Tuesday, March 01, 2022

Putin: The Death of Toxic Patriarchy



Putin's manipulation of other nations, especially with the Unite States' elections, made the attack on Ukraine enviable and necessary for him to retain power within Russia. His overreach and trump's loss proved to his citizens and the world that his control over others was not absolute. The blow to Putin's ego has blinded him. He is refusing to see and accept that the world has changed. Instead, he is trying to bring back the USSR's glory days through bullying and brute force. In the past, these tactics were successful. However, the world has radically changed. New technologies and economic interdependence has ended the days of being able to have total control over what others see, hear, and informational exposure. It's the primary reason that the other dictators remain silent, neither supporting nor condemning Putin's actions; they simply refuse to participate in his ego-driven power grab because they see no profit in sharing the negative spotlight with him.


Although it doesn't seem like it, the world has and continues to change. If it wasn't, the toxic elements of patriarchy would be desperately fighting to keep and restore their ability to control others. It's unnecessary to fight for those things you confidently own. Putin's attack on Ukraine represents an extreme example of the battles between the past and the present that has been happening around the world. White supremacists, no matter how they label themselves, have been using the old tactics of harassment, violence, and misinformation to retain power over others. They see their way of life rapidly vanishing as women and people of color work together to attain equality in their homes, the marketplace, politics, and on the world stage. In the past, this has been primarily the white males' purview. The balance of power had been changing for decades to become more diverse and inclusive. Racism, misogyny, and bigotry have been brought out of the shadows and those, who practice them, are being held accountable for what they say, do and cause to happen. All three are the keystone behaviors that are the basis of the white supremacists' belief that they are superior to others and therefore have the right to dominate them. Being held morally, legally, and financially accountable for their actions has sparked the rage, which has caused the upsurge of violence around the world. Putin's attack on Ukraine is only the most extreme and public example of what has been happening in towns and cities around the world Putin and others' attacks are designed to restore the white supremacists' standing in individual countries and the world.


The global social-economic interdependence has become the axis on which the world now spins. Yet at the same time as most of the world has been developing ways to find common ground to expand their markets to sell their products and services, white supremacists and dictators, like Putin, have been diligently trying to restore feudalism with themselves as the would-be kings or emperors. Putin still believes that boots on the ground, tanks on the field, and planes in the air are the only pathways to power and national pride. However, economics, technology, science, and social equality have become the new battlegrounds. New technologies have removed the barriers that limited international commerce to governments and large corporations. Small companies and cottage industries now actively participate in the global marketplace. But this interdependence is a double-edged sword, as the success or failure of every nation's economy reverberates throughout the world.


More than just products and services, a nation's financial success also relies heavily on innovation, exploration, and expansion in the areas of technology, science, and medicine. Finding new uses for the old while creating new products, methods, and procedures, keeps societies strong and healthy. When innovation and creativity are discouraged, as it is in oppressive societies, individuals can't live up to their full potential. It causes the individuals and the societies they live in to begin to stagnate and die. April 12, 1967, Russia sent cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, into space, which won them the initial leg of the space race. However, that was one of their final achievements. The United States won the race to the moon. In 2021 three billionaires, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk took the space race to a new level with their private companies taking flight, creating the age of space tourism. Whereas Russia began as a leader in the race, they were passed by three billionaires, none of whom are Russia. It must have been a bitter pill for Putin to swallow when Bezos hosted, William Shatner, the star of Star Trek, and others for on a ride alongs. To add insult to injury, Elon Musk realigned his satellites to give Ukraine free internet access, thereby keeping them connected to the rest of the world.



Putin's attempt to seize Ukraine has backfired. Instead, of reestablishing his and Russia's reputations as respected world leaders, they have become social and economic pariahs. The only thing they have won is broad sanctions. Counties, including Switzerland, have frozen the financial, real estate, and corporate assets of Putin, Russian banks, Russian corporations, and Russian billionaires. Corporations have begun to pull their resources from Russia and cancel their contracts to purchase its raw materials. The value of the Rubal has and continues to fall. People have and will continue to die because of Putin's ego. His inability to learn from history will hurt the people of Russia. He might have been wise to read up on what Russians did to the Romanovs in 1917 before starting an unnecessary war.









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