i’m not sure i understand, but i am north american. the reason i posted this is there’s a particular set of people on here who believe everything done by the usa is bad (a form of black and white thinking that’s frankly quite understandable) therefor any country that accepts aid from the usa must be evil (a form of black and white thinking i can absolutely not endorse) and any country that undermines US imperialism must be good (another form of black and white thinking i can absolutely not endorse). this crowd is frequently on lemmy saying that russia’s genocide in eastern ukraine is:

1. not really happening and is a fabrication of the cia controlled western media
2. if it is happening, is limited to a few troops acting against their commander’s orders
3. if it is widespread, it’s not really a big deal because talking about it is just a distraction from the genocides in Gaza and Sudan (though they usually don’t bring up Sudan, they only want to talk about Palestine. and they certainly don’t want to talk about the latin american genocide or the |uygher genocide)
4. if it is a big deal, it’s ultimately not russia’s fault, it’s simply what war is and russia must commit to war in order to bring about communist utopia everywhere through a process that can only be described as “somehow”
5. if it is russia’s fault, it was simply an understandable miscalculation any country could have made
6. if russia did intend to commit genocide against the Ukrainian people, it’s because all Ukrainians, yes all of them, even the anti-zionist jewish ones, are nazis

this particular crowd will say the most absurd shit like that spelling Kyiv “Kyiv” is russophobic. i don’t know how you can even hold that position. Kyiv is a living community filled with people who spell it “Kyiv”. when they ask that news outlets spell it “Kyiv” instead of “Kiev” it’s because they live there. it’s the name of their city. it more accurately portrays how the people there think of and pronounce the name of the community they are part of. calling that russophobic is like saying the fact that the first english colony in north america is spelled “Virginia” now instead of “Firginia” is anglophobic.

anyway. i try to point out to people that my enemy in this global system of terror is not strictly speaking russia, or the russian people, or even really the kremlin or putin. these are all entities that are complicit in the actions of my true enemy, but i am, just like everyone, complicit in the actions of my true enemy: colonialism. i unfortunately have a very solid understanding of the ravages of colonialism. my family arrived in the united states fleeing genocide in the old country. i live on stolen land in a community whose history is primarily centered on the extractive exploitation of petrochemicals. i do not see russia’s actions and see liberators. i see more of the same. i see my enemy: colonialism.

so i speak. i name what i see for what it is in hopes that others will begin to understand that our global system of terror provides us no pure allies and no single individual entity to blame. colonialism was not brought into this world by the usa, china, or russia, though all three are engaged in it in order to further their aims of control. no people will ever be made whole by the black and white thinking that any of the empires are their true ally or true enemy. in fact, black white thinking is a tool of our opressors. it makes us easier to manipulate.