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Three weeks of putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Got used to air alarms, but never to those daily, hourly, and every minute crimes of russia against humanity.
Nonetheless, the psycho-emotional roller coaster is slowing down. Rage is slowly replaced by confidence, clarity, focus, and willingness to act on personal fronts. Still, unintentionally I continue to return to the thoughts, emotions, and feelings that brought me this painful awareness of the war. Some I will present on Medium, some I will leave to myself.
The first week of war was the most mentally destructive. One of the first things that came to my mind at the end of that week was the Trolley Problem. More precisely, its non-existence. I often stumbled upon it in books on psychology and philosophy as it’s a test of our moral values, ethical principles, active decisions, and passive actions.
In short, this thought experiment is about the person inside the uncontrollable trolley, who has to make a decision — to kill five people by doing nothing or pull the lever and kill only one person, thus saving those five. On the one hand, it may seem evident that the death of five will be a worse outcome than the death of an individual. On the other hand, you need to redirect the trolley and condemn one person to death. And what if that one person is a child? Or a relative? We can argue in the classroom for a long time, which decision under what circumstances is morally correct and what sacrifice is acceptable. However, as it turned out, this is only because people never encounter a truly uncontrollable trolley in academic and philosophical discussions. Never have a feeling of complete loss of control, which slips out very unexpectedly… with the scrolling of a newsfeed and reading the first reports of airstrikes in my home at 5 am on February 24, 2022.
It becomes clear there is no such problem. The solution is always obvious, although it is not nearly the same at different levels.
Level 1. Personal. Saving the Minority
This level is the hardest for each individual. Not because the decision is difficult, but because its awareness is excruciating. Deep down, you always know where to direct the trolley. Who will you protect above all, and who will be left on the rails. Who will be called first. Who will you put in the car and take far away from all threats. Who you will contact and make sure that the person is safe, and who will be unconsciously left out of your protection. In short, you know who is that minority to be saved physically or psychologically.
Sadly it means someone less important passes away in your head, while in someone’s head, it is you who are less important and have to pass away. This cold reality brought by war hurts the most. It hurts so much that the head bursts into thousands of sharp pieces. You want to pierce the one who broke the brakes of this brutal trolley. Instead, you stab yourself with it because even those you choose to save psychologically cannot be protected physically. Over time, which seems like an eternity, you became aware of your choices and the choices of others. You accept it and feel better, although the threat does not disappear.
Level 2. National. Rescuing Everyone
Each time I encountered this thought experiment, I was baffled as only two solutions were considered. I always thought that there was a third option — to throw oneself under the trolley and, thus, save everyone. For some reason, this option is not mentioned in the Problem, though I have already seen it beyond my halls of mind. It’s the reality in many cities of Ukraine. This is what Ukrainian defenders are doing now — the Ukrainian Armed Forces, civilians, volunteers who help, protect, support, and save our soldiers, relatives, friends, just strangers, who, after all, are our people. And even captured enemies have nothing to complain about.
Level 3. “Alliance”. Protecting the Majority
Again. The solution is obvious. Was this a real dilemma for NATO — to close the sky over Ukraine and thus intervene or remain passive and look for workarounds? I don’t think anyone really hoped for a positive decision. At least in my circle, everyone understood why it won’t happen, although we signed the petition and appealed to all officias on social media to #closethesky.
No matter how deep the concern is, NATO, being an organization, knows its’ tolerable sacrifice. It’s more acceptable to leave innocent civilians of one nation than to allow a crazy trolley to run over thirty more. Does it hurt? — Definitely, because that’s my family, friends, neighbors, and my nation is under the wheels of the trolley. Does it make it a Problem? — Don’t think so. The only thing to hope for here is that the organizations established in 1940s will at least start to think about changes in their charters to meet the challenges of the 2020s.
Level 4. “great” nation. Saving Themselves, But Not For Long
The war demonstrated there is a fourth way to solve the Problem — simply jump out of the trolley. Sounds ridiculous, but this option is actively used by “ze very great” nation. Jumping off, these people bruised their knees a bit, suffered a minor concussion (which will no doubt turn into a major contusion), may have lost their wallets, and yet continue to assure themselves and others — they are not guilty of any death. They did not take part in the decision-making. Thus the uncontrollable trolley is the only one to be blamed. Well, not making a choice is also a choice!… Shame to upset those who have not yet noticed that they fell on the same rails — just a little bit further down the course of the Trolley.
Level 5. ze great leader of ze great nation. Killing Everyone
To understand the moral choice in the Trolley Problem, one must have ethical principles and values. No morality — no problem. Nothing to add here. One can only hope that this trolley will pass over its uncontrollable driver or explode from within.
Level 6. Global. Saving Freedom and Values
Ukraine against moscovia. Not that this was ever a problem for us, Ukrainians, but from the point of view of other nations, global companies and organizations, it was. It was until it arose not as some Ukraine vs. powerful moscovia, but as freedom and values vs. crimes against all mankind.
The speed of decision-making in favor of moral stand was phenomenal for many and unexpected for most. Neutral countries ceased to be neutral. Global companies continue giving up bloody money, while sanction packages come one after another. Thousands of people went to the streets and squares demanding their governments to provide active support to the fight against the common enemy. With words of support, they send a real humanitarian and very real military aid.
Yes, many had to put their limbs on the rails to slow down the rabid trolley. The feeling is definitely not pleasant and for sure has long-term consequences. Though I must say, the fading Problem at this level and the decision to take action shows there is still hope for humankind.
Here are some ways to help win this war!
