Then I Was…

Although I’ve been trying to spend less time looking at social media – these days, specifically Twitter – the crisis in Ukraine has had me glued to my phone for the past week. Every morning now I check to see if Kyiv made it through the night without falling into Russia’s grasp, and I am ever hopeful that President Zelensky – who has become such an inspiration because of his bravery, and solidarity with his people – will live to see another day.

How the lives of ordinary people in the Ukraine have changed in the space of a week is unfathomable. I don’t believe people in this country can begin to understand it. Imagine living your life – work, friends, family – and then suddenly being faced with the decision to either leave everything you own behind to run for your life, or stay and fight. To flee from everything familiar before the world as you’ve known it collapses, or risk everything so you and your fellow countrymen can survive. It’s inconceivable.

Democracy, freedom, rights, they’re words we throw around in this country without a thought. We’ve always been free here, and even though a lot of us claim to understand what that means, I’m not sure you can ever truly appreciate things like freedom of speech and freedom of assembly until those things are gone.

People in Russia who are protesting this war risk being imprisoned for fifteen years – just for chanting “No War” or “Ukraine is not our enemy” in a protest. Would you take that risk?

I think Americans, as a whole, need to heed the wake-up call the Ukraine has provided. We need to stop bitching about first world problems and take a long, hard look at what’s going on in this country. We have freedom for now, but if we don’t stand up for each other our future could look very different. We need to pay attention to what’s going on here, and around the world, and remember to vote. It’s our right, and it’s important.

It’s uplifting to see the outpouring of support for Ukraine continue to build as the days go by. I only hope that the public’s inability to pay attention to a news story for more than a few weeks doesn’t end up leaving the Ukrainians high and dry with little to no support when they need it most.

I know that I’ll be following Ukraine’s story for weeks to come; I don’t think I’ll be able to look away. Today I sent a donation. It’s only a small amount, but it let’s me feel like I’ve helped a bit. I hope, in the end, that the rest of the world will be able to offer their little bit of help too, so that Ukraine will survive. Because if, in this day of hyper-connectivity where you’re able to watch the carnage of war in real time, we’re not moved to save those people, what does that say about the world?

The Ukraine / Russia conflict has me feeling all types of ways. There are feelings of confusion on how a massive country like Russia feels like they need more land, or to return to being the “motherland.” There are feelings of sorrow for the displaced Ukrainian families. There are feelings of patriotism thinking that the United States, having the most powerful military in the world, should get in there and stop the Russian army ASAP. Then, shortly after thinking that the United States should get involved, there are feelings of fear for the implications of what a full-scale war between two world powers might entail.

I had plenty of macro-views on the effects of the Russian invasion. And to say that they are views might be a stretch. I would actually describe them as macro-questions on how the world functions. Being 24, I haven’t seen a large scale military operation carried out in my life. Sure, I was around for Operation Desert Storm and the ever-lasting war in the middle east, but I was a teenager through most of it. I was far too busy playing Fortnite and chasing girls to pay attention to all the issues that came with that war. Now, as a grown, wise adult with really educated and important views on the world, it feels like I should take some time to reflect on my macro-questions on global relations.

After reading my mom’s ideas, it made me want to read about the Russian protests and reflect. It takes some real gall to go out and commit an act of sedition against a top 3 badass in the world (Hint: Vlad Putin). Now, I’ve seen the videos of Russian people hanging out with bears and going swimming in frozen lakes shirtless and all that jazz, and I recognize that the culture there is different. And for anyone who might be thinking damn that seems kinda racist to generalize a whole population based off some viral videos, chill out. I’m not saying that all Russian people hang out with bears and swim in frozen lakes shirtless. What I am saying is that I’m not surprised at all that 2000+ people have been arrested for standing up for what is objectively right in the world. They’ve got a bunch of bad asses over there and I’d love to have a beer with any one of those bold individuals.

Next, I contemplated how social media would impact a full-scale war. First, I’d be remiss if I didn’t extend a true thank you to all of the Twitter and Instagram warriors for sharing informational posts about the conflict on their profiles. You guys are truly making a difference and spreading great information to your followers while making a tangible impact. Not.

Instagram stories with 100 words total describing the conflict will provide a fragmented, disconnected from reality view of the situation. I wish I could say that I retained any of the information that I’ve seen on social media posts on the conflict, but I just can’t. If your goal is to truly make an impact and help the Ukrainian people in a shitty time for them, the only tangible way I can see is by donating to the cause (Thanks for donating mom, you’re the GOAT). Please leave a comment below or retweet if you, an average American 5,000 miles away from Ukraine, think you can make a tangible impact in the conflict in any other way.

It feels like I kind of strayed away from the Russia / Ukraine conflict there, but I wanted to address how I feel about people posting infographics on their Insta stories when they haven’t even read an article or have any context on Eastern Europe or Russia. Not saying that I do have that context, but if I wanted to learn about it, I’d go to the library and get a book or do some Google searches. I don’t want to learn about it from my boys.

Back to the conflict, Godspeed to all the Ukrainian individuals who were misplaced by this irrational conflict. I hope Putin comes to his senses and realizes that his oligarchy’s actions are having massive detrimental impacts to the well-being of his own people in Russia, and thousands in Ukraine. If this goes on too long, I’m hopeful that America intervenes and uses that prodigious military budget to save some lives and make a stand for democracy.