Ukraine crisis: How the Cancel Culture is increasingly poisoning the debate
War is terrible and fundamentally wrong, there is no doubt about that. War, in the vast majority of cases, affects uninvolved civil society, there is probably no doubt about that either. However, what intensified during the Corona crisis is now accelerating at an alarming rate: the so-called Cancel Culture is increasingly poisoning the discussion and debate in society - also in discussions about the Russian-Ukrainian combat operations. Meanwhile, the situation is focusing dramatically.
The fighting between the Russian Federation and Ukraine continues, an end is so far not in sight. But instead of returning to the negotiating table, all sides are monotonously escalating - very emphatically including the West. For example, it was announced on Saturday that the German army will station soldiers in Slovakia - in the immediate vicinity of the Ukrainian border, the "NATO external border." In addition, NATO's "rapid intervention force" is being moved to the eastern edge of the member states, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated this weekend. US President Joe Biden is also sending thousands of additional US soldiers to Europe, many of whom will be stationed in Germany.
More than 20 countries already pledged military support for Ukraine. Ammunition, anti-tank weapons and rifles are being supplied from Denmark, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries. After 5000 helmets, Germany is now indirectly sending rocket launchers to Ukraine. The Netherlands is sending the war materiel from German production directly to the war zone, several German media reported Saturday night. One fact is, and we cannot deny it: the signals are on war throughout the world.
Parallels with the corona pandemic: narrative is narrative, basta!
Also the "fight against the corona pandemic" was and is regularly called "war". And as has been customary since the corona crisis, the current campaign in the Ukraine is also being conducted as a war of opinion and information. Narratives are once again in place, established by the rulers and a supposed majority of society within no time, as if we had learned nothing in the past two years. Mainstream media and politicians of all colors joined together within hours and chanted the narrative "aggressor Putin", "imperialist", "violator of international law", who is presumed to be on the Oder in front of Brandenburg the day after tomorrow with his gun drawn. Anyone who deviates from this narrative is, as usual, a Nazi, human enemy or simply unsolid.
It is not a blank page: the West also practices propaganda par excellence.
But it is indeed possible to deviate from this view - yes, even important in a liberal democratic society. The West, in particular the Americans, are not a blank sheet either. While accusing Russia of "propaganda" in every respect, Germany, the Americans, the entire NATO organize nothing but that: propaganda in their own sense. How can one accuse another country of a means that is regularly used in a different but similar form i one's own country itself?
Numerous examples of western propaganda can be found, even completely apart from warfare. We have vaccination, which according to the narrative protects against infection (of course refuted). We have children, who are particularly dangerous and contagious (of course refuted). We have the "only way out of the pandemic": the high vaccination rate - that too has been refuted, but the narrative lives on. In fact, all this is nothing but cheap propaganda, the attempt to influence the population in a certain (usually political) direction. What we accuse Russia of, we ourselves engage in in the most diverse ways.
The Americans also fought numerous wars - have we forgotten?
How much press freedom do we actually have left when alternative, free and foreign media are partially excluded from public debate and censored? How much freedom of expression is left in the "best Germany that ever existed," in which one must fear for one's existence when opposing the majority? If one criticizes Russia and Putin for the current military operation, that is legitimate. However, it is just as legitimate to point the finger at the West.
The list of American wars is long, many people are completely unaware of how long. In the 2000s alone, this list counts 13 acts of war by Americans. Peace was also a foreign word to American presidents in the 1980s and 1990s. Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Haiti, Libya, Uganda, Syria, Iraq and other countries were the scene of numerous invasions by the West. These wars were frequently motivated by a "peace mission" to bring democracy to the attacked countries. Or with weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, against which the world was supposed to be protected - weapons, which were so never found. Nevertheless, there was war.
No one is innocent: aggression from both sides must cease immediately
Russian President Vladimir Putin also justifies his current campaign with a "peace mission" and the "disarmament" of Ukraine. There is, of course, no evidence of possible nuclear weapons, nevertheless the information serves as a justification for the war. While this does not make things any better, it should nevertheless be maintained: those who live in glass houses should not throw stones - and this applies in particular to the West and the countries linked by NATO. What would one do oneself when one's own neighbor does undesirable things in the immediate vicinity of one's own front yard? Those who accuse Russia of aggression must also be subject to the accusation of their own aggression. No one is innocent here.
The way out of this crisis is clear: negotiations instead of bombs, talks instead of missiles. All those involved must be called to disarm and return to the negotiating table. And for society, our democracy lives on dissent. The end of free discussion is also the end of our so fragile freedom and democracy!
https://report24.news/ukraine-....krise-wie-die-cancel
