I would never want to see children killed, but it was done by one of their own. I have more sympathy for the children who were killed by the Russians in Ukraine.
Of course not - but I would never react like that to news about more Americans being shot by Americans (whose nation has also been involved in a few military tangles here and there).
I'm sorry if it seems like I'm coming at you, especially when we've always had pleasant exchanges. It's just that, the same way I'm opposed to the war, I seem to encounter growing animosity towards Russian people (and to their culture at large) even as they have nothing or little to do with it.
Without wanting to spin this into a rant, one absurd example of it is that my mother, a librarian, has to work with colleagues who refuse to touch Dostoevsky's books.
I've taken your comments in the spirit in which they were meant. Yes, the US has gotten into a few "dustups" we shouldn't have and had no business being in. In this case, Putin's ego has caused a lot of people in Ukraine a lot of anguish. Ukraine has been free (by their own choice) for more than 30 years - they don't want to be part of Russia again. They're a westernized, free nation with a frts-world mindset and Putin wants them to be under his thumb.
As far as the Russian culture, I live in an area where a lot of Russians have settled and I can tell you, from my personal experiences, that they are not a nice group, by and large. They think that because they have come to a free country, they can do whatever they want whenever they want. Rules, laws, regulations mean nothing to them and they have no interest in assiimilating into the community outside their own people.
Not sure I would want to go so far as to ban Dostoevsy's books, though.
Putin's attempt to annexe Ukraine has backfired. Ostensibly, he didn't want to share a border with a NATO member - but now Finland and the Baltic States are clamouring to join, and if Ukraine comes out of this a free state, so will they.
Putin thought he was going to get what he wanted. What he got was a very determined Ukraine and an even more determined Finland and Sweden. Problem is that he is now backed into a corner and a cornered rat will do as much damage as possible.
I refuse to touch Dostoevsky's books (after a few attempts) and the war has nothing to do with it. They are DULL. The Brothers Karamazov was so interminably boring that I couldn't finish it. I don't know what purpose pre-Soviet Russian literature was supposed to serve, but it can't have been entertainment.
That's fair - because you're not a librarian. One of my professors was perplexed to find that most of his students thought Madame Bovary boring. Despite very resounding excerpts I've heard and read from The Brothers Karamazov, I've never been tempted to pick it up myself.
This post was edited by Danilo_G at October 1, 2022 4:05 PM MDT
Haha, no, I'm pretty sure that's the rest of us! Quite ironically, I have just become very bad at reading novels... In case you're wondering why: I also catch myself yelling at all these TV shows to "put it in a movie" so I can absorb it in 90 minutes rather than 90 episodes.
Spunky 