Violence is a Luxury
Above is a nice interview from 1975 with the Good Doctor Thompson and the journalist Harrison Salisbury. Salisbury is lost to history, so too journalism I suppose. He was best known for his work in the late 40s and early 50s as a correspondent in Moscow, sparing with Soviet authority in the last days of Stalin, never a lot too interested in truth. What's interesting about the interview is how a much older, establishment journalist had such great regard for the Good Doctor's work.
In answer to whether the turmoil of the preceding decade in the US could continue, Thompson answers quite emphatically no, “Violence is a luxury” the US could no longer afford. The Good Doctor was scarily prescient at times.
All sides are quickly finding the staggering costs to the violence occurring in Europe, certainly none more than the Ukrainians, who have yet to discover all others will happily sacrifice them for ends not necessarily in their interest. The Russians are immediately paying both in life and body for Putin's criminal gangsterism. Yet, the costs for the rest of the world are just beginning to be accounted.
As energy and food costs rocket higher and damage to economies across the globe expands, it is clear ballyhooed sanctions are not a one way street. German Chancellor Scholz stated today, “Sanctions must not hit European states harder than Russian leadership.” In our present corporate globalized world, sanctions are a luxury too.
If you're old, you remember America's first actor president. An amusing character whose view of life was largely formed by old Hollywood movies and 1950s television shows. His political cleverness was selling this “reality” to an American public whose views were greatly shaped by the same images and stories.
A funny story from the era was after watching a recently released movie, “War Games,” about an artificial intelligence created to run America's nuclear arsenal, Reagan was impacted. The computer's simple conclusion in regards to war, “The only winning move is not to play.”
Violence is a luxury the world cannot afford.