ISSUE #75: The US has sanctioned itself.
We swung our fists at Putin only to hit ourselves in our collective faces.
The US had put sanctions on Russia following its Special Military Operation in Ukraine earlier this year and made it the most sanctioned country on this planet.
As always, the goal of the sanctions was to isolate Russia from the rest of the world and make it beg the US to lift the sanctions. Why would a country beg the US to lift the sanctions? Because sanctions are the modern-day equivalent of siege warfare, in which the military/armed forces would surround a fortress or city and cut off all the essential supplies needed to survive. From a historical point of view, we know that sanctions are deadly as they literally kill people, and we expect the economy of the sanctioned country and its currency to crash.
But that doesn’t seem to be the case with Russia as highlighted by some of these headlines:
Why haven’t the sanctions flattened the Russian economy? Because the Western policymakers underestimated the global significance of the Russian economy and as a result, have shot themselves in the foot. I talked about it in detail here.
We swung our fists at Putin only to hit ourselves in our collective faces.
The gas prices in the US/West have skyrocketed to astronomical levels since the US initiated the economic warfare. Americans, in some cities, are paying up to $9 per gallon of gas and the national average has surpassed $5/gallon, which is the highest ever in US history.
To be clear, I am not saying that inflation is solely caused by the Western sanctions on Russia as the inflation numbers were already the highest in the last 40 years before Russia’s Special Military Operation. The West’s decision to sanction Russia over the war that it could have easily prevented have exacerbated inflation for sure. Although, it was a “Putin talking point” a few weeks ago, but some Biden officials now think the same - that sanctions have aggravated inflation.
As you can see, the crude oil price skyrocketed after the sanctions were introduced in late February. Therefore, you are paying insane amounts of money at the gas stations because of the fault of the Western policymakers, not because of “Putin’s price hike.”
Take a look at these charts below:
Doesn’t it seem like America is sanctioning itself? At least that’s what these charts tell us. Be it diesel, electricity, or natural gas, Americans are paying more than Russians in every category.
Don’t think of this article as me making fun of American or the Western people paying more for food and energy. It’s never funny when the working class has to suffer the consequences of the policies made by the ruling class. Their policies don’t impact their living style. It’s always the proletariat that has to compromise everytime the policymakers make decisions that serve their interest only.
Just some feedback as a fellow budding writer on this platform: content was good, but the ending felt abrupt.