The Imperial Mirror: Why We Must Snap Out of the US-Russia Binary
We are living in a dizzying, one-dimensional reality. Our headlines are dominated by an exhausting polarity: US vs. Russia. We are told to pick a side, to wear a jersey, and to believe that one represents the "Light" while the other represents the "Dark."
But this is a psychological trap—a hangover from an ancient "software" that has reached its expiration date. To survive the coming era, we must "snap out" of this binary and recognize that we aren't looking at two different worlds; we are looking at two sides of the same imperialist coin.
1. The Monotheistic "Head Trip"
The root of our polarization is more theological than political. For two millennia, the Western mind has been conditioned by a brand of monotheism that creates a "Monotheistic Marathon."
It claims Unity, yet it populates the world with an equally powerful Devil. This creates a landscape where every choice is fatal: Believer vs. Infidel, Heaven vs. Hell, Saved vs. Damned. This binary "operating system" makes us hyper-judgmental and choice-paralyzed. We have been trained to believe that there is always a "wrong" option that leads to destruction.
To move past this, we must look to a wider reality—one that integrates opposites rather than excluding them. The "Third Way" isn't about choosing between two evils; it's about refusing to play a rigged game.
2. The Twin Empires: A Shared DNA
Both the US and Russia claim moral superiority, but their histories reveal a shared Imperial DNA.
- The United States was built on "Manifest Destiny," scaling up European ideas of racial and religious superiority to justify the displacement and genocide of indigenous peoples.
- Russia maintains a shield of "moral tradition," yet its vast territory is the result of centuries of relentless land-theft. From the 17th-century "pacification" of Siberia—which turned an indigenous majority into a 5% minority—to the "ideological jacket" of the USSR, Russia has practiced a brutal form of colonialism.
Events like the Holodomor in Ukraine—where the Soviet state used famine as a weapon to crush national identity—prove that "ideology" is often just a cover for imperial control. Whether it is American "Democracy" or Russian "Traditional Values," both are often just marketing slogans for Resource Fascism.
3. The European Paradox
Europe is currently squeezed between these two titans, but it is not a monolith.
Western Europe must face its responsibility as the "Old Money" core. Its wealth was largely accumulated through centuries of colonial extraction in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The very structures of American imperialism were birthed from Western European colonial failures and ideas of superiority.
Central and Eastern Europe possess a different foundation. Historically, their power structures were not built on overseas plunder, but on internally generated wealth. However, this history was violently interrupted. The Soviet occupation and the imposition of Communism dismantled the original social fabric. The "Old Money" and intellectual elites were decimated, replaced by a culture of "kádrování" (vetting) and systematic brainwashing that damaged interpersonal trust for generations.
4. The Path Forward: Avoiding the "Strongman" Trap
Paradoxically, after the Iron Curtain fell, the power vacuum was often filled by those already privileged within Communist circles—opportunists who transitioned from Party loyalty to predatory capitalism (figures like Babiš or Orbán).
Yet, because the underlying wealth of the region remains self-generated and not tied to the global colonial-capitalist system, Central and Eastern Europe possess a unique form of economic independence. They are less tethered to the "Old Money" skeletons of the West.
The Stakes
Europe—specifically the European Social State—is currently the last bastion of a society that values democracy, gender equality, and social safety nets. If we allow ourselves to be sucked into the US-Russia binary, we lose this. We will be left with only the most aggressive, predatory version of Western values.
It is time to stop being spectators in a "clash of titans" and start protecting the internal, sovereign reality we have fought so hard to reclaim.