We take to heart calls for non-violence and peaceful methods for vaporizing jihadists only from those who themselves survived their barbarism, went through the hell of losses and found the strength to step over the pain and forgive so that more innocent people would not suffer.
That was our view four years ago after Z ordered “disengagement from the contact line” in eastern Ukraine. Why? Because, we were told, the way to end the war is simple: stop shooting1. Alas, the value of ceasefire opinions from strangers to the festival of death is always zero (0). Just ask Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Deontology versus everything else is consequentialism, right? Whether trying to stay alive, engaging perhaps in politics or thinking about our role and existence in the universe it’s best to approach everything with a lot of humility, without presuming that there is a divine way that things ought to turn out.
Constantly engaging the realities we face in very proactive and constructive ways is important for our survival. That means not letting presumptions of what some political leaders say the best course of action should be get in the way of keeping an open mind and trying to use all the tools at our disposal, including tools of communication, as well as all of our stamina and knowledge, to avoid being killed because of their mistakes, however well-intentioned.
The impenetrability of stupidity is what, to me, makes the bloodbath (in the video below — near Rabotyne, Zaporizhia region in August) so depressing. It illustrates why 99.9% of Ukrainians I know continue to reject calls to rub noses with Russians in order to end their killing spree. That Z understands this now — but didn’t in 2019 — is besides the point.
On the Team USA jacket, this:
Looking on the positive side, Mike’s immovable, verging on the messianic, convictions might change over time (like Z’s) after his closest aides tell him, “We’re out of options. We’re not winning.”
For more about that shitshow, read:
«Мы больше не хотим войны. И мы эту войну не начинали. Но, если у нас есть хоть какая-то возможность эту войну закончить, – мы должны сделать все для того, чтобы прекратили умирать наши люди… Там надо предметно прекратить огонь прежде всего. Просто прекратить стрелять», – сообщает кандидат во время общения с журналистами. (2019 elex interview)