The new Old World Order
This whole Ukraine/Russia world event is interesting to me as someone that grew up in the 70s and 80s.
As a kid, the “commies” were the bad guys. They were what we taunted each other with in the playground, what adults discussed in hushed tones
The Berlin Wall fell and then the Soviet Union followed.
Suddenly, these guys that we’ve been hating all this time just up and disappeared. But on the flip side, we’re still the same. We’re still the Americans. We still have the Republicans and Democrats (for better or worse). And that rhetoric is still there.
For the Russians, there’s an element of their own success at painting us out to be their enemy. Decades of it, plus the fact that the West triumphed in the Cold War, plus our own self-inflicted stupidity and arrogance, means that it’s easy for us to remain their boogeyman while they’re no longer ours.
They’re victims of their own propaganda success.
As for me, I try as much as I can to be even-keeled. Because I never know when the situation may change. On a related note, spoke to an old friend the other day and was reminded why we stopped speaking in the first place.
He’s 42 and still angry, still suspicious, still sure that conspiracies abound. He’s 42 but really still 18.
At 18 his convictions were hills from which he looked; at 42 they’re caves where he hides. The world’s changed around him but he hasn’t.
For the Reddit Ask Me Anything this Thursday, I dropped the the price for The Men Made of Stone to $0.99 and A Great First Date to $2.99, so pick up a copy!
Here are some details about the novel.
Location: the weekend, the local diner getting a Cobb Salad
Mood: good
Music: everybody’s gotta get there somehow
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