Jordan Peterson and Piers Morgan Discuss Putin and Russian Psychology

I was always hesitant to comment on the Russian/Ukranian war because I have friends and family on both sides, so I didn’t think I could view it objectivity. I never thought Russia was in the right, no, but I was always deeply sympathetic to the Ukrainians and thought we should do everything to help them. Not $50 billion worth of help. That’s not assistance, that’s more like money laundering. But when they were asking for American aid, I had a hard time coming up with reasons why we shouldn’t answer their call. Then of course the Clintons and Soros started huge campaigns to help Ukraine and I was like….okay, nah. If they’re onboard then I’m on the wrong ship!

Still, our family has donated money to Ukrainian support funds, from people going in country to perform rescues to organizations delivering food and toys. My in-laws, my mother in-law is Russian, Jewish and Mongolian and my father in-law is Russian and Ukrainian, probably donate about a quarter of their paycheck every month to food funds. They care tremendously because they have friends and distant family in the Ukraine, though fortunately many have made it out by now, but also I think they feel a little guilty for their Russian friends who support Putin.

To be clear, I haven’t met any Russians outside of Russia actually who support Putin in any way, but I know of lots of Russians in Russia who do. Since she came to the state in the 1990’s my little Russian mother in-law calls ALL of her friends to check in weekly; Ukrainian friends Sunday mornings, and Russian friends Sunday afternoons, like clockwork. These days the phone calls are contentious. Her Russian friends can’t understand why she lives here, in a puppet state dominated by Nazis, nor do they understand how we don’t support Putin, a man of peace simply defending Russia against a warmongering North Atlantic Treaty Organization, who is trying to peacefully liberate Ukrainian citizens. Not any part of that is an exaggeration. These are always difficult calls to listen to.

Jordan Peterson recently had an interview with Piers Morgan where touched on the most troubling part of this conflict in my mind – Putin has really already won, we’re just waiting to see what he’s going to do next.

When he first invaded, I thought he was either an evil genius or he’d lost his damned mind. Perhaps it was a little of both, but it’s definitely showing signs of “evil genius at work”. No matter how or when he pulls out of the Ukraine at this point, Putin will be able to claim it as a victory. We’re just waiting to see how far he wants to stomp everyone’s neck in the dirt before he leaves. He can tell Russians that he succeeded in keeping NATO at bay, he devastated the Ukrainian economy so it’s not longer a threat, Ukraine’s allies were sufficiently cowed and no one fought against him, and he has too much control over everyone’s oil for there to be any significant backlash for current or future actions. Win, win, win, win. Whatever backlash they face will come in the form of sanctions, and Russia currently has over 10,000 sanctions, so they couldn’t care less about adding another.

Less than a decade ago, Russia began working to “sanction proof” its economy. Ten years ago Russia imported most of its food. Today, they are self-sufficient and they are a major exporter of wheats and grains. Russia worked to reduce its reliance on foreign debt while amassing a huge supply of reserves in foreign currency. Politicians are like “stop, or we’ll issue more sanctions!” Meanwhile Russia is making the jack-off motion and laughing. Even foreign companies like McDonalds, who closed stores in Russia earlier this year, have now been reopened as Russian owned businesses.

What will Putin do next? It doesn’t matter, at this point he’s just entertaining himself at the world’s expense. He’d probably make a Tik Tok of him dancing around the nuclear button if the app hadn’t banned uploads from Russia. He could shut down all oil exports as soon as winter hits if certain sanctions are not removed, just for funsies. He’s put himself in a pretty good position, because no one in politics right now is willing to go toe to toe with him. As it is, most social media in Russia is nonexistent, so we won’t get any teasers, but since they’re cut off from the world, Putin will be sure to tell his citizens everything he thinks they need to know. The rest of us will just be sitting, waiting to see his next move play out on the world’s stage.