RUSSIA MUST BE BEATEN BACK — SO CROWDSOURCE SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE WITHOUT COMPROMISE!
Although balanced views of the situation are crucial, and frenzied tunnel-visioned warmongering against Russia may be lethal for all of us, there is very little reason to not take a strong stand for Ukraine in this conflict.
The Ukrainian President Zelenskyy asks of the peoples of Europe (and elsewhere) to push our governments in the direction of military, logistical, economic, and humanitarian support, while encouraging more direct citizen action as well. In some strategic countries, like Sweden and Finland, pushing for swift NATO membership may be in order. Pushing for powerful sanctions is crucial — and Switzerland’s support here may be especially important due to its central role in the global financial system. Of course, and unfortunately, European countries need to increase their defense budgets.
For companies, civil society organizations, and sports and culture, penalizing Russia — even if it might hurt some innocent people — can be crucial. The Russian government should not be able to spread the narrative that the war serves Russia’s economic interests or its prestige and honor on the world stage. This ranges from ice hockey, to figure skating, to soccer, to the Eurovision Song Contest, to film festivals, to World Taekwondo stripping Putin of his black belt in Judo. Last I heard, the cat breeders’ association joined the fray: Russian cats are being sanctioned! If we disregard for a moment that cat breeding is an unethical and exploitative endeavor, we can hear the meows for peace all the way from frosty Moscow.
If the Russian population feels that the war is disgracing their country and harming the economy, they are less likely to side with their government and begin to look for other positive national identities that can still honor their past, culture, and traditions. And there’s no lack of material to build on — Russia is one of the culturally most impressive societies on Earth! The motherland of Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, and so on, Russia is home to some of the best classical musicians on Earth; Russian ballet is world-famous, Russia is the world’s leading chess nation and it is one of the most victorious Olympic nations in the world. Russians have a strong presence in the natural sciences and have a long and proud tradition of space exploration. In short, there’s a lot to pick from; a lot of alternatives to military conquest and dreams of imperial expansion.
All of us foreigners can do something. From building domestic opinion in Ukraine’s favor to honoring and encouraging our suffering and frightened Ukrainian brothers and sisters, to helping and receiving refugees, to hacking Russian systems, to sharing useful information and perspectives in the information war, to challenging misinformation and showing little tolerance against the expression of apologist narratives (“but Ukraine has a Nazi problem!” and so on), to financially supporting Ukrainian war efforts, to creative little hacks that further pressure Russia (like uploading pictures of the war in Google maps in Russia, sending anti-war messages through Tinder with a VPN set in Russia, and so on), there is something for many more of us to do than we might think.
The aim remains to beat Russia back. The losses of a prolonged and lost war are immense (as discussed in the following points). The gains of a quicker and victorious defense of Ukraine are potentially enormous. So support the Ukrainian war effort and undermine the attacker on all fronts!
[For 9 other action points on the Ukraine-Russia war, click the link to Hanzi Freinacht’s article on Medium in the comments field]
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