Death & Taxes
From PSL International:
1) Ukraine is a pawn that has been used repeatedly by the U.S. government and NATO to put pressure on one of their main targets: Russia. It's not true that somehow Zelensky swindled all of the most important imperialist powers into supporting a war that's against their interests. Zelensky has been happy to be a puppet of Washington, but now there's a new puppeteer in charge and he seems to no longer have use for Zelensky.
2) The $500 billion mineral deal that Zelensky was supposed to sign during his visit was not about "getting taxpayers' money back". The revenue from Ukraine's natural resources would go to American mining corporations. Working people who have seen tens of billions of our tax dollars wasted on the war in Ukraine would not get a penny back. Like everything with Trump, this was about lining the pockets of CEOs.
3) Trump does not care about peace. At the same time as he's pushing for a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump is:
trying to ethnically cleanse Gaza so he can build a luxury real estate development
threatening to bomb Iran
running head-first towards World War Three with China, and
setting off a global arms race by demanding massive increases in NATO military spending.
My own thoughts:
If we’re to value Ukrainian voices, it’s important to listen to the stories of those who have deserted the military. There’s real issues in Ukraine & it’s military that fly in the face of neo-liberal values.
That said, it doesn’t take away Ukraines right to defend itself from invasion. It also means because the U.S. has used it as a pawn that the U.S. shares responsibility for the blowback. Despite who is president.
Lastly, to side with Russia now because it “owns the libs” is expected of non-Christian’s. But it is entirely damning to the witness of those who profess Christ. Russia has always been an enemy of freedom to us, and to ignore it for the sake of political expediency is to sell your soul to gain the world.
If you’re a Christian & fallen into this trap, remember it is always the perfect time to repent, seek forgiveness, & to receive the grace of Jesus into your life. You don’t have to carry shame or embarrassment. You can find freedom (real freedom) in Jesus that allows you to acknowledge when all forms of wrong are wrong, regardless of earthly kingdom affiliation. There’s more in life than death & taxes.