On the social media site formerly known as Twitter, Devon Eriksen responds to a demand that the United States intervene directly in the Russia-Ukraine war:
America is not special. It’s just a country.
Yes, it’s the best country, but it is not the god of all other nations.
A lot of people like to point this out when saying that America doesn’t have special rights, but those same people very rapidly and conveniently forget that phrase when they want something from America.
Because no special rights means no special obligations.
We don’t have to rob our own citizens to keep African AIDS patients alive, or feed nations that overbreed while they are unable to feed themselves.
We don’t have to stop the genocide in East Ethnicklashistan.
We don’t have to accept refugees from anywhere, much less from the worst failed states on the planet.
We don’t have to cooperate with, fund, host, or even participate in the United Nations.
And we don’t have to take sides in ethnic conflicts on the other side of the planet.
The assumption that any conflict is between the good guys and the bad guys, and that the US must help the good guys is the assumption that America is god, responsible for bringing peace, justice, and prosperity to the planet.
Are you ready to be ruled by us as if we were gods?
No?
Then don’t demand justice from us as if we were gods.
The responsibility of America, as just another nation, is to look after the interests of Americans.
Look, we all know that Russia is dogshit at warfare, because wars are not won by being tough. They are won by being organized, coordinated, trained, and equipped.
And Russia is an extraction economy, not a high-trust, high-tech first world state.
So, yes, we could easily beat Russia in a war. That does not mean it is in our best interests to do so. Lots of costs, no benefits.
And while we are wealthiest nation in the history of … everything … we still have a severe overspending problem, mostly because we’ve been the wealthiest nation for a long time, and have developed some bad problem with political corruption, and throwing money at ever grifter with a sob story and an outstretched hand.
I know you think your cause is just. I’m not trying to tell you it isn’t, because I don’t need to decide if it is or not.
It doesn’t matter.
America’s responsibility is to Americans, and if that responsibility is not being discharged, taken care of, thoroughly handled, then support of any other side quest, regardless of its merits, is dereliction of duty.
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Except America does have an interest in Ukraine, and it shares some responsibility in the situation. Before the war, that is where we bought a significant amount of the fertilizers used on American farms. There was also a significant presence from Iowa farm groups in Ukraine working joint projects with them that had allowed Ukraine to become one of the largest producers of farm foods in the world. Both of those industries, which directly affect American farmers and average Americans, have been completely destroyed because America decided to stay hands off in a conflict that we are partially responsible for with our constant egging on of Russia threatening to bring Ukraine into NATO. Or threaten to arm Ukraine with weapons that would allow them to defend themselves from Russia. Neither of which we actually followed through on, and then made Ukraine give up Crimea (thanks Obama) and were surprised when Putin kept pushing.
While I agree in general that America should not be the world’s police or arbiter, there are times when it serves our interests to do so. While we shouldn’t be trying to solve all of the world’s problems, the world is not so small that we can ignore what happens either. The last two times we tried to do that; we got World Wars.
Comment by Killbait — December 1, 2025 @ 19:11
[…] VERY MUCH THIS:  The United States is not – and should not be – the arbiter of all the world’s conflicts. […]
Pingback by Instapundit » Blog Archive — December 2, 2025 @ 02:00
Here’s the problem: Most places in the world do business with us, or our key allies. If there’s trouble in one of those places, some will lose money and some will make money. On both sides of that proposition are powerful people who fund politicians. That’s why we get involved. We are not policing the world. We are policing profits. If two countries go to war and we do no business with either, there is 0% chance we get involved. If both countries do big business with us (or key allies), it’s 100%.
Comment by Ron Reich — December 2, 2025 @ 02:40
We don’t share responsibility for this. Ukraine are grownups and should have been quite capable of evaluating the risks when Obama and Europe were egging them on. As mature thinking individuals, they should have realized that a promise by one American president wouldn’t necessarily be honoured by another American president 20 years on. These people are statesmen, not children. And after what happened in Crimea in 2014, you would have thought that Ukraine, Biden and Europe might have shown a little more wisdom.
Comment by Gazzer — December 2, 2025 @ 03:07
1) By acknowledging Crimea you acknowledge that we do in fact share some responsibility here.
2) Regarding agreements from one president to another, you are thinking like an American. That isn’t how it works in most of the world.
3) Biden was part of the problem both in Crimea under Obama, and Ukraine overall with his son’s involvement with Burisma. So again, American responsibility.
Comment by Killbait — December 2, 2025 @ 10:47