It’s all over the news – conflict (can we call it war?) in the Ukraine. Already thousands have died. Millions have fled. But its happening on our mobile phones and TV screens so we tolerate it.
I saw a twitter post of a young girl singing Disney in a shelter, possibly while her home was being destroyed. We get emotional but it’s not happening here so it’s ok.
A new hero has appeared – President Zelensky of the Ukraine. The passion he has shown for his country and people is inspiring. His humility puts other world leaders to shame. Its good viewing and makes great news…
Suddenly the nut nut putin (he doesn’t deserve a capital in his name) has threatened nuclear retaliation. Suddenly it is worryingly real. Nations are reluctant to intervene, but still we see innocent people dying daily, on ‘social’ media. This is a different type of watfare to what we’ve seen before.
This post isn’t about anything other than our blaze attitudes that have come with the digital era. If we don’t see it for real, it often doesn’t affect us.
I had coffee with someone from Syria a few days ago. I watched the situation there on TV and the socials while I got on with my life. Over coffee it all became real. They were there.
While we can’t intervene, we can still lobby our government to take in refugees. We can stop supporting companies that still trade in Russia. We can support aid companies financially.
“The road to Auschwitz wasn’t paved with politics or hatred. It was paved with indifference.” said a war historian (paraphrased). History might be repeating itself with a new evil dictator. Let’s not sit back and tell ourselves there’s nothing we can do. Let’s not use media-related indifference as an excuse…again.
Life After the Blues (and twos) 