LETTER

LETTRE

 Whatabout-ism : we're right, they're wrong.

 

Western countries sell themselves as "developed" and "democratic." They’re quick to criticize countries they dislike. The world cheered when Ukrainians stocked up Molotov cocktails and took up arms against the Russians. However, when Palestinians and Iraqis do the same thing, they're labelled "terrorists."
    Whatever you call it: whataboutism, moral equivalence, two wrongs, double standards, it boils down to this: My side isn't subject to the same moral rules as the other side. My side has excusing factors for what it did. (or is doing)
    What nonsense! There isn't one moral law for the goose and another for the gander. Moral rules are universal. Whatever your political stance, whatever your geopolitical background, crime is crime, racism is racism, hypocrisy is hypocrisy, and human rights violations are human rights violations.
    People who have the courage to be a libertarian thinker understand this: If it's wrong when Stephen Harper did it, it's wrong when Justin Trudeau does it. If Trump's sexual predations were wrong, so were Bill Clinton's predations. If Russia launching missiles at Ukrainians is wrong, then Turkey's aerial bombing of Kurdish civilians is also wrong.
    Western media tries to explain why our wrongs are less bad, less evil, and excusable, than the wrongs of "the other side." Wrong is wrong regardless of who does it.
Nick Kossovan
Toronto