I just submitted the following letter to JD Vance:
My father is Ukrainian, my mother is Russian and I am an American. I grew up in Kiev and Moscow, and I support your plan for Ukraine. This bizarre war makes no sense, the same people are on both sides, it is like a hypothetical war between Ohio and Pennsylvania. The politics of Zelensky's government is based on a lie of the Ukrainian nationalists: they want us, Ukrainians, to pretend that we are culturally separate from Russia, and position Ukrainians as a US proxy against Russia - to get some benefits from the West. Instead of investing in education and stimulating business - they demolish monuments to Russian writers and force the predominantly Russian-speaking population of Central, East and Southern Ukraine to pretend they all speak Ukrainian. This is like forcing everybody in California to use only Spanish in the government and education system. Ukrainian politicians like Podolyak are planning to squeeze the Russian-speaking population out of Crimea by making their life hell - with help from America! And the US politicians like Nuland and Biden support this. I hope you and Mr.Trump will come to the White House and there will be some return to normalcy.
As you might have noticed I said ‘rather doubt’ rather than express complete certainty. Nevertheless, I’d need convincing empirical evidence not to believe the majority of Ukrainians would have been affronted if they had read Yuri’s post.
To put it gently, as a rule most people don’t like being invaded by another country. Neither do they like being heavily bombed (and the Russian speaking cities have been very heavily bombed) or being told that your democratically elected (and by extension many of its people) are Nazis when your nation suffered cruelly under the real Nazis.
While you appear to have forgotten the Bucha massacre I very much doubt ordinary Ukrainians have. Nearly 500 corpses, the vast majority shot, many bearing signs of torture tends to stick in people’s minds; especially when the dead are your compatriots killed in a war of national survival. It has almost certainly convinced many Ukrainians while war may be hell so would living under Russian occupation. There are many other well-attested reports of Russian atrocities in Ukrainian cities they have occupied.
In point of fact, your apparent skepticism about the Ukrainian people’s feelings led me to do a 2 minute google search on this country’s public opinion. The results confirmed mine –and I would suggest most reasonable people’s- suspicions. As reported on 24/7/24 in the Kyiv Independent, 83% were opposed to a peace treaty on Russia’s terms (ceding the entirety of the 4 contested regions) and 61% were opposed to any concessions at all.
While skepticism is often the sign of a sophisticated, critical mind it can reflect shallowness of thought. I suggest your apparent scepticism was an example of the latter, to say nothing of an extra-ordinary failure of basic empathy.
What's in it for the Biden administration to keep the conflict going instead of brokering a settlement of it? The opportunity for graft by the Biden crime family is the only answer that comes to me. Does anyone else have a different view? If so, what is your argument?
While Donald Trump may seem to think in largely transactional terms about foreign relationships it doesn’t mean others don’t think that it should be governed by certain principles. The Biden administration has made it clear that they believe important principles are at stake in the Ukraine-Russian war. These include that big countries shouldn’t invade smaller ones and annex their lands, that democratic countries with the rule of law should be protected, and that it is a good thing to keep faith with your allies.
Generally, it is better intellectual practice (the canon of parsimony) and indeed moral practice to accept at face value a person or government’s account for their reasons as the default option. You need to have good reasons to disbelieve them. I therefore don’t feel I need to construct an argument as to the hidden and ‘real’ reasons for Biden’s support of Ukrainians, and think the burden of proof rests on you to disprove the offered explanations and justify alterative ‘real reasons’. I note you admit you can’t find any beyond wild, unsupported accusations about ‘the Biden crime family’.
I just submitted the following letter to JD Vance:
My father is Ukrainian, my mother is Russian and I am an American. I grew up in Kiev and Moscow, and I support your plan for Ukraine. This bizarre war makes no sense, the same people are on both sides, it is like a hypothetical war between Ohio and Pennsylvania. The politics of Zelensky's government is based on a lie of the Ukrainian nationalists: they want us, Ukrainians, to pretend that we are culturally separate from Russia, and position Ukrainians as a US proxy against Russia - to get some benefits from the West. Instead of investing in education and stimulating business - they demolish monuments to Russian writers and force the predominantly Russian-speaking population of Central, East and Southern Ukraine to pretend they all speak Ukrainian. This is like forcing everybody in California to use only Spanish in the government and education system. Ukrainian politicians like Podolyak are planning to squeeze the Russian-speaking population out of Crimea by making their life hell - with help from America! And the US politicians like Nuland and Biden support this. I hope you and Mr.Trump will come to the White House and there will be some return to normalcy.
Thank you,
Yuri Panchul
I rather doubt this is how most Ukrainians see things!
Dear Michael:
How do you know how most Ukrainians see things?
Cordially,
Terry Oldberg
Engineer/Scientist/Public Policy Researcher
Los Altos Hills, California
650-587-6636 ( mobile )
terry_ooldberg@yahoo.com ( email )
Dear Terry
As you might have noticed I said ‘rather doubt’ rather than express complete certainty. Nevertheless, I’d need convincing empirical evidence not to believe the majority of Ukrainians would have been affronted if they had read Yuri’s post.
To put it gently, as a rule most people don’t like being invaded by another country. Neither do they like being heavily bombed (and the Russian speaking cities have been very heavily bombed) or being told that your democratically elected (and by extension many of its people) are Nazis when your nation suffered cruelly under the real Nazis.
While you appear to have forgotten the Bucha massacre I very much doubt ordinary Ukrainians have. Nearly 500 corpses, the vast majority shot, many bearing signs of torture tends to stick in people’s minds; especially when the dead are your compatriots killed in a war of national survival. It has almost certainly convinced many Ukrainians while war may be hell so would living under Russian occupation. There are many other well-attested reports of Russian atrocities in Ukrainian cities they have occupied.
In point of fact, your apparent skepticism about the Ukrainian people’s feelings led me to do a 2 minute google search on this country’s public opinion. The results confirmed mine –and I would suggest most reasonable people’s- suspicions. As reported on 24/7/24 in the Kyiv Independent, 83% were opposed to a peace treaty on Russia’s terms (ceding the entirety of the 4 contested regions) and 61% were opposed to any concessions at all.
While skepticism is often the sign of a sophisticated, critical mind it can reflect shallowness of thought. I suggest your apparent scepticism was an example of the latter, to say nothing of an extra-ordinary failure of basic empathy.
What's in it for the Biden administration to keep the conflict going instead of brokering a settlement of it? The opportunity for graft by the Biden crime family is the only answer that comes to me. Does anyone else have a different view? If so, what is your argument?
Dear Terry
While Donald Trump may seem to think in largely transactional terms about foreign relationships it doesn’t mean others don’t think that it should be governed by certain principles. The Biden administration has made it clear that they believe important principles are at stake in the Ukraine-Russian war. These include that big countries shouldn’t invade smaller ones and annex their lands, that democratic countries with the rule of law should be protected, and that it is a good thing to keep faith with your allies.
Generally, it is better intellectual practice (the canon of parsimony) and indeed moral practice to accept at face value a person or government’s account for their reasons as the default option. You need to have good reasons to disbelieve them. I therefore don’t feel I need to construct an argument as to the hidden and ‘real’ reasons for Biden’s support of Ukrainians, and think the burden of proof rests on you to disprove the offered explanations and justify alterative ‘real reasons’. I note you admit you can’t find any beyond wild, unsupported accusations about ‘the Biden crime family’.
Dear Michael
Thank you for sharing your view of the situation.
Cordially,
Terry Oldberg