America to the Rescue: Why Do We Care Now?

Day 1 of the invasion, I saw a comment in my feed from a Ukrainian woman, rightfully distressed and angry, asking Americans “Where have you all been?” Fair question. As Americans, especially white Americans, we get that a lot.

Evidently Ukraine has been fighting a war on a southern border in Donbas region since 2014. Russian troops just hung around, (like sleeper cells) waiting for the green light. So it begs the question what made us wake up? Why are we only recently paying attention to this crisis?

Why Ukraine and not other places? Tigray? 16 months of war, and the human rights violations are unspeakable with rebels setting people on fire and 9 million people starving — UN has not been able to get in aid since mid December. Afghanistan? It’s falling apart. The entire country is starving. We abandoned them, especially women and girls.

So why did we enter a new war (one we are not technically “in” yet) weeks after we finally got out of one?

Well let’s start with the obvious: They’re Euro/white, they’re at war with our biggest enemy Russia in a bigger way, and they’re the country keeping Putin from the rest of Europe. But to unpack “Why now?” takes a bit more ranting.

Do you remember the last 8 years?

Well first, as to why we weren’t aware sooner — I think it’s because, at least in the U.S., a bulk of that time we were dealing with our own attacks on democracy. We are barely hanging on to it today.

Ukraine has been through too much. Sadly, so have many places. The U.S. isn’t doing much better with the whole police-still-killing-our-own-citizens thing. Sometimes I want to shout back, “Where have YOU been?” Our democracy is on the “might not make it” list.

Russia interfered in our election in 2015. We knew about it and everyone dismissed it except us “crazy antifa radical liberals.” Then from 2016 to 2020 we were defending ourselves against a similar wannabe authoritarian.

This magical leader of the pretend-to-be-free world was hardly a regular, rule following U.S. President. He definitely would not have cared one iota about Ukraine. He sided with Russia and other authoritarian regimes even when they killed journalists. He had secret calls and meetings with Russia that to this day remain a mystery.

Social media helped spread his disinformation, continue his xenophobia and fueled the rise of alt-right militias like the Proud Boys. He called U.S. Marshals who hunted and killed a protester-in-hiding “retribution” on TV. The fugitive was hiding from police for this very reason. He was accused of killing a proud boy who showed up with bear mace to spray and provoke Black Lives Matter protesters. We’ll never know what happened there, either.

Our ex-cheeto-in-chief manipulated the media, defamed and tried to discredit the press, grabbed womxn without consent and got away with it. Got Covid-19 and spread it all over Washington while fueling anti-vax ideology to help fuel eugenicist policies in healthcare. He lied 20k times in a year and then tried a Coup to overthrow our democracy in January 2021. That was a little more than a year ago.

Even writing this it sounds impossible, but it’s true. In the U.S. we only recently got back any semblance of a functioning democracy. Barely.

Not to mention, America’s pandemic was a tad out of control what with Anti-vaxxers and hardcore capitalists. Close to one million people have died since March 2020. With a president who was anti-science and who gutted the government, the CDC was barely functioning.

Basically, we’re fighting our own war, and on several fronts: healthcare, systemic racism, rape culture, domestic abuse, poverty, opioid addiction and fentanyl overdoses.

For the Systems Change required, we have to change everything about this system.

We can hope for change but U.S. leaders still run a capitalist country, a country that literally started because white men didn’t want to give their money to another rich white guy — a country born and built by enslaving other humans; we have a shoddy foundation.

Hell, we still live on stolen land and our government pushes Indigenous people from place to place today, just as they did 300 years ago. Indigenous women go missing at alarming rates, and instead of helping we give them an opioid crisis.

The CDC is still not looking out for the health of all Americans. They’re doing only marginally better and believe in science again, but they’re still a flop when it comes to communications, and Covid response.

Global virus outbreaks are incongruent with the Global economy, i.e. capitalism. We wait to see the fall out of our “new” U.S. leaders “canceling” the pandemic.

Why does the globe expect the U.S. would be any different in this crisis? We can’t even acknowledge the depths of our country’s failures to its own citizens, especially the Black and Brown ones. Evidently, neither can Zilensky.

The expectation that we’re better than this, better than “those people” is as false as the stories we learn about the countries we “liberated.”

Europe is just as guilty of profiting off of African lives, of kidnapping, rape, separating families, and full on inhumane treatment of immigrants fleeing war torn countries. When push comes to shove they still left Africans stranded while Ukrainian men blocked access to trains out of Kyiv.

America’s government can’t fight racism at home. It can’t be that shocking we don’t speak up about it in Ukraine or Israel. Angry people will say we’re callous. (America isn’t a monolith, but let’s pretend we are in the eyes of the globe for a moment.)

Our country is no better. It is what it always was. Unless we change leadership, and pay reparations and deal with reality, we will always be who we always were: colonizers.

Our media is incredibly biased because its owners and editors are incredibly white, male, and wealthy. Yet we we look to Europe for unbiased global news, and ironically to the king of all imperialists, the British media, like BBC. We read Al Jazeera too, for those who want to know stuff, who did not drink the anti-muslim kool-aid.

Sure, they “talk” about anti-black racism or other conflicts, but don’t let this fool you. The U.K. has plenty of their own horrid racism going on. (I mean, hello? Meghan Markle.) Al Jazeera certainly has its own issues. If Europe posited they were better, because that BLM stuff doesn’t happen over there, they were kidding themselves.

Still, American media is partly to blame for our “not knowing.” They talk more about the Kardashians than they do about Tigray. They listen to politicians and deep pockets over bipartisanship and We the People.

As Ukrainian conflict continues, the NYT will no doubt talk about the [bleep] market and gas prices more. “Traditional American values” clearly do not value everyone equally.

U.S. media tends to focus on whatever war it so chooses that will bolster their portfolios. Sadly, there are plenty of other conflicts to choose from: Syria, Nigeria, Uyghurs in China, the entire continent of South America, have been slowly falling apart.

Caravans of families arrived at our southern border. Our government took kids from their parents, and tried to repatriate them in evangelical Christian homes. Families torn apart in Afghanistan, Tigray, now Ukraine too.

It’s not like war torn countries magically stop fighting, especially during a global pandemic and other crises. The oppression and exploitation don’t end just because the news cycle moved on. (If only!)

Despite this bias, we do hear whispers of other places, places in the Southern Hemisphere — countries that have terrible wars that have gone on for decades or famine via blockades and rape used as a weapons.

We hear about them far less than the Northern (white) countries because the majority of stocks are owned by 11% of the population, and they own most of the narrative too.

A handful of Billionaires hold as more wealth as the lower 50% of Americans. 1% holds the same as the other 99%, which is shrinking! They — the 1% — pay for our news.

I am not making an excuse for racism or exploitation under capitalism or blaming the bias liberal media, because they are far from liberal. They are moderate, like our leaders. I am saying they think they have to play a long game and they see only binary choices.

Our government is as divided as Ukraine and Russia, and still trying to keep the global economy from collapse, Russia from nuking everyone, and America from falling back in the hands of fascism, too. I firmly believe Biden and Harris do care about humans and are “Doing their best.”

Our leaders speak of “impossible situations” but it’s only impossible because they fail to see the truth and fail to see beyond binary. Moderate politics will not save anyone. Period.

They fail to admit the “radical” steps needed for humanity to survive. For nations to function as collaborators vs. fighting over resources would mean the end of their world. Cognitive dissonance knows no party line.

It’s easy to see we need radical change.

War is complex or so they want us to believe. The solutions, however, seem incredibly simple.

End dependency on foreign oil. Depend less on foreign goods in general.

Build regenerative economies that take care of their citizens.

Warlords, oligarchs, and any C Suite cronies gotta go.

Give EVERYONE safe housing, food, and education.

Healthcare & family planning for everyone.

Basic income for all, at least until our countries function equitably.

Yes. Everyone.

Get rid of hoarding wealth and deregulation and scams like crypto, gambling off the backs of poorer people trying to get in on the “game.” No more war games. No fictitious markets.

If your religion or job tells you to kill or control anyone else, bye.

Mostly — flood the world with enough for everyone rather than a ridiculous amount for only a few. There is ENOUGH. More than enough.

If these white men (Dems/GOP/European leaders) cared, they wouldn’t take their Tesla and drive through tent cities, shaking their heads saying “What a shame.” Why not hide their face in shame knowing it’s their fault?

Ban billionaires. Bezos, Musk, Gates. Give it all away tomorrow.

Ban the binary.

End white supremacy.

Abolish any institution that kills it’s citizens either by neglect or policing.

Shut down organizations that lobby for guns, big pharma, or fund anyone but for the good of The Collective.

Hire and pay more women and non-binary leaders. Fund our projects and our ideas.

Shift power to the people the “Powers That Be” keep forgetting.

It’s not that complicated.

Kill the patriarchy or it kills all of us.

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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The First Myth of the Patriarchy: The Acorn on the Pillow

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