My “science and technology” high school had the latest cool gadgets — for the 70s, that is. For driver’s ed, we had simulators with their own steering wheel, turning signals, gas pedal, and brake. Everything we did could be reviewed (and maybe recorded) by the instructor in the back of the room.
Unfortunately, the visual part was not responsive. It was just a movie, so nothing we did changed anything on the screen.
One day, the movie had us creeping closer and closer to the car in front of us. I applied the brake. As we got closer and closer, I knew what was coming, so I stomped on the brake.
A couple seconds later, the car in front stopped, the car we were “in” crashed into it, and the instructor said, “You’re all dead.”
I said, “Not me. I’ve been braking for the last two miles.”
It was a completely unfair test. The movie put us in a no-win situation, and then we were judged for not getting out of it.
That’s the way I feel about Ukraine.
We’ve been poking and threatening Russia for decades now. We’ve been inviting more and more states into NATO, pushing NATO’s borders closer and closer to Russia. Russia has warned repeatedly that they can not allow this.
It’s not a big surprise that Russia invaded Ukraine. But somehow we — the U.S. taxpayer — are on the hook to pay for it. (I also worry whether we’re replenishing our supplies of all that hardware we’ve send to Ukraine.)
I’m not saying Russia was right to invade Ukraine, or to conduct the war the way they have. Near as I can tell (if I can believe the reports), Russia has been exceptionally brutal and has attacked civilians. That’s wrong, and there should be consequences. But there are levels to “consequences.”
There are lots of conflicts in the world, and we can’t get involved simply because bad things are happening. We should only get involved when it’s in our interest to get involved, and that’s a debatable question — not only in terms of yes or no, but also in terms of how much.
Saying we shouldn’t be so committed to Ukraine is no more “pro Putin” than saying we shouldn’t get involved in the conflicts in Mexico is “pro cartel,” or saying we shouldn’t be fighting in the South China Sea is “pro communist” — and it’s simply idiotic to make such a claim. You can be against Putin, against the cartels, and against the Chicoms and still believe it’s not in our best interests to get in a particular fight, or to question to what degree we should get involved.
This is especially true when our provocations helped to start the whole thing!
How much have we given to Ukraine? It’s something like $112 billion. What if we took half that money to hire more border agents and judges to deal with the mess on the border? Or what if we took half that money and invested it in better naval weapons so we don’t fall behind the Chinese? Or what if we used it to fix our railroads and bridges?
“Oh, but there are people dying in Ukraine.”
Yes, and that’s awful. But that in itself doesn’t determine how involved we should be.