2549. All soldiers are humans
A distressing reality. So many dehumanize the enemy not realizing that they were children, have families, read books, have interests, love living. Taking sides with Ukraine is legitimate but every Russian soldier wounded or killed deserves our compassion even if we cant find a way to express it. All soldiers are victims, all victimizers are victims. If they are acting badly we can assume that it is the result of great stress or miserable imposed life conditions. All societies need much better support for families and much better, broader, more humane and intense education, including arts, poetry, history and science (why is the sky blue, and such). We currently build societies to exploit land and people. We must do better full time.
Reminds me of the Russian proverb, “a well-fed horse doesn’t rampage.” When our environment deprives us of all that makes us feel human — much like the typical Russian soldier experiences in the demoralizing way they are mistreated and starved by the army and generals, and of course like all of the unbelievable misery the trapped and captured Ukrainians are experiencing — inhumanity is surely to follow. Our social environments do not make “well-fed” humans.