One of the most common platitudes you hear these days is the idea of defending democracy. The implication of course being that there are bad actors who threaten our democratic liberties and state power by default always acts in a way to deter these bad actors and protect democracy. Not only is this a very self serving image of those in power, but it is simply a fairy tale. We see this narrative spun on a wider scale with the ongoing war in Ukraine. The war itself is something that could be written about and discussed endlessly, but that is not the purpose of this post. Rather I’d like to focus in on the way the media portrays the actions of the US in the war. According to the corporate media, who I might add are fulfilling their role of reinforcing established power brilliantly, the United States is supporting Ukraine, both financially and militarily, because we care so deeply about democratic values and Ukraine is on the side of democracy. Whereas, conversely, Russia is not and seeks to impede on those liberties. It’s your classic old west trope of good vs evil that is so deeply ingrained in the psyche of the American mind. And if it were true it’d be awfully convenient for the United States. But it isn’t true. The US is not concerned with defending democracy on the world stage. It does not care about the plight of the people of Ukraine or Taiwan. What the US does care about is the defeat of major adversaries such as Russia and China. The narrative of “defending democracy” is spun as an excuse to further isolate Russia into a deeper and deeper corner. And instead of seeking a peaceful resolution to this conflict, we funnel billions of dollars and an endless cache of weapons into Ukraine for the sake of “defending democracy”, all at the continued detriment and suffering of the people of Ukraine.