The Morality of Cheering on War
Why the distinction between "justified" and "understandable" is important
I am certain that there was a lot of anti-Japanese sentiment in the U.S. in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack. An event like that has got to be psychologically scarring to the population. I’m sure there was a lot of outright racism towards the Japanese. The internment of Japanese Americans in camps was a policy that, I am sure, resonated with a lot of normal people who felt some serious antipathy towards the Japanese as a whole group. I am sure that there were many Americans who cheered when reading about the destruction of Japanese cities.
The incarceration of Japanese Americans and anti-Japanese racist attitudes were understandable. It makes sense that a society that just got attacked out of the blue by another country would feel a certain amount of anger at that country. It makes sense that there would be a widespread desire for retribution. It makes sense that Americans would give in to their most base instincts during this difficult time, that they would justify racist attitudes and persecution of their fellow American citizens that happen to have Japanese ancestry or origin. It makes sense that a normal person might say “good, let ‘em die” when seeing news of, say, nuclear weapons being used on civilian populations. It makes sense because people are flawed, fallible creatures. We’re unable to contain the anger that arises within us when we’re the victims of an unjust crime.
The camps and the racism were understandable, but they were not justified nor can they be excused. Yes, it makes sense that there was a backlash, but that does not mean that the moral foundation for interning a group of people on the basis of race or ethnicity somehow shifted in favor of justifying that policy. I understand why an American might engage in racism against the Japanese, but the Pearl Harbor attack did not make racism any less wrong. Racism, regardless of who is being racist against whom, was wrong before the attack as well as after. That is why, with the benefit of historical hindsight, we look back at the policy of internment with great shame, and have taken steps to apologize for the policy and compensate the victims as best as we can. That is why, with the benefit of hindsight, U.S. high school history teachers show their students American propaganda posters from WW2 that depict obvious racism when it comes time to discussing that period.
Refusing to excuse personal racism and racist policies does not simultaneously make the Pearl Harbor attack any less wrong in and of itself. They are not mutually exclusive wrongs; the attack was unprovoked and unjustified and the racism, despite being an understandable reaction, was morally unjustified.
Similarly, sincerely being happy to read news of large numbers of Japanese civilians dying due to bombardment, or being injured, or losing their loved ones, or losing their homes and livelihoods, may be understandable for an American during WW2, but is does not make it any less disgusting that otherwise normal people are happy to learn that other totally normal people are currently suffering. Their suffering was a tragedy, as was the suffering of the victims of the Pearl Harbor attack. War is tragedy through-and-through. War is an endless cycle of unjustified horrors committed by people against one-another on a mass scale, and while we can comprehend the cause-and-effect nature of it, there is only one moral throughline that can be traced.
The reason I am writing this is because Ukraine launched a mass drone attack on Moscow today, May 30th, 2023. The drones did little damage, it doesn’t seem like anyone was killed, but the attack spurred a lot of cheering and jeering, as well as a subsequent backlash against such a reaction.
When I woke up and checked my phone this morning, seeing that this attack had taken place, my immediate thoughts went to my extended family, all of whom live in and around Moscow. I wanted to know if the drones killed anyone. I wanted to know where they struck. I wanted to know my family was safe. I can imagine how Ukrainians, who have most likely been waking up and checking in with their family every day for over a year now, could develop a lot of antipathy towards Russia and Russians. I can imagine how, having been the victims of such an atrocious crime as this unjustified, bloody war, they develop a lot of extremely negative attitudes towards Russia and Russians. It’s understandable; they are fighting for the survival of their nation-state, they are dying by the thousands, they constantly live in danger and fear, and there is a single entity responsible for all of these awful experiences that they can direct their naturally-arising hatred towards.
I get it. If I was in their place, I might be saying some awful things right now. If I was the victim in this war, I might do or say things that I might later regret. It’s an understandable reaction, though that does not mean that my awful words would be excused. Just as with the example of anti-Japanese racism, Russophobia does not somehow shift from being wrong to being acceptable.
I understand why Ukrainians could feel legitimately happy to find out that a missile or a drone has struck inside Russia somewhere. I can imagine being happy to find out that there were casualties, even if they were civilian. “Good,” I would think, “we’ve been dying by the thousands over here and they’ve been living like their country isn’t at war. Let ‘em get a taste of their own medicine. Let them know suffering for once.”
It’s a sick though when viewed outside the context of war, but it’s relatively straightforward when you view it in-context. They’ve got blood in their eyes, they’re seeking revenge. Their country has been attacked for no good reason and now their cousin is dead or a kid down the block lost his sister. It’s hard for me to blame them because I’m not entirely sure what I would be blaming. Their human nature? Am I upset that evolution through natural selection has hardcoded some psychological traits into all us humans that allow us to rationalize words and actions that cannot truly be justified? I can’t expect people to suddenly rise above their flawed, fallible selves and become literally Buddha incarnate. That’s not how this works, and history shows us many examples of awful deeds done in the name of victory in war, deeds that are later viewed as regrettable, to say the least.
And I do hope that, at some point in the near future, Ukraine is able to come down off its adrenaline high and look back in a more sober-minded state and draw some conclusions from this war, just as many before have had to do. As a Russian, I am not going to expect anything from Ukrainians that I not would expect from anyone else faced with a similar situation. I recommend that other Russians take the same approach; leave them be for the moment. Now is not the time to nitpick their online statements following a big event. For obvious reasons, they are not in their right mind at this time. No fruitful conversation can happen right now, so don’t waste your breath.
Perhaps a less wasted breath would be spent criticizing the reactions of non-Ukrainians, because what is definitely not justified and also not so understandable is the reaction of someone who is not the victim of an unprovoked war cheering on death and destruction. It’s easy for everyone else outside of the two sides in this war to figure out who the “good guy” is (Ukraine) and who the “bad guy” is (Russia) because when faced with the basic facts, you’re left with something very straightforward - Russia attacked Ukraine. That’s all there is to it, really. Ukraine didn’t attack Russia first, leading Russia to retaliate. No, Russia attacked first, Ukraine is now defending itself. OK, good, we’ve got the basics out of the way. So when Ukraine launches a drone strike on Russia proper, it’s the direct consequence of Russia’s initial invasion. Don’t invade a sovereign state, don’t get droned. Here’s the fine line; just because you know which side is the aggressor does not give you the excuse to cheer on people dying.
That sober-minded analysis that Ukrainians cannot be expected to perform right now can absolutely be expected of everyone else. There is no reason for an American to feel the type of hatred towards Russia that Ukrainians feel because (follow the hands here) Russia didn’t invade the U.S. What possible explanation could there be for, say, a Mexican to cheer on drones hitting residential apartment buildings in Moscow? He’s not in danger because of this war, his family is not on the front lines, his country’s sovereignty is not being threatened. It might be slightly more complicated when it comes to countries like Finland, Estonia, Poland, Georgia, etc. because of their long history with Russia/U.S.S.R., but that complication does nothing to change the moral equation. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Did the U.S.S.R. invade Finland in 1939? Yes, and I can understand the heightened emotions of the Finns of that time as they defended their country, but I cannot understand a modern-day Finn using that historical injustice as a weak justification for cheering on modern-day death and destruction.
It should be entirely possible for everyone else on planet Earth to walk this line. Yes, the invasion was wrong, Russia is in the wrong, Ukraine has the right to defend itself. Yes, you can politically, economically, and military support Ukraine’s self-defense efforts. No, you cannot be happy that “the Russians got a taste of their own medicine.” No, you should not cheer on drone strikes or missile barrages.
Aris Roussinos wrote an absolutely brilliant piece in Unheard about the rise of an online constituency that views this war entirely through screens.
I want Ukraine to win the war... But I don’t particularly need or want to see each individual death. The fact that many apparently do tells you little about Ukraine, but much about human nature and the still-dimly understood nature of social media.
It’s not real to them, it’s more like a movie or a video game. They’ve separated that piece of their conscience that should be screaming at them when they watch a drone video of an injured Russian soldier killing himself before being struck again or bleeding to death, and instead they jeer and mock. For Ukrainians, this is not just something they see on screen. Sure, perhaps most of what they see in this war will be through a screen, but the danger they face is very much real. Everyone else who lumps themselves in with the Ukrainians, who basically jumps on the bandwagon and allows their most base instincts to take over have absolutely no firm ground to stand on. In the case of some, this war is being used as a justification for their (now unrestrained) Russophobia. No be clear, there is no justification for bigotry.
Lastly, while those foreigners who call Russians “orcs” demonstrate an obviously immoral dehumanization, those Russians who dehumanize their own countrymen are even worse. Russians such as myself can be anti-war without being anti-Russian. We should be able to understand the necessary acts Ukraine must undertake to win without being happy about them. Our country has been forced into a war that we did not want, and the consequences of that war lie squarely on Vladimir Putin and his government. Ukrainian drone strikes are Putin’s fault. Ukraine would not be droning Moscow had Putin not invaded Ukraine. But that does not mean that we should be happy when Ukraine kills Russians. As stated earlier, war is a tragedy. Each death is a tragedy in its own right, each missile is a mistake, every bullet should not have been fired. When a Russian cheers for drone strikes on Moscow, they become traitors.
Not traitors in the sense that they betrayed the Putin regime. All decent, self-respecting Russians should be traitors to the Putin regime. We should betray the regime in hopes of staying true to our motherland, to our people. If we love our country, we are against Putin and his regime and his war because all of that directly destroys our country and kills our people. When a drone strikes Russia and Russians suffer, we blame Putin, but we do not cheer. What is there to be happy about? That some poor nobody’s apartment got destroyed by a drone? That Russians are not safe anywhere, even in the capitol? That we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place? The hard truth is that the “good” side winning this war does not necessarily spell good things for the Russian nation because Russia already lost the moment Putin started the war. There’s nothing to cheer for here.
Those Russians who cheer for Ukrainian strikes are traitors to their nation, they forget which side is “their” side in this conflict. And no, “their” side is not Putin’s government, but the nation that has been captured by Putin and his regime. That nation is now being led to slaughter on the frontlines, its resources are being wasted on tanks, goodwill built up internationally over decades is being spent in nanoseconds, and we’re going to find ourselves in an impossibly deep hole after the war is over, trying to climb out. That suffering nation is victim number two in this war, and a Russian who forgets that and associates themselves with Ukraine more than with Russia is less like a Ukrainian hiding in a subway tunnel during yet another missile attack and more like that American viewing the war through their screen, licking their Cheeto-dust-covered fingers as they jeer and mock Russians who have to end up suffering because of a war that should have never started in the first place.
(Suffice to say, Russians who cheer on the deaths of Ukrainians, civilian or military, and the destruction of Ukrainian cities are very clearly in the land of the damned and the immoral. There’s very little gray area there.)