When you scan the news, there are certain recurring themes: the gyrations of the stock market, covid policy debate, midterm elections, etc. Tucked away in the top corner of the page is news about the possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Combining this fact with the lackluster response by Western Governments to counter Russian military adventurism, it’s very hard not to think that Western Civilization as we know is losing its soul.
The events that are transpiring on the Ukrainian border are a direct affront to the values Western civilization holds so dear: the commitment to human freedom, that no nation should be under the rule of another, that each human has intrinsic dignity, that democracy is ennobling, and that a people should be the decisors of their fate.
There was a time when these values were paramount, worth defending, worth sacrificing. Now they barely make the front page. This is not about Ukraine. It’s about who we are as people and what we stand for. And the answer we are getting from certain thinkers is profoundly disappointing.
2022