For several years I had a favorite friend. A Ukrainian man in a serious position is decent, honest and smart. We talked a lot about the most important things – dignity, love, great meanings. They sent each other stories, consulted on various issues.
I’m not writing this so simply – I want the reader to understand: This is not about a teenager stoned by propaganda with a saucepan to his head. We are talking about a truly intelligent and deeply decent person.
We never talked about politics. They were barely talking. Our views on the important stuff – May 9, WWII and more – overlapped quite a bit. We didn’t discuss the rest.
Imagine how surprised I was to learn that I had been banned from engaging in conversation once again at night to discuss current events.
It flashed. And I did something I’ve never done – I went to the second account to find out.
I will not bore the reader with the details. And I’ll leave it to the reader to decide which of us is right. But in short, the answer I got was: we are horrified, they are shooting at us, my windows are covered with wood, it hurts to see your publications and the Russian flag in the avatar.
The answer is obvious. No, I’m not judging at all, I don’t know what I would do in such situations. And which countries or entire continents he hates.
But in the end, I felt like a man who once had to answer his friend not only to the Russian people, but also to the state. And, you know, I didn’t really like that.
“I did not bring tanks to Ukraine,” I once wrote to this close person. – And most likely, if it was up to me, I would not have introduced it. But I will always be for my country under any circumstances. And I won’t even explain why.
We said goodbye to it. apparently forever. For some reason, I remembered Chekhov: “If your wife cheated on you, then rejoice that she cheated on you, and not in the homeland.”
I’m speaking quite seriously, a thought bothers me. It would seem that humanity could not find anything more disgusting and hopeless than mutual responsibility. “You attacked” – and then in response: “You are a Nazi.”
I did not attack, and my colleague is by no means a Nazi. I washed the dishes. I went to work and helped people I could help. This is my job, this is my life. You can ask me for this.
It’s kind of awkward, to put it mildly, to ask a man for an answer so he doesn’t betray his homeland.
A wise woman said: “We are standing in a barn.” I am sick of every manifestation of the union committee, the district committee, the collective meeting, the joint position. I feel this when I look at both “patriots” and liberals.
The simple idea that a person can have a personal and collective opinion, and not the position of the regional committee, for some reason, few come to mind.
And yes. This is the worst thing in any political conflict – when live, real life, live human communication goes to hell over ideas. That’s how wars begin, my dear friend – I’d like to write, but it’s probably blacklisted again.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.
Source: Gazeta
