I am your neighbour.
He's your neighbour.
He attacks you.
I don't come and protect you because I fear that he may attack me and my family, if I come and rescue you.
None of our other neighbours thwart his attacks as they also share the same fear as I do.
All of us keep seeing the catastrophe befalling you but can't take any action to stop his attacks.

After your house and chattels are destroyed, your family members and relatives are wounded, some of them flee to be refugees, and some of them also die, then I and the neighbours come to you with some donations of food, clothes and money to help you rebuild the ruins of your shattered home.

Having been ravaged by his attacks, you are now so desperate that you accept our charity despite knowing that we didn't shield you in your hour of dire need.
What has gone, has gone. Even if the remnants of what is left are put together to revive a dying life and its legacy, will you be able to retain some sanity, looking back at what happened to you and your loved ones, all those lost moments of togetherness, all those broken mementos of lost memories.....

It's a loss that is irreparable, a grief that is inconsolable, a festering blister that will keep oozing and hurting your kith and kin for generations to come.....the past determines the present, the present impacts the future.....causing generational trauma.

And perhaps someday years from now, in some quiet moments of reflection, I and our neighbours would retrospect - what could we have done to stall this attack before it escalated?
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(This blog mirrors what is happening in Eastern Europe.  It is as if Covid was not enough, the world needed a war. These events have drastically affected global business, trade and economy.)