The idea of “sacrifice” is ancient and pervasive. It can range from the slaughtering of animals to please the gods to the bunting of a baseball to get a man over to third (although today, there are probably more animals sacrificed than there are bunts).
Sacrifice is described well in the philosophy of pragmatism. One of the fathers of that school, Charles Pierce, described the pragmatic approach as, “Consider the practical effects of the objects of your conception. Then, your conception of those effects is the whole of your conception of the object.” Philosophers talk like that to each other so they can make everything sound profound. The practical effect of Mr. Pierce talking like that to any ordinary person would be for Mr. Pierce to have the shit beat out of him.
Essentially, though, translating Pierce into English, what he is saying is that an action is validated by its consequences. What matters is how things turn out. Nothing anyone does is inherently right or wrong. When you are deciding what to do, the choice you make doesn’t work because it is right. It is right because it works.
Contrary to taking a pragmatic approach to the world, we typically talk in terms of moral codes – of doing what is considered right – what fits within a certain ethical system. That’s how we talk, anyway. We act, though, very pragmatically.
Case in point: Ukraine. The world is sacrificing the people of Ukraine. A pragmatic calculation has been made that it will work better for us non-Ukrainians if we just let Putin slaughter the Ukrainians. If we engage with Putin and try to save the Ukrainians, we threaten the potential slaughter of the rest of us. From a strictly pragmatic point of view, this seems like a very reasonable calculation. From a moral point of view, it sucks.
And from the Ukrainian point of view, it really sucks.
But the Ukrainians, to their everlasting glory, seem to understand this. Despite fighting their asses off and, so far, forestalling the Bare-Chested Bully’s advance, they still must know that they are simply postponing the inevitable. They must also know that the only thing that can save their lives and their families lives would be intervention by the Western Allies, especially us. And they finally must know that we ain’t comin’.
And yet where are the Ukrainian complaints? Why aren’t they screaming for us to send in the cavalry? They occasionally ask for stuff like “no-fly zones,” but not with anger. If I were them, and I was watching my friends die and my panicked children crying with hunger, I would not only be looking for Russians to kill.
While I am dazzled by how strong the Ukrainians have shown themselves to be, beyond even that, I am awe-struck by how willing they are to accept their sacrificial fate. What great people those Ukrainians are. What great pragmatists those Ukrainians are.
I am not arguing here for our military intervention, meaning “boots on the ground” as they say. Not hardly. Having once been a “boot on the ground” even though that ground was in Paterson, New Jersey, my experience confirmed to me that the military is the last American institution that we should depend on to make the world a better place. Going to war is a worse resort option than even The Kim Jong Un Hotel and Indoctrination Spa.
So, thanks and hats off to the Ukrainians. They are basically dying so that we might live. If that ain’t pragmatic, I don’t know what is. And, in the ugliest possible way, it is also pretty fucking beautiful.
We were right 
If we, as the United States of America, had nothing to do with the plight of the Ukrainians, I suppose we could feel somewhat comfortable in that at least it’s not our fault. Putin is as Putin does and this time it’s about Ukrainians just plain getting in the way of re-establishing the Soviet empire. Putin’s megalomaniacal view of Ukrainians being less than human absolves him of any guilt in his mind. They just need exterminated.
Yet, in the early 1990’s, the U.S. made a “deal”. The deal was, if Ukraine gave up all their nuclear capacity, in our capitulation to Russian demands, we would “have their backs” if Russia would ever attempt military offensives against Ukraine.
While we nash our teeth and pound our chests and cry in despair of Ukrainian plight, can we conveniently just forget it’s us that threw Ukrainians under the bus?
While it is not the case, if Ukrainians hated us nearly as much as Putin, would it be much of a surprise?
It saddens and disgusts me to think being an ally of the United States isn’t exactly what we think it’s cracked up to be. With friends like us…..
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Well thought out, Rob. Appreciate your following my ramblings.
We are just living through another one of those periods when the bellicose nature of most Americans shows itself – like when we heard all of the USA chants during the iniquitous Iraq War. Not that we are doing the wrong thing this time, it’s just that anyone is labeled either treasonous or ignorant if they even slightly try to understand why Russia might feel the way they do. There is some rational explanation for the way Putin feels about Ukraine. And, as you say, there are a lot of historical reasons why the United States is hardly entitled to the moral high ground. But, there is still no excuse for how the Russians are expressing their discontent.
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