Comment by jnsaff2 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jnsaff2 | Hacker News Reader

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That's an interesting whataboutist take.

I would mostly agree, but:

- fleeing your home country because its inhabitants (including yourself) have let it go to shits and you have a choice between keeping on tolerating what has been always there or just NOW deciding to flee

vs.

- fleeing your home country which for the last few years has started going to the right direction, has hope of becoming part of a much more welcoming and tolerant world .. because some thugs are literally killing your family, bombing your house and you either flee or risk dying.

There is no question which of those two uses up all of my empathy. Once the war has stopped, once all who have lost their actual home have it back, then we may have empathy for the people who let this happen.

Russians in Russia don't have a choice, please stop implying that Russian elections are either fair or of any consequence. People on the internet love to throw around the idea that citizens of oppressive regimes have a say in the direction or actions of that regime.

Neither Russian nor Chinese nor North Korean nor Iranian citizens have any say in what their respective governments do.

They don't, but Putin and his wars tend to be very popular in Russia.

Do you have any relatives in Russia? I have a lot and my experience talking to them says you're wrong. Your attempt to present Russia as some sort of NK-like dystopia is completely misguided.

Bullshit. The country is not 140M slaves without any agency.

The system is effective, but people are complicit. Why they still are, I don't know. I grew up on soviet union and we escaped the first chance we got. But them behind the border decided to accept whatever they did. A little explanation from our neighbors who also have to put up with the russian threat all the time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF9KretXqJw

> Russians in Russia don't have a choice

Each country has the leadership it tolerates (or deserves, I guess). It is of course very hard to depose an entrenched rul(er|ing class), but not impossible. I'm not even demanding you do so, it makes sense to my mind that you would choose flight over fight. But that does not put you in the same position as fleeing Ukrainians.

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