On occasion, time seems to hang low and still in late winter on days when overcast skies bring a near-perpetual state of icy drizzle and the occasional snowflake. The term “bleak” can describe a landscape and a person’s mood. When these dreary and inhospitable days arrive, I crave the sun with its warmth, clarity, and promise of hope.
Overall, I find the year 2022 has turned into a time of trauma: our society and perhaps our world is in the midst of traumatic re-engagement and a battle for justice. There is a war in Ukraine that has even Switzerland choosing to take sides. As humans, we have a basic need for justice and safety.
Lady Justice [Pixabay]
Yet, when the world’s events, like the weather, paint a picture that appears to be without hope, I wonder where or how – or even when – Ma’at’s scales will balance. In the United States, I see the common comforting fantasy of Lady Justice making a truly blind decision after weighing the overall components on two scales.
As a child, I believed that blindfolded Justice usually sees through instinct the truth of a given situation, and that a given decision normally reflects a greater wisdom and consideration for the greater good of society. Furthermore, when a societal evolution pressed for a need to reconsider a previously held “truth,” I believe that Justice does rebalance the scales to compensate accordingly.
In the United States, I see certain U.S. Supreme Court decisions as representative of this rectification and compensation for the societal benefit. The errors in the Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) decisions found redress in the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision.
As a non-Christian, I enjoy a continued level of freedom to practice my religious beliefs without interference due to the Engel v. Vitale (1962)and the Abington School District v. Schempp (1963) cases.
I see societal benefit when all persons have equal representation, as found in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) and the right against self-incrimination, as found in the oft-cited Miranda v. Arizona (1966).
As a person of color and as a member of the LGBT+ community, I see value in the Loving v. Virginia (1967), the United States v. Windsor (2013), the Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), and most certainly the Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) decisions. Justice prevailed with the overturning of the Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) decision by the Lawrence v. Texas (2003) decision.
During dreary times like this, I have a tendency to avoid the news, even from sources with whom I normally might agree. There is an importance in the right to independent news, as seen in the New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) decision. I question whether Justice’s scales are truly in balance or if they need adjustment. Each of us has a bias, yet when the overall avalanche of news is so powerful that the psyche begs release to do anything else except see a repetition of many decades or even centuries of history, it is hard to watch through the lens of clear critical thinking or rational thought.
Like many, I have been raised with the idea that wrongs should be avenged and that an unjust war is the worst type of conflict possible. A revenge fantasy at times remains internal, or it can shift into acting out with an “us vs. them” mentality, looking at those who have done harm as the enemy and considering them less than whole human beings. When Justice’s scales do not appear to balance, it is far easier to blame others and to see others as the cause of these problems rather than to sit with ourselves and to look internally.
Ukraine country in colors of Ukrainian flag [Pixabay]
We are in a time of crisis with a need to assuage perceived wrongs. Societally, it has become easier to shift blame or to turn a blind eye to what is right in front of us. Yet, what can be done by the individual? In the case of the current invasion of Ukraine, I truly believe that this is the start of a third World War even if Russian troops pull out tomorrow.
As a country and as a world, we have let fears of crossing the line stop any proactive positive movement that could have retained the fragile military and political balance of the past thirty years. While it seems lifetimes ago for some, the fall of the then-Soviet Union only occurred in 1991.
Thirty years as a nation in its current formation is young, yet Ukraine from its origins as a part of the Kievan Rus’ in 879 to its current form demonstrates resilience. In the United States, the comedic program Saturday Night Live gave a silent commentary through the its cold open with the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York in a performance of Prayer for Ukraine.
I believe this current invasion will lead to a larger war due to three factors: a delay in taking action against a Russian military buildup, a belief that the same values of diplomacy are shared between all parties, and most fatally, a lack of military intervention, if only with establishing a no-fly zone over the country when it was needed most. When Switzerland, universally known symbol of neutrality, takes sides, then things are really dire. Once the attack begins, and Ukrainian families are disrupted with males remaining for defense of the homeland, while females, children, and the elderly flee into the arms of neighboring countries, it is far too late.
When I see this situation, I think of the first lessons I learned about Russia in college and graduate school: history matters. The old adage of learning from history, lest one repeat it is quite true.
Peter the Great on horseback – St. Petersburg [Pixabay]
While we are 340 years past the reign of Peter the Great, this current invasion echoes the glories and aims of the Tsar Peter who wrestled a city from an inhospitable spot to serve his own ends. Russian literature is filled with tales and mythos surrounding the lore of St. Petersburg. The area is a crown jewel.
Peter’s aim was control and rule. Putin’s aim is no less. First, reconstruct the nations either by treaty or by reclamation that are not in line with Putin’s goals for Russia. Second, by taking back Ukraine, a large nation whose independence has been curtailed by Russia before, he re-establishes a balance of power reminiscent of the glory days of the former Soviet Union.
Politics and policy is all local and all relative. It doesn’t matter what body you live in or what you look like, we have the same internal needs -mentally, physically, spiritually and intellectually. The choice to act in or act out is a universal one.
Our bodies carry the skits of the day – the scenarios that form the common and intertwined experiences, conversations, and traumas that clothe our psyches and our emotions. With the current invasion of Ukraine, we see in images of those fleeing the trauma of not just war, but the separation of humanity from itself. We can wait for Justice’s scales to balance as a world and as individuals, or we can take action. I fear that simply hoping things will work out will lead to a great war on many levels: economic, emotional, and psychological long before a grouping of nations decides to use a military arsenal to end this conflict.
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