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Ironic, from an English-speaking American, and a lawyer at that. I would think someone familiar with our founding would recognize that, yes, a free people has a

Ironic, from an English-speaking American, and a lawyer at that. I would think someone familiar with our founding would recognize that, yes, a free people has a right not to be subjugated to a major power just because they speak a similar language. Also, "get it back"? Kievan Rus predates Muscovite Rus by over half a millenium. If you would like a beginner's primer on the history of ethnic and cultural ties and conflicts involved, I recommend Suzanne Massie's Land of the Firebird.

rayiner 5y ago
I’m from Bangladesh. While I believe our independence war was absolutely a good thing, it absolutely wasn’t the west’s business. “Everybody who wants one gets their own country” isn’t a workable approach. (Of course the US did intervene in the Bangladesh-Pakistan war, on the wrong side: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/us-forces-had-orders-to-target-indian-army-in-1971/articleshow/10625404.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/us-forces-had-orde.... But even if it had supported Bangladesh, at the end of the day it wasn’t any of its business or risking the life of American soldiers.)
- jacquesm 5y ago
  You seem to want only select parts of the country that you've moved to. To quote you: "That's not how the world works.".
  - rayiner 5y ago
    That’s virtually every immigrant. I hear that’s true of Muslim immigrants to your country too.
    - jacquesm 5y ago
      Yes, but I'm not talking to them right now, I'm talking to you. The world is far more integrated than you seem to want to see, what happens in Ukraine today will have effect in Europe tomorrow (in fact it already has effect here) and in the United States the week after. Isolationism only works for countries that have no standing, even China could not afford to stand with Putin on this. You want safety and stability for yourself and your family. And so does everybody else. Unfortunately the country that you are living in is well known for taking up arms in conflicts around the world precisely for the same reason that you ended up there: it is a country made up of large numbers of immigrants (and obviously some of the original population as well, but let's leave them out of this to not complicate things even further). When WWII was well underway America was still neutral, and many of the things that you are saying today were said by people in the United States as well. Then Pearl Harbor happened and the rest as they say is history. Sometimes you get to choose how long you will be neutral, but not if you are going to be neutral. I have friends and family very close to this conflict, on both sides of the divide. None of them want war, and yet, here we are. So consider yourself lucky that you are 1000's of km away from the hotspot, but realize that Putin can ruin your life in about 15 minutes and that if you do not want to be in a situation that is dangerous there are very few places in the world that do not have a warhead with it's coordinates programmed in aimed at it. That is how the world works. You can deny it or you can accept it, that is obviously your choice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_... Says it much better than I can. And the history of that man should be a lesson to all of us.

rayiner 5y ago

I’m from Bangladesh. While I believe our independence war was absolutely a good thing, it absolutely wasn’t the west’s business. “Everybody who wants one gets their own country” isn’t a workable approach. (Of course the US did intervene in the Bangladesh-Pakistan war, on the wrong side: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/us-forces-had-orders-to-target-indian-army-in-1971/articleshow/10625404.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/us-forces-had-orde.... But even if it had supported Bangladesh, at the end of the day it wasn’t any of its business or risking the life of American soldiers.)

jacquesm 5y ago
You seem to want only select parts of the country that you've moved to. To quote you: "That's not how the world works.".
- rayiner 5y ago
  That’s virtually every immigrant. I hear that’s true of Muslim immigrants to your country too.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    Yes, but I'm not talking to them right now, I'm talking to you. The world is far more integrated than you seem to want to see, what happens in Ukraine today will have effect in Europe tomorrow (in fact it already has effect here) and in the United States the week after. Isolationism only works for countries that have no standing, even China could not afford to stand with Putin on this. You want safety and stability for yourself and your family. And so does everybody else. Unfortunately the country that you are living in is well known for taking up arms in conflicts around the world precisely for the same reason that you ended up there: it is a country made up of large numbers of immigrants (and obviously some of the original population as well, but let's leave them out of this to not complicate things even further). When WWII was well underway America was still neutral, and many of the things that you are saying today were said by people in the United States as well. Then Pearl Harbor happened and the rest as they say is history. Sometimes you get to choose how long you will be neutral, but not if you are going to be neutral. I have friends and family very close to this conflict, on both sides of the divide. None of them want war, and yet, here we are. So consider yourself lucky that you are 1000's of km away from the hotspot, but realize that Putin can ruin your life in about 15 minutes and that if you do not want to be in a situation that is dangerous there are very few places in the world that do not have a warhead with it's coordinates programmed in aimed at it. That is how the world works. You can deny it or you can accept it, that is obviously your choice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_... Says it much better than I can. And the history of that man should be a lesson to all of us.