When One Is Already On The Edge

Vladimir Putin Inherited A Ransacked And Bewildered Country, With A Poor And Demoralized People. And He Started To Do What Was Possible - A Slow And Gradual Restoration. These Efforts Were Not Noticed, Nor Appreciated, Immediately. In Any Case, One Is Hard Pressed To Find Examples In History When Steps By One Country To Restore Its Strength Were Met Favorably By Other Governments.

Even If We Are Spared Destruction By War, Our Lives Will Have To Change If We Want To Save Life From Self-destruction.

Justice Is Conscience, Not A Personal Conscience But The Conscience Of The Whole Of Humanity. Those Who Clearly Recognize The Voice Of Their Own Conscience Usually Recognize Also The Voice Of Justice.

The Term "national Idea" Is An Unclear One. One Might Think Of It As A Widely Shared Understanding Among A People As To The Desired Way Of Life In Their Country, An Idea That Holds Sway Over The Population. A Unifying Concept Like That Can Be Useful, But Should Never Be Created Artificially Or Imposed Top-down By The Powers-that-be.

The One And Only Substitute For Experience Which We Have Not Ourselves Had Is Art, Literature. We Have Been Given A Miraculous Faculty: Despite The Differences Of Language, Customs And Social Structure We Are Able To Communicate Life Experience From One Whole Nation To Another, To Communicate A Difficult National Experience Many Decades Long Which The Second Of The Two Has Never Experienced.