Recently I listened to a Jordan Peterson podcast interviewing Dr. Frederick W. Kagan, a former professor of history with a Ph.D. in Russian and Soviet military history from Yale. I didn't agree with everything that was said, but it was interesting and insightful. It's available to watch on you tube and several other platforms, if you are interested.

Now allow me to shift gears rather suddenly. It's really been driven home to me that we need to get rid of this false cultural paradigm, this black and white mindset that refuses to explore the complexity of any issue and instead reduces everything down to "tyrants and oppressors," victims and bullies, "good guys and bad guys," predators and prey. The world is seldom that cut and dry, especially when it comes to human relationships. I am not just talking about the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, but many other interpersonal conflicts.

The Bible reminds us in Proverbs 18:17, "The first one to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and cross-examines him." That goes along with one of my favorite sayings, "you do not always know what you think you know." Don't jump to hasty conclusions!

Proverbs 14:12 also remind us, "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." All in good humor here, but I think of that one often! Something I really notice that seems "right" but leads to destruction is this paradigm that frames everything in the context of bullies and victims. The oppressed versus the oppressors. Consider the "homeless" currently being portrayed as the innocent victims of a cruel society. Yes sometimes true, but far more often we've got people caught in the throes of major addiction, who have actually burnt all their bridges and victimized dozens, even a good chunk of their own communities.

It seems "right" to have that pity mindset, to virtue signal all our compassion towards an alleged oppressed group, especially one that is obviously suffering. The problem being, are we actually helping? Whose needs are really being met here?

I live in the land of bleeding hearts. We care so, so much about the alleged homeless, we're making more of them. We're mass producing them. We're importing them! We're spending millions on them. Of course the money seldom trickles down or does anything constructive to help them and whole lot of other people get victimized in the process. Drugs, theft, violence, garbage, addiction, and more misery for all is the only fruit we ever seem to produce.

That's one problem with an "oppressed versus the oppressor "mindset, it blinds us to the truth. It robs us of wisdom. We tend to react emotionally and our protective nature is triggered. We want to rescue people from the mean bullies.

One of the kindest things someone ever said to me was, "you are not a victim." That was during a time when I was clearly the bug on 8 different people's windshield, so it was an almost comical thing to say. The thing is, "you are not a victim" is how we empower people to escape their bondage. If you genuinely want to help others, remind people they are powerful....and accountable for themselves.

Don't ever assume they know that truth either, because the world is working 24/7 to tell them they are totally powerless, helpless, and completely dependent on others, their circumstances, their past, their afflictions. Powerless people are easily controlled and manipulated, and they help everyone else to feel superior. True story!

That false cultural paradigm, that black and white mindset that insists on framing everything in the context of the "oppressed versus the oppressor," is evil, it refuses to see the shades of grey in the world, it denies the complexities of life, and it dishonors individuals.

It's a real blight on my potato! We simply cannot solve contemporary world problems when we just reduce all arguments down to stick figure cave drawings, caricatures like "orange man bad" or "get a haircut!"

Night Wind did an interesting post called, IT'S TIME FOR SOME SOUL-SEARCHING ON THE RIGHT. I agree with many of the points. Also provided is a very brief link that only begins to scratch the surface of some of the entanglements between the US and the Ukraine.

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