The Sorry Status Quo Persists Amidst the Escapism of ‘Democracies’-From ‘Wuhan’s Virus’ to ‘Putin’s Tax’ and ‘Zelenski brought it on himself’?

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Written by Simon Ndiritu

There is an ongoing tendency for ‘democracies’ to shift blame and deny responsibility for their failure. This tendency attempt to justify a reckless trajectory and signals that the current inflation crisis and confrontation around the Russia-Ukraine conflict will persist in the near-medium term.

Introduction

In case you expect the so-called democracies to respond to the current inflation and fall in living standards or stop prioritizing arming Ukraine, you will be disappointed as the blame game and shifting responsibility continues. This escapist view is apparent in their response to the question ‘what are the reasons for current inflation, declining living standards, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict? Or why is Ukraine losing? Allow me to expound on what I mean. Also, let me start with the heads of “democracies” with the hope that their views represent those of the majority of their populace if you get the irony. So let’s see what Biden and his predecessor have been saying.

Rare Convergence between Trump and Biden

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Trump claimed to have evidence that China deliberately leaked the virus from Wuhan and even threatened to impose trade tariffs on China.  A few days ago, Biden commenting on the deteriorating economic situation with raging inflation stated that the price hikes were caused by ‘Putin’s Tax’. Three days ago, the same Biden said that Zelensky downplayed US intelligence that Russia was about to invade in his attempt to explain Ukraine’s underwhelming performance in the ongoing special military operations. In two of the above examples, Trump’s and Biden’s scapegoating has enabled them to do nothing to improve citizens’ situation. It has enabled them to absolve themselves of any political responsibility for doing nothing despite numerous legal ways in which they can intervene. This can explain why after Trump’s claim and adventure to “Punish” China, he proceeded to do little to confront the illness and as a result, his country suffered the greatest death toll of about 1 million people. Trump had erroneously thought that his scapegoating and his trade tariffs could galvanize his political base, but his opportunistic opponents capitalized on his failure ending in his losing a second term. Biden has continued Trump’s ways. He explained away ranging inflations, the rise in oil, and food prices as Putin’s tax. It boggles any mind how the Russian president can impose any tax on Americans. Again, Biden and his team are trying to shift the blame for his irresponsible war in eastern Ukraine on Russia. As I said earlier, Biden and his crew escalated this conflict that the West had started in 2014. It is hard to explain how Russia could hold back down amidst the massacre of Ethnic Russians in Donbas and anti-Russian sanctions, some of which were imposed before the war.

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Some appreciate (and rightly so) that the current trend of increase in consumer prices, reduction in productivity, and loss of jobs began after trump threatened and imposed tariffs on China in 2019. Henceforth, some products became expensive while some supply chains were disrupted leading to a decline in production and hence jobs losses as illustrated here. Therefore, American leadership should not blame China or the Covid-19 for the declining living standards as the trend began before Covid-19. In addition, further decline during Covid-19 can be blamed more on Trump’s and Biden’s policies than the disease itself. Prolonged and numerous cycles of lockdowns hampered production and trade. Through 2021, we repeatedly heard US policymakers recognize challenges such as delayed treadmill and transitory inflation (which are inexplicable) as causing rising prices and commodity shortages but not China. Such an explanation was made by no other than, white house press Secretary Jane Psaki in October 2021. “The challenge of the delayed treadmill” was used to imply that the supply chain was slower such that products were not reaching consumers promptly. If that was the case, the government was partly responsible for the lockdowns including the disruption of trucking that would result in the freedom convoy protest that Trudeau berated and cracked down on. No sane person can lock down borders, put unreasonable requirements for truck drivers to operate, and later complain that products are taking longer in the supply chain, or later blame other governments.

Zero Creativity in Selecting a Scapegoat

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Talking of blaming other governments, Biden’s Putin Tax comes out profoundly; he said it casually as if he was expecting every American to accept that the current trend of inflation and worsening living standards is caused by Putin, which is clearly untrue. As I have illustrated earlier, the inflationary trend began with Trump’s anti-China trade war in august 2019 and accelerated with the mismanagement of Covid-19, which resulted in supply chain issues. Some will ask me “what about Putin’s Invasion” to which I will reply “it has nothing to do with the current crises”. Firstly, according to a former senior Swiss intelligence officer, it was Ukraine with the West’s assistance that started the current war, and they should be blamed for its consequences. Secondly, the sanctions including on Russia’s energy that accelerated inflation are exclusively imposed by the West. Therefore, it is erroneous and disingenuous to sing along the western line that Russia caused the war or inflation. Importantly, Biden’s description of the current inflation as Putin’s tax is cynical, escapist, and an attempt to pass the buck to someone else such that the current problem will never be addressed.

No Foreseeable Policy Change

Concerning the trajectory of Putin’s special military operation and the reality that Ukraine is performing so underwhelmingly that territorial concession is considered, Biden blamed Zelensky and stated that he ignored the earlier warning. Biden wants to suggest that had Ukraine made a move earlier, the situation would be different. This is also incorrect because Ukraine had a de facto begun a war against Donbas before February 24. Still, Biden wants to conveniently pass responsibility to Zelensky. Meanwhile, Zelensky thinks he is losing because western weapons are arriving late. The main goal of Biden (the US establishment) and Zelenski here is to have politicians doing nothing concerning the current challenges and continue with the current policy. The downside of this mentality is the risk it places on citizens and the rest of the world especially if inflation and fall in living standards grow as well as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while Biden and Zelensky continue to act like victims.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Russia’s Victories In Donbass Leave No Way Out For Ukrainian Troops
• Reflections On The Dispute Over The South China/ East Vietnam/ West Philippines/ North Indonesia Sea
• Battle For Severodonetsk: Ukrainian Forces Doomed To Defeat In Industrial Area (Videos)

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