The War in Ukraine
Today at 12 noon EST, I was live on Rumble to discuss the ongoing conflict, its multiple dangers, and what role the U.S. should play, if any, in its outcome.
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The outbreak of war between two or more nations is obviously one of the worst events that can happen for humanity, if not clearly the single worst. For that reason, when it happens, emotions are extremely high; nationalism and tribalism surge; the range of permissible debate radically shrinks; the political and
media class unite in lockstep messaging across the political spectrum; and anyone even slightly off-key or questioning of that script is hunted down and held up as a heretic and traitor, as you can see happening here:
This toxic climate naturally fosters high incentives to either cling faithfully to the script or remain silent, at least until more space opens up for dissent. Attempting to do anything other than recite from the officially imposed book of conventional wisdom is particularly futile, at best, on social media. Thirty years ago, Noam Chomsky explained why the inherent constraints of network television — specifically, the demand that all points be made quickly, in three or four minutes between television breaks: i.e., what television news professionals refer to as “the need for concision” — ensures that conventional wisdom can only be affirmed but never meaningfully challenged:
With all that in mind, I have no intention of trying to use social media to discuss this highly complex and dangerous war, one that produces intense levels of emotionalism and tribal unity. As I saw when I was on Fox News last night (and I will be again tonight at 8 pm EST with Tucker Carlson), even the quick format of cable news makes it difficult to expound deeply on important points.
As a result, today at noon EST, I will be on Rumble live to discuss the evolving war in Ukraine and the debate over what role the U.S. should play, if any, in its outcome. You can watch my video discussion at this link. Being able to speak freely and without the structural constraints described by Chomsky or, worse, the cauldron of distortion and rage that is Twitter, is of vital importance if one wishes to examines these weighty questions in a rational and measured way. I hope as many of you who can will watch the show live — it starts in just twenty minutes — but if not, it will, like all videos, be on Rumble to watch at any point after. I will also certainly have more in-depth articles here in the days ahead as time permits.
The full 90-minute live broadcast I did earlier today on Rumble regarding the Russia/Ukraine conflict can be seen on our Rumble page or in the video below. As we do for all of our video reports, we will post a transcript shortly for our subscribers:
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