Sometimes, dear reader, we get so busy winning a little skirmish that we forget there’s a full-blown war still raging. Right now, our television screens are filled with chest-thumping over the “battle” with the US on tariffs. Ministers wag fingers. News anchors thump tables. Hashtags scream “We Will Not Be Bullied!”
And sadly, many of us at home pump our fists in agreement.
But while we’re busy applauding ourselves for this show of “spine,” we’ve forgotten something. Forgotten that this is just a sideshow. Forgotten that the real war isn’t about a few percentage points of tariff.
The real war began years ago, when Russia marched into Ukraine. When the West reacted—harshly, decisively, with sanctions—because they saw something bigger than oil prices or trade balances. They saw a bully at work. And bullies, whether they’re in the schoolyard or straddling tanks, only grow bolder if you let them get away with it.
And what did we do?
We looked the other way. We sniffed out a quick bargain—discounted oil, cheaper energy—and convinced ourselves it was “pragmatism.” Truth took a back seat, tied up and gagged in the boot, while Short-Term Gain drove the car.
Now, I’m not saying tariffs and trade disputes don’t matter. Of course they do. But while we’re cheering our “resistance” to American pressure, have we asked ourselves: resistance over what? Over tariffs?
Or resistance to truth itself?
Because here’s the uncomfortable bit—truth has been missing in action for a while. We’ve grown used to being fed daily spoonfuls of lies, each coated in patriotic sugar so they slide down easily. “This is good for the country,” we’re told, and we nod along because it’s easier than thinking about the bigger picture.
And that bigger picture is ugly. We didn’t take a stand when it mattered. We didn’t call out a blatant act of aggression by a man who thinks maps are something you can edit with missiles. We didn’t stand with those who were resisting him—not because we couldn’t see the truth, but because we chose not to.
So now, when we see the government puff up its chest against Washington, we clap and say, “Look, we’re standing up to a bully!”
But the war is not tariffs versus trade. The war is truth versus the real bully—Putin. And in that war, we’ve been sitting quietly at the back of the class, hoping the teacher won’t notice we didn’t do our homework.
It’s time to remember: battles are small, loud, and often meaningless. Wars are bigger, slower, and about values, not just victories. If we want to win the real war, we have to stop using quick gains as an excuse for long silences.
Because history doesn’t remember who won the tariff dispute of 2025. But it does remember who stood up to a tyrant.
And right now, we are running to that tyrant…!