Whataboutism

Day 5,214, 08:15 • Published in USA USA • by George Barker

This is going to be short and, well, not sweet, but short:

Whataboutism


Basically, as Putin (and Russia -- the Russian people, as opinion polls show, overwhelmingly support Putin, although hopefully as the magnitude of what he's doing and the sanctions sink in, that will change) has invaded Ukraine and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people have died and will die; as Germany -- once the scourge of Europe -- ends decades of peacefulness and commits to ramping up military spending; as Russia puts its nuclear -- NUCLEAR, as in the ultimate weapon of mass destruction -- weapons systems on high alert: as all these terrifying, dreadful, and foreboding things happen, if anyone wants to talk about, instead, the NATO intervention in the Balkans 30 years ago, or some other irrelevant topic, they aren't serious, and are worthy of nothing more than derision. There is no equivalence between any of the things they want to talk about and what is going on RIGHT NOW. What they want to do is distract and change the subject from the indefensible. Don't let them. Don't fall into the trap and engage in their 🐂💩. Instead, point out what they're trying to do and move on.

Quote:
There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall.
~ Mahatma Gandhi.

I have thought of this quotation many, many times over the years, ever since I first heard it in the film Ghandi. And I think it's almost absolutely true -- with a few caveats. First, these kinds of words are poor comfort to the dead and wounded and suffering as a result of the actions of the tyrants and murderers, and second, if the nuclear bombs end up flying, they'll be no comfort at all. We've been blessed with many decades of relative peace and prosperity, and one of the things that this event ought to remind us all of is that what we have come to take for granted -- peace and prosperity -- are actually not the normal state of affairs. It takes work. Because although the tyrants and murderers always fall in the end, there is also always a new one stepping up to take their place.


Not as short as I thought, but there it is.