Russia Sanctions: Rabid Insanity of Punishing Innocent People

 I've been having a but of a spat on Twitter and YouTube in the comments on various posts demanding the West do more to punish Russia.

I've stood up and said that punishing Russians just for being Russian is unlawful, unjust and unfair. Because they have no influence over the Russian government, so why should they be punished?

But some of the responses that I've received just show how the media have stirred up the mob mentality.

Basically the jist is that "58% of Russians voted for Putin, so they are all guilty".

So let's set aside the 58% figure. What about the 42% that didn't vote for him? Do they deserve to be punished as well then? How do you segregate Russians who support and that oppose Putin?  Are you going as far as saying they should put their lives on the line in Russia and protest against the war and then maybe we'll not sanction them? 

They don't seem to understand how insane their viewpoint that ALL Russians should be punished for the crimes of their government. 

Basically the media have tarred ALL Russians as evil and that they should be essentially erased from the face of the planet, or at the very least not invited to polite dinner parties. 

I mean, my go-to example is Nikita Mazepin, the F1 driver. He's lost his job in F1 and to add insult to injury has had his assets frozen and seized. Now I could understand the legality of doing this IF he'd been in the Russian government and had earned his fortune whilst in government. 

But he's a fucking racing driver and has earned his money racing cars. He's not served in the Russian government, so why is he being punished? His money has been earned legally.

For Being Russian. 

Now this rings warning bells with me. It's just like the persecution of Jews for the crime of being Jewish, or the persecution of unvaccinated people for being unvaccinated.

This instant unpersoning, instant demonisation of people has to stop. Because at some point it will go too far and before you know it we'll be rounding up people and loading them into camps for "processing".

Or is that what the authorities are desinsitising us to? Will there eventually be a class or race of people that the authorities will eventually want to cull from the population?

Just be careful people and really think what is happening here with some depth and not the shallow knee-jerk reaction the press and media are goading you into.

Russian Sanctions: Targeting Innocent People.

 Okay, I understand sanctions against a government, restricting their ability to (for instance) procure weapons, or finance, or basically to dramatically affect their ability to do the things that governments do.

But... what's going on with sanctioning ordinary Russian citizens? 

What have they done that is illegal? For instance, Nikita Mazepin, the Formula 1 driver. He's lost his seat in the car at the Hass F1 team. He's now had his assets seized. But what has he done that is illegal? What is the lawful excuse for seizing his assets? Just because he is Russian? Isn't that unfair? Isn't that unlawful?

I could understand IF he was a Russian minister with direct influence over Putin, or benefitting directly from the action of government in some way.

But I draw the line at unpersoning someone just because they are Russian. Some wealthy Russians have not made their fortunes in Russia, have not benefitted from the Russian government and have no influence over government decisions. So why are the West targeting them unfairly?

Remember, the West supposedly hates Putin because he is a dictator. He's been in government for over 20 years. He's benefitted financially vastly during his tenure. His government is corrupt. So I can understand sanctioning the government.

But I can't for the life of me understand why ordinary Russian citizens are being persecuted in this way. It is vindictive and unfair.

Why not sanction the German government that paid billions to Russia for Russian Gas? They have had a far bigger contribution to the Russian government's coffers than ordinary Russians have. 

How hypocritical is it of Europe to exempt energy supplies from sanctions, supplying billions of dollars in funds to Russia for their gas, while at the same time impounding Russian-owned superyachts, businesses and bank accounts?

You really do have to ask if the ends really are the justification for the West's actions. Because otherwise we would resolutely cut off ALL funding to Russia. NOW.

The "Unpersoning" of Russia: Coming to Rebellious Citizens of The West Soon?

I write the following article with no inference of support for what the Russian government is doing in the Ukraine. I have to spell this out lest someone uses this as a tool to mark me as some Russian sympathiser and uses it to deplatform me or denigrate my opinions.

The number of measures taken by the West against Russia is unprecedented... or is it?

The sanctions against Russia have moved far from the usual removal of trade and access to finance for the country or government, but is now extended to individuals loosely connected to the government.

Private Citizen's Bank accounts have been frozen, superyachts and private airplanes seized, insurance cancelled, Russian Sports people have been thrown out of competitions, Russian backed or owned teams, with no connection to the Russian government and not financed by them have been thrown out of competitions. For instance the G-Drive team have been thrown out of the World Endurance Championship. 

It's ridiculous, especially when the individuals involved have no connection to the Russian Government. It's unprecedented, because previously sanctions have only ever been used against government ministers, not independent private individuals.

But don't think this strategy is new or limited to a few millionaires. Western governments are using this newly introduced tool of financial blackmail against people in their own countries that protest against government policies.

Literally a couple of Weeks ago, we saw members of the Ottawa Truck Convoy Protest have their Bank accounts Frozen, be Threatened with having their insurance cancelled and having their children taken away from them. 

A Cafe owner that dared to go against the Local Government in Ottawa and served Truckers has had his business closed down. He's been given notice to quit.

These authoritarian measures have only recently started to be used as a tool to induce compliance. They are unprecedented against national governments and ministers, let alone individual citizens.

So, where are they coming from? The World Economic Forum. 

The people behind the great reset are the people now behind the overreach of the Western Governments. Canada is the first to push the boundary against it's own citizens, because the majority of the Canadian cabinet have links to or are members of the WEF. Klaus Swab, the founder of the WEF has stated publicly in interviews that the majority of the Canadian cabinet are members of the WEF.

And I thought Common Purpose was a threat to Western freedom. 

The WEF seems to have a more direct affect on democracy and the rights of individuals in the West.

Freezing bank accounts of people you disagree with is fundamentally wrong. In the West we have the right to protest, the right to air grievances in public. This is not a right that any Western government has the authority to deny.

But here we are. Private Russian individuals with no connection to the Russian government are having their bank accounts frozen and their assets seized by Western governments, under no lawful or legal authority. And no-one is challenging this egregious act of illegality and immorality.

It will come to you next, mark my words. Compliance will be required  or you will have your money and assets removed from you. It's happened to protesters in Canada. Other Western governments will use the same template for "inconvenient" individuals.

Protest at your peril.