Russia

When people today talk about the evils of cancel culture they are referring to liberals who have gone astray but for those of us who have been adults since the cold war started we have a more broad view. We remember the red scare of the 1950's when anyone accused of being communist was riducled and shamed and many lost their jobs. I was mesmerized watching the McCarthy hearings and how small incidences were twisted into treasonous acts. It was a bipolar world where you were either for capitalism or communism. These feelings were so strong, that when the opportunity for a peaceful world presented itself in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, instead of setting up economies that joined forces the only thought was to punish the new Russia. Clinton got on well with the new leader of Russia Boris Yeltsin and wanted to set up working agreements but he was shunted side by the military industrial complex and the old us vs them cold war policy prevailed. When Putin took power in 2000 he also wanted to have a business relationship with the West but he was a former KGB man and could not be trusted. This was a missed opportunity and other opportunities came later but each time the old cold war policies prevailed and it all culminated in the Ukraine War. Even today both Putin and Zelensky are sending out signals that they would like a peaceful settlement but the hawks are still running the show. Send Ukraine more weapons to keep this thing going even with understanding that the US doesn't want Putin to lose and doesn't want Ukraine to win for fear that either would end up with WW 3