Pravda, or not...

Today marks a pivital day in history, where after almost 80 years an intentionally skewed interpretation of "truth" has brought Europe back to the brink of war. "Pravda", meaning "truth" in Russian, was also the name of Communist Russia's main media outlet, and a powerful propoganda machine for almost 70 years. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, President Yeltsin sold the "Truth" branded media outlet to Greek business interests, which triggered some confusion and trademark disputes over the following years. A modern version of "Pravda" or "truth" is being served up by Russian leaders not only to Russians but the entire world. Canted historic views are being propagated thoughout Russian media, stirring up fear and anger against Ukrainians where no fear or anger needs to exist. Why? To support the expansionist agenda of an oligargh supported tyrant. Fear is a powerful weapon, as i've written previously on this blog. And media is a powerful carrier of messages such as these. Arguably, social media has become the most powerful carrier of information in our times, systematically used and abused by groups with all kinds of agendas. The spead of information and misinformation has never been so rapid and rampant. Think of the Canadian truckers' blockades. The incredible impact social media played in expanding their cause and methods, where the blockades were even replicated in far reaching corners of the world. Whether you agree with the pretext to these blockades or not, it was extremely successful in gaining international exposure and support. I would argue the events on the Russian-Ukrainian border are a significantly deeper and graver threat to the freedoms most of us have enjoyed since the last world war. Make no mistake, how the free world reacts Russia's provocations will dictate how these tyrants will act in the future. The slap on the wrist after incursions into Georgia and annexation of Crimea have not brought any change in behaviour, simply emboldened Putin to make larger and riskier military moves. He's become a well honed strategic chess player, with Europe as his chessboard. And CHINA IS WATCHING. How the world reacts to Putin sets the stage for how the world might react to China's geopolitical moves in the future. It's the key reason China has thrown their support behind Russia, under the guise of an imminent "security threat". The free world's politicians will slap Putin's wrists again -a bit harder than before, but as painful as it might be it will remain just a slap. So what might be a better deterrant against tyrants such as Putin? And how can we expose his skewed "Pravda" to the Russian people? Back to the truckers' blockade. What if, in addition to politicians playing high stakes tit for tat with Russia, there would be a Canadian style grass roots blockade of Russian embassies in every freedom loving nation? Something of the scale that would cause the Russian people to question the "Pravda" misinformation they're beeing served. It would certainly raise the political stakes for these expansionist tyrants, while helping expose the truth behind their words and actions. Perhaps it might be a more impactful means of securing our freedoms, with a much further reaching perspective.