For what it’s worth, I agree that it’s a little shocking how simplistic people can be about goodies and baddies in this situation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is abominable and democracy is far preferable to dictatorship. But “the free world” is a propaganda phrase traditionally used to polish up the image of US imperialism, so its use certainly has connotations of unreflectively identifying the USA and its allies as the goodies. And mass poisoning is not morally simple even in war. Meanwhile the “free world” is hurtling from plutocracy towards fascism while liberals congratulate themselves on their countries’ democracy. We’re not under a dictatorship yet but we’re not doing enough to fight it either, partly thanks to this liberal tendency to self-congratulation over the “free world”.
Exactly. As a liberal myself I feel strongly about certain things and am all too aware of that supposition of moral superiority and self righteousness that have been very characteristic of western liberalism. In the meantime, many countries in the “free world” are inching closer to authoritarianism by the day. Sure, Putin bad, but leaving some room for nuance would go a long way. The idea that one need only get rid of “bad actors” is flawed. Especially when at the very same time western powers are enabling what more and more people see as genocide in another part of the world. And the country that has brought a case against that in court is South Africa, The world is changing, the global south is rising, China is rising, Russia is also seeking to extend its influence and global cooperation is needed more than ever.
For what it’s worth, I agree that it’s a little shocking how simplistic people can be about goodies and baddies in this situation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is abominable and democracy is far preferable to dictatorship. But “the free world” is a propaganda phrase traditionally used to polish up the image of US imperialism, so its use certainly has connotations of unreflectively identifying the USA and its allies as the goodies. And mass poisoning is not morally simple even in war. Meanwhile the “free world” is hurtling from plutocracy towards fascism while liberals congratulate themselves on their countries’ democracy. We’re not under a dictatorship yet but we’re not doing enough to fight it either, partly thanks to this liberal tendency to self-congratulation over the “free world”.
Exactly. As a liberal myself I feel strongly about certain things and am all too aware of that supposition of moral superiority and self righteousness that have been very characteristic of western liberalism. In the meantime, many countries in the “free world” are inching closer to authoritarianism by the day. Sure, Putin bad, but leaving some room for nuance would go a long way. The idea that one need only get rid of “bad actors” is flawed. Especially when at the very same time western powers are enabling what more and more people see as genocide in another part of the world. And the country that has brought a case against that in court is South Africa, The world is changing, the global south is rising, China is rising, Russia is also seeking to extend its influence and global cooperation is needed more than ever.