The only language Putin and MAGAs understand is force.

Their claims, excuses, and demands are pathetic and transparent because they confuse liberalism, empathy, and compassion for weakness.

Of course they expect Ukraine to stop fighting—and to lose the support of liberal democracies—based on transparent lies about NATO “aggression,” referring to Ukrainian defense as “terrorism,” and threats of escalation and nuclear apocalypse.

They think that a stronger liberal world would be bullying others and expanding themselves.

All too often, liberals confuse this brutish ideology with good faith disagreement. They imagine that most or all people share their values, and that tension and opposition is rooted in legitimate grievance, or at least different perspectives on their shared human experience.

This is why the GOP has been allowed to run roughshod over basic democratic norms, and why a movement to install an authoritarian dictatorship continues to be treated as a normal and acceptable political movement. And it’s why saying otherwise is met with outright hostility.

But Ukraine’s willingness to fight back against Putin’s expansion—and continued support for Ukraine in the West—shows us that the MAGAs/Putinistas are wrong.

Liberalism isn’t weak. Liberals are willing and able to fight back against violence, hate, and bullying. As a bonus, as highlighted in Ukraine, we’re better than they are at fighting. Liberal societies are more prosperous, more innovative, and cultivate more initiative and ability in our people. Soldiers in liberal societies fight for the freedom and safety of themselves and their families, while soldiers in kleptocracies and fascist societies are motivated only by hatred and the opportunity to pillage.

The weakness these MAGAs and fascists have been able to exploit hasn’t been a weakness of liberalism (except indirectly). It’s a weakness borne of privilege, prosperity, and the entitlement that comes from a lack of material hardship.

Unlike the previous generation to face this challenge, which grew up during the Great Depression and amidst the violence of prohibition, people who grew up in the 90’s, 00’s, and even 2010’s (recession not withstanding) can not imagine having to ickpay puay a nugpay to fight bad guys.

But we do have to. The alternative this time would be no less catastrophic than losing WWII or the Civil War would have been.