There’s something rather thrilling in the valourous steadfastness of the Ukrainian people. It gladdens the spirit in being reminded that defending honour, autonomy and your friends begins in the heart: it is an act of courage driven by conviction.

I wouldn’t wish this offensive Offensive on anyone, not even Mrs Putin and his playmate Sergei Lavrov. Yet, it has shone a light on something that seemed to disappear for the longest time; namely the glorious energy to defend what is held most dear: one’s freedom. Led by 44-yr old President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in khaki fatigues, it sets a scintillating example of modern leadership (though I’m kinda reminded of Henry V & friends’ 1415 unequivocal stride into the breach).

As though in a trance, all over the world we’ve voted in wing-nuts then just sat and watched as they’ve marched in and screwed … everything: national reputations, values, integrity, trust, respect, cherishing one another, kindness and joy in giving for its own sake, benefit of the doubt, choosing to be the bigger person, accepting rather than erring on the side of distrust, regarding venal vestedness as poor judgement. They’ve made it all muck and this negative reality, the norm.

The Ukrainian people are showing the rest of the world what courage, compassion and care for one another look like. They are “fighting for the whole free world”. The rest of us can follow their bold example by choosing to restore honour to judgement, courage to action and truth to thinking.

Marxism always produces fatkats, swollen by hypocrisy of getting away with it: the do as I say not as I do line. Whether it’s illicit parties, oil pipelines, nuclear weapons, stolen elections or any-excuse-just-as-long-as-I-get-what–I want, somehow we have stood by and allowed Marxist ideology to evaporate our freedoms.

Marxism’s commitment to [exploit and oppress] the exploited and oppressed requires there to be such victims. Ukraine was already starved to death by Stalin. Well, creation of a revolutionary proletariat may not be entirely what was intended but when exploitation inherent in bloated, private control looses sight of global scrutiny, then it only has itself to blame.

^{* for our readers abroad, this is a pun on a ubiquitous advertisement. There, there: think no more about it.}

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