Thanks to Postcrossing and blogging I have made acquaintances and friends in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia over the last fifteen years or so. It is horrifying and sickening to think of the violent invasion of Ukraine by Russia, supported by Belarus.
I made the acquaintance of one Ukranian family in 2012 and even then there was part of their country that the Russians controlled and fears that Russia would extend that area. That is the stage at which countries like the UK should have been imposing sanctions on Russia and making it clear that its behaviour was not acceptable. Now, as rockets are landing, houses being bombed, nuclear plants attacked by tanks and people dying and displaced, is far too late.
If a country decided to invade the UK we tend to assume that the USA or some neighbours of ours would come to our aid. Obviously nowadays such an expectation is naïve. (Especially since, by a tiny majority, the UK made it plain it didn't want to be part of Europe).
Meanwhile, what about my Russian friends. Should I be blaming them for the actions of their government? Surely not.
I made the acquaintance of one Ukranian family in 2012 and even then there was part of their country that the Russians controlled and fears that Russia would extend that area. That is the stage at which countries like the UK should have been imposing sanctions on Russia and making it clear that its behaviour was not acceptable. Now, as rockets are landing, houses being bombed, nuclear plants attacked by tanks and people dying and displaced, is far too late.
If a country decided to invade the UK we tend to assume that the USA or some neighbours of ours would come to our aid. Obviously nowadays such an expectation is naïve. (Especially since, by a tiny majority, the UK made it plain it didn't want to be part of Europe).
Meanwhile, what about my Russian friends. Should I be blaming them for the actions of their government? Surely not.
My Friend-über-special in the USA didn't vote for Donald Trump or support his policies. Nor did most of my other American friends. Similarly, I didn't vote for Brexit. I don't believe my Russian friends in St Petersburg endorse the idea of their government going to war and violently invading Ukraine. Nor does my good friend in Belarus support her government's home or foreign policies.
It is all such a mess.
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Indeed it is all such a mess. We wanted to believe that such a thing was unthinkable in a modern world where checks and balances of the economic interdependence of everyone on everyone else would mean that sense prevailed. That assumes a certain logic and puts aside emotion.
ReplyDeleteIt probably is no longer in the interests of the US to come to the aid of Britain or possibly even Europe if it comes to the final solution. Britain matters to a lessening extent on the size of its economy and in almost no way at all in Europe politically. The Commonwealth will soon become even more irrelevant. Britain thinks it is because it was great.
The one thing that will always matter for the moment is, unfortunately, nuclear weapons. It scares me.
I agree that it's a mess. Back in the 90's we hosted a 9yr old boy from Belarus who was part of an organization called "The Children of Chernobyl". He was a wonderful young boy who's now a man. Not sure what's happening in his life now but I do hope he's OK. I'm guessing the Russian population isn't thrilled about this at all. I keep praying for a peaceful solution but the news doesn't depict that at all. Crazy times in our world. Take care John.
ReplyDeleteIn China they have a saying, "The government is the government and the people are the people." It's been that way time out of mind, and even when we try to elect our officials and choose good ones, it happens over and over.
ReplyDeleteIf only we as a species would finally understand that this is ONE planet, and national borders are simply human inventions (alright, animals have territories, too). Are we beyond hope? I hope not.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain... and theirs. In my line of work, I am required to deal with Russian people. I am kind and courteous to them, because I in no way hold them responsible for the actions of Putin, any more than I was responsible for any of the atrocities committed by the orange orangutan that befouled the White House so recently. It's important to remember that people, the regular citizens, are still people, no matter where they come from. People want to live a good and peaceful life, and they are at the mercy of whoever is ruling their country. I feel compassion for the Ukranians and the Russian people, as they are all going to pay heavily for the actions of a few men.
ReplyDeleteIt really is (a mess). I too have been wondering (in retrospect) why there weren't stronger reactions already back in 2014. I have only had temporary contacts with these countries via Postcrossing (no continued exchanges) but even that makes me wonder now what to do/write if given an address in a country involved in the war. But I suppose PC will adjust their logarithms according to how general postal services are working (as they have done during the pandemic as well).
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