Timothy Snyder: Always be kind: An unexpected wartime slogan (Ukraine)

[Amaryllis]

https://snyder.substack.com/p/always-be-kind?

I see the world as a parent. Before my children were born, I was judgmental. After fifteen years with kids, I look at dads and moms and think “Wow, they are doing a good job.”

I just had a moment like that in Ukraine, talking about drone warfare. I was in Kyiv, on St. Michael’s Square, recording a video about the work we have done these last three years to raise funds for drone defense, a system that is protecting Ukrainians right now. Passersby knew what I was talking about; the worst drone attack on Kyiv had taken place just a few days before.

To my left I sensed a presence. It was a family: mom and dad, boy of about six. When the filming was done, the mom came over to say a friendly word. As I smiled goodbye to the three of them, I saw the message on her son’s t-shirt:

Always be kind.

War and parenting are close. Children are killed and parents live on. Parents are killed and children live on.

Snip

In Ukraine, and in other war zones, and amidst other catastrophes and difficulties, parents raise children, or mourn them. And what is to admire, or what I admire at least, is parenting that teaches children how to be with others, how to do things, and also how to imagine a world that is different than this one, that is better. It is a challenge, not an escape, to teach:

Always be kind.