A Rumanian minister had to resign for having stated the belief that peace negotiations should bring the Ukraine war to an end. Other politicians in various countries were censored for having made similar statements. It was argued that their declarations had given encouragement to Russian President Putin and undermined the position of Ukrainian president Zelensky.
I can hardly understand the logic of all this. That efforts are carried out for the two sides to open negotiations between them and bring the war to a close cannot be considered as assistance to one side or the other. To the contrary, all efforts need to be kept up by all those who are not directly involved in the conflict to try and establish the conditions which would allow Ukrainians and Russians to negotiate for an end to the war; or indeed, even to insist that such conditions should be prospected.
Otherwise there will emerge among one and all a resigned acceptance that the war shall continue till one side or the other ends up totally busted and exhausted, with the loss of scores of thousands of lives and enormous destruction.
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INFLATION PLUS...
For the coming months, economic prospects are extremely clouded in Europe and beyond. Given, in first place, the strong possibility that recession will take over, in Germany most of all, but in France, Italy and the UK as well.
Meanwhile, inflation will be eroding people’s living standards, especially those of low income earners, pensioners and vulnerable citizens. Meanwhile too, interest rates should be ratcheting up. Although this could provide relief to strata of pensioners who (mostly in Germany) depend on the interest income they earn on their savings deposited in banks, it will affect negatively investments and families with variable rate mortgages.
Over the whole scene, uncertainties arising about what is going to happen in the energy sector have not been resolved. This year, summer has been taking a long goodbye, but many people are expecting a long harsh winter, once it arrives.
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FOOTBALL AND POLITICS
Some have begun to assimilate political activity with a commitment to what goes on in football. In the same way that not so long ago, you’d meet people who would tell you: I’m Labour or Nationalist since birth, it’s in my values and in my blood etc., now you more frequently hear people saying the same thing about their favorite football team: Juventus, Manchester United or whatever...
Actually it makes better sense, no matter what happens, to be more fervent in one’s instinctive commitment to football than to a political party. For the latter mobilises people (or should do so) on the basis of beliefs, opinions, action strategies that carry economic and social consequences. A political party does not always make the right choices. It could happen that the choices made by the party are no longer in line with the individual’s beliefs and views. Continuing with one’s support on this basis would seem to be incoherent.
By contrast, a football team serves more like a totem around which people congregate in order to compete with others. Whether the team is doing well or badly, its performance has nothing to do with values or beliefs.