The western world seems to be much more united and acting much quicker against Putin’s aggression against Ukraine than it has been against Covid’s action against all.

Food for thought.

Is it a matter of containment? Maybe not.

Because also interesting is that Russian expats in the Netherlands are reporting that they’re receiving sympathy from the Dutch folks around them, not hate. This was very different after Russia grabbed the Ukrainian Crimea peninsula in 2014. (Source: Dutch Financial Times)

The initial response to Covid was also a lot of hate aimed at people who looked even the slightest bit Asian (not just in the Netherlands, but it raised a public storm there).

Has Covid taught us a lesson?

https://fd.nl/politiek/1431427/russische-ex-pats-nederlanders-tonen-juist-medeleven-s0b2caJ1Sabo

It’s actually pretty damn amazing to see how quickly everyone is coming together now while we’re still in the pandemic and are experiencing massive inflation, to mention only two of the current challenges.