30 Years after the Soviet Union Dissolved, Did the World Benefit?

30 years after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, it is still looking for a new path. Its disintegration has rocked the world, but it has not made it safer or more stable. Humanity is still in the midst of a global change.

30 years ago, on December 26, 1991, to be exact, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), aka the Soviet Union, dissolved into the states that comprised it. The republics left the union and Russia’s subordinate states became independent and began to fight against each other or joined their former arch-rival, NATO. Thirty years later, Russia is still looking for its way, and still craving world dominance.

Now that 2022 has begun, I think that we are starting the new year in great bewilderment. Russia is in a terrible condition, so is America, and although China seems like it is on top of the world, it is completely dependent on America’s purchasing power. The whole world is in a state of collapse. The ideologies that had kept countries going are all manifesting their irrelevance and weakness, and cannot offer humanity an appealing way of life. Indeed, the world is ready for change.

I cannot say that the disintegration of the USSR has made the world a better place. Although it was a poor superpower, it was a superpower nonetheless, and the member-nations in it knew where they stood.

Although it was not a democracy, it was solid, and in today’s tumultuous times, that, too, has merit. It may be good that the countries that comprised the Soviet Union have become independent, but until they reap the benefits from their independence, they will continue to be perilously unstable.

No one knows what the future holds for Russia, but it is clear that the situation is becoming increasingly precarious and threatens its stability. At the same time, the US is also losing steam. Despite being a democracy, and having economic superiority, America, too, is falling.

So, on the one hand, the Russian economy is unstable, and on the other hand, the American democracy does not meet the demands of today’s world. As a result, China is stronger than both America and Russia.

The European Union is completely out of the picture. The “union” has become a composite of thirty or so countries that cannot agree on anything. As a result, the EU has lost its status as a significant player in the world arena.

This leaves the world with many question marks. If we add to it the Middle East, which is a snake pit, there is not much to look forward to, despite the temporary quiet.

I cannot say that the world would be any better had the USSR not been dissolved. Nevertheless, it is clear that while it was intact, it had advanced science and industry, and it sustained itself, even if poorly, and toward the end very poorly.

Still, times are changing, and there are always fluctuations between states. The new state will bring with it rejuvenation. In the meantime, however, the world is at a loss. It does not know where to go economically, politically, or in the military sense. People and countries are simply trying to hang on.

It may be an unorthodox view but I think that by and large, the Cold War was a good thing. At least people knew where they stood and how to conduct themselves. It was good for the superpowers, the rules were clear, and when the rules are clear, it is easier not to break them and cause horrendous accidents.

Today, there is nothing but confusion. If the stress continues to build up within and between countries, they will have no choice but to release it the way they always release pressure: by going to war.

Now that 2022 has begun, I think that we are starting the new year in great bewilderment. Russia is in a terrible condition, so is America, and although China seems like it is on top of the world, it is completely dependent on America’s purchasing power. The whole world is in a state of collapse. The ideologies that had kept countries going are all manifesting their irrelevance and weakness, and cannot offer humanity an appealing way of life. Indeed, the world is ready for change.

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When Violence Is Not a Crime

There is an increasingly common phenomenon among sex offenders: They videotape themselves committing the crime and post it on social media. Back in 2017, criminologists Sveinung Sandberg and Thomas Ugelvik published a paper through Oxford University Press where they wrote, “At first glance, an offender videotaping their crimes seems like a counterintuitive and counterproductive thing to do. After all, when offenders reach for their cameras, they may inadvertently contribute to their own capture and conviction. …Yet, publicly available … higher court decisions suggest that, despite the apparent lack of logic, it is becoming increasingly common.”

We need to rethink the way we look at education. We need to put human relationships-the ability to function as constructive, positive elements in society-at the top of the ladder. We have not seen the worst. If we leave matters unattended, they will deteriorate to the point where we will not dare set foot outside the door.

Since then, the phenomenon has gotten worse. In trying to understand its causes, Sandberg and Ugelvik write, “When offenders reach for their cameras, it is a socially and culturally embedded choice. In short …these offences must be understood in the context of (1) the sexualization and pornographication of society, (2) a new culture of online humiliation and (3) a culture of instant picture-taking fueled [sic] by new technologies.”

These reasons may incentivize offenders to document sex-crimes, but there is a deeper, more pernicious reason for doing it: The offenders do not regard these acts as crimes at all. They see nothing wrong with what they do.

Worse, I believe that even the older generation does not think of sex-crimes as appalling as it pretends to think. For the most part, the attitude is, "It happens; they're kids, what can you do?" Of course, no one says that, but this is the undercurrent.

For this reason, I believe that the problem is not with the perpetrators, but with us. When the education system focuses entirely on memorizing information, and devotes no time at all to building healthy social relationships, the current situation is the only possible outcome.

We need to rethink the way we look at education. We need to put human relationships-the ability to function as constructive, positive elements in society-at the top of the ladder. We have not seen the worst. If we leave matters unattended, they will deteriorate to the point where we will not dare set foot outside the door.

Human nature is destroying every bit of good that is still left on this planet, and we are worried about anything and everything besides our own nature. Even if there were any benefit in addressing environmental issues, our egos would not let us implement any solution if it demanded the smallest displeasing change in our narcissistic behavior. This, in fact, is exactly what is happening today.

It isn’t air pollution that is poisoning us; it isn’t opioids that are killing us; it isn’t SARS-COV-2 that is sickening us, and it isn’t hunger that is starving us. It is what stands behind them all, what induces all those plights. Our only enemy is our own wicked nature, and the only way to fix our nature is by teaching ourselves mutual responsibility and mutual care for every single person on the planet.

We have tackled each problem one at a time, and none of them have been solved, not one. Some problems may have abated a little, but they have come back, or will soon come back with vengeance.

It is time we dealt with the root cause of all these problems, our own ego, and solved the problem once and for all. Until we admit to ourselves that we are our own worst enemies, that we cause all the problems that we then try to fight, we will not be cured. If we understand where the problem lies and agree to work together, we will have a fighting chance.