One of the problems with America’s populist impulses is that they have made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for our society to know where to draw the line. It’s as if we are chronically unable to stop ourselves from being pushed down every slippery slope we happen across, even though we know what will happen once we reach the bottom.
That’s why we went from posting black squares on social media during the summer of 2020 to watching as minority-owned businesses were looted and burned to the ground, why “14 days to stop the spread” turned into two years of on-and-off COVID-19 restrictions, and why a well-meaning effort to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine has led to Russian vodka being removed from grocery store shelves and Russian cats being banned from international competitions. We grasp on to any and every thing that seems morally significant with a fervor, and we fail to recognize that there is often a difference between what we believe to be just and what is prudent.
Our cultural response to the crisis in Ukraine is a perfect example of this tendency to overcorrect. What began as a reasonable and necessary effort to punish Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and pressure the Russian population into demanding an end to his war has become a hysterical overreaction. EA Sports announced this week that it is removing Russian national and club teams from all of its video games. A number of retailers, including Publix, have said they will no longer sell Russian vodka. The International Cat Federation banned Russian-bred cats from being registered in any of its pedigree books. A Russian-themed restaurant in Washington, D.C., was vandalized and broken into, even though its owner has no ties to the Russian government — in fact, he’s not even Russian.
What good does any of this do?
To be sure, some sort of corporate response to Russia’s aggression was necessary to make Putin understand that his actions will cost him financially and his regime economically. But there is a massive difference between targeting Russia’s economy on the one hand and ostracizing Russian people and their culture altogether. The former is strategic, whereas the latter does nothing but make the people in charge feel good about themselves for “doing something.”
Our responsibility in moments like these is to seek clarity and act sensibly. Some of our leaders, especially those pushing for the U.S. military to get involved in the war, have already proved they’re incapable of doing either. And our cultural institutions are no better. Just as our officials in Washington are a little bit too eager to entangle us in foreign conflicts, our corporate elites are all too happy to drive the public toward moral panic if they believe they have something to gain from it.
So, they’ll ban Russian-branded vodka, cancel contracts with Russian-born athletes, and act like they’re helping end the war in Ukraine. And all the while, our society becomes less serious, less rational, and less capable of holding mob rule at bay.
