1-2-2017
Does It Make A Difference Who Did the Hacking
A friend asked an inspirational question on a Fb thread regarding Putin and Russian hacking, ‘does it matter who did the hacking of the website and emails’. I am pretty sure that national powers as well as the USA do hack into foreign web systems. As do non-state groups and individuals. I also know that the US and other governments try to influence the outcomes of elections in foreign countries. At what point do these activities become hostile to the democratic process and do they ever rise to the level of acts of aggression comparable to acts of war?
As readers of Bicycling for Peace and Environmental Justice know, it is my opinion that recent US interference in foreign affairs have been disastrous to attempts to stem the tide of global warming. Our Climate Crisis cannot be solved at the same time as war is being waged. One effort requires cooperation while the other terrorizes and destroys the peace required for that cooperation. 2016 marked the third year in a row for the hottest year on record. Arctic Winter temperatures 50°F above normal replenished very little new ice.
Our policy seems to be that governments weakened by circumstances are fair game for US interference when we want some strategic advantage they are not providing us. Instead of offering assistance to bolster their ability to serve their populations we further their destabilization or just outright militarily attack them to achieve our ends. Syria, Libya, and Ukraine are all examples where supportive cooperation would have produced better outcomes than the aggression we pursued.
Weak countries are weak because there is a lack of consensus amongst their populations. They are difficult to manage because their diverse populations want different ends. Why the idiots at our Departments of State and War or Spycraft think they can do a better job from Washington than the local people is astonishing. As sea levels rise, and our ability to obtain fresh water and grow food, and as species we rely on diminish, our inattention to civilization’s major threat is unforgivable.
American itself is a very divided country. Whoever won the election would have been despised by two thirds of our population. We are now a weakened democracy and yet as Americans we have a special responsibility to the rest of the world. Because of our sense of insecurity we have allowed our leaders to amass the most dangerous military on earth. We have a form of government that places in the hands of one individual the power to decide just how that power is used. And we have created a system where that individual is isolated from the majority and is daily indoctrinated by the full-time masters of deception listed above. Our is not a parliamentary democracy our president is isolated even from other elected representatives in Congress.
Many factors influenced our recent election, none were more influential than the two candidates themselves. The Weak Democratic Party and the Radical Republican Party, and the machinations of what was once our free and independent press. Did the speculation of what Putin’s Russia did have an influence or WikiLeaks? I think they had some effect. Did our FBI Director influence the election? I think he did? But were these hacks of our election and did they rise to the level of acts of war? If they were then our current administration has acted rather sheepishly. I for one am not ready for a new Cold War and further McCarthyism like suppression of our freedoms. I do believe however, that if the American people do not organize to take back our democratic processes it will not matter what we want.
