Skip to main content

Help Ukraine, help the world

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is an unmitigated tragedy playing out in searing slow motion before our eyes. There is no end to this brutality that is currently in sight.

Some of my commentary comes from various news sources, but some continues to come from historian and author Timothy Snyder. He gave a nice talk you can see here.

  • Give to alleviate this suffering. There are good venues here or through the ELCA here.
    • When there is a refugee crisis, there is a surge in donations which subsides quickly after the crisis leaves the front page. Consider recurring donations.
    • When you donate to alleviate the suffering of Ukrainian refugees, you also contribute to political stability in Eastern Europe. Large influxes of refugees can destabilize governments. Poland, Romania, and Moldova have their own struggles resisting authoritarian influence. If the strain of so many refugees causes political strife in those countries, Putin will fund neo-fascist political parties to take advantage. We can make a difference.
  • There is some agitation for a no-fly zone. This would be a direct military intervention–it would mean shooting Russians out of the sky. This would create grave risk of expanding the war. It is truly difficult to watch this tragedy unfold. But a war that crossed beyond the borders of Ukraine could be an order of magnitude more tragic. The responses of governments must be measured.
  • We should support all other practical means of supporting Ukraine and opposing Putin. On Tuesday, March 22nd, consider joining the campaign to call (or email) your representatives to support the American response. Information about this organized effort is here. If the language in their suggested statement is stronger than you might prefer in terms of military support, simply express support for sanctions against Putin’s government, and encourage American support of Ukrainian refugees.
    • Here’s the language I intend to use:
    • My name is __________, my zip code is _________, and I am a constituent of ____________ . The Russian invasion of Ukraine is brutal and illegal. America must support Ukraine as it fights for freedom. We must be willing to support refugees financially and by accepting Ukrainian refugees to America. We must be willing to push even further than we have so far to sanction Russia and its oligarchs. We must support countries like Poland who are hosting Ukrainian refugees. I do not support direct military intervention. But American taxpayers like myself believe in supporting people who are fighting and dying for their freedom. I will be watching your statements and votes related to this issue. For your records, my number/email is ######. Thank you.
      • If you live around me:
        • Email Bryan Steil here.
        • Email Tammy Baldwin here.
        • Email Ron Johnson here.
  • Ukrainians could have rolled over and allowed Putin to take their country. They could have decided they valued all the material things they had built–and even their lives–more than their freedom. If they had, we would not have the opportunity now to see their sacrifice and to reflect on our own freedom: Are we free? How are we earning our freedom? And if we don’t know how we’re earning our freedom, are we so sure we have it?
  • A chapter of Ukrainian history that helps us understand their sense of desperation right now is called the Holodomor. Consider learning a bit about it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Real Estate in America

We sold our house this summer and bought a new home. The experience has led me to reflect on homes and home-buying in America. As in any industry, there are good and bad incentives at work in real estate. A home seller would like to get the highest price for their house and sell it in a reasonable period of time. The industry operates on a commission system so that the agent seeks to sell the house at a higher price. This incentive works, but only to a point. Consider the impact of $5000 on the seller vs. the agent. Six percent of $5000 is $300. After the realty company and purchasing agent take their cut, the agent isn't left with much. A $5000 difference in the price of the house means little to the agent, but a lot to the home owner. Does an agent become successful by getting the highest price or by turning over lots of houses? The answer is obvious. An agent's ideal world is not one where people get exactly the right price for their homes, it is a world where everyone is wi...
2 comments
Read more

New Yorker letter to editor

(In The New Yorker, 2/4/08, p5) Jeanne Guillemin, a senior fellor in MIT's Security Studies Program, wrote an excellent letter to the editor regarding how Americans talk about casualties. I'm unable to find a link to a full-text example, but here is an excerpt: "In wars since 1945, American combat mortality figures have sharply declined, while the exclusivity of the American claim on memorialization has intensified, as if U.S. soldiers were the only casualties in Korea or Vietnam or, more recently, Iraq, and the deaths of many thousands of civilians killed in those distant conflicts merited no acknowledgment and carried no meaning. Whose deaths matter and whose do not always tells a great deal about American politics and culture."
1 comment
Read more

Voter Fraud

There's been a lot of talk in Wisconsin about voter fraud and what needs to be done to prevent voter fraud. I'd like to address what the real voter fraud is and what it is not. There has been no substantial voter fraud proven in this state in recent memory. No statistically significant voter fraud has even been alleged. The accusations that are tossed around have more to do with someone standing too close to a polling station when they hand out literature than with someone actually voting in an illigitimate way. One couple in a recent election voted by absentee, then again at the polling station. They were caught easily. The system worked. The fraud that is used to justify so-called voter reform is not a problem. It's not just fear of getting caught that deters voter fraud today. In modern America, voter fraud is by-and-large a very inefficient way to influence an election. You have to find a group of people who are willing to commit crimes, you have to subvert the system a...
1 comment
Read more