Rad Geek People's Daily

The Russian army is besieging Mariupol and attacking crowded civilian targets like mosques and hospitals. Inside Russia, Russian anti-war protesters are in the streets; the state is arresting thousands of people daily and pursuing a ruthless campaign of censorship on dissident information sources and dismantling the last remaining fragments of a free press freedom of the press, using — natch — laws for controlling misinformation or fakes in news and social media. The U.S. government unconscionably continues to shilly-shally and delay issuing visas for Ukrainian refugees trying to flee the war and come to the United States.

Many people in the West are righteously outraged about all this. As well they should be. Many people have taken that outrage and fed it into an utterly histrionic campaign of moral panic, inappropriately directed against Russian people, Russian culture, Russian things and even Russian animals according to the most ridiculous and flatly despicable dictates of War Logic. War Logic curdles every humanitarian impulse into a theatrically stupid and racist campaign for the collective humiliation and punishment of supposed enemies who in fact have nothing to do with the war or the government that oppresses them, or the nation that they are somehow or another vaguely associated with.

For example, here is a Democratic Congressman claiming to represent the State of California:

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said on CNN Thursday that kicking Russian students out of U.S. universities should be “on the table” in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin launching an invasion into Ukraine.

Frankly, I think closing their embassy in the United States, kicking every Russian student out of the United States … should … be on the table. … Vladimir Putin needs to know every day that he is in Ukraine, there are more severe options that could come, Swalwell said on CNN Newsroom.

— Hannah Grossman, Eric Swalwell floats kicking Russians out of US universities in retaliation to Putin invading Ukraine
Fox News, 24 February 2022

These options aren’t severe for Vladimir Vladimirovich. They’re severe for innocent Russian college students who have nothing to do with this terrible war, simply because they are Russian nationals. This is a despicable proposal for collective punishment as well as a wildly counterproductive effort to further isolate Russian people from cultural contact and exchange with the West. Swalwell ought to be ashamed of himself, and censured by his colleagues.

Here is a cowardly decision by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra to cave in to demands that they shut down performances by a 20 year old piano prodigy who vocally opposes the war on Ukraine for no reason other than the fact that he ought to be punished for being a Russian national:

A young Russian pianist who was set to perform with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra this week has been struck from the schedule after protest.^[1]

However, the orchestra maintained its praise for 20-year-old Alexander Malofeev, who has been outspoken against the invasion of Ukraine, where he said he has some family members.

The OSM feels that it would be inappropriate to receive Mr. Malofeev this week, wrote a spokesperson for the orchestra, Pascale Ouimet, in a statement.

We continue, however, to believe in the importance of maintaining relationships with artists of all nationalities who embrace messages of peace and hope. We look forward to welcoming this exceptional artist when the context allows it.^[2]

. . . The orchestra at first declined [to cancel Malofeev’s performances], saying Malofeev had spoken openly against the invasion. But it ultimately decided it was the right call considering the serious impact on the civilian population of Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion, Ouimet wrote.

— Selena Ross, Montreal Symphony Orchestra drops Russian piano prodigy from concerts amid backlash
CTV News, 8 March 2022.

No word yet on how many civilian lives have been saved by halting a Russian adolescent’s piano performances in Montreal. Nevertheless:

The orchestra’s statement on Tuesday said it wanted to reaffirm its solidarity with the Ukrainian people and is making a donation in support of them, and also urges the public to do the same.

But OSM musicians and their conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, stressed that they still have an excellent collaboration with Malofeev, according to the statement.

I was very pleased to be working in Montreal for the first time with the extraordinary young pianist Alexander Malofeev, Thomas said.

It is regrettable that political situations have made it impossible.^[3] I look forward to the possibility of collaborating with him in the near future.

In two Facebook posts, Malofeev has decried the war, first writing on March 2 that the truth is that every Russian will feel guilty for decades because of the terrible and bloody decision that none of us could influence and predict.

On Monday, however,^[4] he added that he’s upset by the hatred going in all directions, in Russia and around the world, and that he still believe[s] Russian culture and music specifically should not be tarnished by the ongoing tragedy, though it is impossible to stay aside now.

— Selena Ross, Montreal Symphony Orchestra drops Russian piano prodigy from concerts amid backlash
CTV News, 8 March 2022.

It is of course a self-serving lie to lament how impossible it is to let a Russian pianist play the piano in Montreal. There would be nothing simpler; they were already planning to do it, and they are putting on the concerts anyway with the rest of the (non-Russian) performers. The OSM made a decision to discriminate against a Russian piano performer for no other reason than the fact that he is a Russian national.

Here is the International Cat Federation (FIFe) taking a stand against cats bred in Russia:

The FIFe Executive Board is shocked and horrified that the army of the Russian Federation invaded the Republic of Ukraine and started a war. Many innocent people died, many more are wounded and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are forced to flee their homes to save their lives. We can all witness the destruction and chaos caused by this unprecedented act of aggression.

On top of that our Ukrainian fellow feline fanciers are desperately trying to take care of their cats and other animals in these trying circumstances. . . . The Board of FIFe feels it cannot just witness these atrocities and do nothing,^[5] so it decided that as of 01.03.2022:

• No cat bred in Russia may be imported and registered in any FIFe pedigree book outside Russia, regardless of, which organization issued its pedigree.
• No cat belonging to exhibitors living in Russia may be entered at any FIFe show outside Russia, regardless of, which organization these exhibitors hold their membership in.

These restrictions are valid until 31.05.2022 and will be reviewed as and when necessary.

— International Cat Federation / Fédération Internationale Féline, Statement regarding the situation in Ukraine
FIFe News Page, accessed 12 March 2022.
Quoted in Vanity Fair (3 March 2022) and the Washington Post (3 March 2022)

I would say, You are issuing international sanctions against cats for being bred in Russia. But these are people who would issue sanctions against cats for being bred in Russia. Then issue a statement that they could do no other, because in the face of the Russian army’s atrocities they cannot stand by and do nothing.

This is not a sane or intelligent response to the atrocities committed by Russia’s military and government. People look back on ridiculous exercises like Freedom Fries and Liberty Cabbage and persecuting Dachshunds as a sort of condensate of black farce from the passions of war; sometimes they wonder that people could seriously do ridiculous shit like that. Of course they could. We are exactly the same people as the people who did this before. The spirit of war is the marshalling of passionate outrage into collective hatreds; War Logic makes ignoramuses and contemptible bullies of us all. It makes everything worse, mutilates the analytical mind and deforms the passions into the patrolling of imaginary opposing camps; if it has any significant effect at all it is always to ratchet up conflict, punish the innocent and make global culture and politics more brutal and dangerous. Don’t do that. You don’t have to. You’ll look like like a demented fanatic and a preposterous, illiberal tool after even a moment to reflect.

1. ^[1][By Ukrainian-Canadian protesters who are demanding a boycott of Russian cultural products. –R.G.]↩
2. ^[2][Sic. –R.G.]↩
3. ^[3][Sic. –R.G.]↩
4. ^[4][Sic. –R.G.]↩
5. ^[5][Somebody wrote this and published it on the World Wide Web. –R.G.]↩