Big changes afoot in the world. Implications for Ukraine. Reviewing a progressive prof.

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Big events in the world.  Gert Wilders has won in the Netherlands. This is good news for the farmers – the government will not be forcing them out of business. It is bad news for the immigrants – they have overstayed their welcome.

Javier Milei has won in Argentina. Socialism has become so ingrained, in the 70 years since Juan Peron, that I am skeptical of his ability to weed it out. However, its ill effects are evident everywhere. They have perpetual inflation. There is rampant cronyism in government. It is rapacious and simply does not deliver good services. Socialism's promise of a "free lunch" has not been borne out in practice anywhere in the world. The most sorrowful examples are Venezuela, North Korea and Cuba, where it simply cannot be undone.

The miracle in Argentina was that the election process had not been corrupted to the point that in opposition candidate's position could not be heard. There is something of this miracle in Europe as well. Leftist governments have worked strenuously to sideline and even outlaw conservative movements such as those of Marine Le Pen in France, the Alternative für Deutschland in Germany and Spain's conservatives. They have locked up and deplatformed leaders such as  Nigel Farage. It did not work. The unfairness is palpable.

The same has been true in the United States. Whether or not it would have decided the 2020 election, it seems quite evident that there was a lot of chicanery with the voting machines and mail-in ballots. The legal persecution of Donald Trump is a transparent witch hunt. People are tired of it.

Conservatives such as Viktor Orban in Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia have been less than eager to side with Ukraine in its fight with Russia.  They contend they were elected to serve their own people.  They reject the agenda thrust on them by the EU – migration, gender policies, inane trade practices and such – and the Ukraine bit as well.

Ukraine has had the misfortune of being closely aligned with the Democrat party in the United States. The longstanding, corrupt relations between Joe Biden and Ukrainian oligarchs are now out in the open.  Ivan Hynansky of Winner Automotive, Viktor Pinchuk and other prominent Ukrainians and Ukrainian Americans have been heavy and sometimes illegal contributors to heavyweight Democrats.

Ukraine is quite rightly considered a part and parcel of the deep corruption in the Democratic Party and Joe Biden in particular. It is natural that people conflate corruption in Ukraine with the justice (or obvious lack thereof) of Russia's casus belli.  At any rate, support for Ukraine is falling as layer after layer of the lies concealing Biden’s malfeasance is stripped away.

The pundits are coming to the conclusion that it is time to come to an agreement with Russia, however unpalatable. Glenn Greenwald suggests that it will involve giving up the 18% of Ukraine that Russia now occupies. I would not be surprised if Zaluzhny’s rather candid assessment of a stalemate was put forth to give Zelinski cover as he informs his electorate of the necessity of a negotiated settlement.  While I don’t come to the same conclusions about Ukraine as Tucker Carlson, IMHO he does voice the opinion of the oppressed, sidelined, sucked-dry American electorate.  He is right when he says we are being lied to.  Systematically, shamelessly, all the time. 

I have written that I did not see the evidence of Ukraine's widespread draft of military manpower. My observation was that quite a few young men are visible on the streets of Kiev. Let me update that with this anecdote. Oksana saw her brother Igor, 50, and his son Denys, 20 at Grandpa Sasha's funeral. Igor is staying scarce because the draft authorities are looking for him. On the other hand, Denys is enrolled in college, taking meaningless courses for which he does not attend lectures, and enjoying a draft exemption. This is absolutely stupid – overlooking a dissolute young kid while looking to draft his taxpaying middle-aged father.

I am in the process of reading The Conscience of a Progressive by my former University of Maryland professor Steven Klees.  In doing so I am looking at the reading material we had back in 2003. It was an ominous portent of what has come to pass.  Klees’ critiques of United States education, Gates and the philanthropaths, the World Bank and so on are absolutely on target. However, he is totally blind in the same way as the conservatives such as Christopher Rufo and Richard Hanania whom I have recently reviewed. He does not recognize that people and peoples differ in ability.

If you ignore human differences, there is no way to explain the observed differences in outcome other than the "evil white man" meme. As unpalatable as it is to recognize that people differ in ability, no solution can be crafted to social problems without taking it into account. I'm going to take time to write a thorough review. Klees’ book is not that widely read, but it gives me an opportunity to articulate my position. I hope it receives the same kind of reception as my recent "Appreciation for My Ex-Wife".

Those are the musings from Lake WeBeGone, where the kids are enjoying the first snow of the winter. Playing outside doesn't seem to hurt them in the waning days of their coughs. Eddie has resolved the laundry question by washing his shirts after every wearing and simply not ironing them. With a sweatshirt over them you don't notice.

Graham