Thanks for your reply. I stand corrected.
For what this is worth, I want to point out that even supposed heroes are not perfect. I did not paint Zelenskiy in a purely positive light. I merely outlined something in a dire situation such as this in which many other leaders would have most likely caved in earlier compared to him. In essence, credit where credit is due. War is a complicated matter where people can get easily agitated and react more strongly to differing standpoints, which includes me. I did not in any way glorify the fact that the Ukrainians have to hurt the Russian troops forced by Putin to fight to defend their homeland, but solely praised Zelenskiy for his courage and leadership qualities at the right time. There may have been implications that I glorified harm, but all I intended to do was to outline the positive things Zelenskiy has been doing in this war of which harming anyone is not a part, including the Russian troops.
I do not deny that Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian forces are not unanimously good. Zelenskiy may have handled the Donbass crisis poorly, which Putin used as a justification for this war. I too do not agree with the treatment that people with different origins other than Ukrainian have received at the hands of the Ukrainian border guards and hope that it will be remedied.
However, please do note that I wrote this post before I was aware of the incidents at the Polish-Ukrainian border, and just because I did not put forth a new post or edit does not mean that I condone with the incidents on the part of the Ukrainian forces. Hero may have a very positive connotation to it, however, as the supposed hero here is human like you, me, and everybody else, it does not make a hero perfectly good by any means. All the figures we see actually put on pedestals have respectively done inappropriate things themselves, while the praise they receive is specifically aimed at the positive things they have accomplished. More than that, putting someone on a pedestal can also mean that that person was a significant one that many people recognise, and that we can commemorate them for their accomplishments as well as shortcomings. This is an important part in learning from history, with praise there almost always comes criticism.
In conclusion, no side in a war is truly “good” or “bad”, as we can draw from WW1, WW2 or the Cold War. There may be main perpetrators, but I acknowledge that history is always written by the victors and that atrocities committed by the “good” sides often tend to be swept under the rug due to it. For example the division of the Ottoman Empire by the Entente at the end of WW1, which essentially led to the lasting instability in the region to this day. Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Venezuela, the list goes on forever. However, this isn’t the focus of this post and if I wanted to truly discuss this, I would have specifically put up another standalone post.
Nevertheless, I’m glad that you have shared your words with me, and I think we all can learn from each other, no matter how uncomfortable the topic at hand might be, such as all the associations to and actions of the countries involved in this response towards Putin, and the fact that escalation pretty much always means unnecessary bloodshed that is difficult to stop. Zelenskiy, like anybody else, is not exempt from criticism despite the circumstances. Though, morale is a thing and I think focussing on one major issue at a time is more effective, as much as there are a lot of unresolved ones floating about.
Thank you again and have a good one.
