Ukraine & Russia: A Lack of Thoughts

Somebody asked me why I haven’t said anything about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Well…

Two Reasons

1. I’m in no way an expert on eastern Europe’s politics, economies, or histories. There’s no particular reason to trust my own feelings, and thus really no reason for you to listen to me. At least not on this subject.
2. It’s just such a subject of despair for me. There are so many possibilities for a better world, and yet we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. (And each other’s feet, just to be thorough.) The rise of right-wing fascism should be a shame to humanity. I wouldn’t want to write a post that infected you with my despair. There are no vaccinations for that!

In the meantime, I’m trying to take advice from professionals, such as the psychotherapist Emma McAdam’s video shown here.

Summary: Your brain searches avidly for sources of danger, but only somewhat desultorily for sources of good news. There is a lot of good news in the world, but you won’t see it if you don’t actively look for it. De-bias your brain by looking for the good stuff, because Sturgeon’s Law is a real thing.

“Interpretation is an active choice that you must make, lest the world make an unsavory choice for you”, as I say with apparently tiresome frequency.

But so I say again today.

Tiresome or not, it’s the right thing.

---

Notes & References

1: Not today, man. Not today.

Too much crap in the world: right-wing fascism, Republicans undermining democracy in the US, screamingly hysterical anti-vaxxers, Trump still not indicted (let alone convicted and imprisoned), … and now Russia threatening nuclear war.

I need to take Emma’s advice above and find something good, just for my own survival. Maybe you could do the same, and tell me about your adventures in doing so? [↩]