A very thoughtful and intelligent article - thanks. That ad from Banda for the Ukrainian Armed Forces is so powerful as it employs a universal human truth - that none of us is made for war. I do wish brands would go back to back to finding these big and small truths that unite us for their communications and stop trying to be new-style missionaries for whatever causes and ideas are trending on Twitter.
I'm not entirely buying the generational divide can be explained away by 'lack of political engagement' (patronizing & unsubstantiated where I've read it) or Cold War memory.
I could speculate it's a function of disinformation, breakdown of trust in 'media', possibly some 'can't change anything' nihilism, unwillingness to escalate thru blame game,
"The study we conducted on 4 March is not intended to reflect the overall American population, but rather a group of local high school students we interviewed locally (79 responses from students aged 14 to 18).
"Just over half (50.6%) of the students said they had first heard of the invasion through social media, and 46.8% of those following the invasion said they were primarily doing so through social media.
The majority of students who participated in the survey indicated they knew little or nothing about Russia and Ukraine's history before the invasion.."
Well - fwiw I think we really shouldn't be cosying up to Saudi Arabia, I find it horrifying. This war, or rather invasion, concerns us directly, though - partly because it's in Europe, partly because it's really directed against the West, and partly because the UK has played its own substantial part in creating the monster that is Putin. I think globalism has moved a far way from the fluffy everybody-friends vision we were fed when I was a kid, certainly, and it's now being used as a means of oppression. The poor of one country being used to oppress the poor of another, as in the Primark model. No one should be doing business with Russia right now. I don't know of any Russians who have their eyes open who oppose the sanctions. The whole thing is a tragedy for the great mass of Russian people, but it's going to be a tragedy for them whether or not we (or France, or Germany) help fund Putin's war machine. Usually I'm all about nuance but I feel about this as I guess I would have felt in 1939. The time for carefully reasoned stances is kind of over. And in fact, if anything, it also exposes how we are being used against our own interests, feeling any kind of cosy feelings about these 'familiar brands'; the billionaires have DOUBLED their wealth over the pandemic. With OUR money.
A very thoughtful and intelligent article - thanks. That ad from Banda for the Ukrainian Armed Forces is so powerful as it employs a universal human truth - that none of us is made for war. I do wish brands would go back to back to finding these big and small truths that unite us for their communications and stop trying to be new-style missionaries for whatever causes and ideas are trending on Twitter.
Good read, again! The polling variance is interesting, and also, YouGov/Economist https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2022/03/29/our-polling-reveals-a-striking-generational-divide-on-ukraine I'm guessing the Economist's poll/question is causative of the polls on brand sanctions.
I'm not entirely buying the generational divide can be explained away by 'lack of political engagement' (patronizing & unsubstantiated where I've read it) or Cold War memory.
I could speculate it's a function of disinformation, breakdown of trust in 'media', possibly some 'can't change anything' nihilism, unwillingness to escalate thru blame game,
Interesting bit of qual. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/how-teenagers-feel-russia-invasion-ukraine/
"The study we conducted on 4 March is not intended to reflect the overall American population, but rather a group of local high school students we interviewed locally (79 responses from students aged 14 to 18).
"Just over half (50.6%) of the students said they had first heard of the invasion through social media, and 46.8% of those following the invasion said they were primarily doing so through social media.
The majority of students who participated in the survey indicated they knew little or nothing about Russia and Ukraine's history before the invasion.."
Well - fwiw I think we really shouldn't be cosying up to Saudi Arabia, I find it horrifying. This war, or rather invasion, concerns us directly, though - partly because it's in Europe, partly because it's really directed against the West, and partly because the UK has played its own substantial part in creating the monster that is Putin. I think globalism has moved a far way from the fluffy everybody-friends vision we were fed when I was a kid, certainly, and it's now being used as a means of oppression. The poor of one country being used to oppress the poor of another, as in the Primark model. No one should be doing business with Russia right now. I don't know of any Russians who have their eyes open who oppose the sanctions. The whole thing is a tragedy for the great mass of Russian people, but it's going to be a tragedy for them whether or not we (or France, or Germany) help fund Putin's war machine. Usually I'm all about nuance but I feel about this as I guess I would have felt in 1939. The time for carefully reasoned stances is kind of over. And in fact, if anything, it also exposes how we are being used against our own interests, feeling any kind of cosy feelings about these 'familiar brands'; the billionaires have DOUBLED their wealth over the pandemic. With OUR money.
Thank you for such a nuanced, thoughtful article in these terrible times.