been fragile. We do what we can while we’re here.
Right. It’s about breaking the system.
Ask the Chamber of Commerce, open borders, cheap labour, doing-the-jobs-Americans-won’t-do crowd. They’ll tell you immigrants are a resource, and a necessary one for propping up the Social Security Ponzi scheme.
My point is that almost all of the talk of civilizational decline directed at Western Europe can be directed at the US with a few tweaks. To the extent that one considers the situation still remediable in the US, almost the same considerations could apply to Europe. (Note the two “almost”s, though.)