I’m not remotely qualified to talk about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in any level of competent detail, but I am qualified to discuss my feelings about it.

These things seem to rarely be fought on real principles; instead, war puts ordinary peoples’ lives on the line in the name of political and financial dominance. It’s always an atrocity. That this, or any, conflict couldn’t be resolved without killing innocent people is a failure on every level: diplomatic, moral, human.

I’m not sure there’s a single leadership voice out there that can be trusted. Russia’s interests largely relate to energy and economic supremacy. Ukraine has aligned itself with NATO but also has allowed literal Nazi battalions to join its national forces. The US has a famously self-interested foreign policy and would prefer Ukraine was allied to it, and that, ideally, it was the only global superpower.

When I say they can’t be trusted, I mean it in two ways: the first is that we can’t believe anything they say. The second is that I don’t trust them to not spill blood in service of those interests. The conflict may be on the level of Russia’s temporary invasion of Georgia (a war that involved war crimes), or it could be more. I’m a computer programmer, not by any means an expert in international relations, so I’m a little bit scared and trying to read what I can.

I’ve noticed some voices that seem to be excited for a reconfigured Cold War - hey, nostalgia is big right now - which doesn’t, to me, seem like what we should want either. The fact that Russia and the US were at loggerheads for a significant portion of the 20th century doesn’t mean they should always be. Which doesn’t in any way make apologies Russia’s behavior or hardline political stance: I’m not arguing in favor of Russia here. I’m really just hoping that everyone can be smart and that all parties come to the table looking for equitable, collaborative peace rather than 20th century style dominance.

I can dream.

Regardless, people will lose their lives, and many more will lose their homes. There’s nothing good or noble about war. There’s nobody to root for except for the people who will be collateral in the face of conflict conducted in the name of someone else’s wealth and power. It’s not a sports game with teams and scores, although the TV news will report on it as such. It’s just death and human suffering.

And my biggest worry is that nobody with power really cares about that.

Anyway, I suppose I should do some computer programming.