this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2023
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Through properly monitored and implemented referendums, yeah.
By a random dictatorship well known for destabilising and invading its neighbors, absolutely not.
You say this shit like it isn't a euphemism.
Democracy
Dictatorship
Nothing to do with me. I'm a programmer lol
Nothing to do with the US. I wouldn't support them invading a neighbor after a bogus vote they arranged. Whataboutism.
Independent monitors to make sure the vote is fair.
--Michael Parenti, Blackshirts and Reds
This is more of a comment on radlibs and baby anarchists, but it strikes me as appropriate here. It's very easy to idealistically criticize everything that isn't the way it should be. At some point, though, you have to address reality.
"When I pay for this Snickers I'm a glutton, but when I steal it I'm a thief! What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy saying that you judge me for eating a Snickers, so assiduously marketed by 7/11 that it affects cashiers across their entire national footprint."
No answer to that one.
Is this supposed to be a gotcha? There are tons of international vote monitor groups. Everyone uses them all the time.
Come on, Freedom Loving Nations like Russia don't use them to monitor their Totally Fair and Unbiased Elections.
Not to mention that since 2022 this hasn't been about just the Donbas any more.
Indeed, last I checked Crimea wasn't part of the Donbas either. This has never been about "protecting the self determination" of regions that so conveniently want to be invaded by Russia (according to Russia).
Are you saying Crimeans want to be part of Ukraine?
I'm saying that Crimea isn't part of the Donbas.
Ok. I misunderstood why you contrasted with Crimea.
How does "the US is also bad" change anything about the argument? The argument was that Russia invading and annexing territory is not an expression of self-determination for the people whose homes are being annexed. The US also doing bad shit doesn't change anything about that because "the US annexes Donbas instead of Russia" isn't the alternative being presented here
The thing that amuses me the most about whataboutism is that it's so self-defeating if you think about it for more than just a few seconds. It only makes "sense" from the perspective of someone who thinks that everybody must support their own home country's actions no matter what. Which is an authoritarian thing, not a democracy thing.
It also doesn't account for the fact that I'm not even American, so when I see those arguments my "so what" shrug is doubly intense.
Definitely not talking about the USA. You are also not aware of the fact that the USA is sending troops to Peru to back a government that is currently supported by 6% of its people. But I’m sure this has no relevance at all to the situation in Ukraine. Despite its many honest mistakes (centuries of ongoing slavery and genocide), the USA has been overall a force for good in the world!
In an ideal world where there was a good-faith international actor or organization who could take the role of moderating a referendum, and the outcome be respected by all parties, that would be ideal. However, no such organization exists. The institutions of the so-called "rules based international order" serve the interests of western hegemony. That is why, for example, Catalonia is not able to have an effective referendum for independence from Spain, and that is a perfectly fine state of affairs; just the way things are. Maybe a diplomatic complaint gets filed somewhere, maybe someone calls out how awful it is that police were interfering with the referendum in 2017, and they're not wrong. But ultimately, nothing fundamentally changes, and that is the point.
Should people just accept the way things are until an ideal situation allows them to improve their lives in a way everyone finds acceptable? What should people do if things are only getting worse, and there are no effective, good-faith actors to mediate the best possible solution?
Large countries invading and annexing stuff is not a solution to any of those problems. It is a regression to an even worse system.
The UN??