G’day Cobbers!
While the hard-working staff are having a break, Heretico chips in with another essay, this one on the psychology of those who support Trump or Putin or Orban.
But first a plea from me :—
If Ukraine had access to defensive weapons such as the Netanyahu government has, she would be much better placed to resist Moscow’s attacks. These reports from ISW and the Kyiv Independent tell the story :—
¶ Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment
2024 d 13
Special Report: Russian Strikes More Effective as Ukraine Exhausts Defenses
2024 d 14
Israel’s success in defending against large-scale Iranian missile and drone strikes from Iranian territory on April 13 underscores the vulnerabilities that Ukrainian geography and the continued degradation of Ukraine’s air defense umbrella pose for Ukrainian efforts to defend against regular Russian missile and drone strikes. / The exhaustion of US-provided air defenses resulting from delays in the resumption of US military assistance to Ukraine combined with improvements in Russian strike tactics have led to increasing effectiveness of the Russian strike campaign in Ukraine. / Russia’s strike campaign against Ukraine demonstrates that even a limited number of successful ballistic or cruise missile strikes can cause significant and likely long-term damage to energy and other infrastructure, highlighting the need for an effective and well-provisioned air defense umbrella capable of a sustained high rate of interception.
Kyiv Independent 2024 d 16: Zelensky: Allies can defend Ukraine in the same way as they protected Israel. / "By defending Israel, the free world demonstrated that unity (among allies) is not only possible but 100% effective," Zelensky said after a meeting with top military and security officials.
Cheers,
Martin.
Concert in Toowong on Saturday 11 May :—
Philby, Putin and Jeeves
From Heretico of Primapril
Timothy Snyder has pointed out that when Americans (and others) speak about Putin or the danger of RF escalation, they can avoid speaking about Ukraine and the destruction of people and property in Ukraine.
But why have so many — who from their class or class background or education or religious beliefs might be anticipated to be card-carrying supporters of liberal polyarchy — why do they love Putin or his predecessors in Moscow or Peterburg?
Let us try to emulate the inimitable Jeeves and consider the psychology of the individual.
Kim Philby and his pals, who fell for the bolshevik ideal in the 1930s, and then were able to get into the habit of spying for Moscow while Stalin was an ally against the Axis powers, seemed to sincerely believe that the liberal polyarchies were decadent; that they were inferior to the Bolshevik powers, so that, by spying for them, they would hasten the inevitable triumph of Bolshevik power.
DJ Trump admires Mm Putin and Orban as white men who can dominate and subdue their own countries, but Trump and Moscow Madge and their pals do not wish Putin or Orban to dominate them. It’s rather as if, like gangsters, they divide the earth into patches of domination.
Traitors like Viktor Medvedchuk form yet another category. Philby thought that the victory of Bolshevism was not only inevitable but also desirable. The Medvedchuks of this world presumably think that Moscow domination of Ukraine is inevitable, so that, whatever ideology prevails in Muscovy, the Kremlin is to be supported — they would just as readily support Kyiv if they thought that Kyiv could dominate Moscow.
Fourthly, I find it hard to generalise about the peons who support the likes of Trump and Putin and Orban. One motivation, for those who can think of themselves as belonging to the same cultural group as the Big Man, is a satisfaction from the domination of minorities, even if they themselves are not materially prosperous.
Another motivation for the peon can be a sense that there is no middle ground between ‘Marriage rights for gay whales and free castration on demand, a woman’s right to choose’ and ‘Trump, Orban and Putin are the bulwarks of civilisation’. They think that if they have to choose, they choose the latter.
When we come to consider leftists who, grudgingly or otherwise, think that there is little to choose between Biden or Trump, or that Putin must be supported against NATO aggression, then apart from holding that they make an error of judgement in thinking that the USA’s imperial ventures put all other imperial powers to naught, so that the enemy of the USA is my friend, I have little to say. If you have any comments or suggestions about the psychology of the Orban, Putin and Trump cliques, Martin is happy for you to write in the comment section of this Substack, or you can contact me via
acoupleofnotes@yahoo.com.au
Cheers,
Heretico