By Alan Boinus
I was at the beach with my wife last Sunday appreciating what a lovely day it was in Laguna. Just a little over four weeks ago, people like us were at similar beaches in Odessa enjoying their lives before their world came crashing down.
Obviously, what is happening in Ukraine is a crisis unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes. The city of Mariupol alone (which had a population almost 20 times that of Laguna Beach) has been completely obliterated to ashes. More than three million have fled Ukraine at a rate that will soon wither out the once-thriving vibrant and democratic nation now held hostage by Vladimir Putin and his reign of terror.
The war in Ukraine is more than the wanton exploits of a callous despot. Beyond the territorial fight that might spill over to Poland, this is an existential assault on western values and democracy. Winston Churchill paraphrasing George Santayanas said, “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who seems to channel Churchill calls the war in Ukraine “A crime against democracy itself.”
While many of us are making donations and the like in support of Ukraine, many of us have our collective heads in the sand so desperate for “normal” lives after the pandemic that we are numb to what is happening in Ukraine. I am reminded of Paul Simon’s lyrics, “I am blinded by the light of God and truth and right—And I wander in the night without direction…” Many of us think that we are thousands of miles from the war halfway around the globe and that the conflict in Ukraine, as bad as it is, won’t happen to us. But actually, we are just 10 miles from the war. That is the distance inside Ukraine where Russian bombs striking near the Polish border (less than half the distance of Laguna to Catalina). And if Poland is dragged into this war, we as a member state of NATO are also dragged in.
The lesson is freedom is not free. It should not fall on Ukraine to shoulder the war for democracy. After Sept. 11, 2001, we were a united country and world determined to show our shared resolve against terrorism. It seemed like every car on the road displayed the American flag and put politics aside in a show of united support for President George W. Bush. We fought back. We changed the way we travel. And we went to war to fight the terrorists.
We should similarly show support for President Joe Biden and Zelenskyy. We can demand more sanctions against Russia and military aid for Ukraine; we can donate more money; display the Ukraine flag with ours; ask our churches to help form donation drives to send blankets, medicine and canned food to the refugees; open up our homes to refugees; ask our employers to let us continue to work out of our homes to lessen the demand on gas—so we can stop buying the oil that finances Putin’s war (that will also help with inflation). And in Laguna, which welcomes millions of people from around the world (including Ukraine), we can call for our city council to make a resolution denouncing Putin to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
This is a chapter in our human history that will not just determine the future of Ukraine, but the future of democracy. Let’s not fail history, nor ourselves. Check out cnn.com/impact to see what you can do.
Alan is a 32-year resident of Laguna Beach. He lives with his wife, Rosalie, a Sawdust artist and runs an entertainment and marketing company developing cell phone apps.
