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Respecting Our Own Ignorance…
At this moment in our country, all things Ukraine are beautiful, brave, tough, and worthy; all things Russia are mean and ugly; and everyone is bracing for World War III.
No one questions that Russia’s brutality against Ukraine was unprovoked, that it’s a tragedy, that everyone is genuinely shocked. But everyone’s painfully aware that one wrong move could trigger a worldwide catastrophe on a scale that we can’t even imagine.
You would think this would sober us enough to really think before sounding off online. But unfortunately, the onslaught of sophomoric social media posts has only ramped up, and these posts do nothing for the general good. The people behind those posts don’t care about what they don’t know. They just care about hitting the sassy, fuck you nerve in the zeitgeist, and getting a million likes for it.
A friend of mine, composer/lyricist Katya Stanislavskaya, (from Odessa, Ukraine), has this to say about our general ignorance right now, and its impact on her life:
“If you plan to make or repost callous / flippant memes about the war in Ukraine, please unfriend me or whatever. I want to be able to communicate with all my sensitive and knowledgeable friends without stumbling over hurtful bullshit. Same goes for unchecked information. No one wants to hear your…
