this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2024
125 points (96.3% liked)
Europe
1550 readers
651 users here now
News and information from Europe ๐ช๐บ
(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)
Rules (2024-08-30)
- This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
- No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
- Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
- No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism.
- Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
- If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
- Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in !yurop@lemm.ee. (They're cool, you should subscribe there too!)
- Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
- No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)
(This list may get expanded when necessary.)
We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.
If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.
If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the mods: @federalreverse@feddit.org, @poVoq@slrpnk.net, or @anzo@programming.dev.
founded 4 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Pacifism doesn't mean you cannot defend yourself or surrender against an attacker.
And that's the whole point here: Ukraine isn't waging a war, they're defending against an invasion.
But pacifism does usually mean you don't join a war where you aren't attacked yourself.
Which is the situation the German Greens are in.
Yes, Ukraine is legitimately, directly, currently defending itself.
Germany isn't.
So helping someone who is being attacked and supporting them is "joining the war"?
Yes, of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?
So if you eat at a restaurant, is the chef joining you for dinner because they're supplying you with food?
Are Russian factory workers building artillery shells for Russian soldiers not part of the war?
If they are, then why not also German factory workers building artillery shells for Ukrainian soldiers?
Russia has declared war on Ukraine, therefore it is at war.
Germany had not declared war on anyone nor has anyone declared war on us, hence we are not at war.
Russia hasn't declared war on anyone either.
(If you claimed it did while you're in Russia, you'd risk up to 15 years in prison.)
So an official declaration of war isn't a good benchmark for whether a country is at war.
Boots on the ground is probably the best metric.
But by that metric, NATO wasn't involved in Yugoslavia, either.
When Germans build computer-guided artillery systems, program their software to lock in the allowed target area and muntion-types, deliver them to Ukraine, a Ukrainian soldier clicks a touchscreen to fire it, and when it is worn out or damaged it is sent back to Germany to be fixed, you can't tell me that Germany isn't involved in that war.
It has declared Ukraine as a "terrorist state" and announced a "special military operation". That's essentially declaring war without using the word war (and Putin has since used the word).
Sure, it's not super solid, but it's a much, much better benchmark than "boots on the ground" or building and shipping weapsons.
Russia is at war. Germany is not.