[Paleopsych] Ukraine and gay marriage

[Werbos, Dr. Paul J.]

Good afternoon!

No, I am not connecting the two subjects. One after the other.
Ukrainia first, since it is more important.

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The current thinking abut the Ukraine in the EC, Russia and the US
is a beautiful example of how mindless thoughtless knee-jerk reactions
on all sides can allow people to drift into silly weak positions that
hurt everyone. Particularly at a time when they all face a very real common
terrorist threat, and a lot of unmet opportunities for expanded cooperation...
here we are acting like drunken violent sports fans again. It is sad.

The sports fan thinks: "Push them back... let the home team win...
let's have (EC) or (Russia) won Ukraine. And let it be owned fair and square,
a nice unitary government that controls everything." Thomas Jefferson would
certainly be upset about the sad state of an educational system that sinks 
so low.

In fact... it is said that Russia fears that Ukraine will be fully 
integrated both into NATO
and into the tight inner core of the EC (with hostility and Exxon control 
even on its border),
while EC and US would want exactly that. So the fate of Ukraine is seen as 
a zerosum game ...
and zerosum games generally end badly.

But in reality... SHOULD WE WANT Ukraine to be integrated in that way?

Consider that the uncontrolled flow of people over vast borders is already
a central security problem for the EC. Is it really in the interest of the 
EC to be stuck
with borders twice as extensive, harder to access? Is it in the security 
interest of
Europe to totally eliminate the Russian security presence in Eastern Ukraine?
And is a unitary state such a perfect idea? (I seem to remember a time when
they taught some courses where people read from a guy named Rousseau who talked
about a tyranny of the majority... and the importance of having a kind of 
"republic"
instead of a pure democracy, to protect minorities.)

Instead of fighting for "our" control, Putin and the West should perhaps
have some friendlier and more constructive discussions. There is talk
in the EC about SOME kind of two-tiered system, where there is
a totally free flow of people and goods in the inner tier, but
the flow of people is subject to some kind of checks between the outer tier
and inner tier, and where the outer tier retains more autonomy.
Instead of winning or losing everything on a binary throw of the dice...
could there not be some hope of a dialogue aimed at a situation where 
everyone wins?
In fact, could there be some agreement that Ukraine will NOT be a full
member of NATO (any more than Russia itself), but that there WILL
be an effort towards joint security arrangements involving Russians,
NATO and Ukraine addressing some of their common needs?

I am reminded a lot of my old PhD thesis adviser, Prof. Karl Deutsch.
Karl was a very effective hidden voice behind the kind of dialogue which made
the EC possible in the first place. Just as the US should probably remember 
Jefferson
a bit more than it does (yea even Francis Bacon), perhaps the insights of folks
like Deutsch (and Schelling) might be considered in EC approaches...
On the other hand, I suppose I would recommend caution to Russia
in extrapolating too far from what was learned by the Golden Horde...
(In fact, what WERE the real lessons learned? The question reminds
me of Waley's introduction to the Tao Te Ching...)

===========================

As for gay marriage...

The entire discussion reminds me of... maybe a scene from Gone With the Wind?..
where people are hysterically worried about which color of blouse to wear
even as the gunshots ring out over the hill and there is a war going on.

It also reminds me of stage magicians who use distraction to deceive people.

And it reminds me of the deep role and history of gay vibes
(pro and con, but the same variable) in the long history of the Catholic 
Church,
which is to the new evangelism what the Reds of Moscow were to the
pinks of the 30's to 60's. The obsession itself is the disease.
This shouldn't be crowding out all other news, one way or another.

Those who insist on seeing the future through the Book of Revelations
should remember what it says about the city with seven hills,
and ask what wave they are being dragged along by.

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Enough for now. Much more could be said about the second topic,
and I apologize WEAKLY for oversimplifying. But then again,
it would be an unwise use of time to be more precise and lengthy
on that one at this time.

Best of luck to us all...

    Paul