How the Russian Revolution Spread Her Errors

Excerpt from Divini Redemptoris - Pope Pius XI 1937

There's nothing more refreshing than Truth. You have to search far and wide today to get any dose of Truth today.  For me personally the past few years, I believed that truth was entirely in logic, common sense, reason and politics.   Basically I used all these things combined to arrive and make sense of whatever issue it was I had  before me. 

The excerpt above is from Pope Pius XI encyclical Divini Redemptoris.  It's one of the most brilliant encyclicals I have ever read. Brilliant not just in its reasoning and content, but just take note of the date(1937)  Think back to how the world was back then. Then read this encyclical in the context of how forward looking the points were that  Pope Pius was emphasizing, almost warning in expectation.

What made me even want to read this letter?  It starts with investigation. To find answers, clues and to formulate  my understanding of why things are the way they are today. How did we get to this point  were there's so much confusion, so much disillusionment??  Yet, ask the average person today and no one really can put their finger on exactly  where our modern society went off the rails. Many will tout how wonderful and convenient living in the modern world is, but the very same people cannot answer why so many living in the modern society are genuinely unfulfilled, and unhappy

With all due respect to our psychology and sociologist friends, they make good arguments for why things are the way they are. I believe they are right in many ways, but I also believe they are missing a big piece of the puzzle. That piece is something only Pope Pius and many who don't  separate  spiritual and moral truths from every day life can understand.   

without the foundation of morality in your reasoning, it's very hard to hit the nail squarely on the head as Pope Pius did. What is often too common today is morality is removed from ideology, yet ideology is sometimes applied in religion and faith. Ideology really doesn't belong in faith, it doesn't serve faith as Pope Francis has recently talked about.  

Lets look at typical example though.  Many liberal, socialist, leftists  and progressives, would never concede that their beliefs could have any relation or semblance to Communism.  Communism in their minds. by its very definition is an extreme form of ideology. Now be fair to the progressive, they are no where near the extremities of Communism. However that's not the point. To remove morality from  ideology does not require the extremes. All it takes is some denial and some indifference, and morality is gone. This applies to conservatism as well.

  Often times today, someone with a political view can separate morality from their ideology and political affiliation. How many Catholic politicians out there support abortion?  Probably more than oppose it. How many conservative Catholic politicians flipped and favoured gay marriage? Morality can change with the wind if ideology is the justification for ones actions. However, if morality is based on Faith, it can not, and will not change, because your personal beliefs are removed. Your truth is not yours, it is Gods truth and you're rightly commanded to follow.

In this excerpt above, Pope Pius, from a moral and spiritual lens clearly points out what Communism espouses. This was nearly 30 years before the social revolution that changed the moral and traditional landscape in Western society, and many parts of the world, well before Communism reared it's ugly head.      Now if any world or public figure wrote about this today, it wouldn't matter a whole lot. Why?  Because all these things that the Pope wrote about have already spread globally in the West, it's already woven into the social fabric of society. What the Pope saw and warned about has already come to fruition.  Even so, society, government, politicians, sociologists, and even the religious will deny it's accurate, they will reason it's something else that caused this drastic transformation. The reason is often a political or economic reason(that's what I use to think it was, before Faith enlighten men)      Granted if that is true, doesn't Communism itself shape political and economic landscape?  

So that's what I mean about arriving at the entire truth.  Yes, it's a political and economic reason our society, our social value, our social roles have changed, especially as it applies to women and the family.  However, the moral basis of why this political and economic change happened is rooted by the spread of Communism tenets.  Tenets that ripped the morality out of our nation from the bottom up, from the most important member our our society. the Woman, the Mother. 

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Role Reversal - The Divergent Paths of America vs Russia

As we mentioned in the previous post. This tectonic shift on the world stage of politics, social debate, cultural and religious divide continues to widen. It may not be Earth shattering just yet. Think of it like small tremors murmuring and you can just feel the vibrations beneath your feet. Nevertheless,it is no less significant for the United States and the American government. There is no doubt that the 20th century was the most glorious time for the United States. Two World Wars, other major wars like Vietnam and Korea and The Great Depression yet America stood tall. Immigrants from across the world saw its fruits and plenty, its open arms and the promises that you could prosper and have the opportunity not seen elsewhere. Fast forward a mere 14 years after the century of dominance. The failures, flops, blunders, waste, faults and sins of a government are unending and its once proud people are forced to endure excuse after excuse, promise after promise of false hope after false hope, and now bold distortions to the events happening in the Middle East and neighboring regions. Once upon a time, America could be bold, she could declare the communist were the devils that had to be destroyed and repelled at all costs. Personally, I wouldn't totally disagree that communism was one of the most evil inventions of mankind, however how we dealt with them would be another matter.

Faith and Morality Matters
Courtesy Camtistic.com

The old Soviet Union basically fell flat on its face. after Ronald Reagan escalated the arms race, the old Soviets dug their own grave when they thought they could arm the country to the teeth, even though economically they were absolutely crippled. The path of divergence and the whole dynamics of yesteryear is just that, it's all in the past. It's a different game today, circumstances have reset and anything good or bad that America did in the past is not relevant or affects the current state of affairs. Similarly, to compare the current Russia today(something Western media loves to do) with the former Soviet Union is flawed and unhelpful in understanding the overall dynamics. Clearly the Russians saw their prominence, world influence and power disintegrate after 1980's. America had free reign as the most influential and all powerful military force. Not so today. America and Europe are essentially joined at the head. Both economies are big, both economies are broke with huge debt and slow to no growth. Here's what doesn't make sense. Why does the EU and America want the Ukrainians to be part of the EU?  Why does the EU in particular want the Ukraine so bad that it would risk sparking a military conflict not just a political conflict?

Crimea in Crisis
By Valentin Ramirez (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Whether it's the Middle East, South China Sea, and  now  the doorsteps of Russia, other than influence and power, which is always at the heart of these tensions, this is also about America, the EU and the West's attempt of reclaiming some of its own glory it believes it is entitled to.  Russia believed this in a similar way.  Russia is a nation on the rebound after 2 decades following  the collapsed communist state.  The difference and the divergence is this:   Overall, economically, socially,politically, and some like myself would argue morally,  Russia is on the rise.   America, the EU and the West are clearly on the skids and sliding fast.

Who would have ever thought in our lifetime.  After the long bitter cold war, that the President of Russia would preach to the West about Christian values.   I find it very amusing that Mr Putin is vilified in the Western media, yet after following many of his political moves with regards to Iran, Syria and his comments about the corrupt Western banking system,  Mr Putin is speaking the truth.   He certainly is more factual with his analysis on a wide range of issues.

No where in the Western world will you see a leader of a nation defend Christianity.  Now where. On the contrary, the Western world leaders run at the utterance of anything deemed "Christian"  Eastern nations like Russia look at the West with much distrust.  Putin himself believes that the West is on the skids, meaning he sees the West not only in economic decay, but also in social and moral decay.

If he is in fact correct in his assessment.  Mr Putin's stock as a force in world politics will only rise.  He has absolutely embarrassed  the US, Israel and the Western Europeans on the foreign policy stage   I nod my head and crack a smile when Mr Putin calls out the West about the countless lies and propaganda that they(the West) injects to brainwash the masses.  Whether it be the accusation of the Syrian government using chemical weapons, or the US central bank destroying the dollar so that it can inflate markets, it's sad that we can't get the truth Mr Putin speaks about from our own leaders at home.

This rise and prominence of Mr Putin is not a trivial matter.  This is not the Cold War revisited.  During the Cold War, there is no doubt the West(including the US) had the moral high ground. In this unfolding drama, clearly the US government has a real moral crisis it has to come to terms with.

Media Dilemma, Responsible Reporting vs Mass Murder Inspiration

First I'd like to say that this piece is not about bashing the media..  Much of that has been  going on for some time, and to be fair, responsible journalism and responsible media has done many wonderful things and performed many wonderful services to help not just Americans, but all people across the world.   You only have to look at how vital media is for those who are in the path of a major Typhoon or Hurricane.  Having lived through Hurricane Andrew,Katrina and Wilma, the media and news reporting was a great source of inspiration and guide.  Not just before the storm, but also during the storm, and the many weeks that followed in the post-storm recovery phase.

Sandy Hook Memorial
Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting

We are just a few months away from one of the biggest spectacles on TV.  Those spectacles being the Super Bowl and the Olympics . They are some of the most widely watched sporting events, seen by billions around the globe. After the big game on Super Bowl Sunday, the buzz the next day usually is about what were some of the best, funniest and quirkiest commercials that were shown during the game. Big companies spend millions of dollars just for a few minutes of air time.  That in itself shows you how powerful exposure is, not just because it makes an impression on a viewers minds when they see the commercial, but even days after the game, that commercial, that brand and product that was featured is still locked in peoples minds.

So what's the point?  The point is negative media must have some sort of affect.  We may not be certain to what degree, not everyone that sees violence and aggression, will act on that violence and aggression that they see, much like those who viewed the Super Bowl commercial, will actually buy what was promoted by the commercial.  The problem with negative exposure of school shootings, mass murders, and these violent events we see on TV  is that it only needs to inspire one deranged or sanely evil person to act out on  these shootings they saw.

This is truly a dilemma that's going to be difficult to solve. Many years ago, we had 3 major reporting networks on TV.   Then it grew to 24/7 cable tv news reporting, now it's exploded to world wide, instant Internet and social media breaking news reporting.  At some point, experts from all fields, journalism, politicians, medical experts have to get together in a coordinated effort to either confirm, or disprove that a mass murderer is, or is not inspired to commit future mass murders by watching the latest shooting massacre. Before the anniversary of the Sandy Hook shootings, the families of the victims asked the public and media for privacy.  I hope the media and journalists don't take these sort of requests the wrong way. I don't believe as individuals, any of them would want to contribute to these horrific stories, but collectively they could be doing just that, even if it it's unintentional. We're not saying don't report these crimes, of course not.  As I mentioned earlier, media saves lives also, just be mindful of who your audience may be.   That's not asking too much.

Edward Snowden The Snowman Who Changed Snooping

Photo credit: DonkeyHotey

You've probably formed your own opinion by now about  Edward Snowden, the young talented NSA computer whiz that was in charge of collecting, and surveying  information for the US Governments top cyber-snooping agency, the NSA.   That's of course until he turned whistle blower and created an absolute firestorm that embarrassed our US Government at the hugest levels.

This story is fascinating in many ways, and it's not just because of Snowdens revelations.  After the 9/11 attacks, and the War on Terror  and the Patriot act was unleashed on American society.  Americans have pretty much resigned to knowing that our government has ramped up the snooping, That snooping applies to everyone, and I mean, everyone. This is what I found fascinating though.  When further details were released a few weeks ago after the government shutdown, you had Democrats and Republicans condemning Snowden. Yes, the same Democrats and Republican who couldn't come up with a budget to keep the government open, who were at each others throats, throwing feces  at each other debating and creating drama about our budget, were hand in hand, speaking with one voice, calling Snowden a traitor and a criminal.

Now you have to ask yourself. How is it that what  Snowden did, (which some believe is just be truthful)  could somehow bring US politicians together like no other major issue??  From healthcare, War in the Middle East, gay marriage, approving a budget.  All hot button, divisive issues, yet condemnation of a whistle blower unites the establishment in a common cause like no other.    The President has said that no content is being collected from the billions of  meta date transferred on the monitored networks. He goes further in stating what the NSA is simply  finding patterns that are suspicious and could be deemed a terrorist activity.

What kind of bullshit is that, and who do you think is stupid enough to believe it?  The problem with that is this:  You're collecting data with the assumption that anyone and everyone could be trying to commit a terrorist plot, that includes those who could be totally innocent. And here's the other problem. While the NSA collects and violates the Constitutional rights of the innocent, they still have even yet to even prove those who actually are committing crimes are guilty.  It's like if we searched everyone's home looking for a bomb. Yes, I may find a bomb, but suppose I don't? The presumption of innocence is not there, the probable cause is shaky at best.

We all want our politicians to get along, to work together for the common good of our country, As a free person, ask yourself if what Snowden did was right.  Did he have an anterior motive?  Was he really a spy and foreign operative trying to infiltrate the US intelligence?  From the short interview I viewed.  Here's a young man with a 6 figure salary in his late 20's, his office is somewhere in the beautiful state of Hawaii.  He's young, talented, smart, very articulate, if you were in his shoes, what do you think is at stake?   Now that he ratted our government out, he's facing serious charges, probably a life sentence.  Even worse, if some rouge CIA operative gets to him, he'll probably be kidnapped and brought back to the US, or he'll get missile dropped on his head by some Drone.

0440 spy plane drone (Photo credit: Kevin Baird)

Seems to me he gave up a lot, and really had nothing to gain, except his self respect, and clear conscience for knowing he didn't want to participate further in what our government calls national security, and this diabolical creation dubbed   The War on Terror by the US Government.

Iraq Revisited - The Error That Was and Is a Mistake

More War Mongering, same misinformation, different politician

What did we learn from the Iraq war?  Perhaps you would say "nothing"  if you take a look at what's happening in the Middle East today, approaching the end of 2013

We actually have learned something though.   We've learned a great deal, because unlike that preemptive war we engaged in nearly 10 years ago, we do have first hand experience today of what can happen when a war doesn't quite go according to plan.  Back then,  events were unfolding so quickly and our emotions were so stirred up from the 9/11 attacks, the days were just too  fast and furious.  There's no way this generation of Americans could have known what was in stored after the invasion. WE could only look back at Desert Storm, but even  that may have been slightly different because we did not suffer the same amount of casualties.   Now the previous generation  of Americans immediately recalled the Vietnam war.  I think it's definitely a legitimate comparison.  Not entirely , but certainly in part. 

Here are a few things we've learned:

• There are no easy wars. I remember during the Iraq invasion listening to Rush Limbaugh and when the US forces entered Baghdad and there was no resistance whatsoever, Rush started gloating like a fat Cheshire cat declaring victory was at hand. After that bold prediction, he confirmed to me what  everyone has known all along.  He's a complete idiot.  He was wrong in a massively clueless way.   War is a minimum 10 year investment, that includes both conflict, occupation and reconstruction.  Most of the cost funded courtesy of the American taxpayers. 
• True Democracy in the Middle East is an experiment.  It may work, and elements of democracy may actually result from our actions, but there are no guarantees, especially if democracy is created by a war. Democracy you say in once totalitarian regimes?? I wish you much luck. 
• The government will resort to extreme measures to persuade the American  people that its objectives are justified. Bare in mind, this justification does not take into account moral justification or moral authority of our government.  These actions put both American military lives at risk, as well as our credibility with our alliance and people of the region. That's a nice way of saying our US Government will either lie, or ignore facts, regardless or which party is calling the shots.. The weapons of mass destruction that were never found, or the links Saddam Hussein had with Al-Quada are the best examples

So why does any of this matter today?  Saddam is 6ft under, Iraq is under American control, Gadaffi got a missile dropped on his head by a drone, American influence is spreading in the Middle East right?

WRONG!   We've got serious credibility issues now, both at home and abroad. As the great John F. Kennedy said:    “An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.”

And I'll add: --> If in your defiance of refusing to correct it, you repeat it

History will prove that Iraq was a disaster. We paid billions and billions of dollars and sacrificed soldiers lives for nothing. That nation is still one of the most dangerous on the planet.  What should anger American's even more, is not just the relentless war mongering our government is continuing to engage in with Israel, but the means it will go to fan the flames of creating a new war. 

Whether it's proclaim the Syrian government was responsible for chemical attacks against civilians, which seems to be the same lie as the WMD's in Iraq, or other  outrageous endevours like supporting Al-Quaeda who are fighting with Syrian government forces.  The US Government has made very hasty decisions and miscalculations that are not helping end this Syrian conflict. 

It never ceases to amaze me how in almost every situation where we have to choose a side., the US government is on the side of evil. We'll touch on Syria again because we can learn so much of how our government does business just by looking how they've handled this whole Syrian War debacle.  Till then, please stay informed, and remember.  always seek the Truth, even if it hurts. 

The Fall of America the Achilles Heel

If there is one underlying situation that has contributed to the fall of America it's the extraordinary policies the government has instituted in the Middle East. 
For at least a generation, the Middle East has been one of the most complex puzzles for US foreign policy to solve.  Even when winning wars, removing dictators and oppressive leaders. It never seems like the US really ever comes out achieving its objectives in this part of the world.

If you listen to the following hearing on our foreign policy and specifically our relationship with Israel, it gives you a good idea  of how we approach Middle East policy and how flawed our reasoning is in trying to convince entire nations that the American democracy is the answer for their nation, and their lives.

As with other matters related to foreign culture, not just politics, not just religion, we in America usually only try to understand things from an American perspective. We either

1. Ignore why other cultures do things the way they do or
2. Know why cultures are the way they are, and we attempt to mold them in our image, discounting all the differences we have with that culture.

As mentioned by Michael Scheuer, religion is the best example of these things we ignore.  The biggest difference between the US and Western, in comparison to that of  the Middle East, is the role religion plays in the lives of people.  Even if a government doesn't make its decision solely on religion, religion for its people is part of their identity, it shapes their attitudes in how they see the world, both morally and politically.






Listen to how Scheuer is ignored by Congress members, specifically with King.  King represents  the policy line that has been repeated by both parties. None of it is true. None of the things he says have been proven or justified. None of it takes into account the billions of dollars we've sent in aid to Israel, and the lack of return the US has received for this aid. Congressman Stewart ignores the other aspect of the whole dynamic. That is, religious beliefs of many of those in the Middle East will always be at odds with how women are treated, or certain other groups. To believe you'll just be able to impose your ideology which is democracy on those is naive and arrogant, it's very evident in Stewarts tone, being an officer in the Air Force for 14 years will not make you understand that.


We'll have to expand on this topic of US/Israeli alliance because it's key to understanding the Big picture in the Middle East.  This relationship with Israel  has been unchanged for decades, regardless of what Administration has been in power. This support of Israel has weakened the US significantly in every issue we've tried to resolve in the Middle East.  I have yet to hear an argument that proves otherwise.

The influence and power of America has always been due to its wealth, innovation and freedoms.  The fall of America has been to export and squander the wealth of the nation for the past 5+ decades.  There's been a slow shift and realization of this mistake. With any luck, it won't be too late to salvage what wealth remains.