Thoughts About War.

First came fashion week, then came war. But has war ever really stopped happening?

As we all know thanks to the internet and international news, it has been an eventful, fairly dystopian two weeks.
As the world - well, at least my world - convened to what seemed like the first close to normal fashion week after two years of a gruesome pandemic reality, Putin decided to move forward with the invasion of Ukraine.
The information of the evil decision broke out as Milan was awaking from a biannual hibernation with vibrant energy, under a bright, warm, early Spring sun.
Social media feeds quickly jumped from displays of expected ostentation to shocking images of fleeing people, with clear frightened looks stamped on their pale faces.
Click-bait footage of defiant Ukrainians started filling our screens next to fancy meals and sexy pumps.
A potpourri of schizophrenic media fed to us in pills, without wider context, designed to create shocking reactions in the viewer.

The Western world has been inevitably shaken. The threat of war in a territory so close to central Europe worried plenty. The streak of violence perpetuated by Putin for the past 22 years suddenly became real.
The USA, Russia’s nemesis, quickly stood on its feet, verbally denouncing the acts of the Soviet president - even before his troops trespassed the border - menacing sanctions and brutal repercussions for the country as a whole, triggering panic and inciting vengeance in Putin.
Biden spoke to “his people”, the Americans, to announce his plan to stop the imminent war, proving once again that when economical interests are involved, the US does have the capacity to speak up against atrocious regimes.
European leaders soon followed, strict yet more cautious than their Yankee counterpart, prompting nationals to flee the country.
The heads of EU States spoke out, maintaining fragile composure, while weighing the pros and cons of trying to destabilize the Russian economy as a deterrent for war.
Peace promoting protests erupted in major cities worldwide, pressuring governments to do something to stop the killing of civilians while residents of Kyiv took shelter in the metro system turned into a bomb shelter. Ireland waived Visa requirements from Ukrainian citizens seeking refuge and Ukraine adjacent countries announced their plans to welcome those in need - something we have never seen for any other group seeking asylum.

Approximately two thousand kilometers from the crisis, brands, influencers and people of the Fashion industry continued working as usual, mostly with a heavy heart, thinking of what is happening, reposting infographics and information between one fashion show and another.
Internet activists swiftly started attacking this boisterous display of apathy, pointing fingers at those who didn’t stop behaving as if nothing is happening, demanding they care.
Insisting that businesses cease their operations to stand in solidarity with the poor people of Ukraine.
“It’s not the time to post about pompous runways!” Users rightfully cry in the comment sections of magazines and brands, sometimes getting verbally violent against the creator of said content - pouring their frustration out through fleeting stories painted in Yellow and Blue.

Others point out the obvious fact that we are not made to consume so much information, so quickly and in vast amounts - complaining social media is both a blessing and a curse in times like these.
Virtuous entrepreneurs suddenly feeling the wrath of war after flying to exotic locations during the pandemic to “get away from the sad reality they were living in” decided to shame their peers who chose not to expose themselves on social media as they did.

A cycle of hypocrisy recorded right before our eyes began.

War has been a part of history since before any of us can remember. Certain cities still carry the signs of destruction from wars that ravaged locals for decades. As scary as it sounds, sometimes it’s inevitable.
It’s a visceral characteristic of the human kind. We love to fight and displace people, especially in the Western world.

Our sense of omnipotence reigns supreme. We have been claiming sovereignty over innocent societies since the beginning of time.
But while World War I and World World II are the ones we mostly feel connected to because of the grounds it was played on, war never stopped existing - we just selectively choose which war is more important and why.

Palestine has been in shambles for the past 70 years. Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq are still living through the trauma inflicted by the Gulf War, then the American intervention. Kashmir is currently going through hell. The Haitian people are living in poverty and under the supervision of a government handled by goons. Crime is at an all time high worldwide and airstrikes happen daily in Somalia and other African countries.
But I do not see the outrage and concern for “living life as usual” by the virtue-signaling, better than you, online critics?

Truth is, war and destruction is all around us at all times.

This may be a cynical take, a desensitized commentary of the current happenings, however I can’t but call out the hypocrisy of selective moralism reposters that burn the vital energy needed to do something offline by combating those who don’t publicly display dismay for the Russian-Ukrainian struggle.

What makes the rest of the strife less worthy of sharing? Is it the geographical distance or the fact that we only care about things that hit us the closest to home?

While comparing tragedies makes no sense and stops a solution - which most of us have in NO WAY power to constitute - from being reached, it is important to dismantle the hypocrisy-led temporary outrage we live through whenever a major world event happens
Shaming and bullying people that would otherwise pay little to no attention to poverty, social struggle and violent crimes into briefly caring about a cause they do not understand or know nothing about is actually counter productive to the advancement of well informed awareness of the masses.

It is pretty clear - and now more than ever - that forcing people to empathize with themes that are not inherently close to their hearts leads to no action. The pressure actually incentivizes people to share fake news and superficial facts just to show they are on the good side of history.
Disenfranchised communities need real help in real life, not keyboard warriors who use their precious time bullying others into caring.
Sharing resources and information is important, but complex political games involving the major international forces cannot be reduced to Instagram or Twitter, so while getting a kick out of calling people out for their inaction comes fairly easy and it seems like the the right thing to do in times of strife, before taking part in this ridiculous spectacle please try to take time to remember that compassion cannot be temporary or selective.

Last but not least, humble yourself. As pressured as we may feel to “do something”, we hold little to no power in the resolution of historical, geo-political contexts. Rather than rushing to solve world problems when social media tells you to, concentrate on daily acts of kindness and compassion. Lending a hand to those in need, living your life in a honest and transparent way, trying to be competent and well versed in the things you decide to speak up on.

Without these elements, we will never stop being at war.

Ps. Remember, whenever you feel the need to shame somebody into caring for a social cause they wouldn’t normally care for, this could be the result:

Hannah Tindle @hannahtindle

Can someone please stop this slam poetry Victoria’s Secret model

---

Here’s a list of things and resources you can use to donate and help Ukrainians in need:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15eTsCgyH8T3OJSka3UFnw5-XgMu40E74d6Sqg4IxRHw/edit