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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
The Rom?
Yes they did branch out quite a bit!
I think for me, the difference lies in the motivation. Hitler wanted to create a Master Race. It was the stuff of nightmarish myth. Putin just wants territory and he doesn’t care who gets in his way, its all the same to him. The results, of course, are similar. A lot of dead people.
You make a good point. But I think that the motivations of both Putin and Hitler is/was expansion, politically, territorially, and in national grandeur. And the things they wanted were wrapped in a desirable mythology that identified the people as just heirs to a mythologized history (the Third Reich, the Third Rome) and a future destiny of greatness.
Yes, both wanted territory, both were totalitarian dictators, etc. There are commonalities for sure. But to me, the attempt to actually create a Master Race, right in front of the world, really sets Hitler apart in the panoply of despots.
In my 20s, I knew a man named Rick. He had pale blond hair brushed back, ice blue eyes, an aquiline nose. He was born in Germany. He told me he’d never known his parents because he was born into Hitler’s (Himmler actually) Lebensborn program. They mated Aryan women with SS officers to produce Aryan children. The women had to pass a racial purity test and their families were traced back several generations. After the war, a retired German general brought him to America and adopted him. An interesting guy. And the whole thing makes my arm hairs stand on end. I mean mating humans like show dogs.
I said I’m not disputing emergency services. But nonetheless regular medical is still pretty important. And expensive to an individual. Otherwise why am I bothering with carrying health insurance? You mean I can get everything I need without it?
I remember that episode myself! That’s probably the first time I heard it too. But All in the Family was in the 70s, not the 60s.
They were sympathetic with each other. They learned from each other. Evil draws from the same source.
Well if we make a distinction between the killing of a group for its genetic identity versus the killing of people for their political ends I can see RightAngle’s point. Though I think Gypsies would probably be considered a genetic identity as well.
Yeah, you pretty much can. They can still hound you for money if you’ve got any, however.
Seven kids! You should be Catholic. Or Orthodox Jew. ;)
They were to Hitler. He considered them to be subhuman. Which is funny since they’re Aryans.
But not the RIGHT Aryans! You know, like that whole shiite and sunni muslims kililng each other…