slight politics
I generally never write about politics here. First of all, I don't consider myself competent enough in this area, and secondly, I'm fully aware that it's such a sensitive topic that, one way or another, it will inevitably end in an argument, and I don't want that. This time, it's not really going to be about politics either, but rather about mentality and the differences between countries.
Lately, I've been seeing more and more statements, especially from Russians, along the lines of refusing to engage with anything that wasn’t made in or isn’t available in the Russian Federation. My latest favorite was when someone commented under a post about podcasts that they weren't willing to listen to any podcast that wasn't made in Russia. I've also encountered people who, after running out of arguments, claimed that those of us who disagree with them must think that way simply because, being from Europe, we can't possibly understand their beliefs.
And even though I completely understand the situation that has developed, where someone is from shouldn't make such a huge difference - unless the people expressing these very strong opinions still somehow feel like they're living in the Soviet Union. These narrow-minded people tend to have equally strong arguments such as, "You shouldn’t agree with this person because they don't support Russia's actions", or "You shouldn't watch this blogger because they don't support Russia."
Just to be clear, I'm looking at this whole situation from the outside, and I'm not particularly taking anyone's side. Personally, I don't listen to any music that involves politics in one way or another. I don't consume that kind of content either. Not even when it's the politics of the side I happen to sympathize with more. Because I believe there's no place for politics in art, even if I would otherwise agree with the views of the artists in question.
But this way of thinking is just so foreign to me... It would be interesting to find out whether I've simply been randomly stumbling across these kinds of opinions more often lately, or whether this mentality has actually become more widespread.
