{"id":207468,"date":"2022-03-21T12:00:59","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T12:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=207468"},"modified":"2022-03-20T10:05:17","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T10:05:17","slug":"we-are-all-ukrainian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/03\/we-are-all-ukrainian\/","title":{"rendered":"We Are All Ukrainian"},"content":{"rendered":"

19 Mar 2022 – <\/em>I am Ukrainian \u2013 or, more precisely, of Ukrainian origin. Like many Jewish Americans, my ancestral roots reach back to Eastern Europe. My father was born in Kiev (now Kyiv) and thought he was a Russian. Other relatives lived in the Pale of Settlement between Poland and Russia created by the Tsarina Catherine the Great which was part of Ukraine. They thought they were Russian too. Of course this was more than a century ago, but even today families blend Russia with Ukraine.<\/p>\n

My grandmother died in Russia\/Ukraine in 1941, likely at the hands of the Nazis. I never met her and knew very little about her life. My father, who came here in 1921, did not speak to me about her but what little he told my mother she passed on to me. It\u2019s very little, yet she has been a presence in my life for years. I want to write something about her, a kind of testimonial to her life and existence. I decided to write a fictional version of her story based on reading and perhaps eventual travel to Ukraine. I began last winter, looking for clues about what life in Kiev was like between the world wars.<\/p>\n

I was fairly steeped in my reading when tension began to build over the presence of 200,000 Russian troops along Ukraine\u2019s border. Suddenly the two landscapes, past and present, seemed to converge over my head.<\/p>\n

So much has been written in the past three weeks about the terrible calamity that has befallen Ukraine, the crisis that hovers over us all, threatening to bring on a world war of apocalyptic proportions.<\/p>\n

The media has become a choir of imprecations. Putin is the aggressor illegally transgressing on sovereign territory, bombing civilians, forcing three million Ukrainians to flee from their homes to become refugees in Europe \u2013 a tyrant, a maniac, a madman. Nancy Pelosi called him \u201cdiabolical\u201d. He has become a sort of archetype of the ruthless killer who embodies everything we fear and hate. Haven\u2019t we had enough? \u00a0First the two years of pandemic, economic misfortunes, and now, rising prices at the pump, food prices skyrocketing inexcusably, especially wheat, all due to strict sanctions of questionable usefulness. Perilous times! And the forces at play! Fifteen nuclear power plants in Ukraine; missiles on high alert in Russia and the U.S., ICBMs ready to fly across the world in 30 minutes. We might have known this would happen eventually. \u201cYou don\u2019t build these bombs and not intend to use them,\u201d my mother used to say. Eventually.<\/em><\/p>\n

For the past 75 years since the bombing of Hiroshima-Nagasaki, we\u2019ve been remarkably lucky. During the Cuban Missile crisis we came close, but Kennedy and Khrushchev managed to avert it; they were able to talk to each other. They made an agreement, and the Soviet Union backed off.<\/p>\n

Our leaders now can\u2019t seem to talk to one another. They move their mouths, the words come out, but you can see the words crossing the airspace in front of their faces like the crossed swords in the Tarot deck. No entiendo.<\/em> \u00a0Although Putin insisted he was not going to invade, Biden kept saying he would, threatening to hit Russia with the worst sanctions imaginable when it did. It\u2019s commonplace to assert that Putin lies, but according to a recent article<\/a> by James Risen, the CIA has determined that Putin actually had not made up his mind until just before he invaded. Did Biden\u2019s threats push help inflame Putin\u2019s wrath? Putin has many complaints with the West: that NATO had encroached upon Russia\u2019s western border despite promises not to; the failure of the Minsk Accords and the presence of neo-Nazis in the Donbass<\/a>, even among the military; the encirclement of Russia by NATO; and the West\u2019s lack of respect for him or for Russia. These claims are all true.<\/p>\n

The disgusting business of war and violence makes liars of all governments. Remember Colin Powell\u2019s assertion that Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons? It was the pretext for our invasion of the sovereign nation of Iraq, as illegal as the invasion of Ukraine, and it wasn\u2019t even true.<\/p>\n

Has this whole scenario been planned? You have to wonder. Risen notes, \u201cIn the first few months of the Biden administration, U.S. intelligence officials began working more closely with Ukrainian intelligence to help the country prepare for a possible invasion, the senior agency official said.\u201d Invasion from whom? The U.S. has been looking to weaken Russia ever since the end of the Cold War. Have a look at the RAND report, \u201cOverextending and Unbalancing Russia\u201d<\/a> (2019). Didn\u2019t the U.S. participate in the 2014 coup that overthrew Yanukovich? Don\u2019t we sell lethal arms to Ukraine? CodePink<\/a>\u2019s Medea Benjamin argues that America is responsible for this war.<\/p>\n

Greg Mello, director of the Los Alamos Study Group, an Albuquerque-based watchdog of developments at Los Alamos, writes in his blog, Remember Your Humanity<\/a>: \u201cThe tragedy is that few people seem to understand that at the root of the Ukraine crisis is a specific strategy known as the Wolfowitz Doctrine.\u201d Mello quotes the 1992 neoconservative document: \u201cOur first objective\u2026is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival [to the United States], either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere.\u201d Mello asserts that \u201cthe Wolfowitz Doctrine triggered the post-Cold War use of NATO as an instrument of bloody aggression against Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya\u2026A resurgent Russia led by Vladimir Putin was next, and on the horizon, a risen China.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pronouncements by Biden portray America as the defender of freedom all over the world. This is patently untrue; America befriends dictators all over the world. His words in response to the situation developing over the winter months struck me as sanctimonious and sly. I am no expert in foreign affairs, but analysts more experienced than I have documented America\u2019s role in the current crisis. Underneath the smooth talk, there is an agenda, to use its position as the sole superpower to rule the world.<\/p>\n

Writing in Counterpunch<\/em>, Richard Rubenstein<\/a> provides a useful framework for grappling with the perverse power politics of the nuclear age. Without by any means excusing Putin, he writes, \u201cThe causes of this struggle go far beyond Mr. Putin\u2019s bad choices, and solving the problems that produced the conflict go far beyond punishing the Russians. The causes of this conflict are systemic<\/em>\u2026The word that best describes our current system is imperial<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFour major empires currently compete for regional hegemony and global superiority\u2026The eruption of violence in this case should not come as a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black writers have no trouble grasping this concept, familiar as they are with the \u201cstrange fruit\u201d of imperialism<\/em>, born of white supremacy and racism. Black Alliance for Peace posted its analysis on its website<\/a>. \u201cThe conflict in the Ukraine emerges from the ceaseless and single-minded drive of the U.S, NATO, and European Union for global dominance. The genesis of the current crisis\u2026is in the 2014 US-backed coup of Ukraine\u2019s democratically elected government\u2026NATO\u2019s expansion has become an existential threat to African people and all oppressed and colonized people around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Environmentalists and visionaries also speak of systems change, the necessity of social transformation if we are ever to address climate change; for them, the name of the system is capitalism<\/em>; growth<\/em> is fueling climate change. We need to change our high-consumption western lifestyle. The glee of weapons corporations observing \u201cthe opportunity\u201d in this tragic situation [link] is a testament to the rotten behavior capitalism favors. According to Eric Draitser<\/a>, on March 15 Forbes reported that Northup Grumman and Lockheed Martin\u2019s stocks had risen by 20 percent. The fossil fuel industry is also revving up for renewed growth, as Naomi Klein explains in her brilliant article, Toxic Nostalgia<\/a>: \u201cWar is reshaping our world. Will we harness that urgency for climate action or succumb to a final, deadly oil and gas boom?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe root problem is war,\u201d writes Timothy Braatz<\/a>, \u201cnot Putin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listening to Biden respond to Putin, witnessing the devastation caused by Russian military maneuvers, and Zelensky\u2019s repeated plea to NATO to \u201cclose the skies\u201d evokes yet another culpable system, patriarchy <\/em>\u2013 we all live in a patriarchal system based on domination and conquest that overcame and replaced the peaceful Mediterranean cultures of early Europe. War itself may be said to be the creation of patriarchy.<\/p>\n

This system \u2013 imperial, capitalist and patriarchal, and yes, predominantly male \u2013 is rotten. As well as propelling us into endless wars, it is responsible for climate change. It is killing us. It has got to go. \u00a0We need to fashion a different way of life, one that is collaborative more than competitive, a more respectful, more thoughtful use of nature\u2019s resources, with an empathetic regard for one another \u2013 a more conscious<\/em> life.<\/p>\n

We have seen glimpses of it throughout history, but especially since the 60s, when the threat of nuclear war and the diminishing environment freaked out an entire generation.<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, two days before the invasion, Kenny Ausubel, co-founder of the Bioneers Conference<\/a>, released a nine-segment documentary called Changing of the Gods<\/a>, based on the extraordinary work of historian and astrologer Richard Tarnas, which asks the question, Is there a pattern here? Without falling into the trap of seeing planetary movements as causes of our individual and collective lives, Tarnas has meticulously examined possible correlations between specific planetary alignments and human affairs, and he has discovered that the Pluto-Uranus transit, which occurs every 12 years, is reflected in transformational upheavals on earth. We are at the end of one of these cycles now.<\/p>\n

The parallels are stunning, and the interpretations offered by scientists, philosophers and visionaries are fascinating. Tarnas\u2019 work suggests that these patterns are the expression of an intelligent universe steadily guiding us toward the creation of an evolutionary way of life, one of balance and beauty. If we are willing to shift our perspective and assumptions, we may detect the emergence of this new paradigm even through this worst of times \u2013 if we choose it.<\/p>\n

How we are going to get there is yet unclear, but that doesn\u2019t make it impossible. Maybe this war, this flashback to World War II in Europe, with its precipitous nuclear danger will wake us up. All over the world we\u2019ve seen tremendous support for the people of Ukraine. When the UN General Assembly voted against Russia\u2019s \u201cunprovoked\u201d invasion, representatives got up and said things like, \u201cWe don\u2019t need this war. We have other problems.\u201d I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s unprecedented, but it\u2019s extraordinary.<\/p>\n

Yesterday several hundred people came to the Plaza in Sonoma to listen politely to sugary speeches expressing the speakers\u2019 appreciation for Ukraine\u2019s bravery and cheering as if at a baseball game for our side \u2013 whatever that is. Friends of our Ukrainian Sister City, Kaniv, has already collected $13,000 that will go directly to the Mayor there. Tarney Baldinger, a great advocate for the Ukrainian people, has already sent $7000 she raised, mostly at two local vigils. Who lifted up this kind of support for Afghanistan? Sudan? Libya? Ethiopia? Ukraine has touched our hearts, opened by the two-year pandemic, frightened by the worsening IPCC report, and subjected to the biggest propaganda blitz since the Spanish-American War. It\u2019s great that we care, but raising money for more lethal weapons for Ukraine may not be the best way to express our love.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, all this, and the heavy sanctions, which threaten to destroy the Russian economy, as well as the bravery of the Ukrainian people (and the reluctance of the Russian soldiers to carry out this war against their own relatives), has already had an effect<\/a>. The loud call for negotiations has been heard, and at last report the two parties are making progress toward an agreement that could have been reached before this stupid heartless war. Draitser reports that two pro-Putin oligarchs on pro-Putin Russian TV, inconvenienced by the sanctions, expressed their desire for the war to end.<\/p>\n

Noam Chomsky writes, \u201cThe game is not over. There still is time for radical course correction. The means are understood. If the will is there, it is possible to avert catastrophe and to move on to a much better world. The invasion of Ukraine has indeed been a severe blow to these prospects. Whether it constitutes a terminal blow or not is for us to decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The effects of this hideous chapter in world history will be felt for years to come. But perhaps we have recognized once again that we are all connected; what threatens one, threatens all. Wasn\u2019t that the message of the pandemic?<\/p>\n

In France in 2015, when a terrorist attack destroyed the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a popular magazine, people went into the streets chanting, \u201cJe suis Charlie!\u201d (I am Charlie.) After the police murder of George Floyd, masses of people protesting police brutality proclaimed, \u201cI am George Floyd.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are all Ukrainians.<\/p>\n

___________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Stephanie Hiller is a free lance writer who blogs at \u201c<\/em>Particle Beams\u201d. She is an adjunct instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College, where she teaches autobiographical writing to older adults. She lives in Sonoma.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

19 Mar 2022 – I am of Ukrainian origin. Like many Jewish Americans, my ancestral roots reach back to Eastern Europe. My father was born in Kiev and thought he was a Russian. Other relatives lived in the Pale of Settlement created by the Tsarina Catherine the Great which was part of Ukraine. They thought they were Russian too. Even today families blend Russia with Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":189102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[278,961],"class_list":["post-207468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlight","tag-russia","tag-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}