Never Again is Happening Again
I really dislike the phrase “never again”. As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, I certainly respect and appreciate the sentiment, but sadly, “never again” has little meaning when there is little action to back it up, especially now when we are seeing history nauseatingly repeating itself.
Try this on for size: a power hungry dictator plans a strategic invasion of a neighboring country. The rest of the world reacts with shock, but does little in the way of active involvement. A few countries try their hand at appeasement and those with a bit more courage attempt to open up talks between the dictator and the invaded country’s leaders, but nothing convinces said dictator to stop. Every day brings news of the deaths of innocents as the world braces for more devastation and waits with bated breath for an end to violence.
Sound familiar? History repeats itself.
Global, Widespread Silence
What’s even more disturbing is the utter silence from some world leaders and the reaction (or lack thereof) from others.
The US Government’s reaction is the most appalling embarrassment so far. Economic sanctions against Russia followed by more economic sanctions*…this is like putting a band-aid over a gaping gunshot wound.
Idiotic and ineffective.
President Biden and his advisors are so beyond out of touch with reality that it’s mind-boggling. Does anyone in that administration truly think that what Putin fears most is a lack of access to funds? Because that’s a Western mindset. In the West, we care about materialism. Freezing our bank accounts is a serious deterrent. That clearly isn’t Putin’s driving force and he has friends in disturbing places like Iran and China, anyway. How the US Government doesn’t understand this is astonishing.
Thankfully, the European Broadcasting Union has taken swift action by officially banning Russia from competing in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Epic. No Eurovision? Putin will definitely lay down his arms now. Oh wait, no, he’s threatening to release nuclear weapons against the Ukrainian people. Great work, EBU. You folks are as useless as a handle on a snowball.
A Courageous Few Take REAL Action
In all seriousness, there are some (albeit just a few) fearless leaders who are actually doing something effective. Germany is supplying Ukraine with anti-tank weapons and missiles while Poland is welcoming Ukrainian refugees into its country. That’s a hell of a lot better than a cheesy “I Stand With Ukraine” Facebook filter.
Sometimes I wonder what our world would look like if we were living during the Holocaust now.
Would people share “I Stand With the Jews” Facebook filters and tweet photos with handmade “never again” signs?
Would government leaders ban the Nazis from participating in sporting events or music contests?
Would celebrities share videos calling for calm and understanding?
More than likely, Hitler would be invited to speak at some liberal arts university all in the name of fairness and journalistic integrity.
I shudder to think it.
Never again is happening again. But don’t worry, it’s nothing that a few more economic sanctions won’t fix.
* The full list of economic sanctions against Russia from the White House Briefing Room can be found here.
