I am in awe

[elisi]

So, there are SO MANY downsides to living In Interesting Times. But sometimes. Sometimes it's worth it.

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Slava Ukraini! 👏👏👏 This man is a legend.

And it's crazy to think that this is the same man - this music video is from back when he was an actor.

Антитіла (Antytila) - Lego / Official Video

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The band (Antytila) all joined up and are paramedics in the army.

Comments

Re: And now, I'm gonna be the bad guy, and go "nuance! context! *Everyone* is a piece of shit here e

[(Anonymous)]

12. The whole background with NATO, and its expansion, and the possible Ukraine membership paints a very, very shady game, even or especially if Ukraine membership was never a serious option. That doesn’t mean the war is Ukraine’s fault of course, but it does mean that NATO is also culpable, not just Russia. And in my opinion no, you can’t solemnly declare joining a necessary evil, needs must and all that. (You might even say it’s better for *everyone* if you don’t –glares at Finland-- cause Russia doesn’t want to share a border with NATO, escalation, nuclear war, what do you not understand etc) And in case you *don’t* think it’s a necessary evil -because they don’t-- and just think joining NATO would be a good thing for some reason, well, see below.

13. I believe in a people’s right of self-determination. So yes, Ukraine has the right to join NATO if it wants and Russia doesn’t get a say (Though, to quote a great tumblr, “saying you have the right to join NATO is like saying you have the right to join the mafia. Yes, you do, but that isn’t an argument”). But… *this* is the hill you literally wanna die on? As in, I don’t believe peace is an absolute good, always, under any terms. There *are* causes that are worth going to war over, there are certain demands you should not accept; see WW2, and like half the history of Greece, which is basically “hey, you’re a tiny country, appease us or we invade” –“how dare you, no deal, you will never take OUR FREEDOM!” (Bravehearts alla over the place). But again… this is the hill you wanna die on? Putin had said he would stop (Now of course, he will say, in for a penny, in for a pound, duh). You’re willing to turn your country into a wasteland in a proxy-war, destroy its infrastructure for the foreseeable future, fan nationalism, have millions of people be displaced, and god knows how many killed, just to get to join NATO, because hey, when *they* do imperialism, it’s good, let’s have some military bases in our country, why not? (Ukraine, is a region of "vital strategic concern" to Russia, and as such Russia will be willing to pay almost any price to keep it out of NATO; sanctions will not deter it. Russia's strategy is that, if NATO will not accept the status quo ante and the existence of a neutral Ukraine, Russia will "wreck" the country, rendering it militarily and economically impotent and indefinitely trapped in internal conflict and instability, quoth John Mearsheimer). I mean, you do you. There *are* causes that are worth fighting for, and joining the bane of the Third World, the arm of the most dangerous imperial power that exists right now, that council of the scum of the earth that I promise, doesn’t give a single flying fuck about you… is not one of them.

14. And I say this as Greek person; we worry about Turkey like all the time. And if I had the power, I would have us leave NATO tomorrow because a) fuck those murdering shitheads, don’t be part of imperialism kids, b) it’s not like they actually do anything whenever Turkey threatens to invade, trespasses on our borders etc, and it’s entirely possible they *still* wouldn’t in case of a full scale war either, and c) I believe *there are* other ways to be safe in this case; they may not be as easy, but still.

15. And oh yeah, surprise, surprise, The US Congressional delegation in Munich just offered Zelensky to sign a document on the transfer of 50% of Ukraine's future mineral resources, which he, credit where it’s due, very reasonably refused, because what the fuck, and now Trump is blaming him for the war and calling him a dictator
(https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/02/17/revealed-trump-confidential-plan-ukraine-stranglehold/ ). Remember a couple years ago when every communist on tumblr was getting called a Putin-loving fascist for pointing out that this was very obviously going to happen, oh the unbearable weight of being right all the time
(Ok, no, *I* was not right about Rowling, wooooow, has the transphobia gone through the roof, Jesus Christ Superstar, there’s the benefit of the doubt, and then there’s 5 years of this; can discuss that at some other point, I’m sure she’ll do/say something else in two weeks, so no rush.)

16. And if anyone brings up Crimea as it pertains to everything discussed in the previous points, well, you’re not getting that back either. It sucks, I know, but if you could, you would have already. That ship has sailed since 2014, don't fight for that. And NATO doesn’t care if you do, because the point is to put you in a debt trap, turn the country into a permanent warzone and bleed Russia so a handful of US energy oligarchs can keep selling oil to the EU, and create the Red Scare 2.1 so they get the excuse to keep expanding and look good in comparison. Besides, know when to fold them, you could have just given up Crimea, now they want to annex even more.)

17. Also also, for anyone not convinced of the evil after Palestine, or that Russia has a point to not want a nuclear armed NATO member on its doorstep, look into NATO meddling in elections and basically facilitating regime change in Ukraine back in the 2010s, Euromaidan etc.

18. Now one might say “aaah, propaganda!” What, everything? All of it? And what do you think is more likely to reach an average European, Russian propaganda, or EU/NATO propaganda?

19. And one might say aaah, Whataboutism! No, because I am not *for* the invasion (and shame to those parties who are, see CPRF etc). I’m just saying, it’s not black and white, Putin didn’t just wake up one day and go “aah, time to do a Hitler”, the US has been meddling in Ukraine since like 2011 and has rejected diplomatic solutions despite it being the only feasible way this war ends, a horrific conflict has been artificially prolonged, and I *hope* Zelensky is what they call a “useful idiot”, because I wanna be generous with him. Look into Roger Waters, and the aforementioned John Mearsheimer, and others.

20. All this LITERALLY DOES NOT MATTER because as I said in the original post, modern Russia is not worth defending either, I’m too much of a communist to care about any imperialist state, and kids and innocent people are dying. At the end of the day wars are really waged over raw materials, mineral wealth, commodity transport routes, geopolitical pillars, and market shares. And the people of Ukraine will not benefit from those if the Russian government and corporations control them, and they will not benefit if *their* government and corporations control them either. So who cares? So, *everyone* get over yourselves and do a peace now.


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Did I have to write all this? Does it matter if I’m wrong, since I am the most average of Joes, especially at this point? Most importantly, do we have to agree on everything?

No, I just like it when we do.

(dies)