Opening the comments section of stories like this is always a real eye opener for the type of people lemmy has attracted kinda sad.
No kidding. Who is honestly against moves like this? I mean very few issues are black and white and defending Ukraine is as close to being on the right side of history as one can get. They were invaded by a much larger country that suppressed them for so long. They are a democracy that is trying really hard to further the will of their people. Russians are committing genocide against the local population. Supporting Ukraine and watching the Ukrainians fight back for their freedom is one of the few great parts of history that inspires.
The only real country that comes close to Russia lately as far as a polarizing bad guy is WWII Germany, and THAT is saying something.
Who is honestly against moves like this? I mean very few issues are black and white and defending Ukraine is as close to being on the right side of history as one can get.
Says every single chickenhawk in this country every time there's a war. There is always an excuse.
Vietnam: They attacked us in the Gulf of Tonkin (which was false) and we have to fight communism!
Iraq 1983: We have to help Saddam Hussein defeat Iran. It's the right thing to do!
Iraq 2003: They did 9/11 and they have WMD's! (They didn't.) We killed a few hundred thousand Iraqis anyway just to make Halliburton a shit-ton of money.
Afghanistan: The Taliban is evil! (True, but that doesn't mean we should go bankrupt policing them permanently.)
And it's only a matter of time before any justifications for Ukraine blow up in your faces too. There's already been a ton of reporting on the corruption in the Ukrainian government this year. We'll learn more about that as we get even further entrenched into this war.
Except that in this case the situation really is black and white, no grey area. A peaceful sovereign country was invaded by some genocidal fucks and it is our duty to help them. Corruption is not an excuse to stop the support, because Ukraine is actively trying to sort it out too. They know what life is like in the EU and they want more of that.
For the record, I live in EU, some 60 miles from the nearest russian military base. I have personal interest in Ukraine's victory because if it falls, then my country might be next.
You should ask yourself then, why all these wars had insanely large protests, both in the US but especially in Europe. Also why most political parties and many countries in Europe opposed those wars. And why this war in Ukraine is different.
These previous wars were american imperialism, while this Ukraine war is about stopping russian imperialism. Stopping russian imperialism isnt only the moral thing(like it was opposing those previous american wars) but also aligns with our geopolitical interests. Thats why literally everyone but tankies/far right support helping Ukraine.
So let me ask you, what do you think we should do? Should we let Russia invade and take over Ukraine? Should we let Russia invade and take over the Baltic Countries? What about Russia taking over Poland? Are countries sovereign and do they have the right to decide their foreign policy?
In 5 years, Turkey might decide to grab a few greek islands, in order to get some "breathing space" in the Aegean. Should we let Turkey do that? Is it ok for countries to invade other countries and grab whatever they want? I am just trying to understand your logic.
Should we never oppose invaders in order to minimize cost and human casualties?
You're right, what excuses do the Russian invaders have for Ukraine? It sure blew up in their faces. And I hope it continues to until the invaders return to their miserable little circle of hell thry built for themselves.
Except if you actually lived in Russia in the 80-90's moved to the west, saw the life here and look where putler is going towards with his so called "rule of law", you would actually understand why it matters to stop that idiot. Out of the two clearly both evil, self serving entities of Nato or Russia, I know under which I would much rather live, even if neither is perfect.
Corruption happens everywhere, look at a UK, scandal after scandal, after scandal, do those involved in scandals resign? You wish they did, no those cocks cling on to power like a bad std. Only recently we had a string of relatively high profile resignation which had to be forced.
Sorry ranted on, but really the problem is that putlers regime is actually evil, Ukranians are dying to protect the rest of Europe from them. So paying for sending weapons to them is the least that I think I can personally do. For America it is better to stop putler before he attacks a Nato country and you would have to send your soldiers on the ground here.
(By the way, I agree with your Iraq statement, it was always about resources, and so is this war for putler, just look where "conveniently" gas deposits were found in 2012....)
Yeah. I get being cynical about all of the wars the U.S. has been part of in my lifetime.
But if you can't see how helping the Ukrainians is unequivocally the right thing to do, I don't know what to say. To me it's nice to be the good guys for once and point our defense industry at something worthwhile.
Okay I'll bite. Some people support Ukraine but don't support more weapons spending. In the early days of reddit, a lot of the power users were libertarian leaning programmers, and Lemmy has naturally attracted that cohort. You can see subs like Privacy and Piracy moving here, and there is a staunch anti government position that comes with anti centralization. I don't think these people should be called sad, as some are very well reasoned and thoughtful about their anti government position. What's more, if you don't live in the United States, it's very easy to call out the hypocrisy of US government warmongering e.g. in the middle east.
I gotta say, the tankie infestation of the fediverse is giving me serious second thoughts about this place. I get that it will get better over time as more people join and dilute the crazies, but I currently have a very hard time suggesting lemmy to people because of this.
What's sad is how little our country knows of war outside of the US propaganda machine. We spend more on war in one year than the next ten countries combined, and those countries mostly have health care systems that don't bankrupt their people. Canada, for instance, spends a mere 23 billion a year on war.
We on the other hand don't have health care so our country can involve itself in eight or nine wars at once, and our people think it's a good thing because they can't form a coherent thought outside of what they're being told on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.
US spends about as much per capita on healthcare as many other developed countries. The issue is that your insurance companies pocket a lot of it. Be angry at them, not at Ukraine or the weapons going to Ukraine.
“Our” that’s one big assumption there brother not everyone here is American. I don’t know why you assume the U.S military budget is stopping Universal care being a thing over there it’s a far more deeply rooted issue than just the military budget. Look how contentious even something like the Obama care was never mind a full blow universal care system.
I hate war, but Ukraine hates dying. Beat Putin's ass, and Slava Ukraini!
War sucks, and most veterans and their families know it. But when forced to fight Ukraine is standing, and I hope that Western support doesn’t waiver. I’m sure Putin is hoping to interfere in moar elections as an out.
Could you imagine if his lil orange minion was in power?
Shudders.
Ps, people make sure you are registered to vote.
And if you are registered to vote, periodically check if you are still registered.
Awesome :)
All I can say is Slavi Ukraine! Stay strong and I hope you persevere.
It'd be really nice if our legislators would stop giving warmongers a blank check. We could use that billion in so many better ways here.
Warmongers being... the country currently undergoing a genocide from a global superpower? If you come to my home and shoot my kid, I'm not a warmonger for returning fire.
And the idea that the reason our programs at home are underfunded is a result of foreign aid is complete bullshit. They could fund those programs in a heartbeat at any time with or without a war. We could absolutely do both, the reason we don't is because none of your politicians give a shit about you, unrelated to what's going on in the world.
Warmongers being… the country currently undergoing a genocide from a global superpower? If you come to my home and shoot my kid, I’m not a warmonger for returning fire.
Here your kids are getting shot to death in schools, but as far as oppressive global superpowers go, read up on how the US has been helping Saudi Arabia starve and decimate Yemen for the last eight years. But, to be clearer, the warmongers I refer to are the ones taking a trillion of our tax dollars every year and funneling them into their own companies and the other eight wars we're already hopelessly entangled in.
I'm all for Ukraine fighting this war... on their own. I just don't appreciate seeing our people impoverished and neglected because of it.
And the idea that the reason our programs at home are underfunded is a result of foreign aid is complete bullshit.
False. Canada spends $23 billion a year on war. They have universal health care. We 100% lack universal health care because we're spending over a trillion a year on war, and now, another $1,015,000,000 billion on another country's war. (On top of the tens of billions we already gave them in charity.)
We're not talking about Saudi Arabia and Yemen, we're talking about Ukraine.
I'm all for Ukraine fighting this war... on their own.
So you're in favor of them being conquered and ethnically clensed. That's what happens without material support from western powers.
I just don't appreciate seeing our people impoverished and neglected because of it.
The American people were impoverished and neglected before the war in Ukraine, and they will be after. Letting Russia wipe out a vulnerable ethic group won't get you free healthcare.
Regardless, we could fund a universal healthcare system half a dozen different ways, and the American people would still save money not having to pay subsidies. The idea that it's a hard thing to fund in the richest country in the world is one of the biggest lies i government. The reason we don't have one isnt because we can't come up with the funds, it's that your politicians hate you and love pharma money.
The American people were impoverished and neglected before the war in Ukraine, and they will be after. Letting Russia wipe out a vulnerable ethic group won’t get you free healthcare.
You all said the same thing about Afghanistan. 20 years and several trillion dollars later, and it was 100% a waste.
So you’re in favor of them being conquered and ethnically clensed. That’s what happens without material support from western powers.
I'm in favor of my tax dollars going to keeping Americans alive for once, instead of being spent on yet another war we shouldn't be involved in in the first place.
Regardless, we could fund a universal healthcare system half a dozen different ways
Agreed, and chief among would be spending hundreds of billions less on other countries' wars, and also not being involved in eight of them at the same time.
The difference between this and Afghanistan being that we don't have boots on the ground, we're just supporting a geopolitical ally avoid GENOCIDE via a geopolitical enemy.
I’m in favor of my tax dollars going to keeping Americans alive for once, instead of being spent on yet another war we shouldn’t be involved in in the first place.
Okay, from that perspective allowing Russia to grind itself into nothing prevents future proxy wars where Americans will die. Russia is an enemy of the United States. They fund anti-american terrorist groups, the interfere with our election, they attempt assassinations on US soil. Allow Russia to operate unchallenged does not result in a safer world for the American people.
Also, maybe I'm the asshole here, but I feel like America SHOULD get involved to stop literal, capital G genocide. I think the fact that you're happy to watch Russia exterminate Ukrainian towns just because it saves us a couple bucks pretty despicable. I mean, honestly, not to make that same worn out comparison, but if the Japanese hadn't attacked us, would you have happily sat out of World War II because it "wasn't our fight"?
No more foreign entanglements!
The cash isn't going to Ukraine, it all stays in the US.
Let me get this straight: Russia invaded Ukraine unprovoked, yet you think Ukraine is the "warmonger"?
Ah yes. More dollars spent where we shouldn’t be spending it.
I wish we didn’t need to do this but honestly this is some of the best spent military funds I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s all hardware, manufactured by the US. So that’s jobs. None of it is death payouts to American families like we had to do in Desert Storm. Russia richly deserves the fight. We’re getting a lot of help from other countries.
I wish we didn’t need to do this but since we do, fine.
Funny how you don't "need" to do it when it's non white countries being invaded
And you can bet your ass everyone involved in that decision is an investor in Raytheon.
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