It takes time to sort out thoughts and get an “unbiased” picture of reality. This is what I have come to so far after a month of war. Here we have Vladimir Putin who has created an alternative reality within our universally lived one in which Ukraine is not an independent country and Ukrainians (probably not only) are not a nation with a claim to existence. Vladimir feels secure and unthreatened in his own idea of a great untouchable Russia, which he sees as a superior nation and race, much as Adolf once saw Germany. In his reality, Vladimir absorbs the surrounding states, his nation applauds him for it (they can’t do otherwise), the rest of the world is silent and actually secretly admires Vladimir. He is, after all, a statesman of cosmic proportions, still a fit man in his early seventies with a polished face, a martial sports master, a bear tamer and a stallion to boot.
Unfortunately for Vladimir, his alternative Russian reality is adjacent to the European, American, British, Australian, etc. reality, which mostly sees forward movement as the natural state of affairs and freedom, democracy, personal responsibility, truth and civil society as the appropriate means for the development of the human species and the whole of human society. The clash with this reality frightens Putin because he does not understand the values on which it is based. In his view, the people must be intimidated and manipulated, wealth is distributed into the hands of a small group of people to serve as a tool of blackmail, critical thinking and open discussion are not allowed. Why? Vladimir is afraid of losing his divine status. His EGO has created an invincible God in his own reality, but in the one next door most people live by different values.
Vladimir doesn’t understand that these values don’t kill anyone (in 99% of cases) and moving up and down the sinusoid is defacto a law of being. The dictator doesn’t want to go down. No matter what. So in his panic fear he will kick, threaten, kill, cry and blame everyone around him for his own mistakes and weakness. In his universe, he’s a God, in ours, he’s a mere pussy. If he feels threatened and cornered, it’s only because he willingly stood there and couldn’t climb out. Too bad he’s backed his entire nation into that corner. Where might he have been if Vladimir had rolled up on the beach 15 years ago and enjoyed what his oligarch elves had bestowed upon him. Instead we will have to learn to live alongside him and his goblins and face his EGUs.
Personally, I take away from the reflection of reality above into the days, perhaps months and years to come: There is no such thing as big and small influence, across-the-board government and individual personal access. Everyone has the opportunity to take a stand and do something about the situation. We will have to choose what values we hold in life and what we are willing to do and sacrifice to fulfill them. I am 100% sure that there is no weakness in being humane, moral, honest, straight, determined, principled and also tough when the situation demands it. I believe that progress and innovation, coupled with the right human values, can move humanity to the next evolutionary stage, to a stage of sustainability and hopefully lasting peace. But it will come at a cost. On a personal and corporate level, I am ready to invest in a zero-emission future, sustainable consumption and a healthy planet, helping those in need in Ukraine, but also in the Czech Republic and elsewhere, within my financial means, because not everyone can carry the same burden as we entrepreneurs.
A healthy unspoiled EARTH (without it there will be nothing), a happy, educated, secure and safe society, sustainable consumption and a high level of morality is, in my opinion, the only way to not only uplift, but the very survival of the human species.
PS: In my opinion, everyone is entitled to their reality, unless they are violently interfering with someone else’s reality. If it brings suffering and death and tramples on humanity, then it loses its claim to existence. It’s like the freedom thing. Yours begins where mine ends.
Libor Zezulka