I decided to preserve some of the comments I made on Facebook, and then retool them for a possible essay or a chapter in a. book – as my view of the fast changing world. It starts with a news outlet on Putin speaking with a reporter about the denigration of western liberalism.
BBC News Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48795764?SThisFB&fbclid=IwAR34d_yKvbbKb5NrTTZWJdfDE6jku6jBEt_AIXPNB0bCE-qYApFiehz35QQ
Vladimir Putin has said liberalism is “obsolete” in an interview before he left for the G20 summit.
My original comments:
Interesting report.
I suspect the tone of Putin’s comments might have been altered through translation in English and the mind set of the reporter. Most Americans have a hard time analyzing the world without the American tinted glass.
Putin, I have observed, is very astute in his analysis of trends and is usually more spot on as well as articulate than almost any other political leader in the world today.
Yes, he grew up in the soviet era. Yes, he worked for KGB at one time. And yes, he is presiding over a new age Russia with a considerably weaker economy (compared to soviet era) and engaged in rebuilding his nation under a free market design where the largest player, USA, is hell bent to keep Russia out, along with China. These trends, or rather, this efforts by the US to geopolitically isolate China and Russia and militarily surround and choke Russia and use a phoney “Russia threat” to bolster its own military expenditure, along with denying China a fair stake in the global economic pie, appears to be the driving force of the US foreign policy of late. But, one also needs to understand – US is facing an existential crisis, if it allows leadership to slip out of its hands in the current unilateral and unipolar world.
While the planet is being flushed down the environmental and ecological toilet, humans are in a death grip to decide who stays afloat till the last moment.
What I liked about Putin’s comment is about liberalism. I wonder what he actually said in Russian, which got translated into liberalism being obsolete.
I have been talking about it for a while myself, from my own perspective, being born in India and living for several decades now in North America.
I do not say liberalism is obsolete, per se. Rather, true liberals have gone extinct, and the world is chock full of phoney or pseudo-liberals. They, the current group of liberals, mostly living in or influenced by the American culture, are the groups that have killed liberalism and permeated the human space with parallel reality.
Regarding rising populism, or multiculturalism – I am not ready to make comments right now since I have no hard opinion about these at this point. I have one observation about multiculturalism and scientific research though.
Both Russia and China have a long history of sustaining and encouraging high value scientists and scientific research. As a result, I suspect, they will produce new technologies as the need comes, as long as their states can give opportunity for their bright people to do their work.
For USA, the situation is reverse. Unlike China or Russia, USA needs constant infusion of bright people from the rest of the world, to keep up with technological advance. This is where USA is extremely vulnerable and it has something to do with its culture and education system, not to mention affinity to promote extreme junk food and junk materialism.
India is in an interesting study point. For earlier generations, all the bright people aspired to migrate to the US and become techno-coolies, being nuts and bolts and cogs for the US giant wheel. This has also largely shaped the “westernized and liberal” mindset of the upwardly mobile Indians who look up to the US as the place analogous to heaven on earth.
But, there are signs of tell tale change. I feel India is beginning to understand that it backed the wrong horse and needs to provide opportunity for its bright people to excel in their own country. If the efforts prove successful, India will begin to promote in house technological innovations. Historically, China and India have been the techno-leaders of the world for over a thousand years, before foreigners subjugated these nations and flipped the equation. China has been busy for more than a generation to redress the balance. India is just waking up.
Meanwhile, Putin remains one of the more astute analyzers of the world, in my book.
My follow up comment (1):
I can understand your annoyance with President Trump for daring to interfere with India’s own security and trade decisions.
However, according to my judgment, Trump interferes because USA can, and the reason is less to do with Trump and more to do with India’s own design of economic development.
India has not promoted in-house generation of commerce and wealth and banked too much on being back office service provider for the US economy. Also, its investment and share market is too dependent on foreign direct investment (FDI), meaning investment from the US. You can hardly read an economic report or discussion without mention of what would increase FDI and what would not, and how absence of FDI would hurt Indian economy.
Net result of all this is – a small part of the US economy depends on India, but a large part of India’s own economy depends on US involvement.
This is precisely the US geopolitical goal, to be able to control the rest of the planet by dictating terms through carrots and sticks, and this policy works excellently with India. However, this does not work that good with Russia or China, because they have been conscious of these problems and balanced their development with some measure of alternatives and generated in house mega corporations.
IN India, many of the new technology, new market, and new business is wholly owned by western (Read US) corporations.
These developments have not been the Hall mark of the current Indian Government, but of multiple past governments going back to Rajiv Gandhi times onward.
When you sell your economic soul to the US, you have to act as the economic slave of the same. US never claimed to be an angel. Nobody is an angels. Angels are mythical – they do not exist.
I believe the current Indian government is beginning to wake up to this problem, which has very serious implications for India going forward, and the remedy is not going to be painless. Part fo India’s “make in India” movement is geared to redress this problem, though I suspect India is being too influenced by its private sector and less careful in preserving its public sector – just my view.
So, the right reaction to the goings on might be less to do with getting angry with president Trump, and instead getting angry with ourselves, who thought being pally with the US, economically and socially, was the road to Nirvana.
Cheers.
My follow up comment (2):
Your long post misses the point completely, and I can understand why.
My post had nothing at all to do with whether Putin was a great guy or not so great a guy. It had everything to do with his assessments on geopolitical situations around the world in general, and the problems with liberalism in particular. You did not address those issues at all, but instead went into an instinctive rant against Putin’s personal character (a thug) and that he supports Syria who killed children by gassing them – something that has never been proved and can very well be propaganda.
You might like to read of independent Canadian journalist Eva Bartless about false and fake news being generated from the Middle East by main stream media, to support the Us-Israel-Saudi version of the conflict, essentially subverting truth.
I believe people of Ukraine might have a historical animosity for Russians or Soviets and you are taking that hatred on to Putin, which is greatly clouding your judgment.
But, forget Putin and Assad, and let us talk about the Canadian government and US Government’s treatment of local people.
Canadian Government, for generations, have forcefully snatched children away from their mothers among the First Nation Canadians, who were the original inhabitants of Canada, and forced the kids to be brought up in foster homes, without any contact with their original parents. Canada did not do this to a select few families, but to EACH AND EVERY child among the First Nation, for a long long time.
As a result, the passing of First Nation language, mythology and culture, from generations down to next generation, was forcefully and abruptly halted. The kids, separated from their natural parents, by force, lost their language, lost their traditions, lost their mythology and culture. IN exchange, they did not “convert” to western thinking or culture.
Today they are called the “lost generations” and the First Nation people of Canada are never ever going to be what they were before the white man landed here. Today, the surviving First Nation are a maladjusted group you do not see on the streets of Canada.
Everybody else that comes here as an immigrant, can be seen on the street – BUT NOT THE LOCAL, INDIGENOUS, First Nation PEOPLE.
They became outcast, ill-suited to mix with the society, a people without any roots.
Canadian Government in essence exterminated an entire population, covering a land that is a hundred fold larger than Ukraine.
IN comparison, if Russia had done to Ukrainians, what Canadians have done to locals people – you would probably not have been born at all, and your people would have been more or less exterminated with a handful of people surviving as drug addicts and psychological misfits.
Perhaps you grew up thinking that only white people are to be considered human and all non-whites, such as First Nation Canadians, are not really human. Therefore any injustice done to them can be ignored. Perhaps you grew up thinking only Christians deserve to live, and people that pray to mountains or clouds and trees, are subhuman and do not need a fair shot at life.
Whatever the reason, injustice performed by Canada on a large swatch of people remain invisible to you, while Putin becomes the prime thug of the world.
As to killed children or innocent people of Syria, the US false flag war mongering in the Middle East along has killed millions, but main stream propaganda hides those topics and you are oblivious to them.
Syria is a villain not because Assad is a bad guy (all politicians everywhere are unsavoury guys, without exception), but cause Syria is not willing to play ball and hand over its natural assets to western corporations, nor allowing gas pipelines promoted by western nations to go through its territory. It is more interested to use natural resources in a manner than benefits its own people more that western interests. To complicate matters Syria refuses to follow hardline Sunni practices of keeping women veiled and away from high education and pubic life etc. This and Syria following a more liberal lifestyle and view of religious practices makes them ideological enemy of the Soudi kingdom, which generates the funds for western military industrial complex to use the Syria conflict as a bread earner.
That is what is unacceptable to the west, and that is why Islamic terrorists are allowed to sneak into Syria, cause all sorts of mayhem while fake news is generated about how bad Assad is.
Western propaganda has been very effective to keep the truth away from the public. Part of the reason is the main stream media in the west stopped being neutral and truthful a long time ago. There is no free press left in North America, part of the reason why our food is the most poisonous and folks don’t even know it ( my own involvement speaks for it).
This is why Canadian independent journalist Eva Bartlett is not known to Canadians (no major news and tv outlet would cover her stories). This is why they hate US presidential aspirant Tulsi Gabbard and refuse her adequate news coverage, because she visited Syria, spent time there to check facts on the ground, and met Assad to hear his own side of the story.
You are an excellent example that the western propaganda works.
But, of course, you have a very positive view of Canada and a very negative view of Russia. That is because you carry a historical burden. I understand this, and therefore do not consider your views to be balanced. I understand why you missed the point of my post completely, and went on a personal rant against Putin and Assad.
I made this long post not so much for you, but because it needed to be said. A cleaned up version may end up in some formal writing of mine.
BY the way, I have personally been to Ukraine, more than once. I love the people and feel sorry for what has happened. I have my own version on the root causes behind its current sociopolitical developments, but will keep my views to myself.
Take care, no offence.