As the country(the internet) squabbles about the most recent polarizing issue, we are all reminded of one of the numerous talking-point reversals of the modern era; Russia. Now, granted, neither I nor the vast majority of the Twittosphere were a part of the national discussion during the Cold War(and by that, I mean watching the nightly news with any actual interest). Most of our knowledge of such a time in history comes from the numerous, more recent, documentaries on Netflix, and the cinematic education we all received through varying numbers of educational films; the constants within this curriculum being Rocky IV, Red Dawn, and The Hunt For Red October. (My own personally tailored educational pathway includes an 80s flash-back episode of Boy Meets World) But, regardless of whether we were birthed or not, it is clear to us all that, at that time, the right appeared to be engaged in over-exaggerated fear-mongering regarding Russia, while The Left appeared to be rather sympathetic to the Reds. Not no more!
Today, as with immigration, it is impossible not to recognize the complete switch among the major political parties. But recognizing it and talking about it are 2 different things. You will hear the occasional pundit(usually on The Right) mention it as a time-filler in their daily podcast, or see a short quip from a funny-guy on Twitter, but for the most part, we avoid the fact. And, I promise, this isn’t one of those “nobody’s-talking-about-this-thing-that-isn’t-really-important” type of posts (no, the things I write are the most important things you could ever read). I understand that a consistent world-view does not mean you are always in favor or against a person or tactic or thought. I also understand how often this idea of hypocrisy is often levied by the mentally deficient in an effort to play some 3rd-grade-level gotcha game. BUT, on this particular issue, I think there has been a bit of a shift, at least for me, and I do think the shift goes unmentioned to the detriment of any meaningful conversations on the right.
[And we’ve arrived at The Point]
The accusation, by the left, that The Right agrees with Putin or looks favorably upon him is not, altogether, without merit. But let me explain.
Right now, I’m resisting all the urges to dispute each of The Left’s disingenuous claims about the right. We all know them, yet serious people spend far too much time giving them air and batting them down as if that exercise will gain them any ground among the radicals. Sane people know that you can respect a person without agreeing with them, so I will forego that exercise (even though I think I just failed) and focus on where they may actually be mistakenly correct.
As far as Putin’s claims regarding the Russia/Ukraine dispute, I think he does paint a picture of the West that we are increasingly buying into on the right. When we do our 10 minutes of research and see the list of Putin’s grievances, we can see how each one of them can be justified in a way that I don’t think would’ve been the case 40 years ago.
To hear an 80s Russia announce their resistance to NATO and the encroachment of the West on its borders, my guess is, the 80s Right would’ve laughed at, or been angered by such a thought. Today, having to bear witness to the constant disintegration of our liberal society (and wondering whether it is a natural progression of our way of life or if something that went haywire along the way) many on the right can sympathize with this point. “We hate our current culture, so why shouldn’t he?” we might think. We may be willing to admit that the Russian political system is a joke, and that Putin, himself, may be all the bad words that are constantly levied at him. But, beneath all that, we have serious questions about the culture we’re in and whether or not it SHOULD be promoted.
I believe this is a clear shift among right wingers. One that I don’t believe the pundits have fully appreciated. For it goes beyond that typical “we complain about things but still think they’re better than all the rest” type complaining that has been the norm among Conservative types for decades. Whether it’s over-reaction or legitimate despair, the right wing has graduated from the “1st world problems” meme to true demoralization. The evidence of our fallen culture is all around us. Granted, it may not be as bad as our mouthpieces may tell us it is (it may be worse) but it’s certainly enough to have large swaths of the population questioning things that were previously sacrosanct.
And what of its legitimacy? Yes, that debate is worth having, if even merely for the exercise of self-assessment and priorities for each individual person. Assessing exactly how much the things we complain about actually affect us is something that should be done weekly. And, while the general consensus is usually that things do not affect you nearly as much as the TV claims, when it comes to the culture, I think right wingers will discover(and have been discovering) that they have drastically under-estimated the size of the problem. It’s no question, by now, that the right has completely abandoned this space. While there is, likely, disagreement over when they went AWOL, I think it’s safe to say that Same-Sex marriage was the final nail in the Conservative culture coffin.
2004 was when that battle ended. And, while there was very little conservative push on culture issues prior to that(say, since the 70s? IMO) the last 18 years have not even really registered as much as a blip on the seismometer of cultural tremors. Abortion has never really gone away(as much as the left likes to believe it has) but even that battle is a lost battle thats being resurrected by defeated soldiers(when even the pro-life movement is advocating for abortion prior to X weeks, you’re playing by the enemy’s rules). But being done well, never-the-less.
But the tide does seem to be shifting a bit. The magnitude of the pushback is a bit overstated if not a complete mirage. For the most part, it’s left-wingers battling further left-wingers. But at least there’s some friction.
[Quick note: If you’re paying attention, even the majority of the “right-wingers” in the culture war are not actually arguing for any particular principals or morals; merely a return to the time when we completely ignore such things. They’re fighting to get back to neutral which, almost assuredly, keeps us on the course toward complete disaster, albeit, at a slower pace.]
And how about this latest infuriating characterization by the left? One of the things that make my blood boil is, today, when I hear progressive mouthpieces referencing the “petty culture war.” They seem to have adopted the right’s characterization of culture issues as insignificant and stupid. Of course, we know that’s not their actual stance. These are the people that informed us that “culture is everything”(I think they were right) and now, once they’re facing some resistance, they mock those that have taken up arms. The disingenuous nature of the left should not be a surprise by now but it, nevertheless, godes my gourd from time to time.
So I guess, to bring it all back to Russia, when it comes to spreading our values, today’s right can sympathize with Putin’s claims of the west. And please, don’t get me wrong. I am under no illusion that the excuses he provides are his actual motivations, or are even true on the whole. In fact, I think the best way to listen to him speak is to use the ole “if his mouth is moving, he’s lying” approach. But, it doesn’t matter whether or not he believes it or not. To most of us, Putin and the country of Russia as a whole, are abstract. We will never meet the man and we will never visit the country. Our thoughts and feelings on the subject will, generally, never exceed the images we see on our monitors or the stories we hear through the grapevine. Neither of which we will ever be able to really touch or verify. There is no reason to lend credibility to the man. By all accounts, he’s stuck in the 1980s, or even 1800s autocratic way of viewing the world. But, on this particular claim; that he fears/hates the encroachment of western culture on his homeland. We cannot fully disagree.
Now, regardless of whether or not we, as Americans, may tend to agree with much of the culture criticism that we hear from around the globe, this belief would not save us were a large scale war to ever actually break out. When we look around and see Russia, China, India, and even now the Saudis seeming to get along, it provides us no safe harbor to hold up “We Hate Intersectionalism Too!!” signs. Munitions have a funny way of ignoring the ideological stance of their targets. So, whether we agree with certain criticisms or not, the one thing that does seem to be real in the entire ordeal is a hatred for the west. There’s no other reason for these countries to align. And I’m not saying that they necessarily have, but we’ve seen China play nice with Russia, India hasn’t, necessarily, been the most outspoken critic, and now Saudi Arabia is discussing the possibility of pricing Chinese oil in yuan instead of the dollar.
It’s easy to get caught up in the hysteria of it all if you let yourself. I tend to think about the movie Men In Black a lot when conflict breaks out. The part where Agent Jay(Will Smith) is freaking out about Agent Kay(Tommy Lee Jones) being so nonchalant about a battle cruiser that is about to destroy the planet. Kay says, “There’s always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser, or a Corillian Death Ray, or an intergalactic plague that is about to wipe out all life on this miserable little planet, and the only way these people can get on with their happy lives is that they DO NOT KNOW ABOUT IT!” I mean, clearly, many people learn the wrong lessons from a statement like this, but I always reflect on the truth in it when debates spring up over the erratic leaders of ‘problematic’ countries. How often are we one small step away from carnage? Faith gains an audience when those thoughts surface.
And it would be a mistake, we’re finding out, to fall into the historic trap of separating the culture squabbles from the serious business being performed by our federal government. When you turn on the TV and see the people in charge of national defense spewing idiocy, we are reminded of how important these “silly culture wars” actually are. The consequences of these culture losses that we have largely ignored the last 60 years are staring us in the face. The vapid and narcissistic pretenders that ascend to the top of our current culture find themselves in positions where they can inflict huge amounts of damage without even knowing it. The, seemingly harmless (yet nauseating), virtue signaling that we’ve ignored for years has created a ruling class that suggests the practice may not be so harmless. The situation with Ukraine is awful. But watching the products of intersectionalism that lead our institutions react to the situation instills a sense of helpless dread in a person. As mentioned before, the “Culture Is Everything” bumper sticker appears to be more true than we thought. And I’m not blaming those who made the decision to ignore those battles. If the above statement is true, it has some pretty serious ramifications that, even the majority today, wouldn’t fully appreciate. The things many believe “make up America” would really be put to the test if we really dug into the effects of our culture on our daily lives. But that’s another post.
But to sum up; the confidence in the American way of life has been shaken. Whether legitimately or illegitimately is difficult, nigh impossible, to determine and mostly irrelevant. It seems to me that this has, historically, been a left-wing sentiment; they hated their parents and the country suffered the wrath. The biggest problem for the country is that they won. Today, the majority of the right holds views of the world in line with those that were once only held by left-wing radicals. It happened bit by bit and, without seeing any immediate effects, we all just said “what’s the harm?” Well, the harm is not nothing. Hedonism, and self-absorption have replaced authentic righteousness and altruism.
Many of us see this, and hate it. So when we encounter a conflict that, at least in appearance, centers on a resistance to the cultural climate that led to this, we understand it. Yes, hypocrisy abounds and ulterior motives litter the landscape. To say we understand it does not mean that we think others are doing it better. It actually has very little to do with Putin or China or any other despot around the world. No one would advocate for trading places with citizens of those countries. But it’s about us (as all things are). And none of the talking heads in Washington get it. I suppose they never have. You don’t get to magnify the voices of the most destructive people in society, for decades on end, without eventually suffering the consequences. The stockpile of good will in this country has run dry, and it doesn’t appear that we have any interest(or ability, perhaps) to build it back up.
Depending on who you ask or how you count, the Roman Empire lasted about 450 years. America is about to turn 246 and, at times, it’s hard to imagine us passing the Romans. So, does the left have a point when they call the right “Putin Sympathizers”? Not the one they think they do. But it wouldn’t be accurate to say “No, full stop.” This is more of a “No…but yield.”
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