War in Ukraine brings out SA’s intellectual dinosaurs
I am dismayed that SA no longer has any thinkers with the cojones to comment on the war in Ukraine in a measured and fair way, using democratic prescripts. Many are living in a past era. Dinosaurs all.
The era of great Russian writers, poets, composers and revolutionaries of the early 20th century is long gone. The Bolshevik revolution and the leaders were usurped by Stalin who rewrote the history of that revolution and murdered scores of revolutionaries. Now, Putin, in the tradition of Stalin, has invaded Ukraine and uses the threat of nuclear war as blackmail.
Putin is no Bolshevik and no-one owes allegiance to the Russian Revolution by siding with a KGB man surrounded by oligarchs. None of them are leaders of the working class. So where does that leave all these people on the Left if you can call the craven members of the ANC and their hangers-on in the criminal and patronage system they operate left-leaning at all?
Do these ex-radicals support a nonexistent workers’ state, and are they so enamoured of their past that they don’t see Putin and Russia for what they have become?
I wonder at the naiveté (I am being kind) of believing in the nuclear build, so nearly pushed down our collective throats, which would have bankrupted us even more than we are already. It never was in our interest, but certainly that of the people, gangsters all, who scheme and cream off all the projects in SA, as well as Putin and the oligarchs.
Spare me the idea of Brics. Not in our interests, as it has made us hangers-on and captive to the money in the same way the West does.
Weep for the ordinary people both here and in Ukraine. Here for a spineless, corrupt government that slowly kills us in different ways, and there for the people who will surely die. Spare a thought for the ordinary Russians as well while we are it. They don’t deserve this either.
Nina Hassim, Cape Town
Double standards, but ...
As someone who has witnessed first-hand the effects of war in Syria and the brutal occupation of Palestine by the Israeli colonialists, I believe we must come together as human beings and demand a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine.
Despite the double standards, lies and hypocrisy of the US, EU, UK, UN Security Council and the Nato axis, Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine must be denounced and condemned.
The US and its allies have been violating international law and charters for many decades with no objections from the international community. In the name of “war on terror”, “regime change” and “bringing democratic principles”, many sovereign countries were invaded and governments toppled. Vietnam, Chile, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, just to name a few, fell under illegal invasions and coups, with the US, Australia, France and Britain leading the pack of Western countries.
Are peace and security only for European people and people who allow themselves to be controlled by the West? Hypocrisy is the devil that needs to be addressed.
The international community must condemn Russia for its violations of Ukrainian sovereignty, mobilise against imperialist and resource wars, and find a peaceful way to end this aggression. Mohamed Saeed, Pietermaritzburg
We have sold our souls
This past century has seen several tyrants and mass murderers strut the world stage
Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, Muammar Gaddafi, Robert Mugabe, Saddam Hussein, inter alia. Perhaps the most evil of them all now cuts a swathe of murder and misery. The unbalanced Vladimir Putin is no doubt the worst, and the most dangerous of all.
Yet this is the man and the country that our immoral government and its spineless leader are falling over themselves to appease and support. In joining Brics, and having Russia and China among our best friends, we have indeed sold our souls to the devil!
B Phillips, Cape Town
Ducking and diving
I fail to understand why our president is angered by the department of international relations & co-operation’s call for Russia to withdraw its armed forces from Ukraine, which is in line with a UN resolution.
If SA is concerned about the repercussions of what Putin is doing, it should be steadfast in its approach rather than ducking and diving.
Frans Fanga Jood, Kuruman
Sketchy economics
In reference to “This bankers’ budget lacks the courage and vision we desperately need” (February 27): the writers may well have their altruistic reasons for suggesting the National Treasury knows little about social security but, with respect to them, it is obvious that their understanding of SA’s parlous financial situation is somewhat sketchy. Perhaps I could simplify the situation by using an analogy.
When people leave an organisation and receive their pension fund contributions, the wise ones reinvest the money, settle any debt and keep as much of the funds as possible aside for future use.
The spendthrifts blow the money on some whim or frivolous item and fail to put any away for the traditional “rainy day”, which is exactly what your columnists are suggesting.
We are fortunate to get this windfall from the boost in commodity prices and we should use it as effectively as possible. Just handing it out is equivalent to pouring it into a never-ending hole.