With 24 hour live news coverage of the invasion of Ukraine, the war is never very far away from my thoughts.
While the news is often harrowing, there have been some positive developments amidst all the doom and gloom:
But the situation is grim and is going to get worse. Putin’s relative lack of success is likely to lead to more drastic aggression. The current suggestion that Russia may be looking to fabricate a scenario that justifies it retaliating with chemical/biological/nuclear weapons is horrifying.
You’ll probably be familiar with all this stuff already and there are much better places than this for keeping up to date, or for getting more informed commentary.
But in the opening paragraph I mentioned my thoughts… and the BBC News won’t convey those better than I can.
The other day, I was stressed because a roof tile fell off and, over a handful of days, I made dozens of phone calls before I could get the roof repaired. Then the oven failed. Having water coming in through the roof or having an oven that won’t heat up are problems, but they amount to nothing in the wider scheme of things.
Watching and then thinking about the Ukranians that;
having to abandon their homes, jobs and country, taking just what they can carry and with no idea if/when they’ll be able to go back, or if their homes will have been destroyed…
… puts all my stresses into a completely different context. I can’t imagine the thought of having to do the same thing. It would be utterly soul destroying and I know I would struggle to process the loss.
So I have found it weird to be getting on with my life like nothing is happening – the Groundhog Day existence of going to work, taking my daughter to school, tidying the house, feeding the pets, fixing stuff etcetera, etcetera. To be fair, I am not sure what else I could be doing that would make any difference … but life feels out of synch with reality.
And that brings me to 1984.
George Orwell’s novel keeps springing into my mind. If you haven’t read it, you should because the Russian spin on the news, or its reimagining of history, is bringing Orwell’s creation to life in the real world.
The fact is that the Russian people are being lied to constantly by their government and the Putin regime is blatantly lying on the international stage too. Inside Russia, anyone that protests is likely to be arrested. The truth is fake news and exponents of the truth are likely to be jailed.
I listened to Vladimir Kara-Murza, a vocal Russian opposition speaker being interviewed the other day and he was compelling. His view is that the information war is as important as the weapons and the sanctions. He argued that getting accurate information to the Russian populace could be the most important thing in turning the Russian people against their own leader. Getting rid of Putin should be down to ordinary Russians not some special forces team.
You can read more from Kara-Murza in this Washington Post article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/07/west-must-help-russians-learn-truth-about-war-ukraine-independent-media/
As a communications man rather than a soldier (who might prioritise weapons over the pen), Kara-Murza’s opinions resonated with me because I don’t understand how ordinary Russians would condone a war in their name if they knew the truth. For the Russian soldiers, if they knew the truth, regardless of their orders, I don’t know how they could kill ordinary Ukrainians (people that look like them and even speak their language). To me, an analogy is the English going to war with the Scots or the Welsh - it makes no sense at all.
And it’s in this information war that this post is worth me writing and you reading. I alluded to feeling a bit impotent earlier, the ‘what difference can I make’ question; well maybe bloggers like me can fight in the information war because we are numerous, and the Kremlin can’t shut us all down.
But while I am wondering if that sounds a bit up my own arse, Baldwin money has been donated to DEC.org.uk too.
Whilst I/we have to get on with our lives, we can all do something instead of nothing.
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Related posts:
24/02/22 The news is bleak. Time for an epiphany
11/02/22 Look East … And Worry
While the news is often harrowing, there have been some positive developments amidst all the doom and gloom:
- The fighting spirit of the Ukrainians is commendable
- The unity of the EU and the NATO members is remarkable
- The sanctions process is having more impact than I thought it could
- The countries offering Ukrainians unconditional refuge is heart-warming
- President Zelensky is brilliant
But the situation is grim and is going to get worse. Putin’s relative lack of success is likely to lead to more drastic aggression. The current suggestion that Russia may be looking to fabricate a scenario that justifies it retaliating with chemical/biological/nuclear weapons is horrifying.
You’ll probably be familiar with all this stuff already and there are much better places than this for keeping up to date, or for getting more informed commentary.
But in the opening paragraph I mentioned my thoughts… and the BBC News won’t convey those better than I can.
The other day, I was stressed because a roof tile fell off and, over a handful of days, I made dozens of phone calls before I could get the roof repaired. Then the oven failed. Having water coming in through the roof or having an oven that won’t heat up are problems, but they amount to nothing in the wider scheme of things.
Watching and then thinking about the Ukranians that;
- look just like me,
- lived their lives just like me,
- had plans for the future,
having to abandon their homes, jobs and country, taking just what they can carry and with no idea if/when they’ll be able to go back, or if their homes will have been destroyed…
… puts all my stresses into a completely different context. I can’t imagine the thought of having to do the same thing. It would be utterly soul destroying and I know I would struggle to process the loss.
So I have found it weird to be getting on with my life like nothing is happening – the Groundhog Day existence of going to work, taking my daughter to school, tidying the house, feeding the pets, fixing stuff etcetera, etcetera. To be fair, I am not sure what else I could be doing that would make any difference … but life feels out of synch with reality.
And that brings me to 1984.
George Orwell’s novel keeps springing into my mind. If you haven’t read it, you should because the Russian spin on the news, or its reimagining of history, is bringing Orwell’s creation to life in the real world.
The fact is that the Russian people are being lied to constantly by their government and the Putin regime is blatantly lying on the international stage too. Inside Russia, anyone that protests is likely to be arrested. The truth is fake news and exponents of the truth are likely to be jailed.
I listened to Vladimir Kara-Murza, a vocal Russian opposition speaker being interviewed the other day and he was compelling. His view is that the information war is as important as the weapons and the sanctions. He argued that getting accurate information to the Russian populace could be the most important thing in turning the Russian people against their own leader. Getting rid of Putin should be down to ordinary Russians not some special forces team.
You can read more from Kara-Murza in this Washington Post article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/07/west-must-help-russians-learn-truth-about-war-ukraine-independent-media/
As a communications man rather than a soldier (who might prioritise weapons over the pen), Kara-Murza’s opinions resonated with me because I don’t understand how ordinary Russians would condone a war in their name if they knew the truth. For the Russian soldiers, if they knew the truth, regardless of their orders, I don’t know how they could kill ordinary Ukrainians (people that look like them and even speak their language). To me, an analogy is the English going to war with the Scots or the Welsh - it makes no sense at all.
And it’s in this information war that this post is worth me writing and you reading. I alluded to feeling a bit impotent earlier, the ‘what difference can I make’ question; well maybe bloggers like me can fight in the information war because we are numerous, and the Kremlin can’t shut us all down.
But while I am wondering if that sounds a bit up my own arse, Baldwin money has been donated to DEC.org.uk too.
Whilst I/we have to get on with our lives, we can all do something instead of nothing.
Blog Home
Blog Library
Home
Related posts:
24/02/22 The news is bleak. Time for an epiphany
11/02/22 Look East … And Worry
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