Private companies suspending service to Russia post-globalism will create a troublesome precedent

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circuitbored
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Private companies suspending service to Russia post-globalism will create a troublesome precedent

Post by circuitbored » Wed Mar 16, 2022 5:07 pm

I first need to make a thorough disclaimer in opposition to the terrible actions of war that are occurring in Ukraine at the moment. Innocent lives are under constant threat, and there has been devastating results to actions taken by officials in the current state of war on-going in Ukraine. I would not in any way discount the actions of unethical leadership in this manner, and need to make that explicitly clear. I do believe though that there are often many aspects of life that do not get proper attention, and that is the suffering of citizens that are meant to be protected and served by governments. When leadership fails to properly protect and serve it's citizens and/or infringes on the rights of others, it's leadership failure of the highest order.

Putting politics aside, It worries me a bit that many private companies and retailers are totally withdrawing from Russia on top of economic sanctions, despite being implemented with the right intentions.

There are millions of residents in Russia and in Ukraine that now will suffer from a sudden lack of health care, food, services, and clothing if all foreign resources are totally cut from the country, including those that are protesting the war. I worry about the precedent that it sets for the future if the any other country were to go to war with China (just for example, hopefully not of course).

There are so many unforeseen ways that not just economies suffer in this kind of scenario now that globalism is so deeply embedded into how countries and people survive.

In almost every state of America, you can find a Chick-Fil-A, Chipotle, McDonalds, Target, and a Wal-Mart and they are slowly overwhelming local-economies and exporting money back to the home states in which they are run. If all of a sudden war was to occur in America, this would potentially be a very serious issue if these large companies suddenly shut down or run out of vital supplies provided by companies in other countries. We have seen supply shortages during the pandemic directly demonstrating this issue... We are still observing the impacts, most notable rising inflation as well.

As I observe in news and on social media that companies are making bold statements in withdrawing support for their goods and services in Russia, it worries me greatly about the future for all of us. A globally based company that terminates service in this manner based on political issues only serves a negative effect on people who are living in those countries like Russia. People totally unassociated with the political controversy (and trying to cope with the stress of conflict that they are encountering) likely suffer the most from these kinds of corporate moves. Wealthy people and politicians are usually aware of these moves that will occur, and they often are insulated from and prepared for the impacts of war far beyond what the people who suffer most can bear. The people who suffer most are those who protest war and negative political actions within affected countries as well, but they're unjustly punished when globalized companies withdraw entirely from their communities.

Just to note here though, I am not referring at all to government-based sanctions mind you, but I am referring to sanctions from private companies that have made contractual agreements with private customers being levied for Internet points. It all really seems like a bad omen for the future to me that can erode trust in those companies and that can easily return to bite all of us. The issue is that companies that become globalized now too often grow to a monopolies that create significant craters if the suspend service, leaving no other options for goods and services after they've left. These are often companies that shouldn't be involved in political policy or messaging, but providers of vital and even politically inconsequential goods and services.

When corporate entities withdraw from countries in this manner, potentially helpful news, discourse, and communication from scholars and brilliant independent minds in Russia also becomes restricted in reach to the entire world over the Internet and in many other ways. This can cause deep seated problems in conflict resolution, it can escalate suffering and aggression, and can happen anywhere now in our world and at any time.

I am beginning to think the new "social-media driven" trend of companies posting that they are suspending services and distribution of goods to foreign countries should be discouraged, because it really serves to hurt non-politically-aligned citizens as much as it demonstrates a protest, and it also sets a precedent for the same action to be taken against any of us at any time in the future for reasons/conflict we didn't individually cause...

Contractual agreements simply won't matter at all in our world if they are simply thrown away by private companies in times of political disruption and division. We all need to consider the human impacts of not being able to properly rely on business commitments, and choose what and who we support more carefully.

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