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Adam Borowski

The time to decide where you stand is now

We’re in the beginning stages of a global conflagration. It’s a matter of time before the situation around the world worsens, even if by a miscalculation. I don’t know which flashpoint is going to be the catalyst. It’s immaterial. The point is – in spite of all the talk about negotiations and so on, it’s clear that humanity is due for another calamity-of-cleansing, as that’s what a global war is. When the situation on the planet gets so convoluted that nothing reasonable can be done to turn things around, a war comes around and does the job. Sadly, at the cost of millions, maybe a billion in our case today, of lives.

As you’ve probably noticed, people are already divided into several groups. The first group is taking action by being on the front lines. Volunteers, soldiers, medics, and many, many more courageous souls willing to die for the greater good. A subset of that group are people like me who write articles and contribute – at the risk of sounding pompous – intellectually to the war of ideas which then influences the war on the ground where people see bullets and missiles. They say the pen is mightier than the sword. As always, context is key. Ask a soldier battling terrorists every day if he or she needs a pen or a sword. I doubt he’d need a pen.

Now, then you have people who look at the first group with disdain and say, ”Losers, suckers, crazies, virtue signalers, selfish pricks” and so on, and so forth. These people can’t fathom that anyone would want to do what’s right by putting themselves in danger, especially if there’s no financial gain involved. Simply stupid, naive and downright crazy. Some people in this group love to guilt-trip you, too. ”You’re selfish, how can you leave your loved ones/friends” and so on. Threats of disinheriting and locking up in a mental hospital are common as well. I don’t get how a cogent adult can be legally stopped from making his or her own decisions. Here’s your decision, here are the potential consequences. You accept? Ok. End of story. That’s adult thinking. But, so many people are collectivists and cultists at heart, they are offended by anyone showing initiative and individualism because, deep down, they are envious people with nasty little minds and they know it.

Simply put: people like you, people like me, irritate their demons.

The question is: who’s the selfish one here? Could it be projection? A true friend, for example, wouldn’t condemn you for your decision. A true friend would either say, ”I don’t support what you’re doing but it’s your life, good luck, let me know if there’s anything I can do” or ”Hey, then I’m gonna join you.” If your so-called friends can only resort to gossip and guilt-tripping, maybe it’s time to change your circle of friends because they aren’t really your friends to begin with, just a bunch of small-minded gossipers. You’d think they have more productive things to do, with so many crises unfolding around us, than gossip about what someone else is doing. Yeah, I know. Not gonna happen. Ignore them and you do you. At some point, you’re gonna come across like-minded people who get you 100%. Take the first step.

Then, you have people who go on about their lives as though nothing is happening in the world. It’s a psychological defense mechanism. They can’t handle what’s going on and so they live in a perceptual bubble and anyone who tries to bring up the above topics is immediately shut down, ridiculed, laughed at, or they quickly move on to another topic. They know what’s going on, of course, they just choose to pretend all is well. When faced with things they can’t understand or accept, such as truma, some people escape into their inner world. It’s not a new phenomenon and, at times, healthy. When you get completely sucked into that other world, that’s when we have a problem.

Going back to the first group. As the conflagration worsens, people like me are going to have to decide: is writing articles enough? Is being on an intellectual front enough or is it time to join the actual fight in whatever capacity people like me can be useful?

Make no mistake. If you aren’t completely selfish, don’t live in a bubble and have some conscience left, you’re going to be faced with the same dilemma at some point. As people get massacred so that we can live relatively normal lives, there’s going to come a point in the near future where we, too, are going to have to decide – do we go to work as if nothing is happening, play house as if nothing is happening and pretend all is well or do we take action in defending our civilization from darkness, just as in so many TV shows where a huge army of brave adventurers gets ready to repel the ultimate assault of darkness, knowing that many of these brave adventurers won’t be alive to witness who ultimately wins and the new world ahead?

Sounds dramatic, even pompous, I know. But these are the stakes we’re faced with today and every day is going to making it more obvious, regardless of where you happen to be in the world.

About the Author
Adam Borowski is a technical Polish-English translator with a background in international relations and a keen interest in understanding how regime propaganda brainwashes people so effectively. He's working on a novel the plot of which is set across multiple realities. In the novel, he explores the themes of God, identity, regimes, parallel universes, genocide and brainwashing. His Kyiv Post articles covering a wide range of issues can be found at https://www.kyivpost.com/authors/27