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Breaking a close, keeping a garden

In England, they used to call the enclosures we call our backyards “closes.” In their closes, people kept livestock and tended their gardens. If a fox came along and broke into their close to “worry” their livestock, they would pop the fox. If someone pilfered from their garden, they would call the Bobbies. Either way, there was a remedy.

Now, it’s seldom foxes — more likely an opossum or a skunk that wanders in. But, lately, we’ve had to deal with varmints of a different stripe, those that float — floating varmint pinatas.

Some foreign states, chiefly Russia, are sponsoring them. We know those of Russian origin are from government sources rather than from its citizens because regular Russians don’t have the time to fashion varmint pinatas. Those folks have to direct all their attention to just getting by — except for oligarchs. According to The World Bank, the average Russian wage in 2018 was $8,040 per year. That’s the baseline of wealth inequality among industrialized nations. Those people have no time to float varmints.

When whacked, floating varmint pinatas don’t dispense party favors. Instead, they release erroneous images, false rumors, and conspiracies, along with bits and pieces of other misinformation.

All of which scatter down into our closes.

Robert Mueller raised this same alarm but failed to mention varmint pinatas. His July 24, 2019 testimony to Congress concluded with these words:

” Over the course of my career, I’ve seen a number of challenges to our democracy. The Russian government’s effort to interfere in our election is among the most serious. This deserves the attention of every American.”

It’s not just Bob. A bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence Committee said essentially the same thing — warning that the Russians are breaking our closes and worrying our democratic processes.

What to do?

Consumer Reports has an article on how to spot misinformation online. Its acronym is SIFT, which stands for: Stop if strong emotions are triggered; Investigate the source; Find better coverage; Trace the claims.

It reminds me of that cautionary instruction we all learned as children: Stop, Look, and Listen — good advice at any age.

But it’s harder and harder to find the time to stop, look, and listen, and, even if we do, the distractions are so many and varied we can’t tell when to stop to listen, what to listen for, or where to look to see.

It seems to me the best approach to this problem was formulated back in 1946 by George F. Kennan. George was arguably one of our country’s most able statesmen. He was the fellow who coined the phrase “Political Warfare.” Guess who George believed our enemy was back then? Yep, and you thought Russian disinformation was something new.

Kennan’s recommendations may surprise you:

“Much depends on the health and vigor of our own society; (disinformation) is a malignant parasite which feeds only on diseased tissue.”

George Kennan would have our society be healthy, better to deflect the ailments divisiveness advances.

“Every incisive measure to solve internal problems of our own society, to inspire self-confidence, morale and community spirit of our own people is a diplomatic victory over Moscow,” Kennan declared.

Wise words from a wise man.

Division and its consequent lack of communication — those are the real dangers. Kennan would have us work toward accommodation, a more inclusive, tolerant, egalitarian society — all ways to protect ourselves.

Could it be one of our current enemies is us?

We should be working to keep our closes clear of weeds and debris, our rows hoed, our gardens filled with healthy vegetables and fragrant flowers. We should be helping our neighbors keep their closes healthy and clean.

By keeping all our gardens weeded, the polarizing propaganda excreated from floating varmint pinatas will find no soil in which to grow.

We have gardening to do.

Doug Pugh’s “Vignettes” runs weekly on Saturdays. He can be reached at pughda@gmail.com.

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