Why Society Declines: One View

Guest columnist LT. Col. Don Zapsic (ret.), an Ohio resident, served as a Chaplain in the U.S. Army.

The Dayton, Ohio mass shooting on Sunday August 4, 2019 was a despicable act perpetrated by a cowardly, hate-filled human being. The violent act itself is indisputably heinous and disgusting. Enter in Ohio Representative Candace Keller who authored a Facebook post providing a laundry list of factors that allegedly played into the mass shooter’s dastardly deed.

I will not repeat many of the particulars which were collectively categorized as a break from “traditional family values.” This article is not aimed at gauging cultural toxicity or assigning blame to the various population groups cited by Representative Keller. More to the point, it is an effort to flesh out a disturbing trend among public officials that is paramount to tossing verbal grenades and then failing to stand-and-deliver.

I, like Ohio State Representative Keller, am an outspoken conservative and make no apology for it. That being said, I contacted Keller’s office on two separate occasions seeking to understand more about the basis and rationale behind her reported statements regarding the mass-casualty incident. It should come as no surprise that no one from her office called back after five business days had passed, leaving two perfunctory messages. Not to be deterred, and no stranger to being totally ignored by political leaders, I decided to write about what I would have asked if given the opportunity to do so.

The opening question would have focused on why Rep. Keller hastily removed the Facebook post to begin with. If she was compelled by a strong conviction to voice her opinion in the first place, then why rescind the stinging litany in such a rash manner? True conservatives, unlike liberals, are supposed to stand by time-honored values, traditions and truths because of their tried-and-proven track record for promoting the greater public good. Conservatives want to “conserve” the Bill of Rights while liberals want to “change” things often from a deeply-held conviction that America is fundamentally flawed and needs to change while journeying towards that mythical land called “utopia.”

If Candace Keller felt so strongly about her opinion, then why abandon it at the first sign of public outrage? Or if it was simply a mistake, then why not render an apology and keep moving forward? There is by the way, nothing in the conservative handbook (which to the best of my knowledge does not exist) that forbids making amends for being human and committing a mistake. The second, and final question (because in the real world that would be about all the time allotted) would center on why she did not take full advantage of the opportunity to make a case for a return to traditional family values before a national audience in light of what had just transpired in Dayton?

Some of the sources that can be referenced when citing cause-and-effect that drives cultural, moral, and family decline are:

FBI annual crime statistics regarding criminal behavior and fatherlessness;
Bureau of Labor Statistics that highlight the adverse effects of unemployment on America’s poorest, or even
the Center for Disease Control (CDC) that provides data linking certain lifestyles to incidents of sexually-transmitted diseases that all-too-often lead to treatment-resistant conditions up to and including death.
Then there is the Bible to consult which has a proven track-record linking certain behaviors with very predictable outcomes. I have a hard time believing that man is smarter than God when it comes to figuring out how to find true purpose and meaning in life. (I would be happy if someone simply figured out how to prevent credit cards from getting hacked into oblivion!)

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There is also history to consult as in the case of well-documented conditions leading up to the fall of the Roman Empire including: Excess love of entertainment (games at the coliseum), rampant laziness (free food to Roman citizenry), sexual deviancy (I would be Captain Obvious endeavoring to further explain that concept), and apathy towards military service (the Romans employed large numbers of mercenaries to protect its domain). If I would have had the opportunity in my ideal scenario of presenting a third question regarding the Facebook post, it would surely be how drag-queen and drug-using advocates contribute to murderous rampages. The terrorist according to the autopsy report had cocaine in his system, not marijuana.

If it appears that I mean to disrespect or belittle the Ohio Representative, it is not my intent. In fact, as a former member of the military serving in a combat zone alongside liberals and conservatives, most of those I had the privilege of serving with fundamentally understand the true cost of freedom. We want our public leaders to make the best of the opportunities entrusted to them to promote life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If they fail to do so, we all have a duty to better inform those that aspire to lead us in a respectful, knowledgeable manner. The stakes are simply too high to do otherwise.

Illustration: Pixabay

Quick Analysis

Ukraine’s Frozen Conflict

As we approach winter in the northern hemisphere, the war in Ukraine is beginning to resemble a “frozen conflict” from many perspectives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently told the media he hopes the war will end faster once President-elect Trump takes over in January. Opinions in Moscow, however, differ from that of the Ukrainian leader. Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) needs to exclude Ukraine from joining in “exchange” for peace. If it does not, he says, then no end to the war is in sight. So far there is no Christmas solution. Several NATO countries, according to Vladimir Socor of the Jamestown Foundation, are tentatively considering “coalitions-of-the-willing” to provide security for Ukraine outside of the formal NATO framework. There is, however, no collective mechanism today under which such an arrangement is viable. According to the NATO Charter, while Ukraine is a NATO partner country, it may not join as a full member since it has not fulfilled the requirements for membership. That has not stopped NATO and allies from continuing “to provide Ukraine with unprecedented levels of support, helping to uphold its fundamental right to self-defence,” according to the organization. Socor says that keeping Ukraine out of NATO will not advance peace with Russia. Waiting for a peace settlement, he suggests, would only serve to encourage Moscow to continue the war indefinitely. Although the Biden Administration officially withdrew its support for Ukrainian membership in 2021, NATO maintains an “open door” policy toward membership-seeking countries. The current White House position led the way for European states to oppose Ukraine’s membership saying that a decision should be delayed until “conditions are met.” Biden pushed for changing “open door” to a “bridge” metaphor. It is not intended as an across-the-board NATO policy and has been implemented in the past on a case-by-case basis, says Socor. “The alliance’s open-door policy was not fully insulated from Russia’s non-statutory blocking power, and NATO-aspirant countries’ path toward membership was not always irreversible.” Russia has successfully blocked states like Georgia from joining, first in 2008 and again after the war in Ukraine began in 2014. Russia recognizes the value add of Ukraine to NATO is enormous and that Kyiv has a better case than some other nations. Putin’s invasion was, in part, intended to foreclose that option. By 2021, Moscow was pushing hard to maximize its war objectives, which included further annexations of Ukrainian territory. A main goal for Putin was, and is, to ensure there is no Ukraine left to join NATO. As President-elect Trump prepares to assume office in January, he is faced with the historical challenges presented by the war. Post-conflict security guarantees were the center of several proposals made during the 2023 military stalemate. The incoming Trump Administration has yet to outline how it intends to handle the Russia-Ukraine war. Analysts in Washington believe that the new Administration will expect its European allies to guarantee the majority of Ukraine’s security needs. As we approach 2025, several European nations have acknowledged that they do not view Ukraine as eligible for NATO membership as it would draw the organization into the middle of the conflict. Others want to wait until the war is over or pending a “peace” settlement before considering Ukrainian membership. Socor reports that some “influential voices” are suggesting that “Kyiv should join NATO after “freezing” the war along a stable armistice line, de facto accepting Ukraine’s partition, with NATO security guarantees applying de jure to the government-controlled territory only.” This would mean starting accession talks soon with the actual talks to commence only after a ceasefire is in place. Trump arrives in Washington at a time when Putin’s hybrid strategies of war in Ukraine have eviscerated commonly-held differences between war and peace. “Absent a political consensus in NATO over Ukrainian membership, certain European allies, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, are holding informal consultations about post-conflict security guarantees to Kyiv by NATO members outside of NATO’s framework,” according to the Jamestown Foundation. The Biden Administration downplayed the discussions on possible forms of military assistance and defense industry cooperation by sending only an Assistant Secretary of State. For a European peace to hold the Trump Administration would need to formally extend the United States’ nuclear deterrence to Ukraine. Options under discussion in Europe include a “coalition of the resolute” to deploy forces to Ukraine as part of a possible armistice package, deterring further Russian attacks, says Secor. European officials are also debating, without any agreement, whether its military forces could perform non-combat logistical roles to free Ukrainian forces to fight. None of the possible courses of action has moved forward as all eyes are waiting on the incoming Trump Administration for clues about its intended level of support for a NATO framework and other non-NATO proposals. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.