Нет войне/Stand with Ukraine

Нет войне the chant of the people of Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. The afternoon was filled with pain, cries, anger and a bond that requires no language to comprehend. I joined to Stand with Ukraine. I listened to stories of a woman who threw a jar of jam at a government drone flying by. I saw the sunflowers planting themselves firmly into the ground. It was a beautiful sight of people allowed to protest this war crime; protest the lies of one man who has too much power for too long.

My friends are a beautiful arraignment of colors who come to America to have the very right they are executing gracefully. Is America perfect? No, but that is not the conversation today. The Russo Ukrainian war has been carrying out for eight years. February 20, 2014 was the attack to gain Crimea; a surprise attack to obtain what he desired. It does not help that with a few inked feathered strokes Vladimir Putin made reformations to the law that would basically permit him to be “president” forever; or at least until 2036. “The Russian president signed the legislation on Monday, ending a year-long process to “reset” his presidential terms by rewriting the constitution through a referendum-like process that his critics have called a crude power grab.” (Roth, Vladimir Putin passes law that may keep him in office until 2036 2021) Slick.

There was an overwhelming vote from the people to say that was okay; but was it truly the people? The EasternEuropean region that connects Eurasia are all siblings in a sense. Putin seems to have played the long game for control, with well done efforts straight from Hitler’s Gobbels propaganda play book. Joseph Gobbels was the mastermind behind Hitler’s propaganda; and it truly is psychological warfare on a massive level. Part of Gobbels efforts are to mix lies with truth to disengage people who lack the skills of critical thinking. Those who can apply critical thinking are either a threat or would need to succumb to the toxic masculine “alpha”.

The 11 principles of Nazi propaganda created by Goebbels:

1.- Principle of simplification and the single enemy. Adopt a single idea, a single Symbol; Individualize the adversary into a single enemy.

2.- Principle of the contagion method. Gather diverse adversaries into a single category or individual; The adversaries must be made up of an individual sum.

3.- Principle of transposition. Load on the opponent his own errors or defects, responding the attack with the attack. "If you can't deny the bad news, invent others that distract them."

4.- Principle of exaggeration and disfigurement. Turn any anecdote, however small, into a serious threat.

5.- Principle of popularization. “All propaganda must be popular, adapting its level to the least intelligent of the individuals to whom it is directed. The larger the mass to convince, the smaller the mental effort must be made. The receptive capacity of the masses is limited and their understanding poor; in addition, they have great facility to forget ”.

6.- Orchestration principle. "Propaganda must be limited to a small number of ideas and repeated tirelessly, presented over and over from different perspectives but always converging on the same concept. Without fissures or doubts ”. This is also where the famous phrase comes from: "If a lie is repeated enough, it eventually becomes true."

7.- Principle of renewal. New information and arguments must be constantly broadcast at such a rate that when the opponent responds the public is already interested in something else. The adversary's responses must never be able to counter the increasing level of accusations.

8.- Principle of plausibility. Construct arguments from various sources, through so-called balloon probes or fragmentary information.

9.- Principle of silencing. Silencing on issues on which there are no arguments and disguising the news that favors the adversary, also counter-programming with the help of related media.

10.- Principle of transfusion. As a general rule, propaganda always operates from a pre-existing substrate, be it a national mythology or a complex of traditional hatreds and prejudices; it is about spreading arguments that can take root in primitive attitudes.

11.- Principle of unanimity. To convince many people that they think "like everyone else", creating the impression of unanimity.

It does not take much effort to see Putin utilizing Gobbels’ principles to validate his actions. “Russian speakers in other countries are being attacked or persecuted”, when no one is being persecuted for speaking a language. Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia are family. The fight would be like watching North America fight Canada for speaking English. It is like being in an abusive relationship with your parents and watching them beat your siblings in front of you; or in some cases tell the other siblings lies to why their blood is being “beaten”.

February 24th, 2022 the people of Ukraine were hurt but not surprised by Putin; the rest of the world was left gasping at the 4 am atrocities. Putin chose his words carefully to say this was a “special operations”. However, turning into weeks later we have Ukrainian holding stronger than anticipated, Putin in the spotlight, Germany working on cutting off Russia to buy gas from, sanctions, to President Volodymyr Zelensky suiting up and winning the hearts of the world, to a woman throwing sunflower seeds at a Russian soldier, Russian soldiers texting their mother goodbye and how confused they are on why they are killing civilians, Russians who are not succumbing to the propaganda are threatened with imprisonment for 15 years; for disagreeing with their leader.

Creating hardship and an identity crisis within those from those countries; especially those who have moved. Blocking people from sending their money outside of Russia, keeping people in smaller towns of Russia in the Putin allegory cave, threatening to shut off the internet of the whole country, to checking peoples phones in the streets by the law; yet I hear the cries of some Americans stating their support for tyranny while crying wearing a mask is nazi and tyrannical. If it was completely tyrannical, they wouldn’t be able to protest about wearing a mask.

The war runs deeper and more intricate than any web Charlotte can spin for Wilbur. Regardless of it’s intricacies my heart bangs in it’s cage. It is the same rage I feel when I see Asian Americans attacked for their features. It is the same rage I feel when I am judged for my skin color or features regardless of social construct other people place upon me. It is the rage I feel when I see a sexual assault victims being dismissed. It is the rage I feel when I see people being attacked without provocation. It is the rage I feel when I see someone in the LGBTQ community being attacked and judged.

Are the ones suffering all perfect? No, but that does not validate the attacker; that’s victim blaming which would only encourage the attacker. I become embarrassed as an American when I hear Americans not caring about what is happening because it’s happening to someone else; the cheap ideologies of “not in my back yard, of course until it is. I do not care for those who think that Putin would listen to another American President versus another, because Putin is a psychopathic person at their highest; and he does not fear consequence. Other psychopathic people, serial killers, narcissist even must see that this one has gained too much power in their mental state and needs to be stopped; for their world to exist. It’s like if Harley Quinn chose not to help Batman stop Pamela Isley; when Batman puts into perspective to Quinn that as crazy as she is she enjoys living.

Should Ukraine join NATO? I don’t know. Should the EU take in Ukraine? I dont know. I can not honestly tell you I know the smartest move because this should be a strategy taken together by the world. Putin literally made himself the Real Life Thanos making Crimea his first stone and the rest of Ukraine the 2nd, the Real Life Shostakov; where I see people across the world taking shots at him in anyway they can at his ego which doesn’t seem to be too difficult. I stand with Ukraine. I stand against Tyranny. I stand against unprovoked unkindness. I stand for a few things I hold to my name since the day I was born, but I am only one person; or so sometimes I think.

At the protest, I knew it was important to protest and stand amidst my hurting Eastern European brothers and sisters; they needed to see someone else cares. No one batted an eye at my presence or questioned my skin color. I was approached and even asked if I spoke Russian; although my Russian is limited I would tell them “ Привет меня зовут Чирпан! Я изучаю русский язык. Я американка.” Limited? Yes, very but their immediate response was a hopeful sunflower growing and a “ Спасибо!”/“Thank you” stemming in their smiles.

Protesting is a powerful tool against propaganda. It provides a platform for others to join you. It is when someone shares their stories of trauma and another finds refuge in another person’s stories because they can understand. Although here in America, in New York City (the Melting Pot of America), one may not be dragged off to prison for 15 years; but your voice alone, your voice in a collective can go from a whisper to a scream in the canyons. If we scream loud enough, an avalanche will land on the Kremlin.

Stay strong Ukraine. Stay strong Russia! Stay Strong My Friends; My Planet Family. Keep Protesting. Keep fighting. People will join the fight and know they are not alone.

Remember this is the Kremlin is bringing the world together that even Switzerland took a side; and is the same man who can’t hold his microphone 😉 in a room full of people.

References

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