Matthew Comments

 Justin Wolfers gave an outstanding talk outlining the value of institutions in creating prosperity. See it here. I wish he was talking about America, and we have a rich history with some of the institutions he talks about–but we do not have a rich present in that regard. American exceptionalism has always been a bit of an illusion. American has exceptional opportunity because of our geographic gifts. Through much of history, we’ve also had quite strong institutions. Especially since the 1970s, there’s been a movement in America to undermine the strength of those institutions, and that movement is now thrashing those institutions. What is an institution? It’s important to note that what Wolfers and I mean by institution is not just a department or organization, but one that is founded in law or longstanding practice, and that it serves a public purpose. I know American institutions have been made out to be mysterious, conspiratorial, elite, or impersonal–but that last description–...

  The first problem with Trump’s attack on Iran is that it expands precedent for the President to exercise relatively unlimited foreign policy power. The current Congress should push back for Constitutional reasons but will not for political reasons; the Supreme Court has also shown tremendous deference to MAGA. The first politics is local politics, and the local politics is that it’s bad for America when Presidents initiate armed conflict without Congressional support and based on personal judgment. Trump’s administration was testing a number of justifications with the public through several outlets in the lead-up to this attack. Examples: Iran still wants nuclear weapons (I thought we set them way back), Iran has missiles that can reach Europe (Iran isn’t nearly the threat to Europe that Russia is), Iran is repressive (among many other nations), and others. Ultimately, Trump senses that Iran is relatively weak and he is looking for a win. His administration has no intention of te...

Congress has held up another support package to Ukraine. The simple fact that the aid package has been delayed is a win for Putin’s authoritarian regime. I’ll start with what you should do, then a little about why, then address some objections to Ukraine aid. What you should do Please contact your Senators and Representatives to the US Congress and ask them to support Ukraine aid. Find them here . The US government, acting on behalf of US citizens, can do things that individuals just can’t do. That’s why contacting your elected officials is important. I also encourage you to contribute regularly to alleviate the ongoing suffering Russia causes. Here are some I have supported: Lutheran Disaster Response, Eastern European Crisis Fund , which supports Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees who have fled to nearby countries. Razom For Ukraine , which supports Ukraine in a variety of ways, which can include supplies for civilians or troops (but not weapons). Safe Skies , which raises money for rada...

Number thirteen of Tim Snyder’s twenty lessons in his book On Tyranny is: Practice corporeal politics. Corporeal is a strange word to a lot of people–it just means physical. Practice politics with physical presence. Practice Corporeal Politics Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them. Milwaukee-area Ukrainians have had a number of events and fundraisers. They held a rally in downtown Milwaukee near Veteran’s Park. It was a small crowd. Many were ethnic Ukrainians. I might might have been the one non-Ukrainian there, aside from the news crews. They may have suspected that I was a spy. Here’s Zapruder-style evidence of my attendance at the rally. I’m in the back with the light cap. Here’s the local news coverage: TMJ4 Story I’m glad I went. I was there because, while there are important things going on in Wisconsin and American po...

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is an unmitigated tragedy playing out in searing slow motion before our eyes. There is no end to this brutality that is currently in sight. Some of my commentary comes from various news sources, but some continues to come from historian and author Timothy Snyder. He gave a nice talk you can see here . Give to alleviate this suffering. There are good venues here or through the ELCA here . When there is a refugee crisis, there is a surge in donations which subsides quickly after the crisis leaves the front page. Consider recurring donations. When you donate to alleviate the suffering of Ukrainian refugees, you also contribute to political stability in Eastern Europe. Large influxes of refugees can destabilize governments. Poland, Romania, and Moldova have their own struggles resisting authoritarian influence. If the strain of so many refugees causes political strife in those countries, Putin will fund neo-fascist political parties to take advantage. We ca...

  The first thing to understand about what’s happening in Ukraine is that Ukraine is a democracy, and has done nothing to deserve this. Right now, in our world, an aggressive, authoritarian Russian government is invading its democratic neighbor. This is criminal, and there will be no justice unless Putin and his oligarch friends are put in prison. When I was a bit younger, Americans seemed to think that the great evils of history were defeated. But greed and corruption will not go gently into that good night. Anti-democratic forces are rising in Asia, in Europe, and in America. The second thing to understand about what’s happening in Ukraine is that Russia is a fundamentally insecure political entity, and Ukraine is a source of its insecurity. Ukraine is in a precarious position for two reasons. One reason is that Ukraine is a fertile area, like the American heartland. This is a valuable resource (a resource that Hitler and Stalin both envied, and that Hitler opined for in Mein Kam...