I really am trying to keep it at one Letter per week but as so much is happening at the moment and I just cannot keep my mouth shut, here I am again. I understand if this is too much and I will not hold it against anyone if you decide to unsubscribe.
It seems to have become a necessity to find a villain on whom to direct all one's anger and frustrations. Now that we have been condemning and branding the unvaccinated as the bad guys for quite some time, we have turned on the Russians. It doesn't matter whether the people have something to do with the conflict or not, but they are simply prejudged in general whether or not they distance themselves from their country. We have a new #1 public enemy.
“Good and Evil are very hard to explain or understand. I’m sure that evil exists, but it is hard to isolate. Good and evil are intertwined and impossible to separate. They are not completely opposites and in fact are often one and the same.”
— Keith Haring
I know too little about Russian politics, Ukrainian politics, and their history to be able to make a judgment, so this is my very simplified take on what I am seeing. I am also not taking sides because I know too little. But I know from experience that there are always at least two sides to a conflict. I also believe that war is the worst way to tackle a conflict, because those responsible, the “masterminds”, sit safely in their countries and let others do their dirty work, sacrificing people en masse without generally getting their own hands dirty or giving.
I have also learned painfully, especially in the past two years, that you cannot trust the media. It has become so easy to build up an image of an enemy that it simply frightens me how easily the public follows any narrative without question.
Demonstrations for the rights and freedoms of one's own citizens to self-determination over one's own body have been banned in Germany for a long time now, while demonstrations for rights and freedom in Ukraine are welcomed. I am all for a peaceful and free world and I believe that people should not live in fear - which is what we have been doing for the last two years, similar to war, except that no bombs are falling or weapons are being fired - but that is a different story.
When I saw these pictures, I felt hot and cold showers running down my spine and I was appalled…
Dear customers, as a sign of solidarity we have decided to stop the disposition of Russian products with immediate effect. All current goods on the shelf will still be sold for the sake of sustainability. We thank you for your understanding.
Or this one:
Article sale up to 50% reduced. These Russian goods will be sold off and no longer reordered. We will no longer support this Russian supplier.
So racism and prejudice have now reached our supermarkets! Who does it help to ban Russian products? Who does it help to fire Russians from their jobs simply because they are Russian? Are those people you have possibly worked alongside for years suddenly become evil? There are good and bad people everywhere, in every nation all over the world. A nation is not or should not be defined by the mistakes of its government. If that were so, we would have to condemn pretty much every nation on the planet!
I find it astonishing that the media, which has been dominated by Covid for the past two years is now barely reporting on this topic anymore - a new enemy, a new villain has been found so easily. What concerns me the most about this is that here in Germany, the acting government wants to bring their draft laws on mandatory vaccination through the Bundestag on 17th and 18th March and people don’t even seem to be aware of what that means to their nation and their future.
I know I am going back and forth a little but I am
a. stunned by what is happening to our world and
b. still not well and sorting my thoughts is difficult today. So I apologize for jumping around a bit.
To make one thing clear: I do not approve of attacks on people, and I do not approve of war, for whatever reason. I find it barbaric, considering that humanity believes itself to be so sophisticated and evolved. We need to realise that the people in Russia and the people in Ukraine all want the same thing - they want what we want all over the world. They want to live their lives in peace, care for their families and loved ones, make a living, and enjoy life. These are not bad people, it is never the people. These drastic decisions are made by only a few and the many will suffer…
🎶My Song of the Day
is an old one by Sting… And it is as true as ever - the Russians love their children too…
You can find all the songs from the Change & Evolve Letters on this Spotify playlist!
📚My Poem of the Day
Is one by William Carlos Williams 1883-1963
Peace On Earth
The Archer is wake!
The Swan is flying!
Gold against blue
An Arrow is lying.
There is hunting in heaven—
Sleep safe till tomorrow.
The Bears are abroad!
The Eagle is screaming!
Gold against blue
Their eyes are gleaming!
Sleep!
Sleep safe till tomorrow.
The Sisters lie
With their arms intertwining;
Gold against blue
Their hair is shining!
The Serpent writhes!
Orion is listening!
Gold against blue
His sword is glistening!
Sleep!
There is hunting in heaven—
Sleep safe till tomorrow.
👀Impressions
Just something peaceful from Lake Starnberg…
Wishing you all a peaceful evening and I would love to hear from you as always. I greatly enjoy your feedback.
Yours
Tanja 🤗
My mother-in-law (Potsdam) told me yesterday that she had thrown out her stash of Russisch Brot (a kind of cookie in the form of letters. Delish btw.) and would boycott them from here on out. I explained that this would make the Teutonic manufacturer Bahlsen very sad. I don’t think it registered.
What freaks me out is the ability of the entire Western press to pivot from COVID panic to Putin panic within days and without any sense that they even remember the subject they claimed to be an existential danger just last week.
It’s as if somebody uploaded a new program overnight.