We cannot honestly claim that Ukraine is a perfect democracy. At the same time, we cannot honestly claim that the United States is a perfect democracy. What we can see is that over time Ukraine (and the US) have generally been working toward a goal of becoming freer, better democracies. The aspirations of the people of Ukraine were to create better lives for themselves and their children. They had literally demonstrated in massive ways that they wanted to be a liberal democracy. They wanted freely elected leadership. They wanted human rights and rule of law to be the goal for their country. They shouted for the destruction of the corruption that has made progress slow. They wanted to integrate themselves into the economic and security institutions of their fellow European nations that help to achieve and stabilize development and democracy. Were they making perfect progress? No. Were there times they fell back? Yes. The very same can certainly be said of US history. That a people and their system of government are not yet perfect is not any type of excuse to invade and murder those people and their attempts at progress.
Yet today the people of Ukraine are fighting against an invading army. They are fighting at this hour for their lives, their nation, and any hopes within at least the next generation of continuing that progress toward making their lives better. They are fighting an invading army led by a man who wants to bring to an end all of the goals that the people of Ukraine have taken to the streets to demand and taken to the poles to elect. A man whose goals are to crush Ukraine back into his fold and a Ukraine to be made in the image of his own authoritarian rule. Where freedom of speech and press are crushed under his boot and elections are nothing but a sad sham to demonstrate the leader's own power.
The world needs to come together in support of the people of Ukraine. We should have done more to support their aspirations. Now that the time has come that they're fighting not only for their aspirations but their very lives, we cannot stand by and let Putin march over them without consequence. Standing with Ukraine is simply the right thing to do on the correct side of history.
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