Re: [pygame] Do you support The #Python Software Foundation making a statement in support of peace?

I didn't want to dominate this thread, so I've held off the last few days to give others a chance to reply.

Herve, I assumed that your "why not for Iraq?" question was a deflection rather than a sincere question, and your later emails seem to confirm that. The pro-Putin side never wants to come out and directly say they favor Russia in this conflict, for obvious reasons. Instead they engage in whataboutism or "just asking questions" or "now is not the right time" etc.

But to answer your "why not for Iraq?" question: because it was quite "controversial" to be against the Iraq war. Today, after two decades of waste, death, Abu Ghraib, and WMDs that never materialized, it's easy to say the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were a mistake. But twenty years ago we were calling our potatoes "freedom fries" and the Dixie Chicks lost their careers for saying they were ashamed of Bush. I'm sure twenty years from now history will show Ukraine to be the just side in this war and everyone will claim they supported Ukraine (whether that's true or not). But for now, making a statement in support of Ukraine seems to be...

...well, it seems to be simultaneously easy and of no impact ("what real good is a statement of support?") and yet at the same time, so controversial that it'll likely not happen if this thread is any indicator. And that is why the PSF did not make a statement against the Iraq invasion.

I'm against a generic "statement for peace" because it is cowardice; an attempt to compromise between the pro-Ukraine and pro-Putin sides and appeasing neither. As Desmond Tutu once said, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."

The PSF should make a statement supporting Ukraine. To make another quote, this one from MLK, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

-Al

On Wed, Mar 16, 2022 at 1:33 AM Ian Mallett <ian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi,

As technologists, we hold a great deal of de-facto power, and therefore I think it is reasonable, if not morally obligatory, to be careful and conscientious, as well as promulgating kindness and respect for human life and our world.

Therefore, I do not oppose any "statement for peace" (even besides the very one-sided situation with Russia/Ukraine it obviously alludes to, I think everyone sane agrees that mechanized mass death is generally bad). However, I do feel like a "statement" is nothing but virtue-signaling (and rather vacuous virtue-signaling, at that).

If one truly supports peace, hand-wringy futzing about on mailing lists will accomplish nothing; the least one could do to make their word meaningful is to, for example, contribute to humanitarian efforts relieving human suffering in the region. Furthermore, the tools of computer science, together with the general privilege afforded by the technology jobs I and most of you have, give us opportunity to make real positive change beyond this. I hope that everyone thinking about ways to help will consider such more-meaningful efforts.

I regret I could not comment any of this on Twitter. I have been blocked pre-emptively from the account, and actively refused explanation as to why.

Ian