Brandon Wu, Period 8, 3/29/22

 Brandon Wu, Period 8, 3/29/22

If the events in Eastern Europe have taught me anything, it’s that nobody wins in war. Not the innocent Ukrainian civilians shelled in their own homes. Not the Russian conscripts forced to fight others’ battles. But as this war has raged on for the past month, with thousands dead and millions of more lives displaced, a common theme emerges from the rubble: oppression. The oppression of Ukrainian civilians, who live in a constant state of instability. A sense of hopelessness, knowing that death may be just around the corner. The oppression of Ukrainian soldiers, who are compelled to leave their lives and families behind to fight in a war nobody called for, but in the end, came calling for them. Oppression of Russian civilians, knowing they cannot voice their opinions without the threat of being beaten and imprisoned. At the same time, the government manipulates its citizens into believing that this war was justified - a mere operation to rid Ukraine of its Nazis. And the oppression of Russian soldiers, many conscripted into a war they didn’t ask for and didn’t know where they were going. Young men, not much older than myself, being sent to their deaths for seemingly no reason - their lives ended at the whim of a tyrant. Nobody ever wins in war. Every death is a family broken. Every building burnt is a future upended.

It pains me to know that people are losing their lives, families, and livelihoods over an unnecessary war. Although I can never understand what it is like to be in their shoes, I can still reflect upon my own life and the idea of oppression. The relative stability and freedom I experience here in America is a far cry from what those in Ukraine are facing. As bombs are raining down those thousands of miles away, I am sitting here at my table, surrounded by the quietness of peace. As people hunker down in their basements, waiting for the explosions to end, I can look out my window to the view of pristine trees and buildings untouched by the horrors of war. I can go on the internet to read about anything I want, free from government censorship. Perhaps I have been blind to these privileges for most of my life, or perhaps, I can never truly comprehend them until they’re gone. Either way, I know I won’t take this peace for granted because, as seen in Ukraine, freedom is no guarantee.