We’ve seen with BLM, COVID, and other topics how the narrative can get out of control and squash the people who question or counter it. We saw, in Canada, to what lengths the government would go to crush peaceful protest — not by legitimately arresting people who might be blocking a street — but by doing things like freezing people’s bank accounts without due process of law and blocking GoFundMe accounts to crush the protest.
We’re seeing something like that bubble up again when it comes to the situation with Russia and Ukraine. Sanctions on the government of Russia — or oligarchs who prop it up — make a lot of sense. But discriminating against all Russians and all things Russian because you think that somehow virtue signals that you care is madness. That shouldn’t need to be said. But, it does, because that’s exactly what some are doing. It’s a crushing of people who the narrative deems “wrong”– in this case, for the “crime” of being Russian.
Alexander Malofeev is a 20-year-old piano prodigy. He isn’t an oligarch and he isn’t a friend of Vladimir Putin. He’s just a guy who had piano performances scheduled with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra over the past few days. But they were canceled. Not because he supported the war — he was against the invasion and he said so. He even has family members in Ukraine. But because he happened to be Russian.
‘The Orchestre symphonique de Montral (OSM) feels that it would be inappropriate to receive Mr. Malofeev this week,’ Pascale Ouimet, a spokesperson for the orchestra, wrote in a statement.
Initially, Malofeev’s performances were on track, and the pianist openly spoke out against the invasion. But then several Ukrainians living in Montreal emailed asking the OSM asking it to cancel Malofeev’s performances.
They stated that it wasn’t simply about his stance on the war but about promoting a Russian ‘cultural product.’ [….]
Ouimet added: ‘We continue, however, to believe in the importance of maintaining relationships with artists of all nationalities who embrace messages of peace and hope. We look forward to welcoming this exceptional artist when the context allows it.’
At first, the orchestra declined to cancel referring to Malofeev’s criticism of the war, but it then flipped and decided that removing him from lineup was the right thing to do ‘considering the serious impact on the civilian population of Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion,’ Ouimet explained.
The orchestra said it wanted to ‘reaffirm its solidarity’ with the Ukrainian people and would be making a donation in support of them.
Concerts that he had scheduled in Vancouver later in the year were also canceled.
He had condemned the war calling it a “terrible and bloody decision.”
Malofeev said that he was asked to make more anti-war statements than he already had made, but he was also concerned about what effect that might have on his family.
‘Honestly, the only thing I can do now is to pray and cry,’ he said. ‘I do understand that my problems are very insignificant compared to those of people in Ukraine, including my relatives who live there,’ he wrote.
‘The most important thing now is to stop the blood. All I know is that the spread of hatred will not help in any way, but only cause more suffering.’
How does hurting this guy do anything to stop the war or affect Putin? Indeed, it’s hurting someone who has spoken out against the war. They’re even banning cats from competitions for being “Russian.” Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is still holding meetings with the Russian government for the Iran Deal and on climate change.
This isn’t just about this situation, as we saw with COVID. It’s a dangerous slippery slope of mob mentality. We saw the demonization of the unvaccinated, and some on the left just fell in line to push that. Now, this isn’t even for belief or protest, but just for being Russian. How does this make any sense at all?