Number thirteen of Tim Snyder’s twenty lessons in his book On Tyranny is: Practice corporeal politics. Corporeal is a strange word to a lot of people–it just means physical. Practice politics with physical presence.
Practice Corporeal Politics
Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.
Milwaukee-area Ukrainians have had a number of events and fundraisers. They held a rally in downtown Milwaukee near Veteran’s Park. It was a small crowd. Many were ethnic Ukrainians. I might might have been the one non-Ukrainian there, aside from the news crews. They may have suspected that I was a spy.
Here’s Zapruder-style evidence of my attendance at the rally. I’m in the back with the light cap.
Here’s the local news coverage: TMJ4 Story
I’m glad I went.
I was there because, while there are important things going on in Wisconsin and American politics, the invasion of Ukraine is one of the most important things going on in the world right now. And I believe America should continue to take an active role in the conflict in three ways.
The US should provide active and ongoing support to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. There should be no objections here.
Six million people, mostly women, children, and the elderly, have flooded into neighboring countries from Ukraine. Obviously we want to reduce their suffering. There is also a strategic concern: huge numbers of refugees will strain these countries and could paradoxically make them vulnerable to right-wing extremism and Russian influence.
America can do a lot to prevent this through financial support. The American people could do a lot to alleviate the pressure with independent, individual donations, simply by choosing to do so. I fear as the drama becomes status quo, people will lose interest.
The more difficult role is to provide military support to Ukraine. I describe this as difficult because it’s not easy to know exactly what military support to provide. I’m very comfortable with what the US has committed so far. Others would like us to go further. Drawing the line between what should and should not be provided is hard.
Regardless of that difficulty we should be an arsenal of democracy for Ukraine. They are clearly willing to fight the fight. It is part of America’s heritage to provide this kind of support.
The third important way for us to support Ukraine is to be truth-tellers. I am a little bit peeved when this is referred to as “the conflict in Ukraine” as opposed to “the Russian aggression in Ukraine” or “Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.” This is not a “both sides at fault” situation.
As a Christian and a humanitarian I try to practice some grace toward the citizens of Russia who may not support the war or, more commonly, have been duped into supporting this war. I have no grace for the Russian Federation as a political entity, or for Putin as a political actor.
The invasion of Ukraine is an unprovoked, brutal act of aggression against an independent nation-state. Russia’s military strategy in Ukraine appears to include an intentional strategy of civilian death and destruction. Putin’s strategy doesn’t even have internal dignity. He’s filling out his ranks with ethnic minorities and mercenaries so his political supporters in the Russian heartland are not too uncomfortable. To justify the war, Putin is telling the Russian people terrible lies.
It’s important for Americans to recognize this and speak plainly about it. It’s equally dangerous to equivocate and hedge our language to sanitize the reality.
I put links below where you can make contributions. Even better, find a local fundraiser you can attend in person. You will see people who have family in Ukraine. You will hear their language and their songs. It makes a difference.
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