In this painting the burning money represents economic greed and delusion being the cause of destruction. The idea was formed almost half a year before the crisis took place in Ukraine. The Model is Ukrainian and we discussed the delights of her culture, (as I am a descendant of Ukrainian heritage through my great grandparents) only months before the devastation took place. The money represents greed/delusion and the flame represents destruction which is caused by a series of conditions and decisions made by people and the environment. The main condition which causes unnecessary destruction, is excessive greed and delusion. 

When Putin stated in February 2021, that the troops he sent in to monitor and maintain the Donetsk and Luhansk region, two Ukrainian cities that have been proclaimed as Russian territory, was a peace keeping mission. This wasn’t the first time he or another Russian figure rationally justified the atrocities committed by the Soviet Union, now Russia. 

Viktor Chebirikov, a deputy of the KGB wrote a history of the KGB in 1977. Which became a manual for operatives to learn from. In it he told of how rich peasants, the kulaks, launched terrorist attacks against their government so the extermination of these people were justified. What he didn’t write in the book, is how 10 million of these people were deliberately starved. They were self-sufficient farmers who owned private farms. This was seen as a danger to the Soviet Communist party who were against the socialist and capitalist notion of a person owning their own private land. For this reason they were killed. As Viktor wrote “there was a final need for the liquidation of capitalist elements in this country. On the whole … insufficiencies did not have a decisive influence on the positive results”(SHORT, 2023).  This is what Putin and other KGB officers were taught. They were taught to never question the Soviet Union and the acts committed by it.

What are political views aimed at then if they are not aimed at benefiting the most people? 

The goal of communism was to make a flourishing country. People were flourishing, but because their success wasn’t rooted in communist ideologies according to Stalin they had to be stopped. 

Russia has always had a complex apprehensive relationship with NATO ever since its formation in 1949 when it was created as an American, French and British alliance in Berlin to stop the spreading of Communism and conflict with the Soviet Union. In 2013 Russia was promised that NATO would not expand but it continued to grow. Some believe that Putin’s annexation of Crimea, the former Ukrainian peninsula, was a retaliation to this expansion. As he did not want the Ukraine to join NATO or for NATO to expand. America continued to support the NATO expansion in Europe and claimed it was only to enhance their allies with Europe, and create a strong independent Ukraine despite setting up missiles on the Russian Ukrainian border. 

On February 24th Putin with unrelenting patriotism declared an attack on Ukraine. Since its departure from Russian territory during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 Putin has wanted Ukraine to join Russian territory. Putin was angry especially at America believing them to view Russia as becoming weak. He was going to do everything he could to prove their “strength.” After attacking Kiev and losing around 40,000 troops and not gaining control of the cities capital he began to monstrously order the Russian army to commit war crimes such as bombing hospitals, social centres and areas where refugees were fleeing. 

Why is he willing to commit heinous acts just to show America that he is in control. Why does he need more control? Why is he committing war crimes against humanity to obtain more territory? Russia is already the largest country in the world.

In Buddhism rationalizations which form views are conditioned to emotional states which are a product of the environment. A right view is a view that comes from a skillful or kusula state. A state that is healthy and betters the health of others. A wrong view comes from an (akusula) unhealthy state that damages a person and others. Clearly these views are incredibly unhealthy and are forming rationalizations based on unskillful and damaging emotional states. This is the epitome of greed and delusion. 

My heart goes out to all the people suffering greatly from this painful injustice. My wish is for peace to be restored.

A part of the earnings from this painting will be donated to Ukrainian families in need. 

References:

Morrison, R. G. (2002). Nietzsche and Buddhism: A study in nihilism and ironic affinities. Oxford University Press. 

SHORT, P. H. I. L. I. P. (2023). Putin. HOLT PAPERBACKS. 

U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 1949. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nato#:~:text=The%20North%20Atlantic%20Treaty%20Organization,security%20against%20the%20Soviet%20Union.&text=NATO%20was%20the%20first%20peacetime,outside%20of%20the%20Western%20Hemisphere. 

 Williams, P. D. (2022, February 25). Putin's "peacekeepers". IPI Global Observatory. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://theglobalobservatory.org/2022/02/putins-peacekeepers/

Wright, R., Watson, I., & Jamaluddin, M. (2019). Borneo is burning: The climate bomb experts say is fueled by the west. CNN. Retrieved November 4, 2022, from https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/11/asia/borneo-climate-bomb-intl-hnk/