Many bloggers and vloggers cater to discontent. They either address their readers or viewers on behalf of victims, or they feel strongly that they are a victim themselves. This is not such a blog. On the contrary. The name of this blog, 'jammerjoh', translates into English as 'Deal with it', or 'Sorry Bro'. Yet I'm not advocating a highly egocentric perception of society, or a 'survival of the fittest'.
My point is, that we need to *avoid* doing stupid things, because repairs or rebuilding what we destroyed by not thinking things through, is extremely wasteful. Individuals will make stupid mistakes, me included, but the consequences in such cases are nearly always limited. People 'in power' are as vulnerable as we are, and their mistakes may destroy life on earth in some cases if we let them. Especially if we *encourage* them, thinking that they are wise and well informed. But no, they are just plain stupid at times. And some truly stupid people mesmerise crowds, and before you know it you are at war.
At a very personal level I'm not complaining. I've been around the block, and I know my life is beyond comfortable. Health issues are to be expected when you reach my age, but for now I'm fit and not restrained outside appointments and treatments, which are not all that time consuming. Serious derailment of our individual health is *always* just around the corner, for all of us. Using that knowledge to make the best of *today*, and not delay activities which bring us satisfaction, is perhaps a little too hedonistic and short-sighted. Planning ahead to enhance the possibility that you will be a 'happy camper' till the end, or at least as happy as possible, is the more intelligent thing to do.
Thus, this blog focusses on threats, and misleading narratives. With warnings about stupid people throwing their weight behind stupid wars, and destructive activity, as a recurring theme. Stupidity defined as 'choices which are bad for *you*, and bad for society/humanity', irrelevant whether you are 'High IQ', 'Well-Educated', or not at all. Various people lacking in the 'IQ-department', and never near any education, are 'Streetwise', and therefore a lot smarter than many academics. Case in point: The academics which composed that plan to 'Overextend and Unbalance Russia from Advantageous Ground'. They don't come more stupid than that.
In line with that definition of stupidity, intelligence is associated with our ability to find 'Win-Win' solutions, since they are most productive, even though certain choices look better 'on paper'. As a rule, that better solution would not have been better in real life if one party felt neglected, throwing a tantrum. Optimisation is the best we can do. Talk. Not: 'My way, or the Highway!' Not: 'My Rules!' Not: 'My Values!', or prepare for war.
On this blog I reject this Monster the EU has become, but not the European Economic Community which brought the member states wealth, and peace. Nothing wrong with a well defined 'Customs Union'. But in no way we should accept policies emerging from 'Brussels', where unqualified, unelected, truly stupid people (within that definition provided above) are wrecking what we've built, not even limited by something like a constitution. Sovereign nations in a multipolar world is a 'Win-Win' solution. But please note, this is not similar to a world where each individual is sovereign. How big is the optimal nucleus of a sovereign state?
A somewhat practical answer is that it is eventually up to the people within that state, or country. Thus, if a referendum reveals that a vast majority in a substantial part of a country in turmoil wants to switch sides, as in this case of Crimea and those four Oblasts in the East of Ukraine, I'd say: Let them go peacefully. Holland as a country once included Belgium. The Belgians divorced themselves from Holland in 1830. They carry this national slogan: 'Power in Unity'. In three languages, French, Dutch and German, used in that country by various groups which distrust, or even hate the others. Illustrating that 'Unity' is the very *last* thing on the minds of the Belgian people. But 'good riddance'. Which is not to say I have any quarrel with the Belgian people, but I certainly do not envy them. That country, the seat of the EU, is ungovernable. And the same was true for Ukraine. Don't go to war. Shake hands, and 'All the Best'. And when things go wrong: 'Deal with It'. 'Jammerjoh!'.
But let's not forget that Russia was not after such a solution. It was seeking a 'Win-Win' solution for all parties concerned, which included the EU. In fact, Russia never opposed to Ukraine becoming an EU member back then. Only now, because the EU is militarising fast-and-furious. The Russians just didn't trust NATO, and for all the correct reasons, as that plan to overextend and unbalance Russia made adamantly clear. That 'My way, or the Highway!, My Rules!, My Values!'-expansionist, war-minded group of nations did not talk. To nobody. Under no circumstances were they going to accept Multipolarity, or the right of sovereign nations to set their own rules, live by their own values, and create their own wealth. No 'Governor of Texas' (as Rutte called Putin) will receive a seat at the table where decisions are made for the 'world order'.
Wars are always carried by many people, each and every one motivated in his or her own way. Yesterday I was scanning the 'Google-Map' of the area of Pokrovsk, one of the last fortified towns in a belt of fortifications prepared by NATO and 'Kiev' after 2015, about to be taken by Russia. Zooming in to see the urban areas, where people lived with hopes for the future. All the post-offices 'temporarily closed'. The 'Stolova' hamburger-joint, with a '4.1' rating, and 614 reviews, 'temporarily closed', just as 'Café-Bar Monarch'. Some fifty-six kilometers due East is Donetsk, that town at the center of the civil war Porochenko unleashed in 2014, after Victoria 'Fuck the EU' Nuland's successful regime change operation, where numerous people died in irregular shelling of the city since the 'Minsk Accord' was signed. No doubt with multiple once lively restaurants and bars 'temporarily closed'.
Sovereignty is not about a line on a map, but about the people. A government ruling over these people has to be honest to them, and do whatever it can to bring prosperity and peace. Draining the country to create the largest army in Europe after Russia, a *much* larger country, with corruption raging, and 'Kiev' doing the bidding of an alien alliance which was planning to use Ukraine as bait, to overextend and unbalance Russia, doesn't qualify. By the looks of it, Angela Merkel, who played a key role in concluding the 'Minks Accord', is feeling betrayed by 'friends' cynically seeking war. Hungary, Slovakia, and now the Czech republic signal that they want their sovereignty back. In France Macron is holding on by his fingernails, after burning through five prime-ministers in less than two years. Rutte is all over the place, hiding behind his 'Daddy'. Keir Starmer is relying on Orwellian measures to prevent an uprising. Vote-rigging is 'everywhere' in Europe.
Yet, I still have my retirement-benefits, my home, my car, my bike. Health care has not collapsed. My grand-children go to school. My children have a job, earning enough for the life they want to live. I speak freely on my blog, and on 'X', about subjects which are 'controversial'. But dark clouds are gathering over all of that. 'Leaders' are actively planning to pull the rug from under our 'welfare state', since they need every penny for their 'Project Defeat Russia'. My own government, and parties aspiring to rule over us after early elections on October 29, are (mostly) dishonest, and they do not want to *bring* prosperity, but take it from those who worked hard, to 'spread the wealth', buying loyalty from those who will be summoned to present themselves for military service soon. And the *real* rulers in 'Brussels' are not hesitating.
I've got those favourite restaurants and bars in the town where I live. When exactly will they be 'temporarily closed', because 'defeating Russia' has been promoted to an 'existential threat'? Who's existence? In short, I do not write for this or that religious or ideological group, but in the hope to revive sanity as the way forward. Let's talk.