As of a few days ago Russia has effectively seized Crimea and, after a highly criticized referendum that resulted in reportedly 90 percent plus of the population voting to rejoin Russia, it appears that Crimea (The Crimea?) will in short order be a part of Russia again.

I’m no expert on foreign policy – let me metaphorically say that a few dozen times to qualify my remarks — and particularly not on the former Soviet Union. But why is this such a bad thing? There seems to be some subtext that is not being stated that is responsible for sanctions being put into place by both The United States and The European Union. What exactly are we protesting so strenuously against?

Both sides seem to agree that Crimea was part of Russia until Nikita Kruchschev signed it away to Ukraine in the 1950s on a whim; that most people in the Crimea speak Russian, and probably do want to be a part of Russia, even if referendum was a joke and even if there are a minority that don’t.

There have been protests about violating international procedures, but that can be applied to a dozen big events in the past few years, ranging from our invasion of Iraq to Ukraine deposing its president. Beyond the legalities, what’s important morally are do results and events coincide with some rough degree of fairness.

The Russians are clearly employing force through tanks and soldiers. But what Westerners don’t seem to see is that keeping the Crimea in a political union, the Ukraine, is also an act of force, if the citizens of Crimea don’t want to be there.

I’m sure my own history as a southerner by birth and ancestry shapes my point of view. A century and a half ago, my great grand parents were part of a people who attempted to leave the union, and were forcibly made to stay. This has never sat right with me. How is forcing a people to stay in a political union, “government by the people, of the people and for the people?”

There are practical reasons to accept the new order in Crimea.

Ukraine would be better off without it. Without this pro-Russian populace, Ukraine could join Western Europe more overtly and craft more liberal policies that would put it into the orbit of Western Europe more. I’m reminded of how the North, during the Civil War, was able to pass the railroad act, a homesteading act and various internal improvement acts, once the South was out of the Union. While the South opposed these policies, they were good policies for the North and arguably much of the rest of the country, and without the South, the country was able to move forward with them.

As I said, the fate of Eastern Europe is hardly a subject I’m an expert on but in the interest of public discussion I get these thoughts down here. If you want to reply, send me comments via twitter, since my website isn’t accepting comments right now.