I take it folks saw the phrase cancel culture and downvoted?
It's actually a fascinating article. Odessa has been at the intersection of Ukraine and Russia for ages. Lots of Russian speakers who resisted Russia etc. But as the invasion goes on, people are being attacked for speaking Russian, statues of Odessa's most famous people torn down etc. And you can kind of see where both sides are coming from.
It's an issue I imagine almost none of us knew or thought about, if not for the phrase "cancel culture" why on Earth are we downvoting it?
The "kind of see where both sides are coming from" is de facto support for russian genocidal imperialism.
We don't need Pushkin statues, we have our own artists and our own heroes.
Getting rid of russian language and russian "culture" is a legitimate aim when your country has suffered multiple genocides and centuries of colonialism. Russian culture is trash and has no value. It's like saying Islamic state culture is legitimate. Would you be opposed to getting rid of Nazis imagery too?
This is just the economist's version of teenage edgelord posts. I would like to invite the author and their family to Donbas (this is where me and my family or from), we'll see what he thinks about Pushkin after that.
Is this what you want to normalize? Shitting on some random people (Muslims in this case) just to make your point?
People might even be on your side but like this I don’t think you’re any better than the people you’re criticizing, dehumanization begins with language.
Except the Ukrainians in Odessa who speak Russian and feel they are Ukranian, fuck those people.
Odessa is not Donbas, it's a unique impressive area with its own history.
Edit: By I can see both sides, I mean I get the Ukranian fury at Russia etc. But I also understand that the people of Odessa have their own version of what being Ukranian is and means.
It’s like saying Islamic state culture is legitimate.
There's some damn nice architecture and geometry coming out of Islam. Would you tear down a nice mosaic just because they remind you of the worst aspects of the greater culture?
Would you be opposed to getting rid of Nazis imagery too?
Does whole-grain bread count as Nazi imagery? Yes, there's legitimately a single valuable thing the Nazis ever did, and that was propagating whole-grain bread. Germany wouldn't eat the bread it does today if there had been a loud group of people insistent on associating it with the Nazis, calling people who like whole-grain bread Nazis, the usual stuff the vernacular calls cancel culture.
I'd say if you want to say "fuck the Russians" then don't just destroy, but also steal and plunder. Say, Zemfira is in exile right now, she's up for grabs. Also, Tatar.