Observations and Musings About Current Events

Even though I'm nowhere near being directly affected by the conflict in Ukraine, this is still history in the making so I want to write down my own perspective as well as those of people I've talked with. Mostly for my own sake of being able to process and digest everything, and maybe it'll be worth looking back at a few months or a year from now.

First of all, I'm vastly under-qualified to say much of anything about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine itself. Even though I've been trying my best to keep up with everything, I'm still just a spectator from the US. To me it seems that Russia thinks it's their job to fix problems they see in Ukraine. Or maybe it's paranoia fueling the invasion. There are even theories being floated around that Putin is going mad or senile, though I don't think those hold much water. Whatever the case, it smells like a lousy excuse to launch an invasion on a neighboring country. Though I'm sure it's more complicated than that. I feel for those on either side of the conflict who are negatively affected.

People I've talked to are generally concerned about the situation, but few are brave enough to speculate much on where it'll go. Many realize we're still going to be unwrapping this for weeks and months to come. It's mostly sit-back-and-wait mode for myself and others. One person I talked with thinks it'll take weeks for Kiev to fall, and when it does Russia won't be able to maintain a hold of it.

There's groups on campus trying to drum up support for Ukraine. I've so far been too busy to stop and see what they're all about but it's hard to miss all the blue and yellow.

Media and news coverage has been unique. To my knowledge this is the first major conflict to happen where everyone has a device in their pocket capable of documenting everything they see. At the same time, social media makes it really easy for both sides to spread propaganda so figuring out what's actually going on requires a healthy amount of skepticism and a few ounces of common sense. People I know seem to have gotten the hang of it already.

Media coverage is very pro-Ukraine, and rightfully so I believe. One thing I do wish was covered more is the Russian anti-war protests. They get covered but are understandably dwarfed by coverage of events in Ukraine. Still, I worry that the media might be trying to scapegoat Russians into the bad guys that all of us need to rally against, which isn't fair when the war doesn't seem popular even in Russia.

While people in Ukraine are definitely in the worst situation out of anyone, I also can't help but feel bad for people in Russia affected by the heavy sanctions that have been put on them. I still don't have a solid opinion on the sanctions, but who knows what the long-term economic effects are going to be? And is backing Putin further into a corner the best course of action?

War sucks. Here's to hoping this mess is over sooner rather than later.

- moddedBear / 2022-03-01

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