This is not our Freedom

I don't quite know how to word this and I am not quite sure how to condense everything and make it sound like something so simple, which it isn't, but freedom has always been hard fought. Freedom is not something that is just given to us; it is based upon the hard sacrifice of thousands, millions of individuals who want a better life for themselves and their loved ones. People who have been oppressed and are oppressed, will fight harder, harder than anything that they have ever fought for in their lives. I don't believe that anyone in this modern day and age would have ever imagined as large of a conflict as the one that is happening in Europe would ever come into play.

I wish it was the case where the powerful countries aren't hiding weapons of mass destruction and doomsday weapons that could wipe all life off the face of the earth. I wish I could say that I am joking, but sadly this is very much reality. If we go back to WWII and think about the magnitude and scale of the explosions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, if at that day and age, the atomic weapon capability was already so large, we can only think of actual nightmare scenarios of how powerful weapons of mass destruction would be now. Humans have always tried to outmatch their enemies in weapon capability. New weapons have been created and invented throughout history to try to "level the playfield" and the civilization that has the superior technology would be deemed the victor. However, all this means is that there would be new ways to increase the amount of death and destruction in this world.

Now, the war is in its second month in Ukraine where the people are dying and suffering for the rest of the world. Yes, we can send more and more weapons to aid the forces, but where is the aid that we are giving the people? Where is the direct aid? We are giving Ukraine weapons, but we are not helping them fight their war. They are fighting the war themselves to protect their loved ones, protect their future, protect their country, and also to protect the rest of the Western world. This is indeed the worst humanitarian crisis that Europe has ever seen since WWII and it is unspeakable about how criminal a behavior the ruling force of Russia is committing against Ukraine. Buildings demolished, infrastructure gone. Lives lost and families torn. Any part of the country that the Russian army can't control, is to be destroyed. Very childish of a "great" ruler really. "If I can't have what I want, you can't have it either." In the end of all things, in the end of any war, there will be no victor. The lives that were lost will never come back. Life will continue on, but scarred and different. That is why I am blessed to be living. Yes, to just be living. In this world of uncertainties and chaos, I am just blessed in the here and now, a concept that many of us may have taken for granted for far too long for there is madness and chaos in the universe and it is always there to try and bring destruction to this world.

In Ukraine, where many of the boys and men, women and children, elderly and sick, who have taken up positions in protecting their country, in preserving their country, they are doing everything that they possibly can to ensure that it endures another day, they are making the ultimate sacrifice. This is their war and anything the rest of the world does seems to pale in comparison. They, whose lives are uncertain and whose homes have been destroyed and demolished beyond recognition, from a statement from Putin at the beginning of the war saying that he would only engage in military encounters and not have any conflict with the citizens, are still clinging onto hope in a better tomorrow. We owe everything to them right now. This time, this period of time that is passing, is agonizing, but how can we help, how can we possibly help as individuals when entire governments and the world leaders are refusing to stand up to bullying and strike down the lies where they stand? There is no easy way out, there is no easy solution, but this bleeding world wants peace. All we want is peace. For the generation and the next and for all the future generations to come, we want the human race to live peacefully, happily, and be able to connect with each other. There needs to be more empathy in this world and for others to stand in each others' shoes more. Think from other perspectives and piece them together into a whole puzzle picture.

The reality is that major countries of the Western world are scrambling to give assistance and hopeful that they will get recognition for doing so, for saying they are doing their part in helping the war. Of course this is not all countries, but a majority of them. Only now has the United States stated that they will accept over 100,000 Ukrainian refugees when Poland has been receiving and accepting refugees all along, with over 1 million refugees within their borders at one point. Yes, the big countries of the world are doing, but they are not doing enough. Not wanting to escalate the conflict, not wanting to wade their foot too deep in fear of a massive retaliation and a final last resort, it is cowardly, it is madness. The freedom of Western ideology to make things better for everyone while we are just worried about rising prices and inflation and things of our daily lives, where we are forced to just watch. For me, the freedom of life, to be able to breathe in peace, that is the true freedom and thank you Ukraine. And I am sorry. We are sorry we cannot do more.