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I'll point out the obvious: Ukraine is simply too close to home for many of us Europeans - they're our neighbors, colleagues, friends, we vacation in Kiev, they
by vemv 5y ago
I'll point out the obvious: Ukraine is simply too close to home for many of us Europeans - they're our neighbors, colleagues, friends, we vacation in Kiev, they're our football rivals. We broadly share culture, race, etc.
Few of those can be said about Iraq which is far away enough to seem some sort of abstract topic.
So, having war at home (vs. in a newspaper) is completely novel for us and therefore unacceptable.
- pishpash 5y agoSo, racism?
- f-jin 5y agonot racism, more like discrimination. It's not strange to pay more attention to your neighbor getting shot than some guy in another city getting shot.
- imranhou 5y agoRacism = discrimination based on race.
- Ourgon 5y agoNo, discrimination is discrimination. Racism is the assumption of a person's "race" - for most people that equates to skin colour and other physical properties but for some it goes deeper - being related to that person's character and abilities. I live in Sweden but I'm not allowed to vote in national elections while I look just as Scandinavian as your average Sven. There are hundreds of thousands of people living in Sweden who do not look like Sven at all but are allowed to vote. Is Sweden being racist against me? No, they're just discriminating in who is allowed to vote, only those with Swedish nationality have that right. I´m not a Swede, hence I do not get to vote. This is a form of discrimination, but discrimination does not equate "bad" - I would not advice any country to allow foreign nationals to vote in their national elections.
- daminimal 5y agoToo many people think of Europe in terms of Germany, France, Italy, UK and Spain. There are _many_ countries in Europe who know exactly what it feels like when Russia comes to "liberate" and what it means for the future of these territories.