I personally don't care about ukraine nor ukrainians; I have no stake in the game.
But I think all humans are fundamentally the same and when I see a bunch of humans fighting for their freedom I can understand them. I understand their motivations.
I also understand the imperialistic motivations. I understand russian need for status and pride and their relationship with their grandiose past. I understand all these emotions. All these emotions are exploited by various interests, sure, but nevertheless without those emotions of the masses war couldn't happen.
What irks me is when people do not want to put themselves in the clothes of somebody else at all, an d just conclude that one group of people is not entitled to have a given emotion. So Ukraine is not entitled to defend themselves because <insert_some_rational_reason> but russia is entitled to defend their separatists because <insert_some_rational_reason>.
It's the double standard that irks me.
I think we can agree that war is shit and everybody would be better off without it.
But, no, that's not the proposed alternative. The proposed alternative is that a group of people, in this case the Ukrainians, effectively surrender and become diminished. Future generations of russians will look at them and say "we're justified in treating you ask shit because after all we won and you lost". This happened over and over in history. Hell, this is why most white supremacists think they are the chosen ones, because whites conquered.
So how should I judge the people who want to defend themselves? I honestly cannot blame them from trying their best.
No, you’re still not getting it. This “double standard” is a figment of your imagination, it doesn’t exist. Roughly every country on Earth acknowledges Ukraine’s right to self-defense. A large number of them is materially supporting Ukraine.
They are free to defend themselves till the bitter end. No one is stopping them. And, theatrics aside, support isn’t ceasing either.
But they’re not winning. There’s no right to that.
If you cared about Russian and Ukrainian lives then you would be arguing for Russia to leave immediately. Only Russia can end this war, by retreating back to the internationally recognised borders.
Russia has "vital interests" that the whole world is, according to Russian imperialists such as yourself, obliged to bend over backwards to accommodate.
Well, guess what, we Europeans have vital interests too. Our vital interest is a free and independent Ukraine. Russia is not the only country with interests, you know!
