Notes on the war, 2

When the shooting starts one has to decide on which side one belongs. If one stays undecided between the lines, the chances of literally being shot are high. The farther away form the actual shooting, shelling, suffering and dying one is, though, the more complex the situation becomes. Take, for example, the accusation that Germany ist financing Putin’s war by buying Russian Gas and Oil. Roughly, that is correct. So stop buying from Russia. But buying no oil and gas, actually buying nothing from Putin’s Russia, would necessarily mean to buy it somewhere else, for example in Saudi Arabia, a country which is itself accused of war crimes in Yemen, where it leads a dirty war since 2015 with thousands of dead. Or we buy neither Russian nor Saudi Arabian oil and gas, but shop in Qatar, which is accused of massive human rights violations in the context of building stadiums for the the football world championships. What would be a moral decision here? Is there morally acceptable decision at all?I am lucky that I can pose that question and don’t have to answer it.

Morally speaking, Realpolitik almost certainly means getting your hands dirty.