Benson Boone, Abundance, and End Game in Ukraine
A few hot takes on gratitude, California taking a pass on abundance, and the war in Ukraine that never should have happened.
I don’t know about you, but I had a great Thanksgiving.
Last year at this time, I wrote about Benson Boone and his hit song “Beautiful Things,” which contains these lines:
And I thank God every day
For the girl He sent my way
But I know the things He gives me
He can take away
There’s a wisdom in that song. It reminds me of how important gratitude is. Yet I’m painfully aware of how often I don’t feel grateful for the things in my life.
I think practicing gratitude is much like trying to be a good Stoic or a good Christian, etc. It takes a great deal of work and discipline, and no matter how you try, you’ll find there’s room for improvement.
The point is, you need to try. I think a lot of people — particularly our political leaders — aren’t trying. When I went on Twitter on Thursday for 10 minutes, I saw little but grievance. Once grievance, envy, and victimhood creep into your soul, it’s very difficult to get out. So reject it, and work to practice gratitude.
Speaking of gratitude, I’m grateful to report that yesterday, Law & Liberty published my article on Abundance. It appears California lawmakers didn’t read Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s “carefully calibrated” book designed to show progressives how their own bad economic policies have been backfiring on them.
Read my assessment and tell me if I’m wrong that the abundance agenda may be stillborn.
Finally, peace in Ukraine may finally be imminent. It’s a war that never should have happened. Yet it did, and hundreds of thousands are now dead.
Why did it happen? That’s a long, complicated story—but if you’re unafraid of harsh truths, I recommend this article at The Federalist written by Hans Mahncke.
“To understand why, we need to revisit the past 12 years. For many Americans, Ukraine entered the political spotlight in early 2014, when the Obama administration encouraged and facilitated a revolution in Kiev. Neocon stalwarts like John McCain and Lindsey Graham happily joined in, treating regime change as a moral crusade rather than the geopolitical dynamite that it was.
At the time, Ukraine had a democratically elected government led by President Viktor Yanukovych. He was lazily caricatured as a Russian puppet, but in reality, he was doing what any Ukrainian leader should be doing: balancing Ukraine’s existence as a buffer state between Western Europe and Russia. That role requires strategic calibration, not ideological zealotry. Yanukovych understood that.
The problem for the D.C. establishment, its foreign policy elite, and its deep-state networks was precisely that balance. They wanted Ukraine permanently locked into the Western orbit, tethered to the European Union (EU) and eventually NATO. When Yanukovych declined to sign an EU association agreement — wisely given that at least half his country was economically, culturally, and historically bound to Russia — he became a marked man.
Following violent unrest and a narrative falsely blaming Yanukovych for the deaths of protesters, he was ousted and replaced by a government effectively selected by U.S. officials. This is not conjecture. It is confirmed by the infamous leaked call between Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt, in which they calmly plotted who would be installed in the Ukrainian government once Yanukovych was removed. This was not democracy. It was orchestration led by the Obama administration.”
All of this is well known. As is the fact that US officials knew—and had known for years—that US involvement in Ukraine would be treated as an act of war by Russia. (Much like Russian involvement in Cuba or Mexico would by our own government.)
Mahncke, however, shows how US machinations in Ukraine not only triggered a war there but also poisoned US politics and set off a scandal still unfolding today.
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Since that’s a controversial take, I’ll close with a funny to lighten the mood.
“Even a 747 looks small when it flies over the Grand Canyon.”
This is how Tom Arnold responded after his ex-wife, Rosanne, went on Saturday Night Live and, rather unchivalrously, reported on his sexual shortcomings in their marriage.
And here’s a meme that shows how I’m feeling.
There are a number of problems with the Mersheimer thesis on Ukraine. I think Putin used western meddling as an excuse to do what he wanted.The invasions were never a matter of necessity but of choice and accompanied by utterly ridiculous claims by Putin that he was going to de Nazify the country.Putin didn’t invade Ukraine because he thought NATO was going to invade Russia, a totally implausible scenario. He was afraid a EU - NATO Ukraine would be beyond his control which he felt was his right.Now that doesn’t mean the West behaved intelligently. It gave Putin cover for his imperial ambitions to be partially realized. Nor is what I’ve said justification for unending western backing of Ukraine. I think it was Obama who said that the Russians are always going to be more interested in Ukraine than we are. I doubt what happens in Ukraine makes much difference to the US.Russia has shown itself weak and is in no position to move further west. What I have no tolerance for is the notion that Putins conduct is essentially justifiable. No it isn’t. It’s the conduct of a nationalistic imperialist who doesn’t care how many people are killed to attain his blood and soil goals. Finally , he started this war not the west and it’s a war of choice he could have ended at anytime (although at this point he’s probably afraid to do so).
It's notable that your quote doesn't mention who replaced Yanukovych. After all that Zelinsky democratically defeated the "installed" Poroshenko, and Putin invading anyway is rather inconvenient for your narrative.