Freedom Fries All over Again
Published at 20:12 on 9 March 2022
People are talking about cutting Russia off from the Internet entirely. Talk about a special kind of stupid: we should want Russians to be able to easily access information from outside Russia. Sure, this means cutting deals with Russian Internet providers. So be it. The goal is to undermine Putin by weakening the economy that supports his war. It is not to isolate Russia completely. Providing accurate information to Russians about what their dictator is doing also helps undermine his regime.
Russian pianists are being banned from international competitions, not because of anything they personally did, but simply because they are Russian. Even Russian cats are being banned from cat shows. I guess some people think the cats voted for Putin in the last election.
Worse yet, here in North America, Russian restaurants are being boycotted and vandalized, even ones whose owners publicly oppose the war in the Ukraine and have organized benefits for the people of Ukraine. Because it doesn’t matter. They are of Russian ancestry, or exhibiting aspects of Russian culture, and therefore they are evil.
Frankly, this is freedom fries all over again. Yes, Putin is a dictator. Yes, he needs to be taught a lesson, lest he keep trying take neighbouring nations over. But there is standing firm against a dictator, and then there is Russophobia. The two are not one and the same.