@daveybot

Which leads us neatly to Desmond Tutu:

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

@grayface_ghost

#Press and #balance

"There are several overlapping groups of people who, probably for different reasons, are more likely to prefer news that shares their point of view:
(a) the ideological and politically engaged;
(b) young people, especially those who rely mainly on social media for news;
(c) women; and
(d) less socioeconomically advantaged groups."

"In markets dominated by fewer brands — often publicly funded ones such as the BBC — respondents in that market also tend to express higher levels of preference for impartiality." In Britain, where respondents use an average of four news brands, the lowest number across the 40 countries studied, 62% of respondents say they prefer news displaying no point of view.

Camila Mont'Alverne et al, 2025: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/23816

Ultimately, even if you want to ignore all morality, if we don't defend the rules-based order - whether with Ukraine or Palestine - we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

It is exactly this rules-based order (despite all the contradictions which exist within it) which allows smaller countries like Ireland to thrive independently instead of being constantly bullied and attacked by larger and more powerful countries.

We need to support Ukraine as much as we can. As a neutral country, we can do so much to help their refugees as they flee a brutal invasion. As a neutral country, we can push for a fair diplomacy which recognises the clear distinction between the aggressor and the defender. As a neutral country, we can lobby our allies to do more.

Currently, our tax haven allows Russian oligarchs to fund the war - look up S 110 entities: https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/0601/1302481-russian-sec-110-firms-raised-118bn-here-committee-told/

@a_sator This seems like a good reason to consider alternate approaches to just throwing money at European militaries. Our Kreisky government demonstrated an excellent example of such leadership. They fully embraced #neutrality and figured out how to make that an effective defense policy. This also would apply on the European level. We don't need to drum up war plans against China and Russia. We wouldn't defeat them anyway. We can accept that, and make better policy for all involved.

Until Jan 20, US civil servants worked acc/to a different moral code. Federal workers were under instructions to respect the rule of #law, venerate the #Constitution, maintain political #neutrality, & uphold lawful policy changes whether they come from Republican or Democratic admins. They were supposed to measure #objective #reality—evidence of pollution, for example—& respond accordingly. Not all of them were good administrators or moral people, but damage that any one …could do was limited….

@micahflee @protonprivacy Neutrality in face of fascism is enabling.

Neutrality is an oppressor myth.

If you are not antifascist, what are you?