Svetlana Drugoveyko-Dolzhanskaya, a philologist who provided expert testimony supporting Sasha Skochilenko, a jailed artist who is currently under investigation for replacing supermarket price tags with anti-war statements, has been fired from her teaching position at St. Petersburg State University.
Drugoveyko-Dolzhanskaya now said that she had been fired for “committing an amoral act” and said she would challenge the decision in court despite not expecting a verdict in her favour.
Thank you for your kind words. I needed them. It’s a very conflicting situation to chat with you all here, out of our media bubble, see these attrocities and not to give up. I feel relieved even by talking about it without fearing for my safety. It’s too much to contain in one’s head.
The world has already enough evil and cynicism. Anyone who chooses compassion is a hero in my eyes. But don’t let empathy burn you.
If you don’t mind I’ll leave a reading recommendation here: Paul Bloom, Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion
I will gladly take this suggestion.
To give something back, I’d recommend Berserk, the manga. My recent reread after it’s original author died gave me a deeper understanding of it: with all horror, brutality, orientation on depicting fights, the best times the main character had was when he found friendship and love, when he opposed the spirit of hatred that gave him his power on condition of eventually killing him. Such a simple concept, but it is put and drawn so well. It shows, how after a huge loss and PTSD person gets filled with hatred, and how it may regain it’s sanity with time and opening up to strangers.
Huge NSFW warnings though, I want you to consider checking first if it wouldn’t be too much for you, seriously. And - to assume the first chapters are the future of the MC, after the traumatic event, and bearing with him being an asshole due to hurting internally at every step.
It helped me a little bit. I hope you’d find something in it.