February 28, 2025

I stand with Ukraine

Last Wednesday on Zoom WE were discussing current events and the state of the world. One person pushed back against my comments indicating that I was magnifying the situation. That comment has stuck in my mind and it is worthy of exploration three days later.

Last Wednesday on Facebook Hanzi Freinacht posted:

The meaning crisis has been cancelled. If you can’t find meaning in the midst of a fascist takeover, in a world on the brink of another world war, while an emerging techno feudal oligarchy stands ready to stamp on a human face for-ever, you’ll never find meaning in anything.

One question remains, however:

Is the liminal space, or whatever we should call it, just another toothless meditation club sprinkled with a little intellectual masturbation on top, or, is it a slumbering tiger with immense potential for societal transformation just waiting to be unleashed onto history. I’m curious to find out. Maybe the yoga bourgeoisie actually got some teeth after all.

I wonder how many people think that Hanzi is magnifying the situation.

On Thursday Jonathan Rowson posted a Note on Substack.

A confession and a cry for help.

I know he’s a nutcase, a felon, very dangerous, probably sexist and/or racist, almost certainly corrupt, definitely narcissistic, more than a little bit bananas, clearly authoritarian, has a reading age of about ten, is no friend of democracy, is mafia-like, is in it for himself, lacks the nous to grasp climate change, he is easy to manipulate, he’s possibly a Russian asset, he has a weird fetish for tariffs, plans ethnic cleansing in Gaza, and is by no means entirely good or sane. I know. I get it. He’s a disgrace and a disaster.

And yet, weirdly, I can’t help but notice that I am ever-so-slightly warming to Donald Trump. He’s just such a fascinating and singular phenomenon. I fear what he represents but I find it hard to hate him. His comic value is off the charts. His neuroatypicality is so unique, and it’s taken him to the highest office. I can’t quite believe he’s real.

It’s like the intrigue of the cultural phenomenon is starting to compete with my moral and political judgment.

Does anyone else feel a bit like this?

It does seem like we are watching a movie and that we need to constantly remind ourselves that this is real.

Jules Evans posted 15 interesting stories I'm following but I could only see the first five because of his paywall.

2. DOGE hires a ketamine queen

At the end of the Persuasion article, I suggested the ‘psychedelic underground’ has now become ‘the psychedelic establishment’ (this was a nod to two fantastic books by occult historian James Webb - The Occult Underground and the Occult Establishment). One instance of the Psychedelic Establishment and the growing links between psychedelic culture / industry and the MAGA government is the appointment by Elon Musk of Alexandra Beynon at DOGE. Benyon is the wife of Dylan Beynon, founder of ketamine telehealth company Mindbloom, and she was previously head of engineering at Mindbloom. Musk is apparently a regular user of ketamine for his ‘negative frame of mind’. Mindbloom CEO Dylan Beynon, whose entire profit model depends on the US government permitting Mindbloom to continue selling ‘home injectables’, accused the media of doxxing her (ie naming her as a DOGE employee) and labelling them ‘murderers’.

Meanwhile Mindbloom tried to reassure customers concerned their medical data could be somehow available to DOGE…

After my Friday morning chores, and after scanning the news, I turned my attention to the drama of the day.

President Trump Meets with Ukrainian President Zelensky

I watched it all, not just clips. It is important, imo, to watch it all, as clips with comments are very misleading. It did seem to me that JD Vance was being deliberate in confronting Zelensky. But we will probably never know for sure if this was planned.

Here is how one American reacted.

Trump and Vance are pathetic and disgusting

CBC News described the events this way.

The day the old American order cracked in the Oval Office

It would take some scrounging around the bottom of the barrel to find a historical precedent for what transpired Friday in the Oval Office.

There simply aren't good parallels.

On live TV, the U.S. president argued with the leader of a friendly nation facing existential peril — then expelled him from the White House and cancelled their lunch.

The drama continued on X, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy has 7.6 million followers. Almost immediately after the blow up in Washinton, country after country voiced support for Zelensky on X. I was pleased to see this from Justin Trudeau.

Russia illegally and unjustifiably invaded Ukraine. For three years now, Ukrainians have fought with courage and resilience. Their fight for democracy, freedom, and sovereignty is a fight that matters to us all. Canada will continue to stand with Ukraine and Ukrainians in achieving a just and lasting peace.

Elon Musk has 219 million followers on X and I scrolled through some his posts. He obviously stands with Trump. Many others on X stand with Trump.

Jonathan Rowson posted another Note on Substack.

I just watched the Zelensky v Trump and Vance conversation.

It was pretty disturbing.

One thing led to another, and not in a good way.

The framing is that Zelensky was neither as grateful nor as respectful as he should have been. He also tried to “litigate” why Putin could not be trusted in front of the media, which may have felt necessary but backfired.

That was in response to JD Vance praising Trump’s diplomacy; Zelensky wanted to understand what diplomacy without any basis for trust in Putin could mean.

I am not sure if it was an orchestrated ambush, or just an unfortunate escalation of micro tension, but it felt like both elements were in play.

In essence, it felt to me like Trump and JD Vance fund do not respect Zelensky, and it showed. It also felt like Zelensky feels incredulous towards their trust in Putin, and it showed.

I’m fundamentally with Ukraine, but I also saw some genuine promise in the mineral deal with Macron and Starmer laying the ground, so it’s unfortunate that things have regressed.

I’m curious to know what “the American people” thought of it.

The American people remain deeply divided, but I know what I think.

I stand with Ukraine and did so from the beginning of the war. The United States of America now stands with Russia. It is now dangerous to stand with Ukraine.

And imo, it is dangerous to stand with Trump, Musk and Vance. As Hanzi noted, there has been a coup in the USA and we are on a march to WWIII. The future is uncertain and unknowable, as I remind myself often. But it is my expectation that the USA will be under martial law before the end of 2025. But who will be on top? Perhaps the Trump-Musk-Vance team. Or perhaps there will be a counter-coup by 3-star generals who do not want to stand with Russia.

Perhaps I am magnifying the danger. I hope so. Perhaps I have been gripped by a narrative that will prove false. I hope so. I hope that on December 31, 2025 I can say, as I have many times in my life, I was wrong.