Bad People in Positions of Power

One would think that the vast majority of people and nations in the world would be revolted by Russia’s unprovoked and abhorrent war against Ukraine and would be united in condemnation of Putin and resolute in bringing as much pressure against Russia as possible to bring about a just outcome to this ongoing monstrous crime. The NATO countries have to a large extent risen to the occasion, but it is dismaying how many countries see the war only in terms of how they can exploit it to their own advantage: not only countries run by monstrous autocrats –– notably China, North Korea, and Iran — but also, India, South Africa, and other Middle Eastern and African countries. Isolationist sentiment is on the rise in the United States, as well. Hordes of people throughout the world appear to be tolerant of Putin’s autocratic brutalist way of being. These are bad people, and a dismaying number of them are in positions of power.