A Troll in the Comments

Answering your questions!

Another week, another round of comments and questions to respond to. Your readership and engagement inspire me, even when we don’t agree.

You and I both know that articles referencing obscure battles in seventeenth century Siberia aren’t part of the typical American reading diet, and yet 26,000 of you read just such a piece on Wednesday. That’s measurable progress! Perhaps I was wrong about Americans’ interest in history.

Before I get to our conversation, I want to remind you that we can’t do this without your support. If you aren’t subscribed, please sign up today. And if you’re already subscribed, please consider upgrading to a paid monthly or annual plan, which gives you access to exclusive content like my recent video interviews with top American military officers.

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Now, on to the comment section—I’m reading what you write, friends and hecklers alike. What were you all thinking about this week?

Hazal had this to say about my column on the China-Russia relationship:

enjoyed this—nice to learn a bit of Eastern history unfamiliar to the Western schooled. Garry should mine his dual heritage more because the mutual ignorance between East and West presents an iron curtain of the mind. The argument too is persuasive by any measure of logic.

An “Iron Curtain of the mind”—I love this turn of phrase, and I hope you won’t mind terribly if I borrow it. This is exactly what we are trying to do at The Next Move: bring people together who wouldn’t otherwise be in touch and all mutually benefit from the experience. There is a lot that we can learn from each other—I’ll keep sharing what I know about the world, and I’ll keep learning from all of you about your country and her democracy.

Next up. My friend Terry Virts—former NASA astronaut and International Space Station commander—made quite a splash with his reflection on how his cosmonaut colleagues turned into pro-Putin propagandist in Russia’s rubber-stamp parliament, the Duma.

It’s an important lesson in human nature and one I’ve seen play out over and over again—and not just in Russia. You’d think educated people would know better. They don’t.

But “Freedom Lover” (if that is your real name) rejected Terry’s central recommendation—that the US cancel its outdated cosmic cooperation with Russia.

Shall we rebuild an iron curtain on the Russian side? Now that Putin cut off social media, communications with highly educated and intelligent cosmonauts is our only way of breaking to the Russian people, we shall cut this only way lose??

I suggest we send way more intelligent astronauts than the author of this piece, astronauts, who are capable to persuade intelligent Russian counterparts and come up with better ideas to counter the dictator than “empathetically” suggesting to endanger their own lives and, which is way worse, lives of their offsprings. Why don’t you ask Garry, why he tan away from beatings instead of staying back and risking his and his family’s lives?

In the twenty-fifth year of Putin’s dictatorial regime and the fourth year of Putin’s illegal, genocidal war, the best this commenter has is… building bridges with worldly Russians. There’s always someone who doesn’t get it (maybe deliberately so). You are suggesting that the Free World repeat precisely the three-decade mistake Terry calls out in his piece. It’s been done. It delivered a lot of misplaced optimism in the West and not much else. Terry is right to call for ending this collaboration with the Kremlin.

As for the personal risk that comes with speaking out: Not everyone is going to be a political dissident, as I was. And, yes, I was confronted with hard choices, including when to leave Russia altogether because of the threat to my life. But staying quiet for the sake of your family is one morally grey thing. No one forced Terry’s erstwhile cosmonaut colleagues to become enthusiastic Putin boosters in the Duma. That’s a career they chose.

And, by the way, as a Russian, I can detect English written with a Muscovite accent. )))

Ann comes with a more challenging question. We shouldn’t cooperate with dictatorships, fine. But…

What if the US is now turning into one of those authoritarian countries?

Turning into an authoritarian country? Yes. Already turned into one? Not quite. It’s an essential distinction. The former is an appropriately urgent red flag that pro-freedom forces everywhere need to raise in order to arrest the republic’s slide toward nondemocratic rule. The latter is defeatist nonsense that makes Trump’s most extreme ambitions into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Americans, and non-American guests like myself, need to fight like we still live in a democracy in order to ensure this nation remains one.

And with that in mind—I’ll see you on Monday for our weekly Substack Live at 5pm ET/2pm PT! Keep your heads up and remember, it’s OK to read the comments!