What to do in the face of futility? Nothing?

Germaine's battle insignia

We only have one life. Our time is short and precious, at least in my opinion. Some of us do things that seem to be futile, arguably wasting time. Why engage in futility, if time is short and precious? Does engaging with futile causes make any sense? That might depend on how one defines the futility concept.

Writing an opinion for the NYT (not paywalled) exiled Russian reporter Masha Gessen wrote this about her futile dream, justice for the murdering monster Vladimir Putin:

And just like that, the Western powers, which had never fully embraced this invention of theirs, became willing to leave international justice for dead.

This is the first in a series of columns on new and emerging attempts to deliver on the promise of international justice. For me, this promise is not abstract. It’s personal — as, I suspect, it has been for dissidents all over the world. As an opposition journalist in Russia, and later, living in forced exile, I have cherished the thought that Putin might one day be tried for his crimes. I have said to myself that I will keep working long enough to be able to report from his trial. International justice is a civil religion for our time: Those of us who do not believe in God may still have believed in the higher judgment delivered in The Hague.

Skander Khilf -- MAGA hates her guts

because she advocates for international justice[1]

What is the likelihood that Putin will ever be tried for his crimes? Given the state of the human species on planet Earth on Oct. 17, 2025, close to zero. 

So why would Gessen keep fighting to get justice for Putin if the exercise is futile? Because maybe it isn't 100% futile. She is virtue signaling about the ideal of justice. She is trying to keep the idea alive, even if the reality is out of reach. In Gessen's short lifetime and in Putin's far too long lifetime, one can confidently say that Putin will not face justice for his crimes. Odds of that statement being wrong appear to be almost nil. But maybe in the long run, post-Putin history will show that it was a grave mistake to not hold the monster accountable.

Why does Germaine keep virtue signaling about the core moral values of democracy, rule of law, civil liberties and respect for truth? For the same reason that Gessen keeps up her virtue signaling. Maybe her pleas for justice, along with those of other like-minded pro-justice people, will resonate with people who can do actually something good about it in the future. Maybe arguments for democracy, rule of law, civil liberties and respect for truth will resonate some day. Without those arguments, the chances of those moral values ever amounting to anything significant are much lower.

Virtue signaling about social ills, such as cruelty or kleptocracy through blogs or newspaper opinions mostly stems from moral conviction. Despite minimal or no discernable immediate impact, these acts foster and reinforce unity among like-minded people. Such signaling sets a record of dissent that may detectably influence future thought, policy, or social norms. Historically, some once-ignored arguments, e.g., abolition, civil rights, gained traction and shaped policy. Dissents in USSC decisions don't affect cases immediately but sometimes become the foundation for later important majority opinions. In short, seemingly futile advocacy for democracy, justice, etc., helps foster mindsets needed for future reform. 

Footnote:

1. Last July, MAGA Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed sanctions on Khilf. He designated her to be a "specially designated national". That status is normally slapped on arms and drug smugglers, terrorists, and their oligarch funders. But these are not normal times. Those people can't travel to the US. They lose access to their assets in the US. They cannot engage in most international financial transactions because they are barred from using US currency. That is how MAGA treats people seeking justice for Trump's good friend and mentor, Putin.

What Young Republicans really think

Politico obtained messages between leaders of Young Republicans groups across the country. If their true feelings are representative of the group as a whole, many or most of these Republicans are bigots, racists, admirers of Hitler, anti-Semites, and/or arrogant, insulting thugs. 

These fine young adults called black people monkeys and “the watermelon people”. They mused about putting political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping enemies and driving them to suicide. They lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery. William Hendrix, the Kansas Young Republicans’ vice chair, used the words “n--ga” and “n--guh” many times in his chat comments. Bobby Walker, the vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans, called rape “epic”. Peter Giunta, chair of the New York State Young Republicans at the time, wrote that everyone that votes no about whether he should become chair of the Young Republican National Federation “is going to the gas chamber”.

Those sentiments come from future GOP leaders and activists. That says everything a person needs to know about the mindsets of MAGA insiders. These people are not normal. They are not democrats. They are cynical, cruel authoritarians. They think killing, raping and psychologically torturing people is funny.

Expressions of his kind of moral rot presumably go in in secret all the time among many or most MAGA elites. Their actions are in accord with this filth. However, they are smart enough to not get caught revealing what they really think.

Yes, most of the MAGA rank and file Trump voters will vehemently distance themselves from those sentiments. But those are the people who created this with their votes. They asked for Trump and this is just one little part of the sleaze, corruption and moral rot that he is forcing on us. 

Given MAGA's track record of moral rot, mendacity, corruption, cruelty, etc., it is reasonable, fair and balanced to think that all MAGA elites feel more or less about the same as what most of those Young Republicans expressed in secret. 

Of course, that assessment could be wrong. Maybe most MAGA elites really do not share those Young Republican beliefs and sentiments. In that case, the burden of proof is on them to prove it.  The burden sure as hell is not on any of us in the opposition to prove their good intentions and good will. Their words and actions clearly express bad intentions and ill-will. 

Q: Is tarring MAGA elites with those viciously cruel Young Republican sentiments reasonable, fair and balanced or not? Who has the burden of proof one way or the other, us or them?

Blog question

Blog question

I presume that engagement here has dropped off to almost nothing mostly because, (1) from a pro-democracy, -rule of law, -civil-liberties, -truth, -civility and -rationality point of the news is constantly bad, discouraging, horrific, insulting and/or otherwise too unpleasant to deal with and stay feeling reasonably happy and positive, (2) prose is too pedantic or complicated, (3) something else, or (4) some combination of those.  

🤔

Reasons to be very angry at Trump voters

This 2:44 video expresses reasonable sentiments provoked by the unwarranted, unjustifiable MAGA attacks that MAGA voters damned all of us to experience. This woman is definitely not sympathetic to harms caused to people who voted for Trump. She makes a slew of good points.

@bella_vandala

♬ original sound - Bella Vandala

Hm, the embed code doesn't work. Bummer. Oh well, the link to the TikTok video works.