The War Machine

[bradly1101]

MajinCry's post about Yemen got me thinking. The game of giving weapons to some and keeping them from others seems to be a horrific circus with superpower ringleaders. We of course can have all the weapons we want with all the resources and manufacturers needed for global domination and control of conflicts through our superior weaponry.

But we are the good guys, right? We should have the say about North Korea, Israel/Palestine, Saudi/Yemen/Iran, Viet Nam/China, Iran/Iraq, Ukraine/Russia,... the list seems endless, I never got to the Americas below Texas.

Yet the arbiter of these conflicts doesn't have clean hands. Atrocities are occurring. We profit from them.

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...-terrorist-state.2528206/page-2#post-39186667
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/the-shadow-war-in-africa.2524613/#post-39141455
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/consolidation-of-power-in-saudi-arabia.2525971/

Truthiness keeps us from even seeing wars like we used to. The message must be controlled.

31 times less civilian casualties than reality? Really Pentagon?
https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-u...es-more-civilians-than-claimed-report/5619022

I'm a proud American?

 

[Moonbeam]

All those people have to die so I can feel safe. I am just that important.

 

[Alpha One Seven]

MajinCry's post about Yemen got me thinking. The game of giving weapons to some and keeping them from others seems to be a horrible circus with superpower ringleaders. We of course can have all the weapons we want with all the resources and manufacturers needed for global domination and control of conflicts through our superior weaponry.

But we are the good guys, right? We should have the say about North Korea, Israel/Palestine, Saudi/Yemen/Iran, Viet Nam/China, Iran/Iraq, Ukraine/Russia,... the list seems endless.

Yet the arbiter of these conflicts doesn't have clean hands. "Atrocities" are occurring. We profit from them.

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...-terrorist-state.2528206/page-2#post-39186667
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/the-shadow-war-in-africa.2524613/#post-39141455
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/consolidation-of-power-in-saudi-arabia.2525971/

Truthiness keeps us from even seeing wars like we used to. The message must be controlled.

31 times less civilian casualties than reality? Really Pentagon?
https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-u...es-more-civilians-than-claimed-report/5619022

I'm a proud American?

I am most definitely a proud American. Merry Christmas.

 

[nickqt]

First, you recognize that the United States is an Empire, capital e, and that it acts accordingly. Which, as history has shown time and time again, causes the Empire to slowly rot internally to pay for its outward display of power and prestige.

Second, you recognize that the outward display of power and prestige, if and when it were done to itself, would be called, literally, terrorism. If Yemen operated unmanned flying drones with missiles over the United States, killing politicians and first responders, we probably wouldn't be too terribly please with Yemen, its leaders, or the population that freely elected those leaders.

Third, you recognize all of the signs that the Empire is indeed collapsing internally. And you tell as many people who will listen.

Fourth, you will recognize the people who are not trained to think historically or critically, as they will yell at you, say you hate the country for wanting to prevent the obvious internal collapse, say you are a traitor, say you blame your country, when in reality you are the patriot who wants to save the country...not from a bogeyman that it's irrationally scared of, but from itself.

Fifth, you recognize that the people who profit from the outward display of power and prestige, which is manifested internally by societal, economic and political collapse, will call for the continuance of those same policies, in order to further enrich themselves so that they can wall and gate themselves into private estates, hire private security firms to defend them from the rabble left without a functioning polity, and do so brazenly, with roughly half the population defending them at every chance because they've been trained that they're really on their side, when they're clearly only on their own side.

Sixth, and finally, you recognize that the internal collapse cannot be controlled, that walls and gates always fall, and that a large population with essentially nothing has nothing to lose in taking it all back. And it's never a good time, for anyone.

Some people have made their way through all of the stages and want to change things. Others refuse to even admit that it's possible because then it would reveal that they've been lied to and believed it to their own detriment, for their entire political life. And still others are working their way through, at various stages, willing to agree here and there, but still hesitant to say out loud what they can see and sense.

You can lead a horse to water, etc.

 

[Alpha One Seven]

First, you recognize that the United States is an Empire, capital e, and that it acts accordingly. Which, as history has shown time and time again, causes the Empire to slowly rot internally to pay for its outward display of power and prestige.

Second, you recognize that the outward display of power and prestige, if and when it were done to itself, would be called, literally, terrorism. If Yemen operated unmanned flying drones with missiles over the United States, killing politicians and first responders, we probably wouldn't be too terribly please with Yemen, its leaders, or the population that freely elected those leaders.

Third, you recognize all of the signs that the Empire is indeed collapsing internally. And you tell as many people who will listen.

Fourth, you will recognize the people who are not trained to think historically or critically, as they will yell at you, say you hate the country for wanting to prevent the obvious internal collapse, say you are a traitor, say you blame your country, when in reality you are the patriot who wants to save the country...not from a bogeyman that it's irrationally scared of, but from itself.

Fifth, you recognize that the people who profit from the outward display of power and prestige, which is manifested internally by societal, economic and political collapse, will call for the continuance of those same policies, in order to further enrich themselves so that they can wall and gate themselves into private estates, hire private security firms to defend them from the rabble left without a functioning polity, and do so brazenly, with roughly half the population defending them at every chance because they've been trained that they're really on their side, when they're clearly only on their own side.

Sixth, and finally, you recognize that the internal collapse cannot be controlled, that walls and gates always fall, and that a large population with essentially nothing has nothing to lose in taking it all back. And it's never a good time, for anyone.

Some people have made their way through all of the stages and want to change things. Others refuse to even admit that it's possible because then it would reveal that they've been lied to and believed it to their own detriment, for their entire political life. And still others are working their way through, at various stages, willing to agree here and there, but still hesitant to say out loud what they can see and sense.

You can lead a horse to water, etc.

Hilarious stuff there, too bad it's all silly nonsense.

 

[greatnoob]

First, you recognize that the United States is an Empire, capital e, and that it acts accordingly. Which, as history has shown time and time again, causes the Empire to slowly rot internally to pay for its outward display of power and prestige.

Second, you recognize that the outward display of power and prestige, if and when it were done to itself, would be called, literally, terrorism. If Yemen operated unmanned flying drones with missiles over the United States, killing politicians and first responders, we probably wouldn't be too terribly please with Yemen, its leaders, or the population that freely elected those leaders.

Third, you recognize all of the signs that the Empire is indeed collapsing internally. And you tell as many people who will listen.

Fourth, you will recognize the people who are not trained to think historically or critically, as they will yell at you, say you hate the country for wanting to prevent the obvious internal collapse, say you are a traitor, say you blame your country, when in reality you are the patriot who wants to save the country...not from a bogeyman that it's irrationally scared of, but from itself.

Fifth, you recognize that the people who profit from the outward display of power and prestige, which is manifested internally by societal, economic and political collapse, will call for the continuance of those same policies, in order to further enrich themselves so that they can wall and gate themselves into private estates, hire private security firms to defend them from the rabble left without a functioning polity, and do so brazenly, with roughly half the population defending them at every chance because they've been trained that they're really on their side, when they're clearly only on their own side.

Sixth, and finally, you recognize that the internal collapse cannot be controlled, that walls and gates always fall, and that a large population with essentially nothing has nothing to lose in taking it all back. And it's never a good time, for anyone.

Some people have made their way through all of the stages and want to change things. Others refuse to even admit that it's possible because then it would reveal that they've been lied to and believed it to their own detriment, for their entire political life. And still others are working their way through, at various stages, willing to agree here and there, but still hesitant to say out loud what they can see and sense.

You can lead a horse to water, etc.

The Roman Empire as I recall, placed heavy emphasis on entertainment as it was nearing its destruction. That and excessive eating and drinking to keep the masses distracted. It's interesting what history teaches us.

 

[Meghan54]

The Roman Empire as I recall, placed heavy emphasis on entertainment as it was nearing its destruction. That and excessive eating and drinking to keep the masses distracted. It's interesting what history teaches us.

Yes, it can be enlightening to remember history.....but having history teach some people anything is a fantasy. Consider the poster you're responding to in the quote above.....he's apparently never learned a damned thing about the world and/or history. Frankly, I'm surprised he can regurgitate the script he's been provided, given his lack of reading comprehension...or reading critically.....or reading at all.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Hilarious stuff there, too bad it's all silly nonsense.

Only to the ignorant. The question is, is it wilful on your part?

 

[cytg111]

This is going to get me some flak.
Suppose Germany won WW2 and imagine the course of history 70 years later. The human genome is gonna do what its gonna do no matter what, IMO, so to me it stands to reason that IF we had a globe unified, even over something as horrible as nazism, we could have a much better handle on climate change, conflict zones and major disasters around the globe.
I say again, all nazis must die. I also reiterate that there is always at least two sides to a coin. The planet needs unity.
Cant help but think that sure, we fought off the ultimate evil with nazis but at the same time gave geo political movers time and the ability to construct the ultimate weapons destruction .. and now that everyone, including NK has nukes, it seems inevitable that some douchebag is gonna set one off and start a chain reaction.

 

[feralkid]

Hilarious stuff there, too bad it's all silly nonsense.

I'm sure we all wish it were just that, but it's hard to not see the truth when you open your eyes.

 

[MajinCry]

This is going to get me some flak.
Suppose Germany won WW2 and imagine the course of history 70 years later. The human genome is gonna do what its gonna do no matter what, IMO, so to me it stands to reason that IF we had a globe unified, even over something as horrible as nazism, we could have a much better handle on climate change, conflict zones and major disasters around the globe.
I say again, all nazis must die. I also reiterate that there is always at least two sides to a coin. The planet needs unity.
Cant help but think that sure, we fought off the ultimate evil with nazis but at the same time gave geo political movers time and the ability to construct the ultimate weapons destruction .. and now that everyone, including NK has nukes, it seems inevitable that some douchebag is gonna set one off and start a chain reaction.

WWII was a clash of empires. We consider the Nazis bad, because they're the empire that lost. To demonstrate, what's the most reprehensible thing you can remember the Nazis doing? Mass genocide.

The US empire also committed mass genocide. And continued to do so, with institutions dedicated to genocide being created in the mid 1850's, with the last one closing down in the late 90's.

But the US' periods of genocide are revered. Take the founding fathers, genocidal Christian extremists that are worshiped in US culture.

 

[1prophet]

Not to worry, the great equalizer in war machines is on the horizon and soon to be here, soon to be in the hands of all the good guys, just make sure not be one of the bad guys.

Disclaimer, just a dramatization of the possibility of real life man-hacks.
Slaughterbots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CO6M2HsoIA

 

[nickqt]

Only to the ignorant. The question is, is it wilful on your part?

It's a defense mechanism that allows him to hand-waive away that he's been lied to for his entire life, bought into it, and defends it.

 

[Thebobo]

Hilarious stuff there, too bad it's all silly nonsense.

Its a troll post unless you say why you find it silly

 

[Thebobo]

The Roman Empire as I recall, placed heavy emphasis on entertainment as it was nearing its destruction. That and excessive eating and drinking to keep the masses distracted. It's interesting what history teaches us.

We demand football stadiums.

 

[bradly1101]

First, you recognize that the United States is an Empire, capital e, and that it acts accordingly. Which, as history has shown time and time again, causes the Empire to slowly rot internally to pay for its outward display of power and prestige.

Second, you recognize that the outward display of power and prestige, if and when it were done to itself, would be called, literally, terrorism. If Yemen operated unmanned flying drones with missiles over the United States, killing politicians and first responders, we probably wouldn't be too terribly please with Yemen, its leaders, or the population that freely elected those leaders.

Third, you recognize all of the signs that the Empire is indeed collapsing internally. And you tell as many people who will listen.

Fourth, you will recognize the people who are not trained to think historically or critically, as they will yell at you, say you hate the country for wanting to prevent the obvious internal collapse, say you are a traitor, say you blame your country, when in reality you are the patriot who wants to save the country...not from a bogeyman that it's irrationally scared of, but from itself.

Fifth, you recognize that the people who profit from the outward display of power and prestige, which is manifested internally by societal, economic and political collapse, will call for the continuance of those same policies, in order to further enrich themselves so that they can wall and gate themselves into private estates, hire private security firms to defend them from the rabble left without a functioning polity, and do so brazenly, with roughly half the population defending them at every chance because they've been trained that they're really on their side, when they're clearly only on their own side.

Sixth, and finally, you recognize that the internal collapse cannot be controlled, that walls and gates always fall, and that a large population with essentially nothing has nothing to lose in taking it all back. And it's never a good time, for anyone.

Some people have made their way through all of the stages and want to change things. Others refuse to even admit that it's possible because then it would reveal that they've been lied to and believed it to their own detriment, for their entire political life. And still others are working their way through, at various stages, willing to agree here and there, but still hesitant to say out loud what they can see and sense.

You can lead a horse to water, etc.

Wow. An awakening, or a descent into Hell, summed up . The crucible decides. Empires to ashes. Toothpicks for the eyelids can't open them wide enough, that takes obliteration.

 

[bradly1101]

Hilarious stuff there, too bad it's all silly nonsense.

Laughing into the grave is lightening.

 

[bradly1101]

The Roman Empire as I recall, placed heavy emphasis on entertainment as it was nearing its destruction. That and excessive eating and drinking to keep the masses distracted. It's interesting what history teaches us.

Modernity is certainly entertaining, I can't look away unless I want to be happy.

 

[bradly1101]

Yes, it can be enlightening to remember history.....but having history teach some people anything is a fantasy. Consider the poster you're responding to in the quote above.....he's apparently never learned a damned thing about the world and/or history. Frankly, I'm surprised he can regurgitate the script he's been provided, given his lack of reading comprehension...or reading critically.....or reading at all.

J.Wilkins on an island far away said the most important political quote ever (I've repeated it before), "How do you Americans expect to learn from history when you lie about it so much?" Facts are fuzzy when you want to believe anything but the truth.

 

[bradly1101]

The planet needs unity.

Overcoming fear and prejudice is like rising above our simian ancestors' ways of protecting their resources and their mates. Reactivity toward perceived threats. They got the fear from the reptiles. Evolution with a dash of hate.

 

[bradly1101]

Not to worry, the great equalizer in war machines is on the horizon and soon to be here, soon to be in the hands of all the good guys, just make sure not be one of the bad guys.

Disclaimer, just a dramatization of the possibility of real life man-hacks.
Slaughterbots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CO6M2HsoIA

Envisioned coolness. We don't have to choose who to kill. AI will cover our asses. The fog of war, its droplets, made up of miniaturized assassins. Thank God death isn't far away.

 

[bradly1101]

It's a defense mechanism that allows him to hand-waive away that he's been lied to for his entire life, bought into it, and defends it.

And we can love him with empathy (we've all heard the same lies and desperately wanted to believe them), the only thing that won't push him into his corner, keep him there. Eyes stay open in compassion. Remember MLK?

 

[bradly1101]

We demand football stadiums.

Branding requires rebuilding. AT&T Park sounds so much better than Candlestick, more moral for the divisional sport. Loads of taxpayer money blown on better beer stands. Clashing titans in classy digs. America's brand is tarnished, always was. Polishing the unpolishableness of Empire.

Where's the Pizza Hut in a war zone? Oh.

 

[bradly1101]

I know that there may be servicemen/women reading this thread. Your willingness to serve is not diminished by dissent toward war atrocities. You are admirably committed. Service of all kinds is its own, humble reward. Commitment means getting something done. We all know its ability to esteem ourselves. Heroes put their lives on the line.

 

[bradly1101]

All those people have to die so I can feel safe. I am just that important.

Freedom isn't free. Why not? I can let go of hate without cost. Greenbacks fund its furtherance.