“I need ammunition, not a ride!”
President Zelensky’s response to the offer of evacuation out of the Ukraine is what leadership looks like in a time of crisis. In just a few words, he communicated defiance and resolve in the face of overwhelming odds and an uncertain future. Calm, confident and courageous.
There are worse things than death. Namely enslavement and servitude. Mr. Zelensky’s words were the Ukrainian version of “live free or die.”
What is going on in the Ukraine has implications well beyond its borders. It will determine (for better or worse) what kind of world we live in for years to come.
In Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine, you see an opening salvo in what will become a dangerous and violent no-holds-barred battle pitting those who favor democracy versus those who embrace authoritarianism. Which route the world takes depends on what happens in the Ukraine.
Allow Putin to get away with his criminal invasion and we embolden every tinhorn dictator, criminal leader and rogue character disorder out there poised to run roughshod over their nations and people. China, Turkey and Iran, along with a scattering of lesser nations, have already chosen that path. They, along with Vladimir Putin, represent a world that has no need for democratic principles or the rule of law. In their view, democracy as a system of governance is defunct, outmoded and irrelevant.
Stopping Putin’s aggression and frustrating his ambitions, however, will force the world’s thugs and despots to give pause. Putin’s ultimate failure will discredit the “strongman” scenario in the eyes of the world to include his sympathizers. Sympathizers which by the way include some American politicians and their followers who share Putin’s worldview and have communicated as such. They have surrendered to the lure of authoritarianism which in turn threatens our liberties here at home.
The appeal of authoritarianism is that it circumvents the nuances inherent to a liberal democracy which are apparently too complicated, frustrating and inconvenient for some of us. In an autocracy, we have the easy existence of being told what to think, where to go and what to do. There is little need, or tolerance for, critical thinking, self-expression or compassion in this world.
Now we have to take sides. Either we live in a world of democratic ideals run by consensus or we slink into an authoritarianism with autocrats running the show. The former brings us liberty and freedom. The latter only enslavement and servitude. And there is no middle ground here.
— Mike Radoiu lives in Staunton and works in Harrisonburg.
