By Peter R. Quiñones

I know, it’s anathema to ask. Even people I respect, when they say they’re not taking sides, always qualify with a “well, we know Putin’s a bad guy!” Do you? How? “Well, we just do. You know he’s a trillionaire, right?” No, I don’t know that and neither do you. “Well, have you seen his house?” No, I’ve never been there. I’m told it’s his house. “He’s poisoned dozens of his enemies!” Has he? Who told you this? You can be a child and say, “All politician bad, State bad, government BAD, GOVERNMENT BAD!!!! So that makes Zelenskyy bad as well, right

“You know Zelenskyy’s a hero, right?” I do not. I know he used to be an actor. “Well, his country was invaded.” Half the fuckers saying this don’t even believe in borders. And a lot of anarchists who don’t believe in borders or countries all of a sudden became believers in a State.

But all of this is moot because this conflict has nothing to do with you or me, yet, we are being punished for it. Gas prices don’t have to be at their historical high right now. Even when the Soviet Union was at its peak, the US still traded with it. The one time it didn’t US farmers suffered. In response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, what we now know was a proxy war by the US regime against the USSR, President Carter issued an embargo of American wheat sales to Russia. This was so controversial that it became a main issue in that year’s presidential campaign with Ronald Reagan promising to lift the embargo if elected while Carter refused. After the grain embargo, and 4 years of economic woes, Reagan won with 489 electoral votes. The first thing Reagan did after being inaugurated was to lift the embargo.

Americans were made to suffer for a conflict that had nothing to do with them. This time, it’s everyone who has to drive to get through their daily lives. If you’re not on Twitter, and I assume if you’re not you’re saner than I am, there are people championing the rise in gas prices as a way to fight the “evil Putin”. First, I can assure you these people are members of the “laptop class”, or, people who live in places where passive transportation is available. Second, that would be ignoring the fact that since that senile old fuck took office gas prices have been rising steadily. With all of the talk about “Green New Deals” and “Build Back Better” a tin foil hat is no longer needed to imagine this is a grand plot to get you to stop driving.

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